yen sid, rangers name has been in the mud for a couple of seasons now, from non existent 'red hand' salutes in israel to smashing up buses in villareal to be described as the most disgusting fans in europe by the mayor of barcelona (lest we forget uefa and your own clubs view on bigotry and steps theyve had to take to try and cut it out). obviously manchester was on a totally different scale but it was always going to happen, id actually trace the cause back to the media coverage of euro 1996
obviously england were hosts, 40 years since the world cup win in the same stadium, gazza, shearer, beckham all heroes, 3 lions on the shirt, god save the queen etc. they had to win surely? well the media liked to think so, they whipped the english fans into a state of delusion about their chances, suddenly there was a huge surge in patriotism and the flag (whatever that means!), people were singing god save the queen with tears running down their faces ffs.
they lost, but the nation had changed slightly, especially the younger yob lot who were too stupid to know any better, that period made the last 10 years + following england not just about being a fan but also a patriot or whatever! if you didnt wear a white shirt and drink 20 cans of carling then you werent a big brave englishman.
with gazza playing for england that summer, and with the whole english hype somehow tying up with victorian age loyalties to the queen, which appealed to the more extreme rangers fans, gers fans started appearing with england tops on. my dad used to goto ibrox as a hibbee years ago and was amazed, the thought of seeing folks wearing england tops at ibrox 20 years ago would be laughed at. even when butcher or hately were at their peak you wouldnt expect it.
it was because of 1996 that wearing the england top for alot of people started to mean more than merely supporting your team, which later changed the sort of people who were traveling abroad with the english national team for large tournaments. since 1996 we've had 2 world cups and 2 euros in europe, all of which have seen thousands upon thousands of extra 'fans' an excuse to wear the england top in another country, and drink alot in 'fanzones'
the root of the manchester trouble can be blamed on one-up-man-ship. if the english media hadnt of whipped up a '96 frenzy then the new followers of england would never have materialised. they wouldnt have felt they HAD to travel to france without tickets to watch in a pub, which wouldnt have encouraged club sides fans to do the same for big in europe, which wouldnt have caused celtic to take so many to seville, which in turn wouldnt have made every rangers fan who could go, goto manchester and get bevied up.
i dunno, maybe im talking shite, i am lying upside down in bed just now and my necks killing me