Rangers must ban the Union Bears from Ibrox after Lyon pyro display

IN his first address to Rangers supporters after being appointed interim chairman last month, John Gilligan pledged that he would not shy away from tackling any contentious issues which might arise during his tenure.

 

“I’m absolutely ready to put the long-term interests of the club first,” wrote Gilligan in his programme notes for the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Dundee at Ibrox. “If that means making decisions that may be unpopular, I will do just that.”

 

He might have to do exactly that far sooner than he had anticipated. The conduct of the Union Bears during the Europa League encounter with Lyon in Govan last night was abhorrent and cannot and should not be ignored by directors.

 

Moving the ultras group from the bottom of the Broomloan Stand to the middle of the Copland Stand made perfect sense. They are, for all of their faults, a boisterous and noisy bunch who do much to generate a febrile atmosphere inside the stadium and fire up the Rangers players up on the park on match days.

They were certainly invaluable to the Glasgow outfit during the four games they played at Hampden earlier this season. That was a difficult move for everyone involved. But they chanted from kick-off to the final whistle in the meetings with Motherwell, Dynamo Kyiv, Ross County and St Johnstone.

 

Manager Philippe Clement, his squad members and his coaching staff were slaughtered by followers of rival clubs when they formed a guard of honour for the Union Bears after their win over the latter. But they were quite correct to thank them for their vocal and invaluable backing during that time.

 

So it was entirely understandable when they were given a more prominent position inside Ibrox when the stadium finally, after the delayed redevelopment work was completed, reopened.

 

But it would also be no great surprise if they find themselves locked out for the foreseeable future either given their actions during the European tie with their formidable French opponents last night.

 

Members of the Union Bears unfurled banners which read “No Surrender LC + AW” and “Rangers Riot Crew” during the first