30 April 2003
Membership Cost Clarified

The cost for a resident of the British Isles to join us is just £10 a year which lasts until 5 April next year. Further details can be found by pressing the "Join Now" tab (above) but we feel obliged to point this out, as anecdotal evidence has reached us that some fans thought the cost was £10/month!

Any comments on the website? Please feel free to sign the Guest Book to let us know what you think.

28 April 2003
TalkSPORT now ban use of the "H-word"

Rangers Supporters Trust are delighted to announce that TalkSPORT have become the latest member of the mainstream media to withdraw the use of this offensive word to describe Rangers supporters. We publish below an e-mail to our Trust Chairman from Mike Parry (with his consent) and would like to thank TalkSPORT for their display of sensitivity and common sense in this context.

Dear Colin,
Thank you for your note.I had no idea that the word in question was as offensive to the blue half of Glasgow as it clearly is.
The last time I went to Celtic Park the same word was chanted at me repeatedly and I took it to mean nothing more than some locally recognised term of derision.
However, it has now become clear that this expression is highly offensive.For that reason I would like you and your organisation to accept my apologies for this mistake.
You will not hear the word used again on TalkSPORT.

Best Regards
Mike Parry.

28 April 2003
Barry Ferguson wins Scottish Players' Player of the Year

The Rangers Supporters Trust would like to congratulate Rangers captain Barry Ferguson on being named the Scottish Players' Player of the Year. It is a deserved reward for an excellent season for Barry. It was the only good news in what was a disappointing day for Rangers.

25 April 2003
Trust Approaches TalkSPORT Over Use of "H-word"

Following our success at getting the H-word banned by Real Radio, the Trust has written to TalkSPORT requesting the same level of responsibility and good taste be displayed by them, and in particular, former Celtic Boys Club player, Alan Brazil. We shall publish details of their response on the website in due course, from which all decent minded Rangers fans can then form their own view as to the desire of that particular station to achieve real objectivity or otherwise.

25 April 2003
Trust Approaches TalkSPORT Over Use of "H-word"

Following our success at getting the H-word banned by Real Radio, the Trust has written to TalkSPORT requesting the same level of responsibility and good taste be displayed by them, and in particular, former Celtic Boys Club player, Alan Brazil. We shall publish details of their response on the website in due course, from which all decent minded Rangers fans can then form their own view as to the desire of that particular station to achieve real objectivity or otherwise.

25 April 2003
Rangers Supporters Trust indexed by major search engines

The Trust's website now already signposted on major search engines such as Google and Yahoo - this in response to the volume of traffic.

24 April 2003
Make it a day to remember

The Trust would appeal to all Rangers fans attending Sunday's Old Firm game to conduct themselves in a noisy, colourful, respectable manner in what should be a fantastic occasion at the weekend.

24 April 2003
Rangers Supporters Trust Membership Cards

All Rangers fans who have joined the Trust will receive a membership card (credit card size) by the end of May.

24 April 2003
Forthcoming Announcement

The Trust will be making an announcement next week. Watch this space for more details.

23 April 2003
Rangers to make Ulster return

At the Trust launch on Saturday 5th April, Inaugural Trust Board member Stevie Tyrie praised Ulster based Rangers fans. The Trust is delighted that we are playing Linfield again this forthcoming pre-season and see it as a reward for their support.

16 April 2003
Trust instrumental in getting the word "hun" banned on Real Radio

The Rangers Supporters Trust would like to inform all Rangers fans of the following message from Jay Crawford, Programme Director of Real Radio (Scotland):

"Real Radio will no longer tolerate the use of words like Hun or other derogatory comments directed at any set of fans in any way whatsoever. We are trying to take the heat out of some of the rivalry that can lead to trouble between supporters without losing the passion that all of us who love the game appreciate is part of watching football in Scotland".

The Rangers Supporters Trust is delighted to be instrumental in achieving this change, with their only regret being that over the many years that this stigmatisation has been allowed to flourish, our great Club saw fit to do nothing about it. We applaud this move and wish Real Radio every success with their sports coverage, especially their phone-in.

5 April 2003
Mark Walters is Trust's only Honorary Member

We are delighted that Rangers legend Mark Walters attended our launch on 5th April. To thank Mark for his attendance, he was named as the only honorary member.

5 April 2003
New Trust is Launched

Saturday was an historic day for all those who love Rangers Football Club, as 200 of the most committed fans turned up in the morning at Partick Burgh Halls for the Trust Launch.

Trust Chairman, Colin Glass, opened the meeting by summarising the spirit which was driving this initiative, and then intoduced the inaugural committee of Mark Dingwall, Allan O'Brien, Gordon Semple, Stevie Tyrie, Derek McAvoy, David Tweed and Malcolm McNiven. He then introduced the first Guest Speaker, James Proctor, who is employed full-time as the Development Officer for Supporters Direct in Scotland, the umbrella organisation for all Supporters Trusts. James endeared himself to the audience by explaining that. like a lot of us, the happiest day of his life had been at Ibrox - the 27th November 1994 - when he saw his beloved Raith Rovers (whose Supporters Trust he also runs) defeat Celtic in a thrilling penalty shoot-out to lift the League Cup.

James went on to explain how the Supporters Trust movement had come about, it's principles and progress, and it was obvious that the audience found his speech to be of genuine interest, as football fans of all clubs have a lot of problems in common. James received a good round of applause for his speech, and we thank him for his input and support.

Colin Glass then went on to explain the next steps in the process regarding nominations and elections to the Trust Board (it is a rule that the majority of Board members must be elected within six months of launching) before throwing the floor open to the main point of the meeting - a Q&A session designed to allow interested fans to pose questions to the inaugural Board.

This session was conducted with great dignity, with no outspoken outbursts amongst a variety of questions. Current club policy was criticised in some aspects, and defended in others, but generally speaking, the answers given by the various Board Members were well received by the audience, who were clearly on the same wavelength. These questions and answers have been summarised on the LAUNCH MEETING page.

Not surprisingly, media relations came up as a major hot potato, and in answer to a question from the Editor of the Number One Fanzine, Colin Glass stated that although the Trust had started issuing Media Releases, Mirror Group Newspapers were omitted from the circulation list, a response which found particular favour with the audience.

The highlight of the day, if applause measurement is anything to go by, was the intoduction of our "Mystery Guest" Mark Walters, who got a spontaneous and rousing standing ovation from everyone present. Mark was interviewed live on stage, and as well as confirming that he was always made to feel welcome at Rangers, then answered questions on how he first felt when he heard Rangers were interested in signing him, his favourite game for Rangers, his favourite goal for Rangers, etc. It was great to hear him pay tribute to the late Davie Cooper, too - a player he had always admired from watching him on TV down south.

Mark was an absolute delight, and became the first (and only) Honorary member of the Trust. He was presented with a framed colour photo of the centre of the universe by our Logo Contest winner, Euan Currie, and stayed behind at the end to sign autographs for the fans, for whom, he is obviously still a hero. On behalf of the Trust, once again, a HUGE thank you to Mark for joining us.

Since then, we have received widespread feedback from attendees - EVERY piece of which has been positive, so we are definitely on the right road.

Finally, we should note that the attendance of 200 was (according to Supporters Direct) more than Celtic had for their Launch Meeting.