Follow Follow

"Follow Follow" is a song sung by supporters of Rangers F.C., an Association Football club in Glasgow, Scotland. It is based upon the revivalist hymn "Follow, follow, we will follow Jesus." The lyrics are:

:Though the straits be broad and narrow, we'll follow we will,:Follow we will, Follow we will.:Though the straits be broad and narrow, we'll follow we will,:We will follow in the footsteps of our team. [God bless them] :Follow follow, we will follow Rangers,:Everywhere, anywhere,:We will follow on,:To Dundee, Hamilton, Aberdeen and back again,:If they go to Dublin we will follow on.:For there's not a team like the Glasgow Rangers,:No not one, and there never shall be one,:Celtic know all about their troubles,:We will fight till the day is done.:For there's not a team like the Glasgow Rangers,:No not one, and there never shall be one!

"Follow Follow" is sometimes sung with modified lyrics, reflecting the dislike some Rangers supporters have for the Roman Catholic Church. "Dundee, Hamilton, Aberdeen and back again" is replaced with "Dundee, Hamilton, fuck the Pope and the Vatican and "Everywhere, anywhere" with "Up the Falls, Derry's Walls". [http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/53]

Rangers' attempts to stop discriminatory chanting, especially in relation to potentially offensive and sectarian content resulted in the "Wee Blue Book" being issued to supporters at Ibrox on 7 August 2006, containing a set of the non-contentious version of the lyrics to "Follow Follow". [http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,1838785,00.html]

Fanzine

"Follow Follow" is also the name of a Rangers fanzine, each issue of which sells thousands of copies. It is edited by Rangers fan Mark Dingwall. Rangers banned the fanzine from its stadium in 2002 "due to its sectarian content". The club stated "Due to the sectarian elements within Follow Follow, Rangers Football Club do not wish to be associated with it." "The Scotsman" described an issue of the fanzine as "littered with derogatory references to Catholics and Catholic schools, which are described as, 'Apartheid schools'". [http://news.scotsman.com/glasgow.cfm?id=1211972002]

The publication claimed in response that "Martin Bain (then Rangers' commercial director) offered us a seat in the press box if we signed the Follow Follow website and magazine over to him, giving the club editorial and advertising control. It’s never been about sectarianism, it’s about money and control ... He will ban us for daring to answer the club’s sectarian critics, but he won’t ban those in the press who accuse him and his fellow directors of sectarianism."

In July 2006 the fanzine, represented by the editor, was part of a delegation of fans groups that initiated a meeting with the Club to discuss what the fans could do collectively to assist the Club in silencing the Sectarian minority within the Rangers support and a joint signatory on a statement from the fans groups following that meeting “to work together to stamp out the minority who are damaging the reputations of all those connected with Rangers Football Club....of Scottish football and our society in general.” Rangers Chairman David Murray commented “These supporters groups represented should be applauded for coming forward in recognition of the importance of this issue." [http://www.rangersassembly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=41]

The magazine was also once investigated by Grampian Police following veiled threats made against an Aberdeen publican, who had installed videos of Rangers players in the pub's urinals for Aberdeen fans to urinate on. In response, the fanzine said "Treating your opponents like this will lead to violence ... Why don’t we visit the Paramount bar next time the Bears are up there and piss on Mr Wilson?" ["Stadium ban for 'bigoted' Rangers fanzine", The Scotsman, 2 November 2002]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.rangers.co.uk/ Rangers FC official website]
* [http://www.followfollow.com/ Follow Follow website]