Sport | Football
Rangers fan club criticises rioting
The president of the Dubai Loyal Rangers Supporters Club has criticised the 'stupid individuals' responsible for causing havoc at last week's Uefa Cup final in Manchester.
- By Kevin Scott, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:15 May 21, 2008
Dubai: The president of the Dubai Loyal Rangers Supporters Club has criticised the 'stupid individuals' responsible for causing havoc at last week's Uefa Cup final in Manchester.
Norman MacDonald, who was in Manchester for the match, told Gulf News he hoped they were caught and punished for bringing the wrong kind of headlines to the club.
He said: "There was trouble after one of the large screens went dead but we need to keep things in perspective. The majority of fans didn't misbehave and were a credit to the club and to Scotland and I think that point needs to be reinforced".
Dubai Loyal, a club that caters for Rangers fans based all over the Middle East, took a large contingent to north-east England for the match.
Forty Rangers fans travelled from Dubai, 16 from Azerbaijan, 16 from Bahrain, 4 from Saudi Arabia and a handful of others from Qatar and Oman.
"We saw members of the Johannesburg and Melbourne Rangers supporters clubs during the course of our trip", said Macdonald, "the atmosphere in Manchester before the match improved with every passing minute.
'Mass of red'
"On the day of the match we left our apartment for a stroll and the city was a mass of red, white and blue with hundreds of supporters arriving every minute by every conceivable form of transport.
"I have been on over 20 overseas trips and never seen any trouble and that is my memory from Manchester also; happy bar managers, happy shopkeepers and happy taxi drivers."
Rangers lost 2-0 to Russian side Zenit St Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium last Wednesday evening.
Police estimate around 200,000 Rangers fans descended on Manchester, the largest single movement of fans ever recorded for a football match.
Dubai Loyal, a club that caters for Rangers fans based all over the Middle East, took a large contingent to north-east England for the match.
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