Listening to Your Customers.

The decision by Rangers to refuse tickets for the Scottish Cup game with Dundee Utd, as with almost any decision connected to the club these days, has been greeted with much wailing and gnashing of teeth by rival fans and amongst the usual suspects in the media. It has been a decision warmly greeted by the fans of the club however and is one which shows a growing bond between those running the club and those who support it. Also it highlights once again that certain rules, morals and mores exist for Rangers but then seem to be discarded when we examine the behaviour of other clubs.

There are several reasons for the current animosity between the two clubs. These are mainly rooted in the behaviour of Stephen Thompson during the summer but also involve some spats with the rather excitable Arab Trust (The Dundee Utd Supporter Trust). There is also the small matter of Dundee Utd being one of the prime movers behind the continuing attempt to steal titles from the club. This is rounded off by the scandalous decision by Dundee Utd to deny a refund to Rangers fans for a game in 2009 which was abandoned due to torrential rain and to then charge for the replay. Dundee Utd were successful when a Rangers Supporters Club took them to court over the matter, but surely we need to look beyond mere legal decisions at the “morality" and “sporting integrity" of such a decision? No?

In my humble opinion, the decision to refuse tickets for the game was the only one that Charles Green could reasonably take. After all, all the major fan groups had stated their support for a boycott and made statements outlining their reasons. These reasons are more than valid and do not even take into account the hostile attitude of Dundee Utd chairman Stephen Thompson behind closed doors over the past few months. However, it isn’t just my opinion that Green made the correct decision; I’m backed up by no less an authority on sporting integrity than Stephen Thompson himself!

During the height of the “No to Newco" campaign, Dundee Utd were one of the first clubs to publicly state they would vote against Rangers inclusion in the SPL. That is of course their right but it is somewhat illuminating to look back on Thompson’s words around this time. Now listen closely because these are clearly the words of a wise man.

“If a club fails to listen to its customers then it dies, it’s as simple as that. Without our fans’ full backing Dundee United dies in five or six years"

Now forgive me, but can someone explain to me the difference between Rangers refusing tickets on the basis that every single one of their fan groups have made public statements asking that they do so, and Dundee Utd voting against Rangers continuation in the SPL because their fans ran a campaign to insist on a no vote? Charles Green is surely just listening to his “customers"?

It is also quite illuminating to consider the words of Thompson when examining the statement made by the Arab Trust on the matter of the boycott.

“As supporters’ bodies, we do not agree with any boycott – fans are the lifeblood of the game."

Noble words I am sure we can agree. However during the summer, when speaking of meetings with his own fans, Thompson said this.

“On my way out of the ground to go for a quiet coffee I also met a fan who said he wasn’t going to buy a season ticket if we had approved a newco but was now getting four."

So we had a situation in the summer where Dundee Utd fans were telling their own chairman they would boycott their own club if they did not vote against Rangers but are now appalled at the thought that Rangers fans would boycott a single cup game due to what they see as the underhand and antagonistic behaviour of Dundee Utd towards our club and fans.