26th of foot

Robert McAulay hail hails from Coatbridge, he edited his own Sellik fanzine and website. He moved into formal journalism 8-9 years past. He specialises in stories that Rangers/Rangers supporters in a negative light. His real talent is in running interference against similar negative stories reference his beloved Sellik and fellow happy hoopsters. Five years past, John Hartson and Stephen Pearson had been caught banged to rights, standing on a stage inside the Clanree Hotel in Donegal. As the local CSC celebrated their heritage by bellowing songs lionising the IRA, big bad John and Pearo joined in. Scottish tabloids were ready to put still frames of the YouTube footage on their front pages until the fuller version(not at that point on YouTube) showed a pull back angle and the then Sellik Chair, Brian Quinn was on the extreme side of the stage, singing and gesticulating with gusto. Several days past, the Aberdeen based Press and Journal broke the story and all papers followed the next day. Peter Lawwell was ready, he had watched the footage and deemed it , "corrupted by £30 of software". Since MON's time at ra Stydome, Sellik host an annual lunch for selected on message journos. Access to both the Chair and Chief Executive is granted for an off the record briefing. We are talking Stephen McGowan, Peter Martin, Chris McLaughlin, ......... and Robert McAulay. Spiers in his Herald Sports Diary let the cat out the bag. Lawwell hasd specifically thanked McAulay at the lunch for the £30 software line. Further, McAulay had also rescued Quinn's son Aiden a few years before. Remember, TGFITW rioting in Vigo airport? The Guardia Civil wielding batons, planes delayed, planes diverted to Cardiff, ...... etc. The front page of the Herald carroied a photo of a green'n'grey hooped, peroxide toting Aiden standing in the terminal afront a broken plate-glass door. Bloodied but unbowed, Aiden had been an active participant. However, McAulay also in attendance briefed his fellow hacks that Aiden and co had gone to war with the Polis because they had set about a wheelchair bound Yahoo. I suspect McAulay has utilised the Healy photograph because he is back in the Rangers team. I am sure Lawwell will offer further thanks; however, Spiers will not diarise it.

The parallels with Leeds United are hard to ignore. Over a period of several years, Leeds United were begging their support NOT to purchase season tickets because the income generated did not go to the club. Instead, they advertised for the support to purchase tickets on a game by game basis.

It was a big night for Scottish football. Rangers won the ECWC, defeating the KGB's own club, Moscow Dynamo in Fascist Spain. Airdrie played Derby County in the Texaco Cup final. Scotland defeated Wales 1-0 at Hampden in the annual Home International tounement.

My finger came off the pulse over 3 years past and Frankie may well be correct reference the Albion car park. Originally, the monies raised to purchase the land that constitutes the Albion were accrued by the Rangers Supporters Association. The RSA gifted the land to Rangers in the early 50s with the express wish it was utilised by the club as a training ground. David Murray proposed that the land be utilised as a car park to satisfy the planning demands of the Club Deck. I attended said AGM and a long with a few dozen other concerned shareholders, voted against such a club asset being transferred to the then Chairman. The motion was passed overwhelmingly. The casino proposal was a stalking horse to ensure PPG received development permission on the Albion, the land's value increased ten fold. The last I heard(as stated 3 years past), every Bear that hands over £8-£9 to park their vehicle, the money goes to PPG. I am sure that Murray's older son took over the running of PPG? Like the Edmiston Club, the Albion should be returned to the club soonest.

Bluedell is correct, Auchenhowie(Murray Park) is owned by Rangers FC. The Land Register proves it. I suspect the Albion remains owned by Premier Property Group, the 95% majority share holder of said company being David E Murray. SDM purchase both the Archery and Tennis clubs immediately next door to Auchenhowie. Further, he purchased the farm land surrounding the training ground too. I do not know if he still has these land assets in his property portfolio? I wonder if SDM had the terroir of Auchenhowie tested? He is not the type to leave a south facing slope unfurrowed.

I suspect there are two players in the '72 team that would be identified as weaker than there '92/'93 counterparts. Peter(the Big Gas Meter)McLoy had a number of attributes. He took as opposed to punch anything in the air. He had excellent reactions, particularly to close range attempts. He could kick a football the length of any pitch. Longevity was his biggest, all challengers over a 15 year period came and went. In saying this, his several inch smaller '92/'93 counterpart, Andy Goram filled the goal with a far bigger presence. The Goalie would get my vote. The other player would be solid, dependable left back, Wullie Wan Fit(couldnae kick doors at Hallowean)Mathieson. Even the most ardent Fifers would have a hard time presenting Mathieson's case over Davie Robertson. Like McLoy, Wullie saw them come, and he seen them off over a period of a decade. However, Alfie Conn in particular would have loved the angles presented by Robertson's constant supportive runs. My other pick from '92/'93 would have been Gough. Ronnie McKinnon was a superb football playing centre half. He wasn't quite six foot but again sustained his place as both Rangers and Scotland's first choice for a decade. He broke his leg in the second leg of the Sporting Lisbon tie. Big DJ took over, but I am one of those many Bears that DJ should have stuck to the centre forward position. Everyone knows his remarkable record, 230-odd goals in a career that saw him play a third of his career in the back four. Folks forget, he played an entire season in midfield too. He thought he was a better centre half than he really was, I am convinced Dave Smith's excellent sweeping abilities was the rock for DJ's perception. I would have Gough in front of either Ronnie or DJ. There may be an argument for Trevor Steven, a truly wonderful footballer. If he had sustained a more regular presence on the right of midfield, I might have given him the nod over Calimero

