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Whelan backing for Rangers fans
Dave Whelan
LATICS owner Dave Whelan has dismissed fears of crowd trouble when thousands of Rangers fans arrive in Wigan ahead of their match with Manchester United.
More than 3,000 supporters of the Scottish club will gather at the DW Stadium in the hours before their Champions League tie at Old Trafford on September 14.
The huge security operation has been prompted after an estimated 150,000 Rangers fans invaded Manchester city centre for the Uefa Cup final two years ago.
A giant television screen showing the match crashed, which led to several hours of rioting, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
But Mr Whelan believes there will be no repeat of those ugly scenes and stressed that a similar operation took place in Wigan before Rangers’ last Champions League match with Manchester United in 2003.
He said: “Last time Rangers fans came to Wigan they were absolutely brilliant and weren’t an ounce of trouble. I’ve no concerns at about their behaviour.
“We’ll welcome Rangers supporters to Wigan as we did before their last match with United a few years ago. This is one of the reasons why the Premier League and Manchester United approached us again.
“The fans will go into one of the lounges and have something to eat and drink. They’ll no doubt want to stretch their legs after their coach trip.
“These are real Rangers supporters and they’ll collect their match tickets at the DW stadium. I’m not expecting any trouble whatsoever.”
Rangers ticketholders will arrive at the Wigan Athletic ground at around 3pm. They will be invited to use the stadium’s “catering and rest facilities”.
A police escort will then take the supporters to Old Trafford in a convoy of buses about an hour and a half before kick off at 7.45pm.
It will be one of the biggest security operations ever for a match at Old Trafford.
John Macmillan, general secretary of the Rangers’ Supporters Association, said: “It is a necessary precaution.
“Given the events involving a small minority in 2008, this is an opportunity for Rangers fans to show they can behave.
“I agree fans without tickets should not travel to the game, but I have no doubt there will be some fans who will want to soak up the atmosphere. I can’t see it being on the scale we saw last time though.”
Rangers asked Wigan Athletic for permission to use their ground as the only stop-off point on the journey from Glasgow.
Rangers have been allocated 3,500 tickets and have stipulated that only registered travel-club members will be eligible to apply.
Everyone who is successful must travel on official coaches, with no option but to adhere to the Wigan plan.
A statement on Rangers’ website said: “All fans will meet at the DW Stadium where they will then be transported to Old Trafford. There will be no exceptions.”
However, some Wigan Athletic supporters groups have expressed concern about the operation after witnessing the crowd trouble in Manchester two years ago.
Paul Farrington, from Latics supporters group Wiganer.net, said: “It’s not something I’d look upon favourably after seeing what happened in Manchester city centre.
“I hope there’s something in it for the club but all I can see is a messy stadium left behind. I can’t see the DW Stadium being treated well.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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