Police to boost security for Rangers' Manchester visit

John Nisbet
Friday 27 August 2010 00:00 BST
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Greater Manchester Police is preparing for a huge security operation after Rangers were drawn against Manchester United in the Champions League.

But the chief executive at Rangers, Martin Bain, insists there will be no repeat of the scenes of crowd misbehaviour which marred the club's last visit to Manchester. Some 150,000 Rangers fans descended on the city for the Uefa Cup final in 2008 and trouble started when a giant screen failed to work.

Rangers will play in the city on 14 September and Bain said: "I would say the circumstances [then] were totally different. When we went to Manchester for the Uefa Cup final it was one of the biggest movements of people in Europe, 150,000 people descending on the city.

"Going down in those vast numbers was obviously a lot for any club and any city to deal with. It was a final. I still believe to this day it was a small minority who spoiled it for the majority, but this is a different tie.

"The true Rangers supporters did not like those scenes and I am convinced they will go down to Manchester to prove that they are a great set of supporters. Rangers and Manchester United know each other well, we have played each other before at this level, and we have the right administration and the right security people to make sure things go accordingly."

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