Vanguard Bears - Statement / Article

[Dunny_01 2,007]

just seen this posted on facebook....

http://www.vanguardbears.co.uk/article.php?i=41&a=the-longest-journey

Before I start, I wish to make it clear that I'm no keyboard hero, nor am I a bigot, a terrorist sympathiser, a racist, a gangster, nor a thug. I have never been arrested for a football related crime and I respect all religions.

What I do not respect is terrorist groups who use religion in the interests of republicanism and who terrorise people of other religions and embark on campaigns of ethnic cleansing as has been seen and witnessed in Ireland over the last 100 years.

I was granted the privilege of joining Vanguard Bears a few years ago, and like many, I have I watched as the group has been branded bigots, thugs etc. by all and sundry, including my fellow Rangers supporters. I take the accusations of bigotry personally because I have never been, nor ever will be a bigot. Vanguard Bears aren't bigots. They are a Rangers supporters group who are dedicated to preserving the protestant religion, our way of life, our traditions and the Union which makes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There is no crime in that, and I would happily challenge anyone in a court of law in that respect.

Over the last 18 months I have been on a journey, a new journey, the longest journey. I have seen my beloved club dragged into the gutter and beaten black and blue by the true bigots in Scotland, those clubs and their office bearers who hate Rangers and all they stand for. Almost terminally harmed by Craig Whyte, our club survived only because of the willingness of a blunt speaking Yorkshireman, Charles Green, to buy the club, and the overwhelming support shown to him by the greatest supporters in world football. Without the support, Mr. Greens plans would have floundered upon the rocks, so carefully designed to cripple us by our enemies: the true enemies of fair play and the future of football in Scotland, the SFA, the SPL, and Celtic Football Club.

Survive we did, and Mr. Green ensured that not only did our club survive, our name and our history also survived. Our enemies have been incandescent with rage that we survived with our identity intact, particularly because we stand alone as one of the pillars of the Union of the United Kingdom in Scotland, at a time when the republicans, led by Alex Salmond, would like nothing more than to lead us on a journey into financial oblivion.

I have seen the media in Scotland deride us, our club, and its history on an almost daily basis. I have seen the zombie banners, the references to Sevco, to Oldco and Newco, and all of the other nasty bigoted, hatred-driven comments made about my club over the last 18 months. I have watched as other Rangers groups like The Rangers Standard, the Rangers Supporters Trust, Follow Follow etc. have stood by and done next to nothing to address these attacks on our club and its history. I have witnessed post after post, mentioning Vanguard Bears, deleted by moderators on other Rangers supporters forums and groups simply because they fear the truth.

And what is the truth?

The truth is: like him or not, Charles Green had the strength to face our enemies head on. They feared him, and because of that, they used their influence within the club and the game in Scotland to ensure he was forced out. A weakened Rangers poses no threat to Celtic and their quest to become the biggest club in Scotland. Only a few days ago an article was printed which was portrayed to be a blue print for the future of our club under Charles Green. This blue print wasn't a work of genius. It merely highlighted the problems and failures which we as a support have borne witness to over the course of the last season. If you read it, it highlights the problems the game in Scotland faces and identifies ways in which those same problems can be addressed. Now I don't know for sure whether the article is genuine or not, but I do know for sure that it made a lot of sense.

The idea of a breakaway SPL2 isn't new. It has been rumoured for months, years even. It has once again reared its ugly head as a result of the failure of desperate SPL clubs to bully through their flawed attempts at league re-structuring in Scotland. Once again SFL chief David Longmuir has emerged as the solitary voice of reason within the senior game in Scotland, as he issued a statement last night which underlined exactly why a unified body, encompassing all leagues in the country should be led by either him, or someone who shares his values of fair play and sporting integrity.

Not one member of the SPL or the SFA fits that criteria.

I have watched as our inexperienced manager has blundered from one mistake to another, and it pains me to say it but; Ally McCoist isn't the way forward. Being a cheeky chappy, being media friendly and trying to be everyone's best friend isn't enough to make anyone a football manager. Press liaison, yes. Football manager, no! Ally McCoist is a Rangers legend. His goals have given us all everlasting memories and his, "I don't do walking away" speech is now the stuff of legend, but we cannot allow ourselves to be blinkered by his fine words. Our club is still in crisis, our enemies are still strong and they smell the opportunity to strike another blow to our club. We have a fractured support, split between those who believe some kind of hitherto unknown group will come and take control of our club and lead us into a bright new dawn with a team of has-beens and players with little or no re-sale value, and those who wish our club to adopt a new adventurous way of playing the game, a pressure game, with players playing at a high tempo, skillful and adventurous.

