Former SFA president George Peat has revealed he was urged by a ‘prominent club’ in Scotland to not help Rangers during the run to UEFA Cup Final in 2008.
Peat was asked by BBC Scotland about any disappointments he had during his presidency which ran from 2007 to 2011, revealing that the saga in 2008 surrounding the Gers stuck in his throat.
As quoted by the BBC, Peat said:
I remember when Rangers got to the final in Manchester. I got a phone call from a prominent chairman of a club requesting me not to help Rangers in any way.
And it so happened that I had already had a meeting with Lex Gold at the SPL because what we were willing to do was to extend the season because of the fixture pile-up that Rangers had and I was most disappointed when I got back to the office to receive this call to ask me not to help them in any way.
That really stuck in my throat.
You’ll remember that Rangers had to play an incredible amount of fixtures in a short space of time, with the authorities only agreeing a short extension to the league season and not allowing the club to postpone their fixture ahead of the UEFA Cup Final against FC Zenit.
It was a ridiculous situation with Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell publicly putting pressure on the club with comments about ‘sporting integrity’.
Many fans have been left fuming by Peat’s latest comments, feeling that you don’t have to look too far to figure out which prominent club registered their opposition to helping Rangers in any way.
These supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…
We were made to play 5 games in just 11 days! What a boost it would have been for the Scottish game too if we'd won a European trophy. Sadly, as we have seen over the years, Scottish football would rather eat itself than assist Rangers in any way. #55 will be savoured the most.
— KingOfTheHill (@AmiableAlec) September 17, 2018
Aye sporting integrity indeed eh!!! He makes it quite clear who the club is when he mentions the word prominent!!https://t.co/6lWEO02idl
— Teddybear72 (@scottieboy32) September 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/Wilf1872/status/1041742572140539904
https://twitter.com/___thefamous1/status/1041740033609408512
The chairman of the same club that were going on an end of season tour of Japan. Funnily enough Japan never did see any visitors from the east end of Glasgow…..but then we knew that anyway.
— Rhino (@das_rhino) September 17, 2018
I hope @RangersFC will be asking the SPFL if those in charge at the time (SPL) were also asked to collude with a ‘high profile Club’ (@CelticFC) to stop Rangers from winning a Euro trophy & another Scottish League title.#SportingIntegrity demands it !!
— dEBT shredder (@andybearz) September 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/brianpaton9/status/1041735800445124608
What are your thoughts on the new comments by George Peat? Have your say in the comments below…