A RANGERS ultras fans group are defiant over a march promoted by a sectarian flyer that is the centre of a criminal investigation.
The Union Bears insist the march before the Old Firm derby at Ibrox will go ahead, while claiming members have been visited by police.
The poster shows a silhouette image of someone wearing a green-and-white hooped jersey appearing to be being kicked in the head while on the ground, surrounded by text reading: “Good night, green white.”
It describes the Old Firm derby as "the match against the Fenians."
Some of those supporting the march are comparing it to allowed marches by Celtic Ultras group, the Green Brigade.
The row has caused one MSP who reported the matter to Police Scotland to threaten to quit Twitter following abuse over his stance.
Match commander Superintendent Alan Murray confirmed Police Scotland was looking into the controversial flyer and urged fans not go take part in the march.
But the Union Bears made a 'no surrender' retort saying: "Despite intimidation by the media and visits to our members houses by Police Scotland - Sunday's march to the stadium is still going ahead. We urge all Rangers fans to join us on the streets."
James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart contacted Police Scotland through social media channels saying: "Can you assure me you’re aware of this and will ensure it doesn’t go ahead? If this wasn’t meant to be threatening then why talk of ‘fenians’ and the request for ‘dark clothing’."
After coming under fire for his position he said: "Think I’ve had it with Twitter. I’m never shy at standing my ground and arguing my point of view but when you’re timeline is full of grown men behaving like upset children because you had the audacity to have a different view or support another team maybe it’s time to go.
"So far just today I’ve had some ‘hardcase’ telling me he knows where I stay and another keyboard warrior saying my maw's died. I’m not going to waste my time with morons such as these. My views won’t change & I’ll continue to voice them but not in this cesspit of hate and bile.
"Twitter can be a forum for good and I’ve always tried to interact but that’s probably the problem. I said I wouldn’t change when I became a politician, I haven’t and these eejits won’t change me either. My office will still post items of importance but I’m done."
The advert posted online on Tuesday by the Union Bears page and has received almost 1,500 shares.
Match commander Superintendent Alan Murray in confiming that it was looking into the controversial flyer said: “We are aware of a planned fans’ march on Sunday and would urge supporters not to join in.
“Large groups of fans moving together can cause problems and I am asking fans to make their way to the ground as normal.
“We are aware of the content of the advert connected to the march, which permission has not been granted for.
“A criminal investigation has been launched into the wording and logo of the advert."
Amidst the protests and supportive tweets to Mr Dornan's position, were some offensive comments, some more distasteful than others.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel