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Fans Launch New Initiative


Frankie

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http://www.rangerssupporterstrust.co.uk/rs...96&Itemid=1

http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Ne...1004155,00.html

RANGERS' supporters groups today announced the launch of a major 'self-policing' initiative in a continued effort to eradicate sectarian behaviour.

The groups, with the full agreement of the Club, intend to immediately undertake a range of self-policing measures in an attempt to isolate and shame so-called 'fans' who are 'bringing the Club into serious disrepute'.

It was agreed last night that Supporters' groups will self police at domestic away matches until the end of the season and will then meet the Club to review the behaviour at these away games.

If there is unsatisfactory behaviour at domestic away matches then the suspension of ticket allocations for away games in Europe will be considered jointly.

Rangers and the supporters' groups have been engaged in positive and productive talks since the UEFA Cup match against Osasuna in Pamplona on March 14.

Following their latest meeting this week, Rangers Chairman Sir David Murray, Chief Executive Martin Bain, the Board of the Club and supporters' organisations agreed the following joint statement:

"The match in Pamplona turned out to be a watershed for the Club and supporters. At that game, Rangers encountered the poorest safety and security arrangements for a match for many years which gave the Club deep concern for the welfare of supporters there to enjoy the game.

"The poor arrangements led to questionable policing and shambolic segregation that was clearly visible to all attending the game and those watching on TV.

"This Club knows better than most the tragic consequences that can result at football matches and we believe the arrangements in Osasuna were a recipe for disaster. We continue to pursue this matter with UEFA in the strongest terms.

"We accept there were a small number of so-called Rangers fans who let themselves and the Club down during this match and we condemn them out of hand. That said, much of the distress and injury suffered by many supporters could have been prevented.

"Quite rightly, clubs in the UK have to adhere to the strictest safety regulations and it is disappointing to see this is not the case in countries which are regarded as advanced footballing nations.

"We are grateful for the support of the First Minister, MPs and MSPs who have expressed their concern at events on the night and have agreed to raise the matter through appropriate channels.

"Regrettably, we also witnessed sectarian singing at the Pamplona match by some of our fans and we are united in our condemnation of this. It is deeply disappointing since we have achieved so much on sectarian behaviour, particularly at Ibrox this season.

"We all agree that we still have some way to go on this issue and we are very grateful to the fans who have embraced the Club's Pride Over Prejudice policies.

"We are agreed that the strongest possible action should be taken by the Club and supporters against people who continue to indulge in sectarian behaviour. This kind of behaviour will simply result in a doomsday scenario for the Club and the vast majority of fans.

"Since Pamplona, we have held exhaustive and constructive talks on finding the best way forward. It is clear to everyone that the future of fan behaviour lies in the fans' own hands and real improvement in fan behaviour will work best through self-policing.

"This, of course, will be done in addition to the stringent policing and stewarding measures already enforced by the Club and the police.

"The issue of ticket allocations for away matches has been discussed at length. Although this sends out a strong message to those who let the Club down, it was agreed that, in general, it is not the people who use Rangers ticket allocations who cause the most problems.

"However, we will review this position again at the end of this season. We remain deeply concerned at Clubs willingly selling tickets to fans at away matches in Europe on the day of the game.

fans in osasuna"This is a matter we will be raising again with UEFA and with clubs Rangers may play in Europe next season. We do not want Rangers fans to travel to away European matches without officially endorsed tickets.

"There is complete unity between the supporters groups and the Club. We agree there are people who refuse to come on board with our anti-sectarian campaign who are bringing the Club's reputation to the brink of ruin.

"The supporters have pledged to do everything in their power to isolate and shame these people. It is time for everyone to move on. They cannot and will not be allowed to spoil the enjoyment and pride so many take from being part of the Rangers family.

"Our message to them is clear - come on board and show pride in yourselves and your Club. Remember what being a real Rangers supporter is all about. It is about setting standards that should be the envy of clubs around the world.

"Collectively we will also work together to devise a code of conduct for Rangers supporters which we hope to develop into a fans' charter.

"This work will go on over the next few weeks. We intend to present this to UEFA who may wish to use it as a guide for good practice, as they have done with the work we have done on racism.

"This has been a difficult time for Rangers over the past few weeks but we feel now we can go forward together.

"There is a renewed determination to eradicate sectarianism and the supporters have an opportunity to demonstrate that this great club - whose pedigree is respected throughout Europe - has a great support that does the Club proud."

The measures to be undertaken include:

> Supporters groups to issue anti-sectarian guidance to all supporters clubs

> Anti-sectarian messages to be featured on all possible websites including Follow Follow fanzine

> Supporters groups and the club to urge fans not to travel to away matches without officially endorsed tickets

> The Club will undertake a major review of the Rangers Travel Club operations

> Supporters to inform fans on songs and chants that 'do Rangers proud'

> Code of conduct to be produced by supporters for supporters

> Players to deliver anti-sectarian messages to supporters' clubs

"Supporters' representatives and the Club agreed at the start of the season a list of songs in the Wee Blue Book and we would urge fans to focus on these at all matches."

