Football News: Football Ultras - Love Or Loathe Them?

Football Ultras - love or loathe them? Or somewhere in between. I think a well organised group can be a force for good to any club. It's the unsavoury aspect or where they go off script that lets them down. There have been many wonderful Tifo displays from the Glasgow Rangers Union Bears (UB) and the club hasn't been shy in using them in promotional adverts online.

Unlike 'normal' supporters, they will sing and support the team from the 1st to the last minute. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't make them any better as fans. The issue is where they, the club and the authorities draw the line. There is an unwritten Ultra rule that they don't attack normal fans. It's why you will see plenty of footage of Ultras squaring up 8 x 8 in fields all over Europe. It's not like the old days of Football Casuals or Hooligans where everyone was seen as fair game.

Every country has them. Some clubs embrace them more than others. Bayern Munich engaged with their Ultra for the recent 125th anniversary. All the major clubs in all the major leagues in Europe have them - apart from England where they have been slow to embrace this aspect of fan culture. The English Premier League has sold its soul to Sky and doesn't need to embrace anything that will bring young additional fans into the games.

Some say they are "wee neds", or are "daft wee laddies", but loads of young fans look up to them for the colour, noise, and atmosphere they bring to matches. Others despise them for the exact same traits, or just because they sit 10 feet away from an incessant drum noise!

They also like to use pyrotechnics and smoke bombs which are illegal in Scotland. UEFA also frown upon them as well. The issue for many is the trouble the club finds themselves in for a group of young men voicing their opinions on matters that most wouldn't like to see in a modern society.

I'm not a fan of politics in football, but whether we like it or not, Rangers will always have that element. We were founded as a working-class, Protestant team in defiance of the stuck-up middle-class element who followed Queens Park and others.

In a modern society, we need to be mindful that many people of different cultures, sexual orientation, 'Follow, Follow'. Plenty also find them a convenient excuse to blame the singing of the "party tunes", when most of us realise that the full stadium can sometimes be singing along.

The true number of the UB is around 200 with approximately 500 joining them in that area. Maybe they should be policed better by those around them? Or maybe it's time for the club to introduce tougher sanctions on them? Love or loathe them, I don't think there is ever going to be a happy medium where the UB are concerned. I enjoy them at times with what they bring. It doesn't matter if I think the law on pyrotechnics is draconian, the law is the law.

But the club with their latest statement, seem to be taking a firm stance for a change and I wholeheartedly agree with their sentiments. As soon as it impacts on the normal supporters' ability to get tickets for important matches, then they need to act.

Written by MrPotatoHead March 19 2025 19:58:36