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Anne Keenan
Alan Fisher
Alan Fisher is an Al Jazeera correspondent
Can Rangers somehow
create a positive
fan culture?
Alasdair McKillop
It has not been an enjoyable week. Rangers and the disorientated masses that follow the club have been forced to confront the possibility that the story that started 140 years ago at Flesher’s Haugh might end in the ignominy of the Knacker’s Yard.
Every relevant body that could conceivably have some authority over the situation has launched an investigation into the affairs of Rangers and its posted-missing owner Craig Whyte. Strathclyde Police has joined HM Revenue and Customs in publically airing Rangers’ dirty laundry, of which there appears to be several washing baskets worth. On Tuesday, the Scottish Football Association revealed the composition of its high-profile panel tasked with investigating Rangers’ recent business dealings. Lord William Nimmo Smith is to chair the panel which also includes Professor Niall Lothian, a former past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. One is left with the impression that stones will not go unturned. It has not been an enjoyable week.
These various organisations will be investigating quantifiable sins. Quantifiable sins such as possible tax evasion through the sneaky operation of employee benefit trusts. Quantifiable sins such as the non-payment of PAYE and VAT, totalling £9 million, since Craig Whyte took over the running of the club last May. Finally, quantifiable sins relating to Craig Whyte’s acquisition of the club in the first place. The penance for being guilty of these sins, particularly the second, could be severe. Rangers might have to hope for a forgiving priest.
Regardless of the outcomes of tribunals and investigations, there is already a sense that intangible sins have been committed. These are sins against history, reputation and standing and against propriety and decency. For some fans, Rangers has sinned against an imagined or idealised vision of itself and against the values they like to associate with the club. Future developments only have the potential to exacerbate this feeling, not to eradicate it. The match-day programme being sold outside Ibrox prior to Saturday’s game against Kilmarnock featured a quote from legendary manager Bill Struth. It read, ‘No matter the days of anxiety that come our way, we shall emerge stronger because of the trials to be overcome’. An extended version of the same quote also featured in leaflets distributed by the Rangers Supporters Trust. I was surely not alone in reading his words and thinking ‘I’m sure Mr Struth never envisioned days like these’.
From the perspective of the Rangers fans, perhaps the most that can be expected of the plethora of tribunals and investigations is an accurate map which might facilitate the better aiming of anger and frustration. This can be achieved by clarifying who was responsible for the current mess; the crimes are largely known but guilt remains to be definitively established. The Murray empire has been under sustained attack for several years and no relief was provided by the entrance of Whyte (apparently more banana republic than empire), although he too has caused himself to be vilified.
Responsibility. Over the past week, this commodity has primarily been visible only when it was passed from one set of hands to yet another. Kenneth Roy (21 February) offered a charitable assessment of Murray’s time at the helm, certainly more charitable than your average belligerent bear would care to offer. It should be pointed out that Murray’s already tarnished reputation could yet suffer further damage should the HMRC tribunal find against Rangers but even a Rangers victory in the tax case would be unlikely to result in a pardon for Murray.
The fans are, to a large extent, responsible for nurturing and defining
the culture of the club and, as many have pointed out, something of its essence resides with the fans.
Alasdair McKillop is a member of the Rangers Supporters Trust writing in an independent capacity
