Rangers Fans Outraged As Celtic Old Firm Ban Deemed Justified: Does It Solve Anything For Rohl?
Rangers Fans Outraged As Celtic Old Firm Ban Deemed Justified: Does It Solve Anything For Rohl? Rangers sit third in the Scottish Premiership table, trailing Celtic by four points and Hearts by seven, with the season approaching its defining stretch. Against that backdrop, Celtic have confirmed that Rangers’ supporter group the Union Bears will not receive an allocation for the upcoming Old Firm derby at Celtic Park.
Keith Wyness , former Aberdeen chief executive and a seasoned football consultant who led Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004 before serving as chief at both Everton and Aston Villa, backs Celtic’s decision completely. Speaking on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness said that both the Union Bears and Celtic’s own Green Brigade have shamed their respective clubs. He argued that Celtic’s approach was entirely fair, adding that more moderate supporters from either side could easily fill those allocations.
Wyness pointed specifically to trouble like pitch invasions and the wearing of masks inside grounds as the kinds of incidents that simply have no place in the modern game. He was careful to note that the ban targets the Union Bears specifically, not Rangers’ travelling support as a whole, and reckons both clubs know exactly who the repeat offenders are. He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “As I understand it, it’s not away fans overall, it’s just the Union Bears.
“That’s where I am in complete agreement with Celtic in the way they’ve approached this. But of course, it’s very dangerous to get involved between Celtic and Rangers because no one side will ever give way to the other. “It’s perfectly fair to say that some of the Green Brigade from Celtic and the Union Bears from Rangers have brought, I think, some disgrace on each of their clubs.
The clubs do know who they are, and they should be excluded from Old Firm games. “There are plenty of more moderate Rangers or Celtic fans who could fill an allocation. That’s what should be encouraged until there’s some decent behaviour.