Siam69 0 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Union Bears As you will know, the group took the very difficult decision back in May not to renew our season tickets due to the selfish, malicious and borderline illegal actions of our club’s current and previous incumbents. This was a decision echoed by nearly 15000 season ticket holders and the crowds at Ibrox so far this season have reflected the feeling of many Rangers supporters. We watched with hope and expectation as Dave King submitted his £16 million offer of funding in exchange for a majority stake in the club. We then watched with resignation but not shock as Mike Ashley and his friends within the Board room blocked this move and instead pushed through Ashley’s £2 million emergency loan secured against Rangers assets and on the premise of complete Board control. Like all other supporters, we wanted a clean break from people like Charles Green and his murky investors, but it is clear this isn't going to happen. It therefore brings us to a crossroads, as a group and as individuals. Mike Ashley has his grip firmly on the throat of our beloved club and nothing and nobody will make him remove it, as has been demonstrated in his time in charge of Newcastle Utd. It has thrown up a pertinent question which must be answered by not only us but every Rangers fan. Do we maintain our boycott for potentially years in the hope that someone saves us? Or do we elect to support the team on the park and explore other ways of enforcing change at Rangers? After much discussion we have elected to follow the latter path. As of 03/01/2015 we will be returning to the stands on a permanent basis. This is not a gesture of support for those now in charge of our club, nor is it an admission of defeat. It is simply a change of tactic. As a passionate group of supporters whose best attributes lie in what we achieve in and around the stadium on a matchday, we feel hamstrung by our absence and therefore the group needs to go back to being present within Ibrox. We have tried to boycott, to fall in line with other fan groups who have done their level best to encourage change within the club. But in reality all that has taken place over these past few months is a strengthening of Mike Ashley, Sandy and James Easdale, David Somers and many others’ positions within Rangers. It’s the sorry truth. We would like to make it clear that we will not be attending the League Cup semi final as a group, and feel it would be wrong to take tickets ahead of fans who have been attending games on a weekly basis. As we won't be attending as a group, it will make it impossible for us to pull off a display. We would therefore ask all Rangers fans to do their bit by making our end as colourful as possible, with flags, banners, streamers and anything else they can. We will however be planning more displays between now and the end of the season, and look forward to bringing some noise and colour back to Ibrox. Although we return to Ibrox on a permanent basis we won’t be doing so as supporters of the regime. Yes our money will be going towards their bonuses and onerous contracts in the short term, but the Union Bears will throw our weight behind another path towards long term change and that is fan ownership, and more specifically Rangers First. Rangers First is a Community Interest Company which was established at the beginning of this year with very simple goals; to gather together the financial clout of the Rangers support, purchase shares in the club and ultimately put it back in the hands of those who matter. Rangers First already owns over 500’000 shares in RIFC (roughly 0.6%) without any real offline publicising. As a group we hope to support them in the ways that we do best as they move forward towards greater awareness and support for fan representation and ownership. Of course we urge all those who stood with us in BF1 over the years to ask themselves the same question we did and decide what the future holds for you with regards to match attendance. But we will not try and influence your decision in any way. It’s an individual’s choice to make. What we do urge every singly Rangers supporter to do is visit http://www.rangersfirst.org, learn about the initiative and sign up. Put the money you used to spend on Rangers merchandise and funding Ashley's empire of zero hour contracts into something worthwhile. The strength of our support should not be measured or remembered by how many of us turn up at Ibrox or elect to stay away in protest, but rather by the lengths we will go to right the wrongs of those before us and stand shoulder to shoulder with one common goal; delivering the Rangers we all deserve. We owe it our children and grandchildren. If you would like to join the group in BF1 for the second half of the season then please send the following details to transfers@unionbears.co.uk or as a message to the Union Bears Facebook page: Full Name: Address: Date Of Birth: Contact Number (Mobile & Landline): Rangers Number: Do you have a season ticket already? (Yes/No): Union Bears 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sannybear 0 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 For the life of me I can't understand why anyone would buy shares with this lot in charge - blind loyalty , bloody stupidity , God only knows . For all the good it will do you might as well piss it against a wall . 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueflag 386 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 must be a few looking for old firm tickets 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinstein 294 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 They think we'll go under if they don't 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 (edited) Fair enough once there's a semblance of financial stability, but it's a very bad time to be recommending that fans buy shares or invest in fan ownership initiatives and the bad timing is compounded by the news about the company's Nominated Adviser, Daniel Stewart & co allegedly losing their license. Edited November 28, 2014 by Zappa 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Can't agree with funding those in charge, don't know how anybody can pay while these -------- are grinning up in the Directors Box. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 For the life of me I can't understand why anyone would buy shares with this lot in charge It's definitely baffling, but then again, wealthy and presumably very clued-up guys like George Taylor have recently been buying up reasonably large numbers of shares. I'm struggling to comprehend why he'd do that, although I'm guessing it was a calculated risk taken for a good reason. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearman 9 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Do we maintain our boycott for potentially years in the hope that someone saves us? Or do we elect to support the team on the park and explore other ways of enforcing change at Rangers? After much discussion we have elected to follow the latter path. As of 03/01/2015 we will be returning to the stands on a permanent basis. This is not a gesture of support for those now in charge of our club, nor is it an admission of defeat. It is simply a change of tactic. Welcome back guys...the team, along with all fans, will be delighted about this decision you have made. Follow Follow. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilledbear 16 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Welcome back guys...the team, along with all fans, will be delighted about this decision you have made. Follow Follow. Champagne in the Boardroom tonight.:cheers: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barristan Selmy 222 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Welcome back guys...the team, along with all fans, will be delighted about this decision you have made. Follow Follow. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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