I was a schoolboy on the books at Ibrox when Gordon Neely arrived from Hibs to oversee a wholesale restructuring of the Rangers youth set up.
One of the very first decisions made that summer was to empty out the entire under-15 squad, which came as
something of a surprise to us all given two successive seasons of almost complete dominance across our age level.
For a youngster rehabilitating from a double leg-break, still harbouring ambitions of following in the footsteps of John Spencer and Gary McSwegan – both of whom progressed from the year above into the reserves – it also felt like a fairly crushing blow.
On reflection, more than 30 years on, it was very possibly the ultimate blessing in disguise.
I never met Neely. And there’s hardly a day gone by
recently when I haven’t felt overwhelmingly grateful for it.
A year earlier we had turned his Hibs side over in the final of the prestigious Ayr International tournament. That afternoon was as close as I ever came to being in the presence of this monster of a human being.
So this feels like an appropriate moment to say I’m sorry.
Not for the dream which was taken away but for the
nightmare we left behind for those boys who took our places and who were unwittingly thrown into harm’s way.
And yet, for those in charge of Rangers right now, sorry does indeed seem to be the hardest word.
Last week the SFA published what it called a ‘final
independent report into non-recent sexual abuse in Scottish football’.
It must be said at this point, the prominence of the word ‘final’ did not sit easily.
It’s almost as if the governing body has attempted to draw a line in the sand here when the uncomfortable reality is there is no end to the suffering which was inflicted upon innocents by the beasts who infiltrated our national game.
And let’s be brutally honest, they infiltrated it in vast numbers.
Back in the 70s and 80s almost every boys’ club had a dangerous, dubious character floating around somewhere, either on its periphery or, in some cases, at its helm. Rangers were unfortunate enough to allow one of them to slip in through their net. That the men running the club’s affairs today do not have the decency to acknowledge this and apologise for the horrific consequences is a shameful dereliction of their moral responsibilities. In some ways, it’s also almost
understandable.
There’s nothing even remotely easy, far less edifying, about confronting any of this. What we are being asked to deal with here is an unimaginable evil.
And the truth of the matter is that for many years, Rangers believed it to be someone else’s problem. Or, to be more precise, Celtic’s problem.
This too was understandable.
Where Neely can be regarded a rogue operator, the sexual abuse taking place for many years inside Celtic Boys’ Club was systemic and perpetrated by an established, organised ring of paedophiles. This was not a case of bad luck, it was a network of unconscionably bad men preying upon children almost in plain sight.
That it was allowed to continue for so long will forever stain the reputation of a football club which continues to be haunted by the ghosts of its past.
That modern-day Celtic has chosen to cling to the defence of the Boys’ Club being some sort of ‘separate entity’ reflects horribly on the club’s current hierarchy.
Given the potential sums involved in compensation for the victims, this position will have been based on sound business advice and endorsed by the best of legal counsel.
But it also insults the intelligence and makes a mockery of the club’s cherished sense of morality.
Only recently, and against the backdrop of mounting criminal cases and convictions, Celtic expressed “sincere sympathy, regret, and sorrow” for the victims. If this was meant as an apology then it felt like one given up by pulled teeth.
But at least it was something. That Celtic reiterated this
position the day after the findings of last week’s report were made public, was another positive step albeit a regrettably late one, coming after fulsome apologies were made by Motherwell and Partick Thistle.
Hibs, Falkirk and non-league side Hutchison Vale have also spoken up although none of them quite managed to utter the one little word which is really required. Sorry.
That Rangers remain silent is an inexplicable, unjustifiable lapse of judgement.
While the likes of chairman Douglas Park cannot in any way be held responsible for Neely’s abhorrent historic acts, he and his board have inherited an obligation to repair as much damage as they possibly can.
They may not wish for this to be their problem but that’s precisely what it has become. By failing to apologise, they cause further harm to the very people whose lives were so grotesquely affected by Neely’s vile
behaviour.
How dare they act with such arrogance and such
uncompassionate crassness?
To say nothing is both unacceptable and completely unbecoming of the very club they clearly care so much about.
Rangers are rightly uncomfortable with the despicable deeds of Neely.
As a club, they were not fortunate as I was to avoid ever crossing his path.
But it is incumbent upon them now to take ownership of what really went on and to repair the damage he did insofar as they humanly can.
Saying sorry would seem like a simple way to start.
