Union Bears hammer Rangers over 'disgusting' Celtic friendly as furious statement fires warning to Ibrox board

The Union Bears have released an angry statement slamming Rangers' decision to agree a friendly with Celtic in Australia.

The Premiership champions are set to head Down Under in November to compete in the Sydney Super Cup against their bitter rivals.

Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst defended the move but fans protested with songs and banners denouncing the fixture during Wednesday night's win over St Johnstone.

And a statement from the ultras group said on Thursday: “We are disgusted to learn that our club have plans to take part in a friendly over in Australia against our biggest rivals, though not entirely shocked given the recent over-commercialisation of the club.

“We made our feelings clear last night and will continue to oppose this match for as long as necessary - taking whatever actions we feel are required.

“Over the past few months, we as a group have been working tirelessly to create a tifo to celebrate our club's 150th anniversary.

"This has taken hundreds of man hours and cost thousands of pounds, which was raised by the Rangers support. The news of this despicable friendly had made us reconsider our plans - how can we have a day of celebration while this is hanging over our heads?

“After much discussion over the past 24 hours, we have came to the decision that the tifo will go ahead despite the disappointment, anger and frustration we currently have towards those from the club behind this narrow minded, cash driven decision.

“The tifo is not being done for men in a boardroom with no real emotional attachment to our club, it's being done for us as fans to celebrate 150 years of our magnificent football club.

“Board members will come and go but the one major consistency at Rangers will always be the