Why Rangers Hate Man Utd..

[ricksen_da_best 2,034]

Found this article, Few years old now, Was published the day of the Champions league tie at Ibrox but still..

Why do fans of the Scottish champions "hate Man U" with a passion?

M.E.N. Sport's STUART BRENNAN takes a look at the history.

In the duller moments of the Seventies - and Lord knows, there were many - the Stretford End used to amuse itself with a little internal strife.

One section would chant "Celtic". And the reply would come, loud and clear, "Rangers".

It mattered not if those two Scottish teams were not playing each other that day, it was just a bit of fun.

Some fans would wear ski hats that bore the colours of United on one side, those of Celtic on the other. But others wore similar hats that were half-and-half with the blue of Rangers.

Violence

Many of the latter ditched those hats when Rangers came to town for a "friendly" match in 1974 - the violence was the worst Old Trafford has ever seen.

United's following were hardly angelic in those dark days, but the scenes on the terraces that night were truly shocking.

United are a club that tends to inspire dislike, some of it bordering on pathological, but many Reds are genuinely puzzled as to why a Scottish club, with no history of playing the Reds in meaningful matches, should jump on that particular bandwagon.

One reason, of course, is United's long history of association with Ireland.

They were the first English side to sign an Irish professional, when John Penden joined Newton Heath.

And by then, a large section of their support was drawn from Manchester's large Irish community - football was something that gave them a common bond with the indigenous people, a bond formed on the terraces.

That was underlined by the fact that, when they changed their name in 1902, they very nearly became Manchester Celtic.

Irish ties

The Irish link grew through the ages, fuelled by the fact that United tapped into the raw sporting talent of the Irish Republic, from Johnny Carey and Billy Whelan in the 1950s through to Johnny Giles, Shay Brennan, Noel Cantwell, Gerry Daly and then on to Frank Stapleton, Kevin Moran, Paul McGrath, Denis Irwin and Roy Keane.

In the Fifties, United were perceived as Manchester's "Catholic" club, just as Celtic were, indisputably, in Glasgow.

Matt Busby was a Scotsman of Irish descent; his influential assistant Jimmy Murphy was from Kilkenny. And United's scouting network included a large number of football-mad priests, in Britain and Ireland, who would proffer the best talents from their church teams for the club's perusal.

Some of Manchester's Protestant footballers complained that their denomination was working against them in their bid for the first team.

It was a complaint that held no water when a young Northern Ireland Protestant boy called George Best was introduced into the United team in 1963.

United became huge in Ireland in the Sixties, partly because of Best, partly because of the wave of sympathy from the Munich air crash, and partly because they were such a good, watchable team, something the Irish did not have.

Fan base

That link continues to this day. United, like Celtic, have a huge fan base in the Republic, while Rangers have big support among Northern Ireland's Protestant community.

Any lingering notion that United were a "Catholic" club was destroyed from the Sixties onwards as Northern Ireland Protestants like Best, Jimmy Nicholl and Norman Whiteside claimed regular places.

But many fans retain an affinity for Celtic, and the friendly links between United and Glasgow's "other" club are another reason that Rangers are not too fond of the Reds.

United have benefited from that link immeasurably - Pat Crerand, Lou Macari and Brian McClair all made the trip South and left indelible marks on United's history.

Of course, that was strictly business, but to Rangers fans it was another reason to resent United.

Cordial

When Celtic were forced to replay their 1984 Cup Winners' Cup clash with Rapid Vienna outside Scotland due to a crowd incident at Parkhead, they turned to United.

By contrast with Rangers' visit 10 years earlier, the atmosphere was cordial as tens of thousands of Celtic fans descended on Manchester and mingled freely with the locals.

At the Old Firm derby earlier this month, a flag reading "MUFC - Aberdeen Reds" appeared among the green and white at the Celtic end of the ground, confirming the Celtic links in the eyes of the Rangers faithful.

United are clearly no longer a "Catholic club" - if they were in the first place, and the fact that their most successful manager of all time is a Glaswegian Protestant, born in the shadow of Ibrox and a Rangers nut as a boy, emphasises the point.

But therein lies another sub-plot.

Fergie controversy

Fergie realised a boyhood ambition by playing for Rangers for two years in the Sixties, but left under a cloud.

There are claims that he was forced out for marrying a Catholic girl, claims that are strongly denied by Rangers fans to this day.

They point out that he was picked to play in the Scottish Cup final even when the club knew of his relationship with the girl - now his wife Cathy.

Whatever the reason, Fergie has described the way he left Rangers - after being demoted to third team football by manager Davie White - as the most painful moment in his 40 years in football, as player and manager.

One Rangers fanzine has accused Fergie of fostering bad blood between Rangers and Aberdeen when he was in charge at Pittodrie.

They say that his spell in charge of the Dons coincided with clashes on the field and off it, and an unpleasant relationship persists to this day.

He now confirms he has no allegiance to Rangers, another sin in the eyes of the Ibrox fans.

There will be no warm homecoming for Fergie tonight. He will love it.

[Ibroxblue 122]

When Celtic were forced to replay their 1984 Cup Winners' Cup clash with Rapid Vienna outside Scotland due to a crowd incident at Parkhead, they turned to United.

By contrast with Rangers' visit 10 years earlier, the atmosphere was cordial as tens of thousands of Celtic fans descended on Manchester and mingled freely with the locals.

Yeah it was really "cordial" when Celtic fans assaulted Rapid players, leading to Celtic playing behind closed doors.

As for Alex Ferguson, he has never claimed he was forced out of Ibrox because of his wife's religion and he has said a lot of nice things about Rangers recently.

