Rangers cannot dwell on penalty error as special day planned at Ibrox - minus the League Cup trophy
What an occasion it promises to be at Ibrox promises this afternoon. Rangers supporters are being urged to come along early.
A jam-packed schedule of activities has been arranged to mark the 125th anniversary of the stadium, which was opened with a game against Hearts on December 30, 1899. The fixtures computer was not playing ball in the summer. Rather than the Tynecastle side, who visited Ibrox most recently last month, coming to play on or at least near such a significant date, it’s Dundee who have been handed this questionable honour.
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Hide AdWithout a victory at Ibrox since shortly after the stadium celebrated its centenary, they aren’t expected to spoil a party that includes “heritage-themed activities” in the pre-match fanzone and a tifo display in the Sandy Jardine Stand. A selection of Rangers legends will be invited onto the pitch, as will some of the youngest and oldest season ticket holders. Broxi Bear, meanwhile, will be in the stands with giveaways and prizes and the players themselves will be getting in on the act by wearing the specially designed Ibrox 125 heritage kit.


It has been embroidered with what is described as the club’s “earliest scroll monogram crest” with a gold ‘Ibrox Stadium 1899-2024’ stitched underneath. The piece de resistance, meanwhile, can be found on the socks. They showcase stadium architect Archibald Leitch’s iconic criss-cross balustrade design, still visible across the mid-tier of the Bill Struth main stand, on the stocking turndown.
Topping everything off amid the pomp and pageantry, new CEO Patrick Stewart will take his seat in the directors’ box for the first time. He will be joined by fledgling chairman Fraser Thornton at the dawn of a new era in the club’s history.
This is all very well, of course. But what about that bleeding penalty? It’s understandable if these noble attempts to honour and celebrate such an iconic stadium as Ibrox have been overshadowed somewhat. Rangers are hurting, their best-laid plans have been torpedoed. Never mind stadium designers, what about dream wreckers? VAR officials Alan Muir and Frank Connor stand accused and, with the SFA's ever-more impressive Head of Refereeing Willie Collum to the fore, have been found guilty.
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They won’t be officiating at Ibrox or anywhere else this weekend. Not that this punishment can assuage the pain of wondering what might have been. “It will sit in the back of our heads for the rest of our lives,” lamented Rangers manager Phillipe Clement on Friday, with reference to the now infamous non-award of a penalty for Liam Scales’ tug of Vaclav Cerny’s jersey in last weekend’s League Cup final.
What better way to mark 125 years at the current Ibrox than by bringing out the League Cup won the weekend previously following a classic final against your greatest rivals? Rangers feel they have been robbed of this opportunity. They believe James Tavernier would have slotted home the award they were denied in extra time at Hampden to make it 4-3 and put Rangers in the driving seat.
That might or might not have happened. But what is incontrovertible, with the incident having been given top billing in the SFA’s own VAR Review show earlier this week, is that they should have been given the chance to go in front for the second time on that dramatic afternoon. Had they done so, there’s every chance that Rangers would have been adding to the occasion this afternoon by parading the League Cup in front of their supporters.
Don’t think Clement doesn’t know this. With three points a non-negotiable in their attempt to claw back Celtic, the manager clearly knew he had to try and put the accent on moving forward on the eve of Dundee’s visit. But that’s easier said than done. Clement was also alert to the need for him to address the penalty situation since this was the first time he had spoken since urging reporters to "dig into it" after the game on Sunday.
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“It’s hard because you feel after the game that the rules of the game are not followed,” he said. “A lot of times there’s a grey area in decision-making. This time there was totally no grey area, that’s very clear for everybody after the game. And there’s nobody in the world who has another view on that.
“It’s been good that there was transparency from Willie Collum, and openness and honesty about what happened and about his ideas about the situation. He was really clear about that.
“It doesn’t help the result in the end, because it’s a game-decisive moment, but we appreciate the honesty, for sure. Everybody in the club hopes that Willie is not alone in his fight to get standards better, but that everybody at the top of the SFA also have the same ambition to make things better. These things cannot happen, because it’s not only for Rangers losing a game like that, but it’s also a really bad advertisement for Scottish football.
“All of Europe has been talking about what happened in this final and that’s a pity, because it was two good teams playing a good game of football with everything that every fan wants in a game, with the quality, the intensity, relentlessness, with everything. And yet there’s been much more talk about the game-decisive moment. So that’s a pity for Scottish football.”
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Hide AdClement sought to move things on, with the last home match of what has been a traumatic year pending. “It’s now really important to stop thinking about it, because we have a very important game against Dundee tomorrow,” he said. “That’s what I spoke with the players about this week, you cannot keep on thinking about what happened. We need to focus now on what we’ve been doing and to do that in the game against Dundee and take the three points.”
On a very special day at Ibrox, Rangers cannot afford to let history, recent as well as ancient, deflect them from their purpose.
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