Signatories:

Jim Templeton, President,The Rangers Supporters Assembly

Jackie Robertson, Secretary, The Rangers Supporters Assembly

Alex Milree, Scottish Delegate, The Rangers Worldwide Alliance

Roddie Maclean, Scottish Delegate, The Rangers Worldwide Alliance

Ryan McNamee, Scottish Delegate, The Rangers Worldwide Alliance

Mark Dingwall, The Rangers Supporters Trust

Jim Kirk, The Rangers Supporters Association

Sir David Murray, Chairman, Rangers Football Club

Martin Bain, Chief Executive, Rangers Football Club

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can we have a list of songs that are banned please then we might get some atmosphere back at ibrox,without fear of being banned or arrested.

That is being worked on - for now the last sentence refers everyone to the Blue Book.

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Very good Frankie. Again another encouraging step forward by the fans, yet nothing officially from the club itself. Do they back your plans or are you having to do it completely independently.

Also, can you clarify what it means by "self-policing"? Does it mean that if anyone is caught singing banned songs then you will try and get them to stop by having a word? Or will you be asking a steward or police officer to remove them?

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Also, can you clarify what it means by "self-policing"? Does it mean that if anyone is caught singing banned songs then you will try and get them to stop by having a word? Or will you be asking a steward or police officer to remove them?

That is up to the individual.

But from the very starting point of statements like this through to removing the people that are killing our club we have to act - that much is clear.

Rangers First.

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can we have a list of songs that are banned please then we might get some atmosphere back at ibrox,without fear of being banned or arrested.

That is being worked on - for now the last sentence refers everyone to the Blue Book.

yes i know frankie but there are some songs that are sung,which are not covered by the blue book like derrys walls etc are fans safe to keep singing them,and will rangers have the courage to include them in a new edition of the blue book.

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Also, can you clarify what it means by "self-policing"? Does it mean that if anyone is caught singing banned songs then you will try and get them to stop by having a word? Or will you be asking a steward or police officer to remove them?

Give them a good kicking.

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Obviously Murray is behind this but what is he giving us back in return....hee haw as usual

No, everyone who signed the commitment is behind it. SDM is a separate issue and one you know by now I agree with you on.

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yes i know frankie but there are some songs that are sung,which are not covered by the blue book like derrys walls etc are fans safe to keep singing them,and will rangers have the courage to include them in a new edition of the blue book.

As I said - that is being worked on. Rome wasn't built in a day.

The club or the authorities have never said the Sash or Derrys Walls are offensive - that's the perfect starting place.

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Anyway - I'm away golfing in 10 mins. I'll be back on later tonight so will hopefully be able to answer a few more questions then.

As much as we may not like it, we have to do something or club will die. It's that simple.

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murray should come out and tell us what flags we can fly without police asking us to remove them,union jack for starters,then state he will stick up for our fans if they are asked to take them down at any game,and insist we keep flying them.

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murray should come out and tell us what flags we can fly without police asking us to remove them,union jack for starters,then state he will stick up for our fans if they are asked to take them down at any game,and insist we keep flying them.

Murray defended the Union flag at the last RST meeting....

:)

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murray should come out and tell us what flags we can fly without police asking us to remove them,union jack for starters,then state he will stick up for our fans if they are asked to take them down at any game,and insist we keep flying them.

Murray defended the Union flag at the last RST meeting....

:)

good to hear frankie. (tu)

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murray should come out and tell us what flags we can fly without police asking us to remove them,union jack for starters,then state he will stick up for our fans if they are asked to take them down at any game,and insist we keep flying them.

Why the feck is the union flag an issue anyway......bent feckin polis tryin tae noise us up

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murray should come out and tell us what flags we can fly without police asking us to remove them,union jack for starters,then state he will stick up for our fans if they are asked to take them down at any game,and insist we keep flying them.

Why the feck is the union flag an issue anyway......bent feckin polis tryin tae noise us up

your right fish what the police are doing is illegal.

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murray should come out and tell us what flags we can fly without police asking us to remove them,union jack for starters,then state he will stick up for our fans if they are asked to take them down at any game,and insist we keep flying them.

Murray defended the Union flag at the last RST meeting....

:)

Yes good to hear but don't you think it's about time he started defending the club, the fans and the Union flag in public and not just at meetings behind closed doors ?????

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Also, can you clarify what it means by "self-policing"? Does it mean that if anyone is caught singing banned songs then you will try and get them to stop by having a word? Or will you be asking a steward or police officer to remove them?

Give them a good kicking.

Thank you Mr Traynor......

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Frankie, I think the RST do a great job and it's good to see you on here giving "inside news", if you will.

But can you answer me this - RFC will not come out with songs such as Derrys Walls in The Wee Blue Book, however, these songs are undoubtilbly NOT offensive. So where do we stand with this ?

I think we need our Chairman to show a bit of bottle and tell us we CAN sing songs about the history of our country, instead of ignoring songs such as Derrys Walls and The Sash.

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There can never be an exhaustive list of what's acceptable and what's not. But some basic things most of us can agree on as unacceptable:

References to terrorist groups such as the UVF.

"Red Hand" salutes.

FTP.

Insults about "Fenians" (which is what done for "The Billy Boys").

Let's cut out these obvious things and we'll have gone a long way to protecting the club and the fans.

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Thank you , thank you …… thank you Frankie ! I now feel vindicated in my stance. The joint statement, also mirror some of the language I have used in the passed, but the real victory is for common sense and Rangers football club and fans , but this is only a start on a long difficult road and much still requires to be done if the club is to succeed and survive , but the longest march starts with just one step…………….Thank you

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