BBC pundit rages at ‘Downright Disrespectful’ Rangers

Ryan Stevenson has branded the Rangers badge being placed over Hearts’ at Tynecastle as “absolutely scandalous” and “downright disrespectful”.

The former Jam Tarts midfielder fumed in a column for the Daily Record on 26 March over footage of the Rangers Women’s celebrations [Sky Sports News, 25 March] in the dressing room at the weekend, after they beat Partick Thistle 4-1 to retain the Sky Sports Cup.

The Gers had laid a mat of the club’s own logo over the Hearts badge on the floor, which prompted an outraged response from the Edinburgh club claiming it had been “defaced”, but BBC pundit Stevenson insists the “fury” is understandable because the badge is “sacred” and Jambos legends have previously taught players never to even walk over it.

He said: “I think it’s scandalous. Absolutely scandalous. Plenty of folk have had their say on Hearts being petty by putting out a statement criticising Rangers’ actions but let me defend the club because what happened was downright disrespectful. I’m not sure who’s responsible for it – the person in charge of the kit, a player or someone else in their group.

“Could you imagine someone using the home dressing room at Ibrox and hanging their club badge directly over the Rangers crest? Okay Tynecastle was a neutral venue for the day but was there a Partick Thistle badge in the other dressing room?

“The fact of the matter is it shouldn’t happen and I totally understand the anger it’s caused. Listen, I’m not advocating any punishment. It was no doubt a genuine mistake brought about through inexperience and the game not being played at Hampden. But it shouldn’t happen again.”

Rangers Sky Sports Cup win fallout continues

Maybe Stevenson is right that were the game held at Ibrox and the roles reversed then Rangers would have reacted too.

But if they had agreed to be a neutral venue for a cup final they weren’t involved in then they would also surely have little grounds for such complaint.

Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay had called it a “privilege” for Tynecastle to again play host to the Sky Sports showpiece, and hoped “the Tynecastle experience plays a part in making the final a memorable occasion for everyone involved” [SWPL, 16 November].

And yet what seems like a relatively unsurprising situation, especially since it also happened last year with no issue, has now caused the club such offence, while the occasion itself and the trophy win for Jo Potter’s side is at risk of being overshadowed by the subsequent fallout.

While it is tempting to view the supposed disrespect of club logos as somewhat of a sideshow, and especially so if they aren’t even allowed to be walked on when emblazoned on the floors of dressing rooms, tunnels or touchlines where people need to walk, it is true that they mean more to some than others.

So if the Rangers Women had been pointedly directing celebrations, hand gestures, chants or anything else at it then that probably would indeed be unacceptable behaviour.

Yet when all they have done is temporarily put their own branding in place in what was supposed to be a neutral venue the response seems overblown, compared to issues within football that actually require focus.

In other Rangers news, the Light Blues have received a key injury boost ahead of the Ibrox clash with Celtic.