We are more than the Club, and it is time for the fans to assume control.

Last updated : 13 April 2007 By MDC
The stadium is a quite awesome experience while empty: when full it brims with passion borne of an understanding that the club, the city and its people all understand the role of the institution and the importance of the fans. This is not merely a football club, and it has little to do with the other ball sports played under the name of Barcelona.
 
Sometimes it may appear that those of us who go on (and on) about the need for a museum at Ibrox do so merely to suggest the need for a new regime or to wallow in the past where our capture of a world record number of trophies is some form of therapy for present ills. But recent experiences have shown that it goes deeper than that - the need to place our team in a context, social and sporting, is essential and is also an enterprise that would bring both more visitors and more money to a club bereft of direction. For all that Blair may have proven to be a mixed bag as PM, the Education mantra was a good sound-bite; for us, as Rangers men and women, we should make it flesh and to it add the concordant concern: identity, identity, identity.
 
One of the most obvious developments in recent times within the Rangers family has been the slow but steady realisation that the Club are no longer at the forefront of the process of ideas. Whether you appreciate all that they do, it is clear that various fan groups and fan vehicles are now responding to this vacuum with their own thoughts and plans: the intellectual energies and cultural and social expression for all of us as Rangers fans, the great movement toward defining and enhancing our identity and place in the modern World, is being driven by the RST and other bodies.
 
But back to Barcelona, for a moment, where Eleven Euros will grant you access to the stadium tour and museum at the Camp Nou, and the queue for tickets will test the patience of many a keen visitor. Some of us will have visited the stadium, no doubt a few will have particularly enjoyed their trip in 1972, and it is safe to say that the tour is interesting and the view particularly pleasant. But what makes it, what defines the club, is the museum. Any team can build a new stadium or upgrade capacity but a true past, of romance, tragedy and importance is a different matter.

As an addition to the existing treasures, the museum presently hosts a special tribute to Joan Gamper, founder and beloved President of the club, which charts his life and how the club came to mean so much to him and how the social and political upheavals of the time came to affect and define the man. It is a stupendous mixture of pictures, text, audiovisual options and artefacts, and no man, woman or child who entered the area, even those who quickly went off in search of the big trophies, would fail to appreciate the importance of this man or fail to recognise his name or image.
 
But throughout the vast rooms within the bowels of the stadium, it is impossible to escape a number of things - the importance of the fans, of the people, to the club and the importance of that club as a social and cultural base, a conduit for expression and an asset to the people of Catalunya and Barcelona. Frankly, as one moves from one exhibit to another, it becomes a faintly depressing experience. Not only do we have nothing of the sort at Rangers, do we even have the expertise, the will or the appreciation of ourselves to match?
 
Not at the club. It's not surprising that in recent times our instinct when targeted or victimised has been to search for the proverbial band-aid and consult the manual to consider how many reverse gears we can run through. This comes about because we do not know whom we are, what we are, and have absolutely no concept of where we are going. This summer's proposed cultural conference is a refreshing development, but it comes about only because of ordinary punters. While it is true that some of our number have let the side down, the lack of direction from above has been disgraceful - the greatest minds at Ibrox consider the best response to our away day troubles to be the suspension of European ticket allocation for a season. Leaving aside the fact that modern day cheap travel means that fans will always go, ticket or not, this attitude is one of empty thinking; it merely postpones the problem and in the meantime the club has nothing planned to look at the problem: it's the symptoms, stupid, seems to be the fashion within Ibrox.
 
Building or housing a museum will not perform miracles. We won't suddenly become the choice of the establishment once again, or be free from the tyrannical reach of over-promoted councillors or over-eager police forces. But we do have to assume control over the future direction of the club and the support, and the best way to do so is to firm up the past. And, it would seem obvious, the best people to do this are the people who do care, do have the expertise and do possess the necessary fight and ideas: us.

I think we've been for too long caught in the master/dependent relationship. The terrifying Cult of Murray, where individual loyalty is to a man, not even the club, is bad enough, but we should have known that there were deeper problems within the club. With the departure of Campbell Ogilive, who AGM attendees may recall was the man who knew William Struth, we now have nobody in a position of power at Ibrox with a feeling for the club or any real willingness to advance their own opinions. What we have is a club too timid to admit that the recent Union Flag/Saltire display was to celebrate the anniversary of the Union.
 
It seems unlikely that RFC have any interest in housing a suitable collection of memories, memorabilia and stories. Horror tales on the condition of many past relics can be matched by the cases of official club material appearing for sale on public auction sites. Dereliction of duty would be putting it mildly. Suitable space on-site seems more likely to be taken up by associated Murray companies. Yet the financial boost of such a venture should not be dismissed - Hamburg paid for their modest museum within a calendar year. Visitors to Glasgow are taking advantage of the SFA Museum at Hampden, justifying the faith and investment placed in it, and Rangers tours are still very popular. There is, of course, another point to consider: would we really want a museum developed by those in control at Ibrox? Club Historian David Mason seems a nice man, but is clearly frustrated and bereft of any real power, and the 50th anniversary of the death of the late, great Struth passed by without the official tome we had been promised - just one more small indication that the club can do little right, even on small matters.

Many will think:  why is this important, especially when the team is so rank rotten and we have problems with other matters? It is all, in the end, about identity and one's place in the grand scheme. Some may suggest that they follow Rangers purely for footballing reasons and nothing more. Others will see more of a bond and link between religious and socio-political reasons than others may care to suggest. None of this need cause division - but for all of us, for those who worship us as the world record holding team of trophies, or those who see Rangers as but one part of a broader representation of traditional Scotland, we deserve better.  And we deserve to legitimise and cherish our past, and secure the rights and dreams of our future.

A museum should be part of a broader enterprise, one where the area around the stadium could and should be put to better use. Bar 72 is a good idea, and should be embraced, but why should we stop there - we as a club should be looking at securing the maximum use of the surrounding area, an area where derelict and downgraded buildings could be put to greater use, with council assistance.  There is no point in bleating about RC councils - vote for sensible candidates this year, dare to suggest to the club that we should be at the forefront of the regeneration of the area, regardless of the failure of the Casino plan, with a mini Rangers village being the ultimate aim.
 
Sir David holds the shares, but he is visibly ageing and cannot possibly wish to carry on for many more years. Recent appearances have been unimpressive and he no longer has the sustained fire to do anything with the club.  For all positive ideas, and to ensure that we do not miss out on a whole generation of potential fans, put off by the negativity and the lack of any positive expression of our cultural identity or our worth as supporters, it is up to us.

MDC