The barbarous of Seville

This morning I had an educational chat with an IFJ colleague who is based in Berlin.

He is an experienced news journalist who was able to give me a quick history lesson regarding some of the chaps who support Sevco’s opponents in the Europa League Final.

Let’s just say that I hope that I never, ever occasion across the Eintracht Frankfurt ultras.

The combination of those fellows and the Ibrox klanbase in the beautiful city of Seville is just too awful to contemplate.

A Spanish friend told me that when Iberia was home to a  globally significant polity the saying was “Madrid is the capital of Spain but Seville is the capital of the world.”

Regular readers will not need too much convincing that the subculture that trashed Manchester in 2008 and  George Square in 2021 was not acting out of character.

The crass“brace yourself” Tweet from Sevco’s official account perhaps indicates that they know that it was a different club that played Zenit Saint Petersburg.

However, it was undoubtedly the same fans.

Judge Blake, when sentencing two of the Unsurpassed Dignity Brigade said: “The riot police were deployed in full riot gear and struggled to contain the trouble and restore order.

“What followed was the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the Blitz.

I fear that the folks who sing about “Fenian blood” will not be able to contain themselves in a city where the built environment is a testament to Spain’s Catholic heritage.

It is doubtful that many of the Ibrox klanbase are acquainted with the work of Pedro Almodóvar.

Moreover, I have yet to see the Stenography Corps demonstrate any awareness of the political and cultural significance La Movida Madrileña.

Essentially, very few Spaniards under the age of 50 would now be recognisable as observant Catholics.

A central part of the post-Franco Zeitgeist was one of advancing Western European secularism.

Although the rise of Vox, particularly in Andalucía, can be seen as a Trumpian reaction to that societal consensus.

Sadly, there is nothing unique about those who lovingly sing about Billy Fullerton’s fascist street gang.

Anyone who has been paying attention will know that the klan are also addicted to Spitfire chauvinism.

It is something they share with the Brexiteer right in England.

Consequently, the idea of beating a German team in the final is already giving the Sevco support wargasms.

In World War Two, the Royal Air Force dropped 15,696 tons of bombs on Frankfurt.

The Allied bombing campaign destroyed the largest medieval city in Europe, and some  5,500 civilians were killed.

Last night I sent a message to a pal who works for a London based broadcast organisation.

It simply stated:

“Seville will be trashed”.

His reply this morning added:

“and so will the Rangers fans if they sing 10 German Bombers at the Frankfurt ultras”.

That is what prompted my call to Berlin.

The financial significance of what Giovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst is on the cusp of delivering to the Sevco High Command should not be underestimated.

This site came to prominence by going where Scottish journalists feared to tread.

I charted the impending financial crash of the original Rangers.

My work was evidence-based and that reporting was vindicated in the summer of 2012.

When Charles of Normandy established Sevco Scotland Limited, it did exactly what he and the Gallant Profiteers intended.

The objective was to enrich Charlie and the boys, and huge sums disappeared into the Sevco Triangle through the “onerous contracts”.

Once they had burned through the  IPO money at the start of 2014 it was hand to mouth for the next four years.

Across the city, the people in charge of Celtic fretted that their new rival might not make it.

Since the Off License Putsch of 2015, there have been real supporters in the Blue Room.

They plundered their wealth to stop Ten In A Row and succeed.

Now the Sevco High Command are on the cusp of the riches of the Champions League Group stages.

If spent wisely, this can be transformative for the ten-year-old club.

Across the city, despite jokes about Rory Bremner, the reality is that the Grey Brigade in the Parkhead Boardroom will be delighted that a financially sustainable city rival has finally arrived after a decade of uncertainty.

Whatever happens on the field of play in Seville, a beautiful city, will host a carnival of reaction.