From: cbar26@vaxa.strath.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: (GLASGOW) MIM FC was rangers
Date: 5 Oct 92 14:34:52 GMT
Organization: Strathclyde University VAX Cluster

There has been a great deal of fuss in recent postings about the proper name of
certain Scottish football teams.  The upset has been greatest among the
followers of what was the famous Rangers Football Club.  Is this evidence of an
identity crisis?  The supporters of The Celtic Football and Athletic Company
have not been so agitated by the use of the Glasgow prefix which many people
outwith the small country of Scotland commonly use to help identify the team. 
There is no harm in this and Celtic supporters, I would suggest, are quite proud
to bear the lable of this fine city and still know that they are The Celtic
Football Club.
The identity crisis at Ibrox is quite understandable.  Here we have a club
which for over one hundred years practised a ridiculous form of religeous
apartheid which was apparently condoned by the footballing authorities of
Scotland.  Inrecent years this club has been purchased by a Mr David Murray,
who with the aid of Graham Souness hopefully changed forever this appalling
policy.  Murray, who made millions with his company Murray International Metals
and generally with Murray International Holdings has brought in a level of
business to the Rangers Football Club which often seems to take precedence over
the football itself and has brought jibes from certain quarters that the club
was now in fact Murray International Metals FC.  This fact has been borne out
by the recent revelations that the money committed by supporters to buy Rangers
Bonds as a means of funding Stadium developments has in fact appeared in the
accounts of Murray International Holdings which is going through a dodgy period
thanks to the collapse of the property market in the UK.  I believe that the
total bond money was about 8 million quid (I may be corrected here). The
footballing branch of MIM has just announced debts of around 11 million
quid.Shareholders and bondholders must be wondering why their money is in the
accounts of MIH.  The answer is simple.  Rangers FC is no more.  The football
club is now a part of the MIM empire and so should logically play under the
title of Murray International Metals FC. Their success on the park is evident
and once they get some football songs their inglorious past can be forgotten. 
But, a note of caution.  If the chairman can so readily put money which was
pledged towards stadium development into the coffers of a section of the
company which was in financial difficulty without the consent of the bond
holders, might he not just as easily jettison the sport and recreational
division of the company for a few of those grubby little notes that he just
can't seem to get enough of? Come away the MIM FC!

Interesting little story in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper about that close
chum of Mr Murray, Mr Wallace Mercer.  Famous for his fund raising for the Tory
Party through membership of the Scottish Business Group, he has resigned his
post saying that he was sick of the terracing chant "Fat Tory Bastard".  I
think that it is because he never got a gong for his efforts.  Maybe Dave will
get one soon for his services to the Free Market Economy i.e. get lots of chaps
to give you their hard earned cash and then bugger off with it.  Oops, sounds
like a few chaps on the board at Parkhead might be in the running.......:-)

"The next European attendance at Parkhead is 30,001", Jack McGinn.
Mystery surrounds the finding of some dope on a MIM FC bus in Denmark. Nobody
would claim responsibility, however the whole squad returned to Scotland
safely. Ouch!


Sean Subterranean