GARY KEOWN: Ibrox ultras have a choice to make …change your ways now or inflict irreparable harm on your club

How on earth have Rangers — and, more importantly, a section of their fanbase — allowed it to come to this in the space of three short years?

Back in May 2022, in the wake of a deafening, synapse-blowing night against RB Leipzig in the semi-finals of the Europa League, the Ibrox outfit looked like a club capable of casting aside so much of the unpalatability of their past to build something new and fresh and forward-looking.

The atmosphere inside the old ground that night was almost transcendental. Opposing manager Domenico Tedesco described it as the best he’d ever experienced. And what made it so special?

It was all about football. Nothing more, nothing less. No politics. No bigotry. No songs from the banned list. No silliness. Just football. And with a history like the one Rangers have on the field of play, why should it ever need to be about anything other than that?

John Lundstram had his own song based on an old Belinda Carlisle record. Numbers about the blue sea of Ibrox and Wolverhampton town had been added to the repertoire. That evening — a crescendo preceded by previous victories over Borussia Dortmund and Braga and Red Star Belgrade — felt like a pure celebration of the club and the club alone, nothing outside that.

Who could ever forget the immediate aftermath of Lundstram scoring the clincher 10 minutes from time to make it 3-2 on aggregate? The Scouser was lifted on a wave of emotion and energy towards the front of the Sandy Jardine Stand, seized by some bug-eyed bloke with the look of a raver emerging into the 5am sunrise after a night of uplifting piano house in a disused barn in rural Somerset.

The midfielder famously ran to the crowd after putting his side 3-1 up against RB Leipzig

Rangers now face the threat of stadium closures thanks to offensive messages from ultras

Ecstasy in excelsis. Love and hugs and completely, utterly lost in the moment. If you could have distilled and bottled that one moment in time, it would exist in two separate vials in the vaults of Natural History Museum’s anthropology department — one labelled ‘everything that makes fitba totally magic’. The other? ‘Absolutely everything Rangers could and should be’.

All sorts of things felt possible for Rangers that night. It was an unbelievable platform to build from in so many ways. So, why, as they prepare for another unexpected adventure in the latter stages of the Europa League against Athletic Bilbao at Ibrox on Thursday, does it feel so different? So tense. So regressive, even.

Sure, the lunatics in charge of the asylum failed miserably to build on the footballing side of things in the wake of that final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville, but that’s no excuse.

Something has gone seriously wrong for such a showpiece match as this to be clouded in fear and concern over illicit songs or inflammatory banners resulting in UEFA enforcing the closure of the Copland Stand for games under their jurisdiction for the next two years.

What has happened to result in the Ibrox board handing out lifetime bans for the message ‘Defend Europe’ — now understood to be a right-wing slogan in certain countries — being flown against Fenerbahce and threatening to disband their ultras section?

James Tavernier leads team-mates in celebrating the penalty shoot-out win over Fenerbahce

It just feels like such a remarkable and deeply sad position to be in. The visit of Ernesto Valverde’s side, strong and exciting and enjoying such a good season in Spain’s Primera Liga, should be a celebration.

It should be looked upon as a chance to create another Dortmund or another Leipzig, another night of going out to upset the odds and punch above your weight. Of showing the world that Rangers are still relevant, still worthy of respect and, perhaps above all else, still a force to be reckoned with in the modern game and modern world.

Instead, we’re back to the dark old days of having one eye on the football, one eye on the banners and both ears trying to pick out something that might have the UEFA match delegate reaching for the big, red button.

It’s desperate stuff and at least those in the upper echelons of management seem to have recognised that. Whether this is as a direct result of CEO Patrick Stewart and chairman Fraser Thornton now being at the wheel or a consequence of Andrew Cavenagh’s US consortium moving ever closer to taking over, the messaging of late from on high has been hard and unsparing.

Rangers players lined up in front of their ultras at Ibrox during the win over the Turks

A line in the sand has been drawn and Stewart and Co cannot possibly step back now. If required, they need to follow through. No messing.

What’s more, these impending rules and regulations and codes of conduct for supporters that they talk about must also apply to domestic matches in addition to the UEFA fixtures in which you are infinitely more likely to land in hot water over discord or disorder.

There is no place for whataboutery either. Celtic have been largely dreadful in dealing with the more troublesome elements of their support. They have a list of UEFA fines and charges that would run the length of the Gallowgate.

That should mean nothing to Rangers. They need to look after their own business in this regard. For those of us who travelled abroad regularly with the club 15 or 20 years ago, this is all so depressingly familiar.

Walter Smith made an impassioned plea over supporter behaviour in 2011 after a UEFA fine

European games became almost as much about listening for chants and songs as describing the action on the park. It was horrible.

