SHOULD the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund be used to pay for the legal defence of the Ibrox pitch invader who entered the field of play just after Celtic had taken the lead at Ibrox on Saturday and confronted Celtic captain Scott Brown and striker Leigh Griffiths?
The Rangers supporter was eventually arrested and will no doubt be making an appearance in the Sheriff Court in Glasgow this morning, alongside among others his fellow Rangers supporter who was caught in television pictures making what seemed like racist gestures to the Celtic goalscorer Scott Sinclair.
Celtic won the match by a record margin of 5-1, making this their biggest ever win at Ibrox and for many Rangers supporters their miserable season rumbles on with yet more court cases to content with. Indeed this following the regular appearances by the club or its fans in court will be spoilt for choice today with the Sheriff Court hearing about the incidents at Ibrox on Saturday lunchtime and the High Court listening to the latest witness in the HMA v Craig Whyte trial.
There’s plenty of up and coming action in the Civil courts involving Rangers but for today it’s all about the criminal courts.
So with this in mind the Rangers supporters have been busy discussing the pitch invader from the weekend and debating whether they should use their funds to pay for his defence.
THE IBROX PITCH INVADER DEBATE
“This is what the fighting fund should be used for, defending our fans. Due to our board’s refusal to stand up for the club and support its understandable that some will eventually react to the constant dehumanising and baiting of us. I’m not condoning what he did but he’s one of us none the less,” said this supporter starting off the debate.
There was soon a disagreement though.
“Absolutely not. It was for the defending the Club not some clown who brought us all into disrepute. No one put their hard earned in for some clown.”
Then this one…
“You’ve got to be joking. RFFF money used to defend a pitch invader?”
The next supporter reminded everyone about using the cash to build a training ground stand!
“I never put my hard earned in for a stand at a training ground,” he said.
“You’re seriously at the wind up here,” this Bear replied. “A fan enters the field and then attempts to confront players and you want the RFFF to pay for his defence, get a grip pal, he was stupid and will no doubt be regretting what he did.”
One fan outlined the facts as he saw it on Saturday.
“Did anyone see how this all came about?
“From what I saw the gate opened about 5/6 ended on trackside, the nearest steward (female I think) looked at them and turned her back pretending she hadn’t seen them (proberbly didn’t think worth the hassle for what she’s paid).
“The rest went back to stand and if I saw correctly the guy who ended on the pitch was leaning over the ad boards and fell over, imo it looked like he thought ‘I’m on pitch and will look silly for not doing anything’ so gave Brown some stick, Brown didn’t back away which made him look even more silly so attempted a half hearted swing at Brown, by this time Tav and Griffths are over before he was marched away.
“I think as soon as the guy was on the pitch he realised he was having a long weekend in the cells.”
Thoughts then turned to the pitch invader’s court appearance.
“Hopefully the fellow pleads not guilty,” said one fellow Rangers supporter.
Not all agreed. “The guy made a d**k of himself and will rightly get the book thrown at him.”
Some remembered last season’s Scottish Cup Final against Hibs which rangers lost 3-2.
“Would you expect the d**head who ran on the pitch to receive a similar sentence to the Hibs fan who assaulted a player and a female supporter, ie a non custodial sentence?”
And this one.
“I’m sure he will be shafted, and the excuse will be that it could have incited a bigger riot than the many thousands of Hibs fans that took to the pitch, destroyed much of it and goaded /fought our fans and attacked our players. The fact that it didn’t will be irrelevant. They will shaft him, different rules for us.”
Some Rangers fans reckoned it was all Scott Brown’s fault, maybe Leigh Griffiths’ too!
“The lad should plead not guilty and Brown and Griffiths should be cited as to why they wanted to go head to head with the guy instead of walking away. Brown and Griffiths goaded the support. I think that they were lucky that only one young “lad” ran on.”
And more of this followed.
“Whatever goes down I hope Brown and Griffiths are held accountable for their part in this. I wont hold my breath though.”
And this..
“Guy is a tadger, however Griffiths and Brown were goading him and actually gave him the ‘come on’ gesture. As per, there’s always 1 bell end. I was about 40 yards away and saw it unfold. Have to say, I’m shocked that these gestures from the Celtic neds has been missed. My thought were, ‘this bear is going to be in trouble, as are those 2 roasters’.
