Good Article From Ff.

[minstral 5,375]

Ralphbrand

Trialist

Join Date 10-06-2015 Posts 88

Fifty years of fighting.

As today is New Year's day it is as good a time as any to look back and see where we were as a club fifty years ago. It goes without saying that things were very different, but do we really appreciate just how different times were? Fifty years ago a Rangers supporter could say what he wanted, sing what he wanted and within reason, do what he wanted.

Contrast that with today's sinister atmosphere of Big Brother and Scotland's very own thought police who have Rangers constantly in their sights.

Fifty years ago Rangers was a hugely respected football club both within and without Scotland. Its players and officials from the patrician John Lawrence right down to the ball boys embodied the Scottish Protestant work ethic, where self discipline and fair play were the name of the game. The stories about Rangers players observing a strict dress code were not just stories but true in fact. Even sartorial elegance was important at Rangers, the message was clear to one and all, don't besmirch the name of the club. Those few Rangers players who transgressed the rules were promptly sent on their way without any further ado.

The typical Rangers fan was a white working class Protestant. He would have been employed meaningfully in actually making real things, unlike the mickey mouse 'service industries" which now make up so much of our present day economy. Rangers meant hard graft, honest sweat and a release of pent up energy on a Saturday (every Saturday) and at three o' clock!. The impact of Skye was nowhere in sight as the football authorities and clubs determined when and where they would play, rather than some faceless executive of a multi-national communication business.

There was no Scottish assembly nor was there the array of pressure groups which abound in modern Scotland, many of which seem to have a hatred of Rangers as their sole raison d'etre. Furthermore, there was no rapid tele communication, when just having a heavy black telephone in your house seen as a sign of affluence in a sea of poverty.

The internet has given rise to a series of bloggers (mainly strange obsessed individuals who spend much of their sad existence following the fortunes of a club they hate) who had they been located fifty years ago would have been institutionalized for the good and safety of society.

There was a tacit understanding then that Rangers were the natural leaders, their size and achievements put everybody firmly in their place. All clubs feared and envied Rangers, their will power and sheer determination to win seen as the template for others to copy.

Within the Scottish media respect was afforded to Rangers, this was a time when Scottish journalists wrote about they saw, rather then what they wanted to see. Any attempt to blacken the name of Rangers would be met face on by John Lawrence and his associates and given short shrift.

And Celtic? They were nothing, constantly humiliated. The average Celtic supporter who 'sought' work had few educational qualifications and worked (if he felt inclined) as an unskilled labourer. Managerial and supervisory posts were way beyond his reach. Lack of a decent education rather than religious discrimination was therefore the reason for his plight. Catholics were disproportionately over represented in the prison population and unemployment benefit claimants.

Catholics sought a separate apartheid form of education which entrenched their suspicions and fears of mainstream Scottish society. In self-imposed isolation they viewed Rangers with a curious mixture of hatred and admiration.It was here at this embryonic stage, that the future generations of Bernadettes and Declans would roll of the bigoted assembly line ready to subvert the very society which had fed, clothed and educated them.

Rangers held the whip hand in the fifties and sixties. So what went wrong? Two things in my opinion. Society changed rapidly especially in the eighties and nineties. Society lost a lot of belief and faith in the nation's institutions. The church lost its way and that was most evident than in the Kirk. The descendants of Calvin and Knox should hold their heads in shame. From a robust defender of the faith, the nation's church was bequeathed to a group of limp wristed apologists who sought to 'accommodate' other faiths. At a political level, the once strong Conservative AND unionist party of Scotland shrunk to zero. Aligned to this was an alarming rise in the SNP, the republican wing of Celtic. Their aim was simple, break up the union and get full independence. For this to happen, you have to have two groups of people doing two different things. One group does nothing, switches off either through apathy or ignorance, unaware of what is unfolding before their very eyes. It is to this group that most of my anger is directed towards because they have betrayed their heritage and legacy.

The other group is the complete opposite, they have a very clear but narrow agenda with fixed objectives. Get political control at local level with the district council. When that is achieved move onto the national stage. To achieve these political objectives they realized that control of the media is necessary. Institutions like the BBC which was once largely neutral in sporting matters has adopted an active anti-Rangers agenda. At local radio the effect is equally corrosive with the constant drip drip of anti-Rangers bile. The number of hostile 'journalists' in the written medium seems to have mushroomed in recent years. The catholic university educated intelligencia has coupled itself to the liberal media in one hell of an unholy alliance. So what is their overriding agenda?

Nothing less than the total destruction of Rangers football club, there can be no other possible explanation for their concerted, merciless pursuit of Rangers football. Their hatred of our great club precludes any rational analysis on their part. This is not paranoia, we leave that to others! It has been gratifying that finally a large number of Rangers supporters have belatedly woken up to their game. No where was that seen more than last Sunday's game at Ibrox against Hibs. The atmosphere generated by the crowd really did evoke the grand days of the sixties when the anthems were sung with gusto and passion. Make no mistake, they heard the lion roar and they shat themselves. What other possible explanation could there be for the amount of critical articles that came out like rats crawling from a sewer.

