EE Lets Dons Fans Down Again

Feature by Stand Free Ed
Updated Tuesday, 18th April 2006

Aberdeen's local tabloid is the one that is "out of tune".

ABERDEEN'S local evening newspaper, the Evening Express, has shown how far removed it is from reality with a news story yesterday regarding Aberdeen supporters.

The article, titled "Red Army well out of tune", attempted to shift the focus of attention from the Old Firm, specifically Rangers, and their battle with UEFA over sectarian chanting to Aberdeen.

Aberdeen has a proud history of non-sectarianism on and off the park, and yet the Express's article attempted to link the Dons fans' banter - no different to that between any other two rival teams in Britain - with UEFA's investigation into Rangers fans' chants at Villareal.

The article claimed that the Dons fans "let the side down when the ears of UEFA were listening" because "the majority of the 900 Aberdeen fans joined in with that song about Neil Simpson and Ian Durrant."

While a challenge that crippled the careers of two players is not celebratory material, baiting opposition fans is an occurrence that happens on terraces up and down the country. Plus, the EE's article even stated that not one of the Dons' chants were "sectarian or racist" - which are the only areas being investigated by UEFA.

UEFA's bewildering decision not to punish Rangers for their chants in the game with Villareal is to be taken to appeal, and, furthermore, the Sunday Times reported last weekend that UEFA's powerful executive committee, chaired by Lennard Johansson, is to look at the decision in a separate investigation.

Even the Glasgow Evening Times made no mention of Dons fans' chants yesterday, but did report that: "The SPL observer at Saturday's match between Rangers and Aberdeen at Ibrox [Alan Dick] has mentioned instances of sectarian singing in his match findings."

The Evening Times' report said that there were two incidents of Rangers' fans singing sectarian songs, and added that: "The document will be received by SPL secretary Ian Blair some time this week and the organisation's officials will then consider whether to take any further action."

However, the Evening Express' article states: "A round of applause to the Rangers fans for avoiding a single chorus of anything remotely untoward as far as I could hear."

Accusations of this sort of selective hearing has often been aimed at the Glasgow press but it will be astonishing for many Aberdeen fans to see this working the other direction.

UEFA's decision not to punish Rangers last week was based upon sectarianism being "a Scottish problem", and this offended many non-Old Firm supporters who wish to see their clubs disassociated from the bigotry problems in Glasgow and to a far lesser extent Edinburgh.

However, articles like that of the Evening Express blur the issue and distract from the main focus of the problem.

One wonders what Aberdeen's local evening newspaper has to gain by printing such obviously prejudiced and unhelpful articles.

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