Dark Day For Rangers
In Scottish soccer there is a system apart. A league where the perennial competition is to break into the top four for the fans and to win the Scottish Cup in order to progress into Europe. No one would even consider making the top two. Those spots are reserved.
It is a negative start point, yes, but what can you do when you are part of a system where inequalities are writ large and a mob like the Old Firm are looming over you?
Not since the 1984/85 season, when the celestial Alex Ferguson was manager of a dynamic, title grabbing Aberdeen, has any club other than Rangers and Celtic won the Scottish League title. Indeed, since that day Celtic have won the league 9 times and Rangers 17 times. No one else has come close, although in ’06 Hearts nipped past Rangers to finish in second place, causing hysteria and insecurity within the fans ranks.
The problem is that it has become part of the social make-up of Scotland to have these two at the top. For one a large number of players currently toiling in the SPL cannot even remember a time when Celtic or Rangers where not the best in the league. A lot of fans cannot either. These two also have the biggest fan bases, draw the most television revenue and, because they finish first and second year on year, they also secure the most prize money every term.
The SPL set-up caters for the Old Firm. This in itself has a place, because it is an international draw. Four times a season these two teams meet in the league and it is a massive fillip for the Scottish economy. The city of Glasgow comes to a standstill for these ancient rivals and the influx of fans from Ireland and the South and the money brought in by TV producers means that the Scottish economy need this fixture to continue. They need it to continue to have significance.
International soccer pundits rate it as one of the most incendiary derbies in the World. It is not worth as much money as El Clásico and it may not spill over as often as the Superclásico between Buenos Aires’ Boca Juniors and River Plate. It may not even be as television friendly as a Manchester derby. What it has, though, is heritage and enough hatred to make it intense, even if they were fighting over a wooden spoon.
The Old Firm is the only match from up north that fans of the English Premier League would watch. A lot of this is to do with the pretext. The use of the dirty word ‘sectarianism’. This rivalry, which in turn may unduly represents one country’s football as a whole, is bound up in the assumed religious bigotry of two clashing groups: the unionist protestant Rangers fans and the anti-establishment catholic Celtic fans.
Seem like a bit of a caricature? Well that’s what it has become. This no longer accurately describes the demographic of the Old Firm. The Scottish government is aiming to counteract violence by clamping down on sectarian chanting. The hate, however, would still be there and the religiously charged singing is really now just a metaphor for their hatred of the other.
Could any other club break up this feud, then?
Well today it seems that something spectacular has happened. Rangers have officially signaled their intent to go into administration. They have five days to announce whether administrators will be coming in to take over the day to day running of the club.
This comes at a time when Rangers are awaiting the result of a tax tribunal regarding an estimated bill of about £49m, that the club are said to owe. As this is a continuing case details cannot be discussed, but it is alleged that the chairman made this move in acceptance that Rangers would lose this case.
The club now face the prospect of an instant 10-point deduction that would put them 14 points behind Celtic. It is unlikely Motherwell, Hearts or St. Johnstone would overtake them in the league, but it would be a huge embarrassment for the club and would almost certainly hand their rivals the title.
This also poses questions about the future of one of Scotland’s titans. Will they recover from this? Will the Old Firm rivalry survive this? Celtic fans will be celebrating, but I don’t doubt that the rest of the country would prefer a rivalry between them and a healthy Rangers FC rather than one of the two dominating the entire league for the foreseeable future.
Check out what others are saying about this post...
-
[...] into administrationThe Daily TelegraphRangers Can Take Inspiration from 2009 Title TriumphSB NationRant Sportsall 1,596 news [...]
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
FEATURED PARTNERS
- "Game Of Thrones" Valentines
- The 36 Hottest Dogs Of Carnival
- What's Your Sloth Name
- Kate Upton -- I'm Definitely Maybe Dating Jets QB Mark Sanchez
- Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush On Date TOGETHER in Beverly Hills
- John Cena Body Slams Tax Lien
- Amar’e Stoudemire Got a Tattoo in Honor of His Late Brother
- Here’s What You Missed at the Medical Cannabis Cup
- Who’s the Professor That Decided to Be This Much of a D-Bag About Paper Margins?
One Rant to “Dark Day For Rangers”