The future’s sh*te, the future’s Shenzhen.

Must admit complete ignorance on our deal with Shenzhen and a need for assistance from you Bears out there who are so obvously much better informed than myself. In fact it was Derek, a Gers@OpenFootie feedback stalwart, who dropped me a line to say the new “Shenzhen” strip was in the Gers shops and that he and I were bound to have few e-mail disagreements over the ethics behind it. I duly replied that I had absolutely no idea who Shenzhen were and why their strips were being sold in our shops.

Someone hasn’t been reading his offical Rangers website - apparently we linked up with this mob back in APRIL!

I only “shop”, as in real, grown-up shopping for practical non football-related stuff, when I absolutely have to and Saturday, with the arse coming out my last pair of smart trousers on Friday, was one of those days. I didn’t even know we had a franchise in Braehead but when I spied the trusty sign above a distant shop door I wandered in and found the apparel to which Derek was referring.

First thing I have to say is the strip itself is DAMN SMART. Lovely top, nice cut, good use of the grey down the sides (looks silvery actually) and it mirrors the grey of the shorts. The Gers crest on one side of the top, and Chinese Super League team Shenzhen Jianlibao’s crest on the other boob. The Chinese characters gives it all an extra air of classiness.

But that’s all from a strictly sartorial POV. Problem is, the main part of the top and the socks are a very clear shade of ORANGE.

Now, older viewers might remember my line on the purely Rangers orange away strip of a couple of seasons back was one of, well, let’s just say dissapointment. Actually I was ashamed. Orange means Orange Lodge when it’s associated with Rangers. I’m not a member of the Orange Lodge and I don’t know all their rules, regulations, creeds etc and I’m not sure how I seriously feel about it - sure they’re bothered - but my problem is not with the lodge itself.

(Like most Bluenoses, I’m quite happy to hi-jack Orange Lodge songs whenever the Sellik fans are having a pop at us - the mock outrage of a bunch of fitbaw fans exactly like ourselves in every respect except colour of scarves - most of whom have about as much regard for religion as Pontius Pilate when they’re at the gemme -desrves all the winding-up it gets. In fact, I think it would be bl**dy brilliant if, for one Old Firm game, we all turned up wearing the bowler hat, suit and sash - just to rip the total pish out The Other Lot)

My problem is Rangers not coming out and making an admission that this is why they chose this type of away strip, because so many of our fans admire/are members of the orange order. It was all done with a nod and a wink - the fact they tried to say it was “tangerine” was the biggest insult of all.

The Chinese strip is being marketed as orange but I bet we’ll be told by Murray’s goons that that’s okay because this isn’t a 100% RANGERS strip. As with the current playing of stereotypically “British” tunes over the tannoy at Ibrox before each game - Rule Brittania, The Great Escape (??!!) - the directors seem to want it both ways. Encourage the Unionism but don’t ever admit it’s what our club is built on lest we get some flak from over-zealous hate-mongers dressed as victims.

Grey areas (Or Orange areas) leave us open to attack. Unionism isn’t NECESSARILY bigotry. being British is a fact of birth but celebrating it is a choice and shouldn’t NECESSARILY equate with bigotry. Being proud to be a Protestant (Which i ain’t, by the way - I ain’t a Protestant - I ain’t ever been christened - I don’t believe in God, jesus or any of that pish, just as I only really give a shit about the queen as an opposite to the pope: One despot cancels out the other) doesn’t mean you hate Catholics - it should, in fact, mean the opposite. But if Rangers FC continue to avoid clearly defining what this club is about, while throwing fuel onto teh fire of our haters’ argument by teetering on the brink of bigoted marketing, then they’ll allow all such accusations to flourish as they currently do.

The deal with Shenzhen should be all about making dosh in the Far East market and bringing some gifted Asian players to Ibrox but, again, for me, it’s been reduced to another “nod and a wink” episode.

Who are we, Rangers? Are we orange or ain’t we - because the merchandise in our shops certainly is.

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Published:
10.26.04 / 9pm
Category:
News