We are very much alive and well and reports of our demise have been exaggerated.Roll on 2116 when Rangers will be the only show in town. Have a goo New Year, and yes we are the people!

[Ger77 742]

100 years for Rangers to be the only show in town, seems a long time.

[jintybear 8,748]

100 years for Rangers to be the only show in town, seems a long time.

I was just about to post the exact same thing!

[WadeWilson 4,670]

Deary me.

[Guest]

To be fair we probably will still be the only show in town in 2116

[gmcf 35,387]

Think I'll get the popcorn out for this one

[ritchieshearercaldow 22,389]

2116?

[Jimfanciesthedude 25,586]

rupert murdoch buying scottish islands now

nevermind the rest of the inaccuracies

[Bighouse 1,013]

[The Dude 20,027]

What a load of shite

[tannerall 25,935]

However well intentioned that article may be, it's so crass and misguided it's embarrassing.

"they heard the lion roar and they shat themselves"

[Gascoigne8 3,471]

Well thats 5 mins of my life i wont get back

[graeme_4 37,468]

Load of pish

[Bluepeter9 5,167]

So FF does paranoid pish as well.

[KeyserSoze 15,263]

Well thats 5 mins of my life i wont get back

You must have just read every 3rd word then. I'm currently searching for a pen to poke in my eyeballs after reading that. )

[The Wee General 91]

Minstral, I get where you are coming from. 50 years ago Rangers were Scotland's ambassadors, not only in Scotland but respected throughout the football world. As the song went, "Rangers in shirts of blue, Scotland is proud of you".

It is a fact from the beginning that our adversaries from the east had been playing catch up from day one. Try as they might they could never overhaul us. We were CLASS. They always were the underdog, and will never overhaul us. Although currently enjoying a period of free titles, history will deem these achievements as fucking meaningless.

As to why we are where we are, shit, who knows? I was as astonished as anyone when in 2012 our world caved in. Every man and his dog were having a go. There was no rationale to it. Press, football authorities, keyboard warriors, politicians, club chairmen, the national team, all filling they're boots with vile. As a Rangers man I was like "what the fuck"?

However, I can remember back in the 80's my maw telling my da that while he was out banging drums and playing flute...'they' were weasling their way into positions of power and that we would rue the day.

We now know, we (and the club) sat back and waved a dismissive hand at the "persecution complex" continually spouted by them. It would appear that this strategy was wrong and has given them confidence to continue to plead persecution by the big bad Rangers.

However, the way I look at is, we are on a journey. A long one. We are awakening. They fear us. We have, as last weekend proved, a support and passion, not only from the Bears at Ibrox, but from countless thousands around the world, that will never be quenched.

You are right Minstral, we under attack. Any Bear who ridicules this opinion or shrugs a shoulder, needs to have a good think.

Sorry this has come out as a bit of a rant....but I'm with the Op on this one.

WATP

RalphbrandTrialist

Join Date 10-06-2015 Posts 88

Fifty years of fighting.

As today is New Year's day it is as good a time as any to look back and see where we were as a club fifty years ago. It goes without saying that things were very different, but do we really appreciate just how different times were? Fifty years ago a Rangers supporter could say what he wanted, sing what he wanted and within reason, do what he wanted.

Contrast that with today's sinister atmosphere of Big Brother and Scotland's very own thought police who have Rangers constantly in their sights.

Fifty years ago Rangers was a hugely respected football club both within and without Scotland. Its players and officials from the patrician John Lawrence right down to the ball boys embodied the Scottish Protestant work ethic, where self discipline and fair play were the name of the game. The stories about Rangers players observing a strict dress code were not just stories but true in fact. Even sartorial elegance was important at Rangers, the message was clear to one and all, don't besmirch the name of the club. Those few Rangers players who transgressed the rules were promptly sent on their way without any further ado.

The typical Rangers fan was a white working class Protestant. He would have been employed meaningfully in actually making real things, unlike the mickey mouse 'service industries" which now make up so much of our present day economy. Rangers meant hard graft, honest sweat and a release of pent up energy on a Saturday (every Saturday) and at three o' clock!. The impact of Skye was nowhere in sight as the football authorities and clubs determined when and where they would play, rather than some faceless executive of a multi-national communication business.

There was no Scottish assembly nor was there the array of pressure groups which abound in modern Scotland, many of which seem to have a hatred of Rangers as their sole raison d'etre. Furthermore, there was no rapid tele communication, when just having a heavy black telephone in your house seen as a sign of affluence in a sea of poverty.