What was the point of his actions asks this chap?
“So he runs on the pitch and does nothing of any note. Pointless but lets be honest he shouldnt be on the pitch.”
Some wanted to make a political point.
“Expect nothing less than 20 years in jail with police scotrepublician holding conferences everyday during the trial.”
Others referenced the Rangers team on Saturday.
“He showed more passion than the players with blue on.”
There was some sympathy for the Ibrox pitch invader from this Bear.
“Poor guy just got a wee bit over exuberant, thats all! Surely a wee wag of the finger, a shake of the head and maybe a tut is the maximum punishment for this guy!
But less so here.
“I remember thinking as he was lead away he s@@t it and should have made his stay in the cells worthwhile.”
The Rangers fans have all been there reckons this guy.
“He shouldn’t be on the pitch. But to be goaded by those pair of twats he must just have seen red.
He will be feeling a wee bit embarrassed I would think. We have all been there when the red mist descends.”
And one offered an improbable explanation.
“The Bear went for a p**h tripped over the barrier and got caught up in Brown’s and Griffith’s celebrations. Bad timing unfortunately for the Bear.”
The next supporter was embarrassed by the invader’s actions.
“Idiot and shouldn’t be on the pitch. If he was never at ibrox again he would not be missed.
I was embarrassed seeing it, we are all passionate and that game was hard to watch but we all managed not to run on the pitch.”
This one too.
“He’s a moron has embarrassed himself and the club and sure all those who are half heartedly sticking up for him would have done the same if it was a Tim doing the same thing at the other end…BUT a precedent was set after the Cup Final. I assume he will get a slap on the wrist for being over exuberant.”
Some are even angry at what he did.
“I hope the f****y has the sense to plead guilty, gets the book thrown at him and gets a life ban from ibrox. D**khead.”
And this.
“Hopefully a ban from the club as well. Any fully grown adult running onto a football park to confront a player is a moron.
Not all though.
“”Rightly get the book thrown at him.” Christ almighty, the lad had a rush of blood to his head after been give given the “lets have a square go gesture” by Griffiths and Brown. I’d suggest that everyone that was sitting around him and who did witness them do this should get in touch with the guy’s lawyer when his name comes out and offer to give evidence on the lad’s behalf to show there was provocation towards him.”
On the aftermath…
“The guy was led up the stairs by the police just to the right of me. He looked totally off his face and his eyes looked like p***holes in the snow.”
Back to the row.
“Cannot believe the people defending this idiot for running onto the pitch! What is wrong with you? If the shoe was on the other foot would we be blaming our player? Course not….”
And straight back at him…
“If the shoe was on the other foot and one of our players had gestured to the guy to ‘come ahead’, you can be sure the press would have had a field day over it. Very interesting that the tv footage didn’t show the incident in its entirety. Same as the Hibs fans invasion at Hampden and the edited version of Lennon booting **** out of a Hearts fan.
This guy has an eye for stats…
“Think a lot of people remember the terrible way we were treated ‘re final – 3000 Hibs fans on the park 28 arrests 250 Rangers 44 hopefully he will get a £50 fine.”
Hammered…
“I hope he gets absolutely hammered by the courts. Hammered.”
Embarrassed…
“I was embarrassed by his actions, we have enough problems without clowns like him adding to them. I can’t believe some people are actually defending the guy.”
Disgrace…
“Unbelievable that some are actually defending this d***head, and somebody even suggested using fans money to help with his defence! He’s a disgrace and embarrassment to our club, and the only good thing is that it wasn’t caught by the live TV cameras. I don’t want this clown jailed, but I sincerely hope he is never allowed to step foot in Ibrox again.”
On the other hand…
“I’ll never forgive him for getting that close to Brown and failing to properly lamp him.”
Goaded…
“Are folk seriously suggesting that being goaded is an excuse? Are we all 12 year olds?”
Banned…
“I don’t care what his punishment is. Jail him or don’t. But he should be banned from Ibrox.”
Hammered…
“He will get hammered by the courts and banned for life from Ibrox. He should have took a crack at that pr*ck Brown.”
Scab!…
“Worst thing about it is he seemed to be wearing this seasons top. Scab!”
