02 December 2005
FM2006 Competition Winner Announced

Members joining the Trust during October and November were entered into a draw to win a copy of Football Manager 2006. We’re pleased to announce the winner is David Bott of Wishaw.

Well done David! Your prize will be with you shortly.

December and January will see another prize draw for new members. A signed copy of Gordon Smith’s new autobiography ‘And Smith Did Score’ is up for grabs. If you join the RST during December and January, your name will automatically be entered into the draw to win this great book.

All you have to do to be in with a shout is join the RST! Good luck!

05 December 2005
Blue Spirit Issue 10 Available for Download

The brand new issue of the Rangers Supporters Trust newsletter, Blue Spirit, can now be downloaded by clicking on the link below. Members can also expect a hardcopy to arrive in the mail shortly.

Download Blue Spirit 10 here (.pdf file 55K)

09 December 2005
RST to Meet With David Murray

The Rangers Supporters' Trust would like to inform our members that after making our concerns known to Rangers regarding certain recent issues at the club, we will be meeting with David Murray next week to discuss them in depth.

09 December 2005
Join Now via our New PayPal Method

Following feedback from current and potential members, the RST would now like to offer the chance to join the Trust securely via PayPal. At the moment, we can only offer this service to UK citizens, but we anticipate making this available worldwide very soon.

In addition, you'll be able to use Paypal for other offers we will be making in the near future. Join the Trust now by selecting the appropriate menu choice.

Please Note: You do NOT have to be a PayPal member to use this service.

15 December 2005
RST Announce Positive Meeting with Rangers

Three members of the RST board met with David Murray and David Jolliffe of Rangers FC yesterday afternoon. After a frank and open discussion the Trust has accepted the club’s actions with regard to certain issues at the club.

David Murray has assured the Trust that ‘serious’ further investment was forthcoming and as such it was generally agreed that the Trust would continue to support the club to maximise the benefits of any future changes and initiatives.

The minutes of this meeting will be made available to our members later today.

15 December 2005
RST Contact Falkirk FC with Offical Programme Concerns

Following on from a December article on www.falkirkfc.co.uk entitled “Rangers concerns”, we now note with concern and some puzzlement an article in the Falkirk v Motherwell Official Programme 10/12/05 on Page 15 entitled "BLUE GUIDE LOSES ITS WAY" by Gary Stirling.

One part of the article refer to fans "blatantly displaying the Red Hand of Ulster?”. The Trust would like to know why the Northern Ireland flag is offensive considering NI is a constituent part of the United Kingdom and one where a large section of the Rangers support hails from.

The article also refers to a "rising chorus of "We Are The People" that was joined in by thousands of Rangers fans". Again, the Trust board is at a loss as to why anyone could find this offensive.

Other concerns regarding several aspects of the letter have been lodged with Falkirk and we look forward to the club explaining why any part of the Banner Parade was offensive.

16 December 2005
Trust Grows 10% in the Last Week

The Trust would like to announce a rapid growth in membership over the last 7 days. A huge welcome goes out to all our new members and a Merry Christmas to new and old alike.

The last year has seen the RST increase our profile dramatically and we hope this trend continues in the New Year. Joining the RST is the only way to get genuine, independent, democratic supporters' representation. We'll continue to fight your corner with issues that every Rangers fan should be concerned with.

As always if you have any questions or would like to raise any issues with us, please contact us through the website. We'd also like to remind everyone of our Open Day tomorrow at the Ibrox Primary School (more info here).

2006 will see the launch of the most ambitious Trust initiative yet with our ShareSave scheme. We look forward to your continuing support and hope that we can continue to grow and develop together.

19 December 2005
Trust Appalled by McNee Article

Following an article by Gerry McNee in the News Of The World on Sunday 18 December, the Rangers Supporters' Trust has been inundated with complaints from Trust members. The sentences which have caused most offence refer to the magnificent display organised by The Blue Order for the Champions' League game against Inter Milan on 6 December, where organised displays of fans holding up cards showed the flag of Scotland across the entire Copland and Broomloan Stands and the flag of the United Kingdom across the Govan Stand:

"Let's forget the tosh 'these are our national flags.' We all know what's behind this. Keep the great divide going. If we really need to have flags they belong on top of poles. No-one's had such a fixation about these things since the Nuremberg Rallies of infamy."

Rather than dismiss this as the ravings of a journalist with a track-record of regular, foam-flecked diatribes against Rangers and Rangers supporters, the Trust believes that comparing card displays at a football match (sanctioned by Rangers FC) with the Nazis and one of the most shameful events in human history is utterly indefensible and takes Scottish sporting journalism out of the gutter and into the sewer.

The Board of the Rangers Supporters' Trust will therefore be writing to Gerry McNee asking for a full, unconditional apology for this scandalously irresponsible article. We will challenge Mr McNee, who likes to pretend he is an anti-sectarian campaigner, to a full public debate. We will also consider all necessary steps, including the possibility of organised commercial boycotts, targeting advertisers, using the Press Complaints Commission and other legal avenues to ensure that Mr McNee's hatred and bigotry is exposed and eventually halted.

The Trust has already lodged a formal complaint with the Press Complaints Commission about a previous McNee rant where he says of a Trust spokesperson: "In the good old days they (the Police) could have given this twerp a cuff on the ear as well."

We are happy to let the public decide whether a journalist who encourages Police violence is the sort of person who should be writing a sports column in a national newspaper.