Rangers fans plan to sing 'God save the King' ahead of Napoli match

The Champions League anthem will not be played at Ibrox on Wednesday.

Rangers fans plan to sing ‘God save the King’ ahead of Napoli match at Ibrox SNS Group

Rangers supporters are preparing to sing God Save the King ahead of the club’s Champions League clash with Napoli at Ibrox.

It is despite UEFA having rejected requests from British clubs to allow the anthem to be played before kick-off during their European fixtures.

Liverpool fans observed a moment of silence at Anfield for their match against Ajax on Tuesday.

The players also wore black armbands, while flags at the stadium were lowered to half-mast.

The Champions League anthem was also not played, with them tune having been based on George Frideric Handel’s Zadok the Priest – which has been played at the coronation of every UK monarch.

As well as the match at Ibrox, there are two further Champions League matches taking place on British soil on Wednesday – Chelsea face RB Salzburg in London and Manchester City play Borussia Dortmund at home.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Rangers and Chelsea asked for permission from UEFA to play the national anthem.

Rangers have a picture of the Queen in the home dressing room at Ibrox, while Chelsea’s mascots, the Chelsea pensioners, are closely linked to the Royal Hospital in West London.

Speaking on talkSPORT on Tuesday, Graeme Souness – Rangers manager between 1986 and 1991 – said that he was responsible for the portrait of the Queen being put in place.

“When I was at Glasgow Rangers… we have an old fashioned dressing room with great, big, high ceilings and it was crying out for a portrait of our Queen,” he said.

“So, I instructed (the kit man) Doddie, who was the boss of the dressing room – not the tallest of chaps – so he went out and got this picture that was slightly bigger than him.

“And he put it up in the dressing room and it’s still there today, and I’m proud I was responsible for that.”

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