RANGERS LEGEND’S SECTARIAN SHAME
Durrant’s Pope outburst slammed by anti-bigotry group
FORMER Rangers star Ian Durrant is at the centre of a bigotry storm after footage emerged of him saying: “F*** the Pope”.
He made the outburst into a microphone during a football legends dinner attended by fans.
ANTI-SECTARIAN campaigners rounded on Ian Durrant last night after he was caught saying: “F*** the Pope.”
Footage emerged of the former Rangers and Scotland star making the outburst at a packed Ibrox legends dinner.
Nil by Mouth director David Scott said: “This is crass behaviour and reflects extremely poorly on the person involved. In 2018, there is no excuse for it.
“It reminds us that sectarianism still blights the game here.”
Durrant, who until yesterday was assistant manager at Dumbarton, delivered the poisonous statement into a microphone during a dinner attended by former Ibrox players Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch.
The trio were entertaining fans at an event in Bothwell Bridge Hotel, Lanarkshire.
Nine-in-a-row hero Durrant mentioned former Celtic chairman John Reid just before the slur.
The dinner, held on October 12, was organised by Glasgow firm FSG Promotions and Blackpool-based Goldstar Promotions.
Former captain Ferguson, McCulloch and Durrant sat at the top table and talked about their glittering Ibrox careers.
Fans paid between £69 and £99 a head for tickets.
Durrant’s sectarian remark came while McCulloch was talking about Rangers’ run to the 2008 UEFA Cup final in Manchester.
The footage was posted on a football forum yesterday.
It has already been reported that at the same event, former Rangers and Scotland captain Ferguson had a foul-mouthed rant at Scottish football chiefs.
Seconds after Durrant’s outburst, Ferguson said: “F*** the SFA”, sparking a cheer from fans in the room.
Ferguson was hitting out at the SFA over their refusal, back then, to move fixtures to help the Ibrox side prepare for the final against Zenit St Petersburg. It meant Rangers pla five games in 11 days. They lost the final 2-0.
Last month, former SFA president George Peat revealed he had been contacted at the time by the chairman of a rival club and urged not to assist Rangers in their fixture backlog. In Saturday’s Record, Ferguson, who has just been appointed manager of Lowland League side Kelty Hearts, opened up about his inner demons. He said he has been undergoing therapy to deal with anger management issues. Durrant was number two to Stephen Aitken at Scottish League One side Dumbarton until the manager’s sacking a fortnight ago. He took over as interim manager of the club last week and lost his first match in charge 3-1 away to Arbroath on Saturday.
Durrant left the club yesterday after the appointment of Jim Duffy as boss.
In a 13-year career at Ibrox, Durrant won six League titles, four League Cups and three Scottish Cups.
In 1988, the midfielder, then 21, was seriously injured in a challenge by Aberdeen’s Neil Simpson which tore cruciate ligaments in his knee.
Durrant did not play competitive football for almost three years. Despite injury problems, he played a total of 346 competitive games for the club, scoring 45 goals.
Durrant won 20 caps for Scotland and spent four years at Kilmarnock before retiring.
In 2005, he returned to Rangers as a coach and worked under Walter Smith and Ally McCoist before leaving in June 2016.
Durrant failed to respond to requests for comment about the sectarian outburst.
No one from the Bothwell Bridge Hotel was available for comment.
FSG or Goldstar could not be reached for comment.