The internet has given rise to a series of bloggers (mainly strange obsessed individuals who spend much of their sad existence following the fortunes of a club they hate) who had they been located fifty years ago would have been institutionalized for the good and safety of society.

There was a tacit understanding then that Rangers were the natural leaders, their size and achievements put everybody firmly in their place. All clubs feared and envied Rangers, their will power and sheer determination to win seen as the template for others to copy.

Within the Scottish media respect was afforded to Rangers, this was a time when Scottish journalists wrote about they saw, rather then what they wanted to see. Any attempt to blacken the name of Rangers would be met face on by John Lawrence and his associates and given short shrift.

And Celtic? They were nothing, constantly humiliated. The average Celtic supporter who 'sought' work had few educational qualifications and worked (if he felt inclined) as an unskilled labourer. Managerial and supervisory posts were way beyond his reach. Lack of a decent education rather than religious discrimination was therefore the reason for his plight. Catholics were disproportionately over represented in the prison population and unemployment benefit claimants.

Catholics sought a separate apartheid form of education which entrenched their suspicions and fears of mainstream Scottish society. In self-imposed isolation they viewed Rangers with a curious mixture of hatred and admiration.It was here at this embryonic stage, that the future generations of Bernadettes and Declans would roll of the bigoted assembly line ready to subvert the very society which had fed, clothed and educated them.

Rangers held the whip hand in the fifties and sixties. So what went wrong? Two things in my opinion. Society changed rapidly especially in the eighties and nineties. Society lost a lot of belief and faith in the nation's institutions. The church lost its way and that was most evident than in the Kirk. The descendants of Calvin and Knox should hold their heads in shame. From a robust defender of the faith, the nation's church was bequeathed to a group of limp wristed apologists who sought to 'accommodate' other faiths. At a political level, the once strong Conservative AND unionist party of Scotland shrunk to zero. Aligned to this was an alarming rise in the SNP, the republican wing of Celtic. Their aim was simple, break up the union and get full independence. For this to happen, you have to have two groups of people doing two different things. One group does nothing, switches off either through apathy or ignorance, unaware of what is unfolding before their very eyes. It is to this group that most of my anger is directed towards because they have betrayed their heritage and legacy.

The other group is the complete opposite, they have a very clear but narrow agenda with fixed objectives. Get political control at local level with the district council. When that is achieved move onto the national stage. To achieve these political objectives they realized that control of the media is necessary. Institutions like the BBC which was once largely neutral in sporting matters has adopted an active anti-Rangers agenda. At local radio the effect is equally corrosive with the constant drip drip of anti-Rangers bile. The number of hostile 'journalists' in the written medium seems to have mushroomed in recent years. The catholic university educated intelligencia has coupled itself to the liberal media in one hell of an unholy alliance. So what is their overriding agenda?

Nothing less than the total destruction of Rangers football club, there can be no other possible explanation for their concerted, merciless pursuit of Rangers football. Their hatred of our great club precludes any rational analysis on their part. This is not paranoia, we leave that to others! It has been gratifying that finally a large number of Rangers supporters have belatedly woken up to their game. No where was that seen more than last Sunday's game at Ibrox against Hibs. The atmosphere generated by the crowd really did evoke the grand days of the sixties when the anthems were sung with gusto and passion. Make no mistake, they heard the lion roar and they shat themselves. What other possible explanation could there be for the amount of critical articles that came out like rats crawling from a sewer.

We are very much alive and well and reports of our demise have been exaggerated.Roll on 2116 when Rangers will be the only show in town. Have a goo New Year, and yes we are the people!

[gazza27 15,735]

My eyes and small brain are sore after reading that

[The Wee General 91]

My eyes and small brain are sore after reading that

I swear by specsavers...I now see the world in a different light...happy new year bud!!! You know it makes sense...

[Taipan 583]

Proof reader required.

[The Wee General 91]

Proof reader required.

Whit bit did ye no get..!!! Happy new year bud... We are all together. Have a good one....

[The Wee General 91]

My eyes and small brain are sore after reading that

It is a bit wee I have to confess, but it's the sentiment that matters. Have a good one wee man....

[harlands plater 17,145]

Long-winded pile of pish.

Wee tip to the author, if you want to appear clever by using words like "intelligentsia", at least learn to spell it properly.

[The Wee General 91]

A canny spell nether bit am a Gers mon an a neffer went ta Sokol. Wish a wiz clever like o you other cunts. Am so embarassssed...wit a boot ma point of vieew. An this bein a forum for bluu noises. Fuck sake.

If you can't construct a sensible response to the ops post that we all want to read then go to fuckin bed. Holy shit. Are you just posting shit to get your post count up. I know you are better than this....

[philiprfc 1,799]

I'm laughing for all the wrong reasons.

[minstral 5,375]

Bit hard on the guy that his written the article. Plus i made mistake with not using the capital for the other F but that is life, but he is spot on about the early years, as we were the club that everyone was scared of.