“Chelsea fans are pictured with hooligan flag bearing ‘SS death’s head’ Nazi symbol before controversial Budapest match where supporters chanted antisemitic songs…”
“Chelsea Football Club faced further criticism for fan racism after a group of supporters were pictured holding a hooligan flag bearing a Nazi symbol before the team’s controversial match in Hungary.
“Thugs flaunted the vile banner, which included the SS ‘death’s head’ insignia, outside a Budapest pub before the encounter with Vidi FC, where some British supporters appeared to chant antisemitic songs.
“The flag, a modified version of the Northern Irish ‘Red Hand of Ulster’ standard, also bore the name of the club’s notorious hooligan ‘firm’ and contained the message: ‘You have been nominated and dealt with by the Chelsea Headhunters’.”
So wrote The Daily Mail on 15 December, see HERE.
This upset Rangers fans.
NOT because of the links to the SS death head Nazi symbol.
NOT because of the link to the racist and anti-semitic Chelsea fascists.
NO, what upset them is the next line in that article which stated:
“And it featured Glasgow Rangers’ insignia and the sectarian ‘No Surrender’ slogan in reference to the fight against the IRA.”
You see the Rangers fans don’t think that the ‘No Surrender’ slogan is sectarian.
So they complained to the Daily Mail in London and got a response from the newspaper’s Senior Editorial Compliance Officer, who said this:
“Thank you for your email regarding the article above.
“It may help to know that we use the word `sectarian’ in the literal sense of the word, being a subdivision within a group which can be religious, terrorist or other.
“We say:
“`… it featured Glasgow Rangers’ insignia and the sectarian ‘No Surrender’ slogan in reference to the fight against the IRA.’
“The flag does feature the words `No surrender’ which has become an unofficial slogan of Rangers football club, adopted frequently by Rangers’ supporters and widely believed to indicate their affiliations and support for loyalist and anti-IRA groups and their general attitude to games. The chant, banners and flags are frequently heard and seen at games.
“Although there is no concrete evidence for the origination of the phrase, it has been widely adopted by many sectarian splinter groups to describe their refusal to `surrender’ to more powerful forces or organisations.
“Our readers will understand the reference used. We do not consider our use of the word `sectarian’ to be inflammatory, unfair or unreasonable. It is an appropriate description of a flag slogan – in this case indicated by the use of the word `Rangers’ directly above it. We make no comment on the use of the slogan, we report it appears and the most common and the intuitive reference.”
Yours sincerely,
Michelle Core
Senior Editorial Compliance Officer
Ms Core’s email address has been shared on their forums so you can just imagine what she’ll be receiving in her inbox over the next few days.
Now if that had been a Scottish based newspaper, you expect that that response would have been very different if indeed they would even point out the sectarian nature of their support.
Imagine though, being bothered about that aspect of the article rather than being so closely linked with evil Nazism. They didn’t even complain about that!
Some of the responses on their forums shows them to be obsessive bigots…
“No Surrender has got nothing to do with the fight against the IRA though. It’s a historical battle cry from the Siege of Derry which happened centuries before the IRA were even a thing.”
“So the apprentice boys in 1688 were fighting the IRA…every days a school day.”
“No concrete evidence?! What about the Siege of Derry?! The Glorious Revolution is taught in schools as a European thing, not a British/Irish thing. Perhaps if we learnt more about our own history, good and bad, then such ignorance would be eliminated within a generation.”
“Actually, I wonder if Rangers, should anyone be looking in, might be interested in someone from the Daily Mail stating both that; No Surrender is sectarian AND ‘which has become an unofficial slogan of Rangers football club’…Sails very close to calling the actual club sectarian.”
In summary, two words. Scotland’s Shame.
The best thing about Celtic drawing Valencia in the Europa League yesterday was avoiding these Chelsea racist, bigoted pro-Sevco scumbags…England’s Shame.
