Europa League: “Rangers have achieved something great”, says a Scottish football specialist before the final against Frankfurt

It’s the first European football final of the season: the Scots of Glasgow Rangers challenge the Germans of Eintracht Frankfurt, in Seville, Spain. If, on the ground, this match will be very open between two playing teams, it will above all be a passionate final in the stands, with very enthusiastic supporters on each side… even a little more sometimes. Because in Glasgow, football goes far beyond the framework of sport, like a second skin.

In their Ibrox Stadium, to the west of the city, the Rangers can count on the support of more than 50,000 supporters for each match. Fans who know how to put the pressure on and show themselves to be particularly fiery, especially during the derby against Glasgow’s other club, Celtic, one of the toughest rivalries in Europe. Because in Scotland, football is also a matter of politics and religion.

“Rangers have a Protestant history where Celtic have a Catholic background. There is also the idea of ​​a Celtic prock of Ireland when Rangers are closer to the Queen of England, United Kingdom. This too can exacerbate tensions even more, decrypts Loïs Guzukian, specialist in Scottish football. It is true that, during the years during the 1960s until the 1990s, it was fights and bloody image. It is less vivid today than it was then, even if it is still present all the same“.

“The culmination of a reconstruction”

Fans more civilized but still enthusiastic for their club, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The Rangers alone have won 116 trophies: a world record! Relegated ten years ago to pay off a colossal debt, Rangers, winners of the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972, have returned to the top. And this Europa League final is a matter of pride for the supporters.

And in this very long history of Rangers, this match holds a special place… for the club but not only, believes Loïs Guzukian. “This would be the high point of this reconstruction. There is always this pride when Scotland manages to achieve a feat that seems unattainable. The Rangers remain a club, in Scotland, which is not particularly liked by many people, because there is this ultra-dominance, because there is what happened with the supporters previous years… But everyone is still unanimous in recognizing that the Rangers have achieved something great.”

UEFA has allocated “only” 10,000 places to supporters of each finalist club. Insufficient, no doubt, to contain the fervor of the fans of the Teddy Bears, the nickname of the Rangers.