Two Sets Of Ticketless Fans, And Two Different Ways To Cover The Story.

This morning, I did a piece on the official club statement at Ross County, which the media took great delight in covering. I thought that statement was crass and over the top and ridiculous, and was yet another attack on the support which has helped pay for a lot of these grounds that we now struggle to get tickets for. I thought it was outrageous.

The media’s coverage of it strongly leaned on the side of Ross County; how dare Celtic fans try to get into the away end? Don’t people know that is dangerous and wrong? Imagine my surprise, then, when one of the same papers ran a similar story from Belgium, about how Ibrox fans were trying to get tickets for the away end in their Champions League qualifier?

And how do you think The Daily Record covered that story? As a security nightmare, filled with warnings and foreboding and the threat of dire consequences? No, of course not. They went the other way. Which is what you would expect from them.

This is how Gavin Berry opened the piece, and the tone is remarkable in contrast to that which Celtic fans had to read this morning about our club.

“Union Saint-Gilloise are trying to block Rangers fans snapping up tickets for the home end for the first leg of their crucial Champions League qualifier in Belgium next week after cottoning on to crafty Ibrox punters taking out membership schemes for the Jupiler Pro League side.”

The very first line reeks of “How dare they!” and pays tribute to “crafty” fans trying to get around the ticket ban by signing up for membership schemes for the Belgian club. Aren’t these mugs in enough membership schemes as it is? That was my first thought. They must love throwing their money about like confetti.

So the Belgians are nasty and horrible and the Ibrox fans are simply guys who want to follow their team, indulging in some jolly japes? And on the other hand, Ross County are right to do everything in their power to prevent our fans – our hooligan, awful fans who threaten service staff when they don’t get what they want – from doing the same?

What snivelling guttersnipe hypocrites our media are at times.

It boils my blood, it really does.