Union Bears Statement on UEFA's decision

The club can't even give them safe standing Greg, instead the club put them right in the corner where the old away support used to sit and well out the way of the TV camera's so that they cannot be seen and anyone not at Ibrox Stadium cannot see their displays. Its a shambles.

As part of the conversation on safe standing the club discussed the singing and how it could come to bite us if it went on. That’s what has happened - unfortunately despite the clubs warnings it’s still come as a shock.
 
I'll be honest and say I don't know how this ends. They've been singled out, aye, but the songs have to stop. There is no winning this. There is no getting it up UEFA. Open defiance and a refusal to move on is going to cost Rangers very dearly and is the biggest danger to our advancement since 8 years ago. The club needed to do something and could hardly tell UEFA to just go fck themselves.

I honestly don't know what the solution is.
 
They've blamed UEFA, they've blamed FARE, they've accused the club of 'appeasement', they've used the phrase 'supposedly sectarian and racist term' when describing the singing which landed the club in bother.

They do some brilliant things the UB but my god, they don't half throw the toys out the pram when the spotlight is shone in their direction.

We are absolutely getting a stadium closure at some point in the near future. It's a cert to happen.

The statement is essentially them saying “we’re aware of our responsibilities, we’ve done all these great things” followed by a lot of deflection where they accept no responsibility. The fact so many fans are eating their crap up tells me we’re going to end up in serious trouble.
 
I understand their anger but they have some basics wrong here.

This isn’t a disproportionate punishment. Read article 14 in UEFA’s rules - it’s the minimum punishment.

The point re singing I can’t agree with. Had numerous meetings that spoke about singing in the section, including one following the charge.

We need to face up to facts here. In UEFA’s rules we are guilty. There is no defence that will work. We need to drop the discriminatory songs.

I have stated many times that I feel the UB are unfairly solely blamed for the singing but BF1 was the origin of the charges on that night.

We need the support to unite on this. Until we face up to the facts of the situation we are in we are extremely vulnerable to further sanctions
Leadership and proper communication from the board to the Rangers fans wouldn't go amiss!!!
 
The board need to be at the forefront of supporter behaviour and the UBs can help drive that change .

The board also need to get wise to FAREs agenda and question them at every turn .

For an anti racism organisation they were nowhere to be found in two incidents of Celtic players being found guilty of racism or of Celtic’s fans behaviour .

I wonder why ?
 
Their FC Midtjylland efforts at Ibrox

Will cause Ibrox Stadium to be shut

And still they will only deny everything and wail and blame others

Having cost Rangers FC, our only focus after all, money and European Football.

But hey, this is UB07FC after all.
Their Midtjylland efforts? What does that even mean? I sat in BF4 that night and I didn’t hear any sectarian singing coming from BF1.
 
I'm my humblest opinion this is a chance for the club to me meeting with the ub, Blue order, FF and other forums, you tubers and bloggers.

Get everyone round the fucking table and make it clear what is expected for us to move forward as one!

No more fragmentation, everyone as one! Take the fucking lead Rangers! We might not get another chance!

LEADERSHIP from the club is needed and engagement with every supporter!

It's really not difficult to move on from this together!

Thank Christ for you mate, best post I have read all week!
 
They are bang on the money especially about the club offering no form of defence of the fans.
They are spot on with that but it would also have been helpful if their statement had addressed the desire within their group to avoid harming the position of the club with regards to the authorities and their - admittedly unfair - punishments.

It’s a fight the club let alone the UB’s can’t win when it comes to UEFA. Never mind attacks on the UB’s, if we continue to sing these offending words / songs in Europe the damage to our club could be terminal
 
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I understand their anger but they have some basics wrong here.

This isn’t a disproportionate punishment. Read article 14 in UEFA’s rules - it’s the minimum punishment.

The point re singing I can’t agree with. Had numerous meetings that spoke about singing in the section, including one following the charge.

We need to face up to facts here. In UEFA’s rules we are guilty. There is no defence that will work. We need to drop the discriminatory songs.

I have stated many times that I feel the UB are unfairly solely blamed for the singing but BF1 was the origin of the charges on that night.

We need the support to unite on this. Until we face up to the facts of the situation we are in we are extremely vulnerable to further sanctions

Greg, I'm at a loss on this tbh, or maybe I see things much simpler than this in charge of the club.

