Aye, so, if anyone out there can honestly claim to know what on Earth is going on in the Savage Garden of Dundee at the moment then let the fibber expose himself to the... (STRIKE TWO).
Ok: These Dundonians are mental, right?
But what do they want; these ‘who do they think they are talking to’ disciples of Dundee?
Is it just asking for Mair tickets?
It’s not often in recent times that the SFA appear to be competent but in the ongoing difference of opinion with United Chairman Stephen Thompson the governing body have resorted to facts and then the threat of corroborating said facts with witnesses and paperwork.
This clearly won’t do.
Whether Dundee United get the chance to fill the Broomloan or perhaps a little extra part of Ibrox Stadium isn’t that important but you have to ask: why is their Chairman trying to pick a fight where no real case for one exists or can be made?
8,012 would be the entire Broomloan. 11,063 would include the Govan West and some add-ons (careful!) from the Govan Front and Rear. In their last two Scottish cup semi-finals United have failed to sell their full allocation and have not sold over 10,000 tickets in either trip to Glasgow.
(Worth pointing out, also, that since Rangers last reached this stage of this competition in 2009 only once in the four years thereafter would both attendances combined have filled Hampden; and this in a period where Celtic were an ever-present and where at least one of the New Firm were represented each year).
If the SFA’s reasoning re their recent Scottish cup ticketing performance seems unfair then consider this: Dundee United’s average home crowd this season is 7,436. Their average home crowd for this season’s Scottish cup campaign is 5,965 (from two games against Premiership opposition). The scale of the allocation afforded to them – regardless of the game of tit-tig between Thompson and the SFA – seems both appropriate and bordering on generous.
As the Secretary of the Federation of Dundee United Supporters’ Clubs acknowledges: “it's (...) tough on guys who pay their money to watch their team every week, yet are often denied a place at the big cup games.”
Thousands of Rangers supporters will be denied a ticket for this game: every single regular follower from Tannadice will be given the opportunity to attend. The United chairman is honest enough to admit the Club neither need nor could sell 20,000 briefs so one wonders exactly how many he would like. A ‘full’ allocation would result in an almost 150% present relative to their fanbase.
Seen in this light, grumblings regarding ‘fairness’ would appear to be little more than self-indulgent garbage and as such should be dismissed.
Gi’e us a neutral venue!
This is where it starts to get a bit confusing – do Dundee United (both their Chairman and their Trust representatives) believe that the building itself is important? And why is some of this invective being thrown toward a party with no say in the choice of venues and complete innocence in terms of blame?
Despite the fact that here, in principle, there’s the faint impression of a decent argument at work you do have to ask one question: did either Thompson or the Arab Trust complain when both finals were scheduled for Celtic Park? Why not?
We could easily move the game to Celtic Park. Dundee United would receive around 10,000 tickets and, neatly, the numerical advantage for the Bears would be increased by almost 10,000.
But here’s the thing – some of the activists amongst the United support and the intellectual wing of the Scottish left (the sort of people who don’t know the difference between the Scottish and League cup and who might be better left to ranting about Independence from the comfort of their homes in England) actually want to move the game to a smaller venue. They want to prevent people from attending; specifically Rangers fans.
Before addressing that let’s consider the precedent – in 1998 the Scottish Cup Semi Final was played at Celtic Park, after a ballot was taken to consider which stadium would replace the (unavailable) National Stadium as venue.
Celtic Park was chosen, there was a fair, if not quite 50-50 split (Celtic received slightly more tickets) and Rangers won.
Dundee United has won Scottish cup ties at Ibrox and at Tannadice in recent years. Rangers are nowhere near the force they were even a few years ago: there should be little to fear for the top division side.
The idea of playing the game at a different and smaller venue seems to want to penalise Rangers for having more fans and for the ability of that fanbase to both buy the tickets and to then take out their frustrations on United as one of the chief architects of the decision to remove RFC from top-flight football.
And it is that choice and the consequences of the attitude of Thompson and United at the time which is now coming home to roost, leading to a distinct whiff of fear amid the bullish bullshit being liberally spread around. There’s been much trepidation, with talk of ‘the first visit to Ibrox’ – and all understandable enough. Until now, that is.
It’s not safe at Ibrox.
