The Herald reveals

Kevin Ferrie

Published on 27 Jan 2010
Glasgow Warriors’ players have been challenged to change their attitude by travelling supporters who were embarrassed by their performance in Biarritz on Sunday.

The criticism is a result of their behaviour at the final whistle when they turned their backs on a small, but always noisy, loyal following. Carolyn Armstrong, the chair of the Glasgow Warriors Supporters’ Club, said that the failure to acknowledge the fans’ backing had shocked even the home crowd.

“The Biarritz supporters were so impressed with the friendly and fun attitude of the kilted Warriors invasion that, not only were they saying that they’d tell everyone in French rugby that the Glasgow Warriors are by far the best team to invite to town, but they presented us with a framed plaque commemorating the new bond between the two groups of supporters,” said Armstrong. “Then things changed. The result didn’t go our way and the Warriors were out of European rugby. While the Biarritz players celebrated with their fans, the Warriors turned their backs on theirs. They went into a huddle then headed for the changing rooms without acknowledging the efforts of the travelling supporters who had chanted and shouted encouragement from the first minute to the last.

“Eventually, two players, Moray Low and Jon Welsh, returned to rapturous applause from the waiting ­supporters who wanted to show that, despite the result, they knew their team had given their all.

“The Biarritz fans were disgusted that the Warriors had publicly snubbed their loyal support. To them, such disrespect ful behaviour would not be tolerated from any of their players.”

Al Kellock, the club captain, had later asked Armstrong to apologise to fans on behalf of the players, and that Kenny Baillie, the chief executive, had been in touch to offer an “unreserved apology”. However, she added that the issue has been raised with the club repeatedly in recent years, which is why she felt the need to make the critic ism public.

“If the SRU and the Warriors aspire to being among the top flight of European rugby, they need to take a leaf out of the book of the big guns,” she said. “They don’t need almost 100 years of history as Biarritz have, because, as Munster have shown, it is possible to instil a sense of belonging in the local community.

“Valuing the existing supporters and acknowledging their worth each and every time, whether home or away, win or lose, will spread the word that Glasgow has a team everyone can be proud of, and the players have to be in the forefront of that.”

Baillie said: “For people to travel to the south of France in January and spend hard-earned money in the process shows how much they care about the Warriors, so their support was greatly appreciated by everyone.

“We have a very strong bond with our supporters and always seek to maintain the highest-possible standards on and off the pitch. By remaining true to themselves as pro fessional athletes, the players perhaps lost sight of their off-pitch responsibilities to the supporters.

“The support of the Glasgow fans, and especially the Glasgow Warriors Supporters’ Club, is key to continuing the growth of our supporter base and I thank them for their continued backing of the team.”

This article was originally posted on 28-Jan-2010, 08:05 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 28-Jan-2010, 08:07.