Rangers supporters 'will behave' at Manchester United match
The Rangers Supporters Assembly president, Andy Kerr, has insisted that fans of the Scottish Premier League champions be on their best behaviour when they take on Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford tomorrow.
Two years ago, when Rangers reached the UEFA Cup final which was played in Manchester against Zenit St Petersburg, an estimated 180,000 of the club’s fans arrived in the city and a small proportion of them caused violence and destruction after the Rangers lost 2-0.
That has raised some fear that the carnage will be repeated when the SPL giants take on the Red Devils, but Kerr insists that — with Rangers potentially facing sanctions from the European football governing body UEFA if such scenes take place again — the Rangers supporters will be well-behaved.
He told reporters that, “Our travel arrangements offer security and safety. We are very confident that this match will go off without incident. We have allocated tickets very strictly through our travel club set up specifically for European travel. What we didn’t want was a situation where tickets were freely on sale and we didn’t have any control of people who might have their hands on them.”
However, Kerr added that United striker Wayne Rooney would likely be the target of the “wrath” of Rangers supporters during the game. Tabloid newspapers last week printed allegations that the married forward had solicited the services of a prostitute. Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson had kept him out of a return to his former club Everton to spare him the inevitable abuse, but Rooney will likely line up for United tomorrow.
Kerr said that, “We know he is a threat to us in the game and I would expect him to get a warm reception. The Premier League is big news in Scotland and everybody is au fait with the issues. I believe there have been some little ditties from Everton fans flying around but whether or not they are sung [by Rangers fans], I don’t know.”
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