See my earlier post, the club needs to be pro active here, they have the ears of the fan groups, bloggers, forums and the wider support.

Get them round the table and engage with them! Engage with all of us ffs!

I'm sure those life yourself, and everyone I've mentioned will get the message out loud and clear.

I'm at a loss as to why this is so difficult for the club to take the lead on this!

It's fucking baffling quite frankly!
 
They are bang on the money especially about the club offering no form of defence of the fans.
I don't think there is any defence.

I agree that the club have thrown the UB's under a bus and that isn't fair, but in turn the UB's are a valuable asset in this because the club can show UEFA that we take their ban seriously we take the situation seriously and we are serious about sorting it out at its very heart, ie our singing section.

Basically, the UB's are having to take one on behalf of the entire support and the club itself.

Nothing about this situation is fair, it is one-eyed justice handed out in possibly the most unjust fashion, under the most biased form of evidence collecting by an organisation itself that is politically active and led by an agenda that will target certain clubs whilst ignoring others just as culpable.

However, we need UEFA and their competitions more than they need us.
They hold all the cards in this matter and we have none.
This is one of these situations where you doff your cap and eat dirt, because quite honestly there is simply no alternative.

I can't quite get it out of my head, that UEFA and their intransigent despotic nature are very much a mirror image of their big brother The EU.
But maybe I am myself being unfair in that.
Nonetheless!
 
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Good statement.
This is an important season for us, i hope we as a club can all accept the role we played in this and move on. The team need our full backing this season and that includes the UB from the stands
 
Their FC Midtjylland efforts at Ibrox

Will cause Ibrox Stadium to be shut

And still they will only deny everything and wail and blame others

Having cost Rangers FC, our only focus after all, money and European Football.

But hey, this is UB07FC after all.

Forgot the billy boys was invented in 2007.

Shut up
 
The club can't even give them safe standing Greg, instead the club put them right in the corner where the old away support used to sit and well out the way of the TV camera's so that they cannot be seen and anyone not at Ibrox Stadium cannot see their displays. Its a shambles.
do you not think that player investment to win the league is more important than a standing section ?
 
Fare says that the songs that have caused the problems started in BF1. Therefore they had no option.

It could still be a deliberate smear campaign by FARE against the UB’s even though the rest of the stadium joined in.
Silence the Ultras and you silence the whole crowd to the detriment of our team. That would be Timmy’s warped logic.
 
With this kind of bullish attitude I can see the club deciding they're more hassle than they're worth and disbanding their section completely. A shame really.
 
Dignified Silence from a Board happy to "Use" the fans and their money but posted missing when the going gets tough.

For those handwringers who are simplistic to think our enemies will stop at one word i urge they step back and consider that "Hoakey Coakey" was being lined up to better and Jail Bears.

The Board are weak, they lose every battle they go into be it SFA, Mhedia or High Court - their only "Victory" was on the back of us, the Rangers fans. I fear that this weakness will see us abused by corrupt officials and authority - if we do go clear in the league i fully expect a points deduction for us shouting too loud at a goal or being too British !

I understand we take the "hit" - but the way our Board have rolled over and shafted it's own is frankly quite disgusting.
 
“Supposedly sectarian” and “dubious organisations such as uefa”

I would have a lot more sympathy if they held their hands up and accepted some of the responsibility. It was not just them but I still don’t think they understand the seriousness of the implications if this continues.
 
The correct response from them would have been keeping quiet and asking the club to give them a more prominent area of the stadium so they can keep the singing clean.

They think they're above taking responsibility because they organise card displays
 
Deflecting the blame. Everyone needs to accept responsibility inside the stadium. Not everyone except BF1. They aren't blameless but never accept any wrongdoing. I think they do a great job but are they going to be careful about what songs they sing? No mention of future intentions??

I’m assuming the last paragraph and the bit about supporting Rangers in a positive manner means they have taken on board what has been said by uefa and the club.
They also aren’t saying they are blameless but they have taken 100% of the blame which is unfair
 
A lot of words for saying very little.

Would be nice if “the voice of Ibrox Stadium” took the lead in helping eradicate the bile that echos from the stands.
 
Petty finger pointing - it's UEFA, it's FARE, it's the board.

Maybe they should own up to their errors instead of basically claiming to be the sole source of anything good at Ibrox.