I know which I would choose.

My club has managed to gain promotion from the SFL league 3 into the SFL league 2 although it hardly merits great adulation.

I have watched as Vanguard Bears have addressed every one of the points I have raised in this article. This group has remained loyal to our values. Vanguard Bears have been at the forefront of everything when it has come to defending our club and its traditions over the last 18 months. Our members have put the club before themselves, they have faced a lot of criticism and they have had to deal with countless unfounded accusations made against our group by those who would seek to profit from our clubs instability. If I could highlight just one thing which stands out above any other, and one which is deserving of the thanks and appreciation of every single true Rangers supporter, it is that of a Vanguard Bear who uses the name Thennowforever.

This Vanguard Bear has displayed exactly the values which anyone would expect of a member of our group. He went to the media and he took with him facts which challenged the reporting of our club over a lengthy and troubled period in our history. He did not lie down when faced with adversity, nor did he give up when it would have been the easy option. Instead, he kept at them armed with facts, and he has managed to get an admission from the BBC, that they have not reported events regarding our club accurately. They will be issuing an apology, an apology which vindicates his efforts to bring inaccurate reporting of our club to the fore, and which highlights the levels of hatred, shown by BBC employees in Scotland, against our club.

By his actions, it makes me proud to be a Vanguard Bear, and so proud to have him as a fellow member. Many who profess to be true Rangers supporters would be wise to read this and realise that being a true Rangers supporter takes a lot more than sitting about doing nothing except appeasing an enemy which seeks to destroy us.

The longest journey starts with just one step. I am proud to have Vanguard Bears beside me as I walk every step of the way!

[RFC55 108,733]

This will go over ten pages

[ClydebankBearWATP 877]

What a load of pish!

Nah just joking. Cracking piece and i agree with it wholeheartedly Also big congrats on getting the apology from the BBC its a long time coming. Keep fighting the good fight lads

[lutonblue 1,974]

Wait till TWB see's this

[JCDBigBear 10,810]

If your friend is Complainant A then I can advise you that I am Complainant B. I received my e-mail from the BBC on 3rd May. I complained on two counts, firstly the constant referral of "newco", "new Club" etc. The second was regarding institutional bias against RFC by BBC Scotland. They concede the first point but not the second. I will need to contact them further.

[minstral 5,375]

Great article.

[mrmojorisin 13,608]

Vanguard Bears Blue Order Bears ma da's bigger than your da...support the club and team instead of forming stupid wee glee club cliques and telling everyone how uber you are

[gmcf 34,093]

Great article . Completely agree. Well done to you too JCD BigBear.

[minstral 5,375]

Vanguard Bears Blue Order Bears ma da's bigger than your da Bears

get a fuckin grip .... support the club and team instead of forming stupid wee glee club cliques and telling everyone how uber you are

They do support the team, but also defend our club, and take the fight to our enemies.

[Cairo1 63]

Good article. Highlights that we can achieve positive results if we pursue the lies and miss-information that are put forward by the likes of the BBC et al.

Well done Thennowforever, keep at it and hopefully others will pick up on your example and we can start a real concerted fight back against the media until they become more balanced and fair minded.

[Bothwellbear 1,392]

If you want to preserve the protestant faith then go to church. And yet another article with the misinformed use of the term 'ethnic cleansing'. These kind of comments are cringeworthy. Rangers are not an Irish club so why bring that up straight away. We are a Scottish and British club. How about discussing the reformation...

Fuck all to do with Rangers too.

Yes celebrate our heritage but don't talk shite.

[dazbo84 698]

well done VB

[ClydebankBearWATP 877]

Vanguard Bears Blue Order Bears ma da's bigger than your da...support the club and team instead of forming stupid wee glee club cliques and telling everyone how uber you are

Shut up ya tit. They do support the club and further than that they defend it and what its about. No-one is saying they are uber fans, just one praising another (rightly so) for the work hes put in and the rewards at the end of it. Stop being such a cunt and just realise someone doing something for the good of the club when you see it.

[Allanger 625]

Great article. Keep up the good work VB

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

Take football away from Ramgers and you would have fk all - everyone is free to follow their own religion, or non-religion that they wish; have what eve political leanings they wish but Rangers do not exist because of some religious, quasi political support. If there was none of the political or religious shite attached to our club we would still fill Ibrox - if we took away the football You would be lucky to have enough turn up at ibrox to fit in a transit wan.

basically an article full of pish - and Green did not save us out of some religious or political fight but because it was a cash making opportunity - he did not take up the fight because he found done religion or suddenly wanted to support unionism but because it would help the club survive and make him money - and the 22 million he raised was not in support if any political or religious cause but because our wide spread support offers a chance to provide a financial return!

basically the whole article if full of push and vinegar and the sort of shite that would drag us down!