The puff piece in the Daily Mail today, written from the perspective of the Arab Trust and other United fans, is closer to propaganda than anything a decent journalist would allow to appear in his name.
It’s also, in black and white, both contradictory and potentially very serious in its content and the accusations and charges against both RFC and (Glasgow) Police Scotland.
Steven Hughes, ArabTrust Chairman, is worrying about the numbers of people wanting to go:
“I actually think one of the biggest risks is fan safety. But that will impact the crowd more than anything else. If people don't have the perception that they'll be safe going to the game, that will certainly put some people off.”
And here's Steven Hughes, ArabTrust Chairman, telling us that the demand to see Rangers is high:
“I think the demand to go and see Rangers will be higher given the tension that has existed between the two teams over recent years.”
You could go on, but it’s like kicking a distressed, confused and possibly damaged puppy.
But let’s focus on the key charge here – that Ibrox, and going to games there, is not safe. Steven again:
“I usually go with my eight-year-old nephew and his father is asking if I really want to take him, if it's going to be a safe family environment.”
Perhaps Steven should ask his Chairman, former and now once-again part of the SPL/SPFL board for some advice on the work Rangers have done in recent times to encourage families and younger fans, an effort rewarded by the SPL in 2011.
http://spfl.co.uk/news/article/rangers-land-spl-family-champions-award-2011-05-06/
It’s been quoted a lot over the past 24hrs or so but it is really worth reading the details – the sterling effort from the Club to try to make families welcome and in general terms to take care of the match-day experience for our next generation of fans. Anyone who has been at Ibrox in the past few years will notice a distinct shift in demographics and those Dundee United fans who turn up to sit in the Broomloan Stand will be in the part of the stadium where both the family section and the overwhelmingly youthful singing sections congregate every other Saturday.
But wait, they’re not really that feart for their families...
“We've worked hard at putting on family buses, things like that, to make sure families can enjoy their day out.”
That would, of course, be the same Arab Trust involved in running a family bus to the semi. What do they intend on doing upon arrival: forming a human shield and getting out the pea (or should it be peh?) shooters and protecting the innocence of the innocents?
Confused doesn’t begin to cover this.
http://www.arabtrust.co.uk/current/?771-semi-final-family-bus
In passing, it’s worth noting that in terms of a safe family environment it might ill behove United fans to pass comment on others considering their recent problems with violence (see Dynamo Moscow fights) and, far more seriously, sexual assault by staff employed by the Club and at the ground.
Bear in mind that some here may consider that Mr. Morality, Stephen Thompson, and the Dundee United board were pretty slow in terminating his employment.
The End Game
Attempting to antagonise the Rangers support and to take shots at the Club has always been popular but has barely gone out of fashion in the past few years. The mere mention of the team, the institution and the Club is enough to get people frothing, both on social media and (see recent trip to Coatbridge by STV's Raman) in the welfare dependencies of the West of Scotland and beyond.
But the continued and unrelenting attempts to discredit the game from those within Scottish football - those granted positions of power - almost seem to be deliberate self-defeating acts of impostors and infiltrators.
Goodness knows that Rangers fans have had a lifetime’s worth of charlatans, idiots, conmen and liars but, please, let’s all start doing more to encourage people to come to football, to enjoy it, and to make the most of what we have and the strengths within the nation’s favourite game.
The belches and moans from fans’ groups are one thing, but the humiliation of Stephen Thompson – the Rocky of the City of Discovery – and his “who do they think they’re talking to?’ mind-melt is not something we should welcome for and from our owners, and is most definitely not behaviour we can tolerate from those in a position of power on the board of the SPFL. It might also be useful if the Dundonian employed by BBC Scotland could stop stirring and be professional for even a week or two.
United are big favourites to progess to the final. The pressure appears to be getting to them and the early shoots of Spring (it was 13 degrees C in Stirling the other day) seem to be reawakening some of the mad March bampots who think their non-attendance at games but daily utterances across the Internet and airwaves confer upon them some form of wisdom.
Imagine the joy ahead if Rangers reach the final. At Celtic Park. Against, oh let’s say, Aberdeen?
It might be expecting too much to hope for some humility, adult behaviour and perspective to make an appearance but a little bit of reality wouldn’t go amiss.