Take a look on Twitter or in the press this week and it’s hard to avoid the news that Rangers have just been crowned Champions of Scotland for the first time in a decade.
We were told that our club was dead, that it was never coming back, and if the events of this week have proven anything, plenty out there actually believed it. But we never.
For Rangers fans, there has scarcely been a moment in Ibrox history more worth celebrating than this one – and yet there has been scant empathy or realisation as such.
The scenes at the end of Saturday evening were a disgrace – by the club’s own admission – but more than anything this highlights the continuing idiocy of drinking culture in Scotland.
Whilst some commentary has been with merit, other outbursts have at times formed part of a direct effort to misrepresent the party, deconstruct our celebrations and ultimately, redefine what Rangers means to us in front of the entire Scottish community.
It’s disgraceful and unfortunately a sign of the times in Scotland.
How can a team of players from a wealth of religious backgrounds be so celebrated yet so denigrated by their own supporters?
This is Schrodinger’s Rangers fan; a paradox which may well be applicable to some but it is undeniably, unarguably, not the case for the overwhelming majority of us.
This balance is not what we’ve seen this week.
But whilst it is frustrating and it is hurtful for people to endure the vehemence which has been levelled at Rangers fans this week it’s important supporters take a step back.
This was a concerted effort, a pre-planned response, a point-making exercise which serves to alienate Rangers, the supporters and the players.
No amount of shouting into the void is going to change it.
There are issues beyond the footballing which affect every walk of life in Scotland and we as Rangers fans must be prepared to hear them and heal them.
But so long as we have this echo chamber of anti-Rangers commentary the only thing which will be sown is further division. Don’t buy into it. Take a step back and smell the roses.
Rangers are the Champions – and whilst many may be trying to redefine what our club stands for – they cannot take away what we have achieved this season.
Rangers fans have criticised a leading SNP minister for his role in the continuing criticism being levelled at the club and support.
