Former Rangers defender and Nottingham Forest star Joe Worrall has been opening up on the online abuse which has tainted his experience of Ibrox.
Worrall, 24, was signed by Steven Gerrard on a season-long loan from Forest in the Liverpool legend’s first season in charge at the Glasgow club in 2018.
Certainly very raw, Worrall experienced a steep learning curve at Ibrox but there were some impressive performances and a clear development in the centre-back’s play.
However, Worrall’s time at the club is one marked with inconsistency and unfortunately big errors which many Rangers fans – rightly or wrongly – have struggled to forgive him for.
But whilst Worrall clearly loved his time at Rangers his memory of the club and experience of being a former player has been tainted by shameful and thoroughly embarrassing online abuse which continues to this day.
“I still get messages now on social media whenever I post anything from Rangers fans genuinely calling me every name under the sun,” said Worral [Robin Chipperfield].
“Kilmarnock fans thank me! Genuinely, I loved my time there. Rangers fans are fantastic but they think they have a divine right to hammer and call blind any player who has ever had a bad game for Rangers.
“Martyn Waghorn, it really messed his head up and he’s a great player. It definitely took a toll, not on my mental health – I’m earning thousands of pounds a week playing football.
“It’s part and parcel. Fans pay their money and if you underperform you deserve pelters for giving the ball away against Kilmarnock.
“However, three years later and still getting vile messages off Rangers fans, it’s unacceptable really. They’ve won the league and they’re hammering a 21-year-old who has done nothing but try his best.
“That’s enough about Rangers because I did really love my time up there but it’s a lingering cloud, the abuse I get for no apparent reason.
“I thought I did ok. Yes I made some mistakes but at the same time the reason I was at Rangers was because (former Forest boss Aitor) Karanka said I needed more experience.
“Maybe I ironed out some mistakes at Rangers and their fans will say ‘no, you play for Rangers and you have to be the best in the world’.
“I was 21 and trying to learn my trade, play under Gerrard, play in front of 50,000 at Ibrox and 60,000 at Parkhead.
“I 100 percent know I came back a better player and a better leader. I got caught on video saying ‘F Celtic’ after they won the league.
“It was really stupid of me. They were miles better than us but the video went viral.
“I was getting more abuse off Rangers fans than Celtic fans for that video. It felt like that had a vendetta against me and I don’t know why.
“I’m confident and don’t let things get to me. I always play the same way and I’m not afraid to get on the ball but I think Rangers fans thought I was big headed. That’s not me.”
Online abuse a footballing problem but Rangers must tackle misguided culture within Ibrox
Fair play to Joe Worrall for calling this out as a culture of abusing players shames not just our club Rangers but football as a whole and fans must take more responsibility for the impact it can have.
When it comes to Rangers, members of our support use this blanket excuse of apparent Ibrox standards to vilify and attack players who aren’t popular or who make big mistakes.
This is a lie perpetuated in order for bullies – ordinarily nameless – to attack people online because they are insecure in their own lives.
As Rangers fans, maintaining standards and expecting high levels of performance is one thing, but using this as an excuse to lambast people is another completely. Not in Rangers’ name, please.
More needs to be done across football to eradicate abuse but it’s about time we started calling out these bullies who tar the good name of our own club.
If you’re going to send vile abuse to any Rangers players, past or present, it’s fair to say that you fundamentally are not welcome at Ibrox no matter how warped your interpretation of the club is.
How embarrassing that Joe’s experience at Rangers has been so tainted by these online no-marks hiding behind their nameless social media platforms and we wish him all the best at Forest.
Meanwhile, Rangers fans have been reacting online to a clip which appears to solidify the notion that Steven Gerrard is about to join Aston Villa.