Our ECWC run in '67 was harder than their EC run. Aside from Glentoran, we had Borussia Dortmund in the second round. Borussia were the cup holders having defeated Liverpool in the final at Hampden five months previously. We won 2-1 at Ibrox, played them off the park, they scored a very dodgy goal that included a clear foul and a player running off the field then coming back on. Real Zaragoza in the quarters were a tough nut, Slavia Sofia in the semis was a war. Of course, Bayern in the final in Nuremburg became a comedy of errors because of defeat in the Scottish Cup at the hands of the mighty Berwick. Sellik faced nothing until they matched Inter Milan's reserve team in Lisbon.

I attended all four home legs against Rennes, Sporting Lisbon, Torino, and Bayern. I was fortunate to attend Bayern away and the final in Barcelona. My old man was far more optimistic than I ever was on the chances of that team winn ing the cup. I was imbued with schoolboy cynicism, my old man did NOT believe there could be a repeat of '61 or '67. I think what folks forget and I was guilty of this too, until a couple of years past. There was a lot of football in that Rangers team. Sandy Jardine, Dave Smith, DJ/McKinnon, Tommy McLean, Alfie Conn, wee Doddy, and Bud could all play.

I would have thought a Chef worshipping at the altar of the IRA would be looking to ply his/her trade in a niche market. Culinary triumphs that can be consumed through a hole in your balaclava. May I suggest samphire with semtex? If ra Chef de Semtex is intent on persuing a self employed future, he could go with the following company name suggestions, 'SniperSnax', 'HungerMonger', or ArmaliteBites'.

I attended that match. I stood and watched with a dozen other Bears as Kheredine Idessane, BBC Radio Scotland commentator, John Barnes, and their Producer, Martin Bradford walked around the track; all replete in their BBC Scotland UEFA Cup Final 2003 Sellik/Porto polo shirts. It was a piece of uneccessary triumphalism.

Douglas Frase stated their had only been £25,000 of Rangers share trading in the last couple of months(I suspect a considerable amount of that will be Christmas presents). There's only 13.4% of shares NOT in Whyte's control.

BBC Scotland's Douglas Fraser has just reported that the Tax Tribunal convenes again next week.

BBC Scotland are all over this particular news item. Jackie Bird is salivating at, "this breaking story" on the lunchtime news.

I remember standing at numerous games in my first 25-30 years of attending football. There is a phenomenonthat may be covered in the title of the proposal ie SAFE standing? I don't know but please allow me to remind/inform folks of the reality of standing at football. Obstructed views are a real problem. You may pick your space 10-15 minutes before kick-off and because of the mobility of those in the crowd, it can vanish before, during, or after kick-off due to taller guys standing in front of you. My memories of many big games were based on seeing 70-80% of the pitch through an aperture of heads and shoulders. Sways will return. An involuntary movement by a doze or so guys at the back of the terrace(when say Rangers hit a post/bar), gathers momentum on the way down. It's a snowball, gathering strength and pace down the terrace. Grounds where the rake was steepest, old Dens Park and Easter Road would always lead to those at the front(usually children) jumping the retaining wall to avoid crushing. I have seen twisted ankles and broken legs as the result of sways. I remember Ian'Ted'McDougal scoring at ra Piggery, the shot went in off the far post. The sway began, was momentarily arrested, and restarted. It ran down for 50 yards, a breadth of similar dimension. A huge gap appeared on the terrace as those caught up were swept away. You could see dozens of individual shoes in the gap, the strength swept folks out their shoes. I do not want to see a return of those most regular incidents.

A seminal figure in the club's history in both photographs, James Bowie. The first photo' looks like a casting session for the mesogynist's mesogynist, Andy Capp.

No sympathy. The Polis did him a favour impounding the Range Rover. He should have bought an Audi; the only car to consider whilst contemplating invasion of Poland.

