BlueIsTheColour 35 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Cast your minds back to late August in the days following Rangers fantastic away win over Old Firm rivals, Celtic in a thrilling match which seen 6 goals and two red cards. A match which was put on the backburner by a media driven campaign to brand the Rangers support as anti-Irish racists with the singing of what has become known as the "Famine Song" Remember now? I'm sure you do. The printing presses went into overdrive, the newsreals spun uncontrollably as every newspaper and major news broadcaster splashed headlines of "Rangers Fans in Racist Slur" and "Rangers Yobs in anti-Irish scandal". Featurettes were shown on Reporting Scotland and Scotland Today showing the country the "vile" lyrics whilst interviewing prominent members of the Catholic Church who dennounced what they seen as both a sectarian and racist ditty. Then came the call to the consulate whereby the Irish Government waded into the deba....sorry, onslaught. Letters by disgraced "Irish" citizens were forwarded to the Scottish Parliament, where the matter was also raised. And the cherry on the cake was when the Irish representative to the European Parliament in Brussels used valuable debating time to raise the issue of the "Famine Song", ahead of issues such as the world financial crisis, the ongoing problems in the Middle East and Lisbon Treaty. At the time Rangers fans the world over were scratching their heads thinking "are they seriously making such a fuss over a wind-up?". Yes, yes they were. Fast-forward to the present. Just over a week has passed since the second Old Firm game of the season took place. The match itself was a contrast to the last with Celtic winning by a single goal in a match which flattered to decieve. Yet in the stands there was yet more controversy. The Celtic support could not hide their admiration for their IRA heroes as they belted out old favourites such as "Boys of the Old Brigade" and "The Celtic Symphony" (complete with Up the 'RA chants". They were also audible in showing their disdain for the 66 who died in the Ibrox Disaster as some cheered when the names of the fallen were shown on the big screens. Surely the media glare would this time fall on the actions and words eminating from the Broomloan Stand on the 27th of December? It was only a matter of time before the articles of condemnation were written, interviews with soldiers who served in Northern Ireland were shown and loved ones of those killed by the IRA had their thoughts on the matter heard. It had to happen, didn't it? Well just as us Rangers fans have come to expect, such a furore didn't happen. The newspapers concentrated on solely the football; how great Celtic were and how poor Rangers were in comparison. Who would the big targets be in the January transfer window and would Walter Smith survive until the end of the season? There are some among our support who still believe that the Scottish media and those involved are completely impartial and unbiased. The stark contrasts in which both Old Firm games were reported serves, once again, to prove the nonsense behind that belief. As long as Celtic, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Hearts and Hibernian are all given a free reign to sing offensive songs and chants while the Rangers support continues to be placed under scrutiny and have our name dragged through the mud at every chance then there will be no parity in Scottish Football. All we ask is for parity of esteem for Bluenoses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steakbake 417 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Another thing which was never reported was at half time almost to a man their rendition of F*** the Queen and Davie Cooper to the tune of The Great Escape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpRFC1 3 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 celtic have the media on their side thats why nothing ever bad gets said about them and it annoys the hell outa me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManchestGer 347 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 It is a joke how they seem to get away with whatever they wish Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalbluebell 38 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 It is what Rangers fans have come to expect and that is very sad. I find it hard to believe that some people still think that the media in Scotland are impartial when it is glaringly obvious that they are not. Its not surprising we have become an easy target. The Club won't stand up for the fans and until they do I don't think much will change. The away support sounded great yesterday. There was no banned songs or chants and yet our own "fans" on this forum are complaining. If we get up in arms about the media we are accused of being paranoid, if we complain about the double standards we are accused of being petty. How we go about achieving that "parity of esteem" I don't know. Why is it only Rangers that have to clean up their act? I feel the more we try to do this the worse it gets for us. No matter what we do it'll never be enough. We really are up against it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_ni 12 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Cast your minds back to late August in the days following Rangers fantastic away win over Old Firm rivals, Celtic in a thrilling match which seen 6 goals and two red cards. A match which was put on the backburner by a media driven campaign to brand the Rangers support as anti-Irish racists with the singing of what has become known as the "Famine Song" Remember now? I'm sure you do. The printing presses went into overdrive, the newsreals spun uncontrollably as every newspaper and major news broadcaster splashed headlines of "Rangers Fans in Racist Slur" and "Rangers Yobs in anti-Irish scandal". Featurettes were shown on Reporting Scotland and Scotland Today showing the country the "vile" lyrics whilst interviewing prominent members of the Catholic Church who dennounced what they seen as both a sectarian and racist ditty. Then came the call to the consulate whereby the Irish Government waded into the deba....sorry, onslaught. Letters by disgraced "Irish" citizens were forwarded to the Scottish Parliament, where the matter was also raised. And the cherry on the cake was when the Irish representative to the European Parliament in Brussels used valuable debating time to raise the issue of the "Famine Song", ahead of issues such as the world financial crisis, the ongoing problems in the Middle East and Lisbon Treaty. At the time Rangers fans the world over were scratching their heads thinking "are they seriously making such a fuss over a wind-up?". Yes, yes they were. Fast-forward to the present. Just over a week has passed since the second Old Firm game of the season took place. The match itself was a contrast to the last with Celtic winning by a single goal in a match which flattered to decieve. Yet in the stands there was yet more controversy. The Celtic support could not hide their admiration for their IRA heroes as they belted out old favourites such as "Boys of the Old Brigade" and "The Celtic Symphony" (complete with Up the 'RA chants". They were also audible in showing their disdain for the 66 who died in the Ibrox Disaster as some cheered when the names of the fallen were shown on the big screens. Surely the media glare would this time fall on the actions and words eminating from the Broomloan Stand on the 27th of December? It was only a matter of time before the articles of condemnation were written, interviews with soldiers who served in Northern Ireland were shown and loved ones of those killed by the IRA had their thoughts on the matter heard. It had to happen, didn't it? Well just as us Rangers fans have come to expect, such a furore didn't happen. The newspapers concentrated on solely the football; how great Celtic were and how poor Rangers were in comparison. Who would the big targets be in the January transfer window and would Walter Smith survive until the end of the season? There are some among our support who still believe that the Scottish media and those involved are completely impartial and unbiased. The stark contrasts in which both Old Firm games were reported serves, once again, to prove the nonsense behind that belief. As long as Celtic, Aberdeen, St Mirren, Hearts and Hibernian are all given a free reign to sing offensive songs and chants while the Rangers support continues to be placed under scrutiny and have our name dragged through the mud at every chance then there will be no parity in Scottish Football. All we ask is for parity of esteem for Bluenoses. hardly much to ask is it? I for one am fed up with their IRA chants. I have to say being called a h** or orange bastard doesnt particularly bother me, i just laugh it off but to hear people chant in support of an organisation that murdered thousands of innocent people in pursuit of their "cause" makes my blood boil. Irish terorrism being supported at a SCOTTISH football game and they wonder why we want them to home Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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