Should All Scottish Fans Support Rangers In Europe?

Date: 29th February 2020

Rangers produced a massive feat on Wednesday night as they beat S.C. Braga in the Europa League and reached the last sixteen of that illustrious competition.

It wasn’t just a huge success for The Gers but also for the whole of Scottish football.  

Now should that mean that all of Scottish football supports Rangers on their prolonged European adventure?

No.

We can’t dictate how other supporters feel about our own clubs. We have rivalries in Scottish football and that should be respected. 

I’m the type of fan that will support any Scottish club in Europe. I cheered Rangers on as they found victory in Portugal during the week and then I was gutted a night later as Celtic missed out in following them into the draw for the last sixteen. 

I don’t see anything wrong in supporting all of Scotland’s sides in Europe but it doesn’t mean I am better than those that don’t. 

I get that Rangers doing well in the Europa League boosts the Scottish coefficient and it shows the rest of Europe that the Scottish Premiership isn’t a farmers league.

But it also doesn’t stop our domestic rivalries. 

Large amounts of Aberdeen fans, Hearts supporters and the Celtic faithful will never countenance the idea of supporting Rangers. The same goes for Rangers diehards, they wouldn’t lend support to rivals during European campaigns.  

Is it petty and bitter? Maybe but it’s also understandable as you can’t just change your feelings on something like your football allegiances. 

I doubt Dundee fans will be cheering on Dundee United this season, even if a promotion for United brings top flight football back to the city next season. 

As a Scotland fan I don’t care if England win, lose or draw but I certainly wouldn’t support them in a World Cup final or even a semi-final for that matter. 

Plus do we believe that Rangers will perform any better against Bayer Leverkusen if they receive support from their fellow Premiership teams and their fans? It will make no difference whatsoever to the tie. 

It’s Ok to be yourself in Scottish football. If you choose to support a rival or any Scottish side in Europe then great. If you can’t abide the idea of cheering on a rival, then that’s fine too. 

We don’t want football fans being aggressive, abusive, racist, sectarian, sexist or homophobic. Those are all issues we should rightly look to stamp out of our game. 

But it is still Ok not to support a rival football club, even if their success will benefit our game as a whole. 

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