THE UNION Bears fan group has hit out at the Rangers board over restrictions placed on them that “severely hampered” their Remembrance Day preparations.
Tensions between the board and the Gers support at large have increased in recent months, particularly in the wake of the shambles that saw the team locked out of Ibrox due to construction work delays.
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Philippe Clement‘s side struggling on the park this season too and many fans have been left underwhelmed with the club’s summer transfer business.
Banners aimed at the board are becoming a weekly occurrence now, with one from the October 20 clash against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park calling out “mismanagement of Rangers”.
A week later fans accused chiefs of “destroying our club” during a home tie against St Mirren at Ibrox.
They weren’t spared at the League Cup semi-final against Motherwell at Hampden either, with a display that read “Park and Co, Time to go”.
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Last weekend, Rangers hosted Hearts at Ibrox and paid their respects to fallen soldiers as part of Remembrance Day.
But the Union Bears claim their plans to mark the occasion were affected due to sanctions placed on them by Ibrox decision-makers.
The group released a statement on Twitter (X) and said the restrictions are being imposed to “cover up” club chiefs’ own failings at boardroom level.
In the statement they said the tifo for the day was one of the most difficult they’d ever had to make.
They also claim they were denied access to areas in and around the stadium before the game.
Rangers asked for volunteers prior to the game to help set up the club’s own Remembrance Day display.
They said: “Rangers FC is honoured to continue the tradition of hosting our annual Remembrance Day event at Ibrox.
“In keeping with the traditions of the day, the club are planning a remembrance card display for the match on Sunday and are in need of volunteers to assist in the setup.”
And subsequently, they have now SCRAPPED their plans to a display to mark the 125th anniversary of Ibrox.
The statement read: “The Union Bears have always taken immense pride in producing our Remembrance Day display. Unfortunately this year, due to sanctions imposed on us by the board, our preparation and ability to carry out the hundreds of man hours required to produce such a tifo were severely hampered.
“These sanctions were imposed by board members who appear to believe that punishing a vocal element of the support will cover up their continuous shortcomings in the boardroom.
“These sanctions forced us to seek alternative venues to create Sunday’s display, presenting a significant challenge to produce an extremely detailed display in a limited time frame.
“This display turned out to be one of the most challenging tifos to date. Even on Sunday morning whilst attempting to complete the tifo outside the stadium, we were informed on arrival that the group were not permitted to gain access to the stadium footprint pre-match.
“On our arrival at the stadium for kick off, in yet another attempt to curtail the tifo, the access of the tifo was initially knocked back then delayed to the point that the setting up time available for the display became near impossible.
“Due to its significance, we felt it was essential to complete this by any means necessary to ensure it was displayed in the Copland pre-match.
“The club also restricted access to our pre-match stall, which significantly impacted our merchandise sales during a month we were raising funds to order the material required to carry out our preparations for a 125th Ibrox anniversary tifo.
“Unfortunately due to financial constraints caused by lost revenue and a lack of opportunity to seek alternative venues at short notice, to facilitate such a display that we would consider appropriate for commemorating such an occasion, we will not be commencing with our plans for an Ibrox anniversary tifo.
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“In recent years we believed we held a sustainable relationship with the club. However in recent months, through yet another power shift, we have yet again become the focus of an ego driven campaign by select board members who solely want to harm the group and limit our match day capability.”
SunSport has contacted Rangers for comment.
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