[Cairo1 63]

Why can't these people just support the football club that we all follow? If they want to be politically involved join a political party, same with preserving religious heritage etc. go to church. Some of us don't have an invisible friend in the sky or anywhere else for that matter, does not make us any less Rangers fans.

They do support the club and in the example listed above they have won a concession from the biased BBC which will hopefully move them ever so slightly back to a fairer reporting regime.

The fact that they also see a wider view in respect to Scottish culture, protestantism with small 'p' just is not mutually exclusive to what Rangers supporters want to see.

Most traditional institutions have been or are being attacked to the benefit of one group so if you want to keep your view purely on Rangers I have no complaint but when there are actions being taken by folks that support Rangers cause whilst being part of their wider objectives why do you complain??

[Johnny Hubbard 280]

I know 2 people in Vanguard Bears.

One's a right wing, Zionist, Tory supporting capitalist lackey,........ the other's a big diddy.

They're both good people and I like them

To join Vanguard Bears you need to get a member to support you. I've never asked them but I reckon neither would....

Thankfully we embrace all political opinions in our support.................

isn't that right FF ?

isn't that right ******** **** ? (as they would post it on FF)

[Bothwellbear 1,392]

Take football away from Ramgers and you would have fk all - everyone is free to follow their own religion, or non-religion that they wish; have what eve political leanings they wish but Rangers do not exist because of some religious, quasi political support. If there was none of the political or religious shite attached to our club we would still fill Ibrox - if we took away the football You would be lucky to have enough turn up at ibrox to fit in a transit wan.

basically an article full of pish - and Green did not save us out of some religious or political fight but because it was a cash making opportunity - he did not take up the fight because he found done religion or suddenly wanted to support unionism but because it would help the club survive and make him money - and the 22 million he raised was not in support if any political or religious cause but because our wide spread support offers a chance to provide a financial return!

basically the whole article if full of push and vinegar and the sort of shite that would drag us down!

You know that when someone starts out with a "i am not a bigot", then there is a 99.9% chance that they are in fact a bigot.

[Allanger 625]

You know that when someone starts out with a "i am not a bigot", then there is a 99.9% chance that they are in fact a bigot.

I am not a bigot

[Skelf 1,153]

Doing what it says on the tin

[1st_Jan_1994 4,868]

You know that when someone starts out with a "i am not a bigot", then there is a 99.9% chance that they are in fact a bigot.

TBH what handwringers know about GENUINE bigotry you could probably write on the back of a stamp.

Being Loyalist, right wing - whatever you want to label them doesn't always make you a bigot.

[BEARGER 339]

They do support the club and in the example listed above they have won a concession from the biased BBC which will hopefully move them ever so slightly back to a fairer reporting regime.

The fact that they also see a wider view in respect to Scottish culture, protestantism with small 'p' just is not mutually exclusive to what Rangers supporters want to see.

Most traditional institutions have been or are being attacked to the benefit of one group so if you want to keep your view purely on Rangers I have no complaint but when there are actions being taken by folks that support Rangers cause whilst being part of their wider objectives why do you complain??

Rangers are a football club, that is all at the end of the day. If anyone wants to protect his religion then join a church, join the OO or whatever. Same with politics. Just keep it away from our club. Not against anyone fighting for what they believe, just don't use Rangers.

[1NachoNovo 840]

Take football away from Ramgers and you would have fk all - everyone is free to follow their own religion, or non-religion that they wish; have what eve political leanings they wish but Rangers do not exist because of some religious, quasi political support. If there was none of the political or religious shite attached to our club we would still fill Ibrox - if we took away the football You would be lucky to have enough turn up at ibrox to fit in a transit wan.

basically an article full of pish - and Green did not save us out of some religious or political fight but because it was a cash making opportunity - he did not take up the fight because he found done religion or suddenly wanted to support unionism but because it would help the club survive and make him money - and the 22 million he raised was not in support if any political or religious cause but because our wide spread support offers a chance to provide a financial return!

basically the whole article if full of push and vinegar and the sort of shite that would drag us down!

So, dignified silence then?

[Bothwellbear 1,392]

TBH what handwringers know about GENUINE bigotry you could probably write on the back of a stamp.

Being Loyalist, right wing - whatever you want to label them doesn't always make you a bigot.

Who said it does.

[1st_Jan_1994 4,868]

Who said it does.

Well you.