None of us present at the club’s Auchenhowie training ground back in 2011 after UEFA had doled out charges of ‘discriminatory behaviour’ following games against PSV Eindhoven will ever forget the state of the nation address given by Walter Smith on the need to stop sectarian singing.

He admitted he got involved in things as a young boy that he regretted. He explained the ‘drastic consequences’ that would follow if bad behaviour continued. He talked of marrying the appreciation of club traditions with the need to understand what is — and is not — acceptable in present-day society.

It was awe-inspiring, and every bit as relevant now as it was back then.

Stadium closure hasn’t happened yet, though. This is still in the hands of the supporters. Ultras groups, in general, have been a good thing for the matchday atmosphere at clubs across Scotland. They bring noise and colour and a sense of occasion to many stadiums that previously had the thunder and goosebumps of a Rotary Club bridge night.

Potential new owner Andrew Cavenagh is thought to be keen to clean up Rangers’ image

Many of those guys who stand and bounce and cheer behind the goal in the Copland Stand would have played their part — albeit in a different corner of the ground — in creating the electricity and wonder of that night against RB Leipzig. They must surely remember how long they lived off the buzz. How good it all felt, having that BT Sport camera sweeping across the Club Deck and showing the world how special their club really is when showing its very best face.

And, make no mistake, people are watching. Not just Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers, but clubs and individuals that still have eyes on forming new cross-border competitions, further reshaping European football either underneath the umbrella of UEFA or elsewhere, sponsors and investors that want the right kind of place to buy into.

Cavenagh and Co are super- conscious of what might exist in the future with a club with as much to offer as Rangers. The fans at the centre of this current storm need to decide if they want to help them create an organisation ready for any and every opportunity or be a potential impediment.

Do they want more of that light and wonder and pride that encapsulated those wins over Dortmund and Leipzig or the darkness and shame of big European nights with a quarter of the stadium empty and silent? Feels like a no-brainer. Even for the daftest of dafties.

New breakaway may be only way to improve game

Thoughts and prayers for any fellow journalists facing the ordeal of hanging around Hampden waiting for white smoke in the wake of SPFL reconstruction talks over the coming months.

Neil Doncaster proudly promotes the launch of the new SPFL brand back in 2013

Many of us still bear the scars from those interminable days of old, shuttling up and down stairs from the stadium cafe, panicking in case you might miss someone sliding out the front door, getting custard-pied by then-Hibs greysuit Rod Petrie, chasing jumped-up little men in their shirts and ties to their cars in the hope of some crumbs from the table.

Oh, the horror. In truth, it is hard to see any quick solution, any easy answer, to the latest round of discussions placed on the table by the SPFL’s Competitions Working Group either.

The way the voting system works, with the flotsam and jetsam of Leagues One and Two and the bottom end of the Championship still having a big say, means the tail always has the power to wag the dog.

Let’s be honest, we’d never have reached this point were it not for Rangers going into meltdown in 2012. There would be no SPFL. The SPL and SFL would still be doing their own thing — and still be at loggerheads.

The clubs at the top end of the Premiership need fewer fixtures and more space in the schedule if they have ambitions of going far in Europe. That applies, in particular, to the Old Firm, but also Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs, who should have firm intentions of playing group-stage football in UEFA competition.

Meetings will take place at Hampden which could shape the future of the league set-up

If this ends up in a state of stasis, how long before talk of another SPL-style breakaway starts to rumble?

Entering the debate about the optimal size of the top-flight is brain-numbing. But if the bigger clubs responsible for flying the flag in Europe can’t get something that suits them because of opposition from the lower leagues, they should consider breaking away.

As well as guiding the direction of travel, there’s also the appeal of commandeering more of the money and building better, deeper squads. And if they fancy a 10-team Premier, so be it. At least it would end that unsporting 33-game split we’ve spent the last two decades working with.

There, I said it. I know. I’m going to the bad fire.

Abuse payouts can’t detract from shameful defence

One sentence stood out amid all the heartbreaking words that spilled out with the news of Parkhead bosses reaching settlements with the victims of the Celtic Boys Club scandal.

Celtic have not covered themselves in glory with their handling of the abuse scandal

It came from Laura Connor of Thompson’s Solicitors, the firm who took forward the class action against the Scottish champions.

‘The litigation has been made far more complex and lengthy by the defender, while our clients have acted with resolute dignity throughout,’ she said.

Over and above the fact the likes of Jim Torbett and Frank Cairney were somehow allowed to prey on young lads in their care for years, the club’s continued insistence that the Boys Club was ‘a separate entity’ was utterly shameful. Whatever the perceived legalities, it was morally wrong.

Celtic finally agreeing to pay-outs does not absolve them. Connor’s words give the distinct impression that bringing them to this point was no easy task. And that is unforgivable.