On ra Sellik's 2003 UEFA cup run that culminated in defeat at the hands of Porto, ra Bhoys were moral winners because they were recipients of two awards from UEFA and FIFA reference good behaviour from those IRA chanting jolly craicsters. Since, we have NOT heard the end ot it, iot's wheeled out continually. They received both awards because of persistant lobbying from the Republic of Ireland's reps on both bodies. Let's look at their good behaviour during the run to Suvul. At Blackburn's Ewood Park, there was an attempted storming of the gates by the several hundred ticketless Yahoos left outside. This resulted in 27 Banning Orders being issued. To this day, that number remains a British record for Banning Orders on a single match. At Celta Vigo, after the game where they went through on away goals, there was a riot in the airport. The then Chairman of the club, Brian Quinn's son, Adrian was pictured in a green'n'grey hooped tank top, his dyed blond hair streaked with blood. Ra Herald had the front page spread, poor Sellik supporters were protecting a disabled wheel chair bound fan from the baton wielding Polis. The truth was something different, Yahoos did not want to queue to be processed, started their IRA battle anthems, the Gardia Civil took exception to ETA's soul mates and trainers, ............. well, karma is a bitch. Still at the same game, remember the plane delayed because of the riots until the next day? It was diverted to Cardiff. Again, ra Herald and BBC Scotland ran interference, apparently a fan was caught smoking in the toilets and the airline over-reacted. Five months later, 4 Yahoos pled guilty to sexual assault(putting their hands up the skirts of hostess's) at Cardiff court. In Stutgart, a Yahoo was deliberately knocked down by a motor vehicle in a pre-determined gangland hit. In Porto, a Yahoo stabbed a fellow Yahoo, in Liverpool, there were another 8 banning orders, in ............................................................

Frankie, it is your duty.

Listen, Peter Lawwell assured us five years past that the Yahoo who pelted Fernando Ricksen with a disposable lighter, would be found, identified, and banned from ra Stydome for life. I am sure this will happen soonest? Peter Lawwell is a man of principle(stop laughing at the back).

In all three cases where Rangers have been found guilty by UEFA, BBC Scotland reinforced both the news and sports reporting by dedicating the entire 20 minutes of Newsnicht on each occasion. St Modan's educated presenter, Gordon Brewer spent a couple of minutes giving the facts and then we were presented with a few minutes footage of Rangers supporters in full voice, the bouncing ball at the bottom of the screen highlighting the offending lyrics. Further footage was shown of enraged Rangers supporters outside Ibrox, contorted faces, angry shouts and lots of gesticulating. What BBC Scotland failed to tell the viewers, was this was footage taken after the Scottish cup final victory over the Yahoos in 2003. A Rangers supporter alighting from a car had been attacked and struck with a hammer by a Sellik top wearing youth from the Hinchelwood estate. Anyways, it suited their agenda. Gordon Brewer would then turn in his chair and introduce Prof Tom Devine, and a rep' from an anti-sectarian group(ie Nil by Mouth). A several minute discussion ensued where all Scottish society's ills were laid at Rangers door. On two occasions, there was further footage, filmed that day of Chris McLaughlin interviewing Spiers. It all culminated with Brewer running through the next day's front pages, all screaming, 'GUILTY'. Did anyone see any of that last evening/

James Kelly aspires to be an idiot.

In tonight's BBC Scotland flagship 'Reporting Scotland' teatime news, they did NOT include this information as a news item. It was reported by Dougie Vipond as the SECOND item on the sports desk. Dunfermline's claim for compensation due to Saturday's postponment was first item. The headline on ra Sellik was, "Celtic fined by UEFA", no mention of reasoning for the fine until the last sentence of a three sentence report lasting 15 seconds. Thus, no Chief Reporter, Reevel Alderson standing outside ra Stydome as the lead item, solemnly drawing the link between ra Yahoos and those jolly craicsters, the IRA. No opinion sought from Prof' Tom Devine to add perspective. No footage of Yahoos in full voice with the bouncing ball going across lyrics at the bottom of the screen. No Chief Football Reporter, Chris McLaughlin on the Sports Report earnestly asking Graham Spiers of the PR effects on the wider Scottish game. J'accuse BBC Scotland.

Michael Grant originates from Dingwall and like all his fellow Aberdeen fans, regularly levels criticism at Rangers supporters passing their hometown ground to get to Ibrox. Michael does not do irony. Michael fits right in at ra Herald, indulging in the competition with his Sports Editor, Donal Cowey(former Editor of ra Sellik View) and Chief Sports Writer, Hugh MacDonald("we gathered in the toilets at St Mungos to sing rebel songs on the afternoon of a big European tie at Celtic Park"); to see who really hates Rangers the most. Remember, those Dandy Dons love visiting ra Stydome and belting out, 'we hate Rangers more than you'. For the articulation of hatred, ra Herald has real credentials and established provenance.

Who penned the article? I have clicked on the link and I am receiving the generic sports page with no link to the piece presented.

Let's see if Rangers supporters receive transparency? Who made up the three man panel?