It’s just one of those times when events overtake you.
This has got to be about Rangers
I hadn’t planned it that way.
But then I heard that Rangers had gone into
administration.
And it hit me. It hit me hard. And I had to write
something.
It doesn’t matter who you are. Rangers are a part of
your life, whether you know it or not. Like Mount Everest. Like a force of
nature.
And that’s why Rangers have to survive, whatever the
modern world thinks they've brought to the table - and the field - since they were
founded in 1872.
I want Rangers to survive because a club is about more
than money.
I want Rangers to survive for their supporters. The
rowdy, the quiet, the young and the old. Not because they’re Rangers
supporters. But simply because they’re supporters. Because in a world where
everything has a price and nothing has value, they have some things that can’t
be bought with money – loyalty, a sense of community, a bond with one another
and their team that doesn’t depend on its position in the league table or on
the stock market.
This blog’s
going to be about Rugby Union and about various aspects of life in Italy. And
that’s how it was supposed to start.
It was not going
to be about football. And not certainly not about Rangers. And I wasn’t going
to start it yet.
But what’s happening to Rangers dwarfs all that.
We rugby fans think we’re different from football
supporters. And we sometimes think that our game’s better than theirs with its
diving, its rolling around on the ground, its nil-nil draws and its hooligan
elements. And some Celtic fans think they’re better than Rangers fans. And
Inter supporters…well, you get the picture.
But none of us is so different. And we know it. We get
the picture.
We know that every Rangers supporter - like the
Rangers supporters I’ve met - have their own special Rangers story that they
want to share.
And we already know that story. The details will be
different and so will the names. But it will be a story we know. Because if
you’ve ever loved a team, it will be your story, too.
And now Rangers have hit an iceberg and that’s part of
their story, too.
But it could be part of yours. Because Rangers, like
Celtic and Aberdeen FC and the Scottish national rugby team are part of the
fabric of a nation and more. They aren’t just ‘a business’ - they’re a way of
life. A way of life that is in Rangers' case shared by millions of people
worldwide. They’re an energy-giving source of pride, sporting culture, history
and unity. They bring people together. To celebrate them or to shout against
them. But however you look at it, they bring people together.
And if Rangers go under no-one is safe.
But I also want Rangers to survive because my team
didn’t. And I know what it’s like to bleed all over the stadium floor. And I
wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Go on, Rangers! Prove the naysayers, the bloodless
pragmatists, those without the guts to dream… prove them wrong!
Jack
Jack