How hard would it have been to say that while they feel the action taken is unfair, they acknowledge that there were some chants which they now recognise to be unacceptable emanating from their section and are keen to work with the club to ensure positive outcomes for all in the future?

Instead we get petulant nonsense blaming everybody else.
 

A lot of truth in that statement.

But they let themselves down big time by failing to promise not to continue singing any of the songs that will bring further UEFA charges.

UB could've used this opportunity to positively lead the wider support. Put part of the grievance with Rangers / UEFA to the side for the benefit of the wider rangers support and club as a whole.
 
With everything else going on in the recovery of the Club, the last thing the Board need is to start fighting UEFA and having supporters groups seek a confrontation. And that's exactly what has happened.

Significant revenue has been lost and there's potential for a stadium closure. Maybe the UB wish to consider their position. I know they have to be anti-Establishment and independent of the Club but surely due to recent times, a little more cooperation and understanding would be appropriate.

Typically, though, it's about ego.
 
Greg, I'm at a loss on this tbh, or maybe I see things much simpler than this in charge of the club.

See my earlier post, the club needs to be pro active here, they have the ears of the fan groups, bloggers, forums and the wider support.

Get them round the table and engage with them! Engage with all of us ffs!

I'm sure those life yourself, and everyone I've mentioned will get the message out loud and clear.

I'm at a loss as to why this is so difficult for the club to take the lead on this!

It's fucking baffling quite frankly!

There is the assumption that the club hasn’t spoken to any of the fan base. That’s not accurate. But equally it has to continue and grow. I’ve spoken to bloggers, podders, influencers, RSCs, fan groups and more but it’s an ongoing process. We have a massive fan base and I believe the vast majority of us now know what has to be done.
 
time for the club and the UB to get together, a large percentage of the support want a safe standing section, the club could promise this if the song book is cleaned up and there is no further incidents home or away, let the guys police themselves on to something bigger and stronger that the whole cub can be proud of
 
“Supposedly sectarian” and “dubious organisations such as uefa”

I would have a lot more sympathy if they held their hands up and accepted some of the responsibility. It was not just them but I still don’t think they understand the seriousness of the implications if this continues.
They are going to isolate them selves from the support if they carry on in self destruct mode
 
That was not the case though. UEFA ordered closure of 3000 seats. FARE reported to UEFA that the offending song began from within that section. Rangers can’t tell them to %^*& off, and they can’t close another section and ignore the section that FARE took issue with. That is the difference in the emails received by Supporters in the BF1 and those being moved from the CD7 who are only being moved for logistical purposes as BF1-3 is not enough to equate to the 3000 ordered by UEFA to be closed. FARE’s focus On who was conducting the choir with a Megaphone that can be heard above everything else. I think the UB are great for the atmosphere but we are at stage now of having stadium closures and expulsion. Nobody is denying most of the Stadium joined in.. but the UB left themselves wide open to FARE and Rangers have to be seen to doing something or face the further wrath. I don’t support their position, they should heid the warning before it costs us much more than a section closure. Can you image what would happen if we were expelled from Europa? Can you image how Gerrard and the Team digest that? We are now playing with fire. Our enemies are great and to their delight we are going to turn on ourselves. The banner today and this statement plays right in to their hands.

My point isnt what has happened, its how to stop what youve described. Imo the club havent went about it the right way. The club should be leading from the front on the issue not just banning the UB and hoping the issue goes away. Not the first time the club let others dictate the narrative eg media etc not UEFA.
 
I understand their anger but they have some basics wrong here.

This isn’t a disproportionate punishment. Read article 14 in UEFA’s rules - it’s the minimum punishment.

The point re singing I can’t agree with. Had numerous meetings that spoke about singing in the section, including one following the charge.

We need to face up to facts here. In UEFA’s rules we are guilty. There is no defence that will work. We need to drop the discriminatory songs.

I have stated many times that I feel the UB are unfairly solely blamed for the singing but BF1 was the origin of the charges on that night.

We need the support to unite on this. Until we face up to the facts of the situation we are in we are extremely vulnerable to further sanctions

Greg

In these meeting were specific songs named as not to be sung ?

I for one do not sing the sectarian words but do sing the songs . On the whole it is very confusing
 
Can't argue with that, The Board have openly let Rangers get destroyed in the media with absolutely none of them rushing to our defence.