[brissyger 8]

Is it just me or does this article seem really poorly written. Also, surely Liverpool are the "Reds"? Man U are "Red Devils". That being said I hate Man U with a passion that almost borders on my hatred of Celtic.

[WATPRFCNo1 0]

Is it just me or does this article seem really poorly written. Also, surely Liverpool are the "Reds"? Man U are "Red Devils". That being said I hate Man U with a passion that almost borders on my hatred of Celtic.

hate the cunts too, Celtic (with a passion obviously) - Aberdeen - Man Utd can all GTF.

[Rohan 25]

I don't hate them

[MacWoodburn 2]

That article reeks of pure pish!!! The ski hats were worn

by the young casuals in the early to mid 80s ,and not in the early

70s as stated !! I still have my Gers/Chelsea one to this day!! :unionflag:

[bluepeter 5,627]

I don't hate them

Goddamned Man U lover

[Bluedell 14]

I used to dislike them intensely. That has largely disappeared becasue:

- Keane no longer plays for them

- The whole club were very resepectful of Rangers when they played us in the CL

- I just love their football at the moment

[kontermanletsfly 0]

Half my family are from manchester and are united fans, loads of history with the club so certainly dont hate them. dont support them to the level of the gers, but would rather they won than any of the other english teams.

[Coopermania 1]

I like Sunderland me

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

I never liked Man U and always preferred the Liverpool sides, Spurs and West Ham, but it was only from '93 onwards that I began to hate them. We had just came within one goal of the inaugural Champions' League Final, beating the English Champions, Leeds, on the way, yet the first thing that the English thought was, "Man U have qualified. Can they win it?". That was just English bias but it sickened me since we had proven ourselves but they were in it for the first time.

[J_RFC87 762]

Most of the article is true, but some of it is a load of gash.

I like Man Utd, because like bluedell, Keane no longer plays for them and they play wonderful football.

[Guest Andypendek]

'writer desperately tries to fulfill deadline with hackneyed, boring innacurate pish no-one other than desperate-to-be-loved tims is interested in'

what a boring pile of crap. i doubt any man u fans care about scottish fitba never mind having a scottish team, and if they do, i couldn't care less.

[MisterC 12,455]

I have a great deal of respect for them which I didnt have when living in Yorkshire in the 90's, back then I was firmly in the anyone but utd camp! Shite article though.....

[Muff 245]

I like their manager and style of play along with their players.

[minstral 5,375]

chelsea anytime our brothers in arms. :unionflag:

[SuperRangers 2]

I hate them with a vengeance fucking scumbags i saw a few of their fans trying to start fights with guys walking with their kids and so on down Paisley road west when we played them in the CL a few years ago and i remember a few times it kicked off in Manchester.

It wouldnt suprise me if you dont see one manure top if we get to Manchester.

[minstral 5,375]

I hate them with a vengeance fucking scumbags i saw a few of their fans trying to start fights with guys walking with their kids and so on down Paisley road west when we played them in the CL a few years ago and i remember a few times it kicked off in Manchester.

It wouldnt suprise me if you dont see one manure top if we get to Manchester.

spot on superRangers their support is a shower of scum just like their tim brothers.

[the goal machine 7,824]

I like their manager and style of play along with their players.

Same. Really good to watch.

[mrmytto 220]

They are a good team but i still dislike them. I especially hate Ronaldo!

Chelsea for me

[Ibroxblue 122]

I hate them with a vengeance fucking scumbags i saw a few of their fans trying to start fights with guys walking with their kids and so on down Paisley road west when we played them in the CL a few years ago and i remember a few times it kicked off in Manchester.

It wouldnt suprise me if you dont see one manure top if we get to Manchester.

That was their "Men In Black" hooligans. I spoke to some Man U fans after the game and they were fine.

I had a Man U strip when I was a young kid - because I liked some of their players at the time. Nobody ever said anything untoward to me about it.

[Cumbria_blue 51]

Unfortunately where I live is infested (is that the right word ) with Manure fans.

They are some of the most arrogant fans ever. Think the world revolves around their team, can't take it if someone doesn't like them. I'd be suprised if these guys even knew that Rangers and Celtic existed tbh.

I've met a few who bought in to the Celtic-Manure love affair myth though, but after some brief explanation most of them decided that they would rather not be assocciated with a bunch of terrorist loving scum.

I met one guy who was a pure dick-head though "I support Man U and Celtic because they are very close!" Nothing I told him could change his mind, so I gave up on him. But guy was proud of the fact his Granddad was a fcuking Nazi! That told me all I needed to know about that moron.

And anyway, I suppose we should have known that Manure would have a speshul relationship with Timmy, since manc is so similar to mhank.

[vandelay 0]

I used to dislike United in the mid 90's as they seemed to dominate English footie, saw them as our 'rival' of sorts.

However after living in Manchester for the past 3 years, I love the place and would love to see them win the European Cup, they've got a cracking young side that plays great attacking football.

It's probably why I've also got such a dislike for Liverpool too!

[Mike Newells Sexist Army 2]

I hate them for reason's nothing to do with Rangers.

[Budswiser 196]

I,ve known a few Man U fans for a few years now and they are all Rangers minded. The fact that a lot of our guys wear England tops and wave the Union flag seemed to have made an impression,on them at least, maybe not the majority. They also had a wee grip on the Scottish scene which surprised me.

I think they will win the CL this year but i,m hoping for Chelsea, have been a fan of theirs from the days of Osgood,Tambling,Cooke,Harris,Hutchinson etc.