Over the past three days the club has sat in silence and kick after kick has come at us through 3,000 seats being removed for sale, FF has gone MENTAL over the use of (Racist - I am mindblown that The Billy Boys has been branded that by UEFA) and Sectarian singing, Michael Stewart saying our Orange Kit last season was sectarian, Celtic and Hibs dumping Gordon Neely on our doorstep slandering our clubs name and now the SNP throwing Police Scotland under the bus over a £31 million+ claim from Rangers 2012 Administrators and Owners.

Hello Rangers Board, what are you doing?

Wee Stewarty might be on his hols.
 
Greg, I'm at a loss on this tbh, or maybe I see things much simpler than this in charge of the club.

See my earlier post, the club needs to be pro active here, they have the ears of the fan groups, bloggers, forums and the wider support.

Get them round the table and engage with them! Engage with all of us ffs!

I'm sure those life yourself, and everyone I've mentioned will get the message out loud and clear.

I'm at a loss as to why this is so difficult for the club to take the lead on this!

It's fucking baffling quite frankly!
The "engagement" with fans from this board has been dreadful for years. It frustrates the f.uck out of me.
 
I'm my humblest opinion this is a chance for the club to me meeting with the ub, Blue order, FF and other forums, you tubers and bloggers.

Get everyone round the fucking table and make it clear what is expected for us to move forward as one!

No more fragmentation, everyone as one! Take the fucking lead Rangers! We might not get another chance!

LEADERSHIP from the club is needed and engagement with every supporter!

It's really not difficult to move on from this together!

Best post by a mile this simply has to happen and it has to happen before Thursday.
 
I can understand their frustration and they do a lot of great things for the Ibrox atmosphere, but if the club have had discussions with them about singing and they have then been the section where the ‘offending’ song has originated from on that evening (which Gregs post alludes to), they need to accept some responsibility.
 
Is it just me or does no one give a fcuk about the other areas being shut, the UB claim to be the voice of Ibrox, well take some responsibility and don't sing "supposed sectarian songs" I'm 52 and have sang the same songs for as long as I can remember and still will in certain company, but if it means getting kicked out of Europe then it's a no more from me at Ibrox
 
Greg

In these meeting were specific songs named as not to be sung ?

I for one do not sing the sectarian words but do sing the songs . On the whole it is very confusing

Apparently it isnt confusing according to some on here. All we have to do is stop singing the sectarian/racist/offensive songs. There you go.

Problem is, what songs are we talking about?
 
Greg, I'm at a loss on this tbh, or maybe I see things much simpler than this in charge of the club.

See my earlier post, the club needs to be pro active here, they have the ears of the fan groups, bloggers, forums and the wider support.

Get them round the table and engage with them! Engage with all of us ffs!

I'm sure those life yourself, and everyone I've mentioned will get the message out loud and clear.

I'm at a loss as to why this is so difficult for the club to take the lead on this!

It's fucking baffling quite frankly!

Do you think this is actually that complicated?

Everyone surely knows what we can and cannot sing, we had years of the OBFA, people jailed, etc. The reality of it is that we have had a heavier punishment than previous, with worse to come if it carries on, and it needs to stop.

The club have been at this with the fans for many years, we are all grown ups, we need to take responsibility for our own behaviour, and even moreso when it is damaging the club.

Rangers are bigger than any fan, group, song.
 
They are right about the positive things that they bring but they also have to accept their responsibility for leadership in the negative things. With them being highlighted in the report and with the absolute requirement on the club to show maximum compliance with the instructions, the result was inevitable.

We can and should challenge FARE.

We will not win against UEFA. Even if we should challenge them - and it is genuinely hard to mount a robust comeback with whatabouterry not being a comeback - there is zero chance of them changing their minds or making exceptions for us. We need to ensure that UEFA have no case against us. Surely this is not hard to understand.
 
Greg

In these meeting were specific songs named as not to be sung ?

I for one do not sing the sectarian words but do sing the songs . On the whole it is very confusing
In the nicest possible way, how is it confusing?

Don't sing about the pope, 19th Century Terrorists, the ira.
Do sing about Rangers, our players, and our history. Even throw in some of the old loyalist songs without any mention of the above and it's all good.

Why is this so hard to understand for folk?
 
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