Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan believes there will be no crowd problems when thousands of Rangers FC supporters descend on Wigan ahead of their Champions League clash with Manchester United.
Over 3,000 Scottish supporters of the SPL giants are expected to watch the tie on a big screen at the DW Stadium on 14 September.
The huge security operation has been prompted after an estimated 150,000 Rangers fans invaded Manchester city centre for the Uefa Cup final two years ago.
A giant television screen showing the match crashed, which led to several hours of rioting, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Whelan believes there will be no repeat of the riots that took place in Manchester City Centre on the night the UEFA Cup final two years ago.
He points to a similar operation that took place in Wigan before Rangers’ last Champions League match with Manchester United in 2003.
He said: “Last time Rangers fans came to Wigan they were absolutely brilliant and weren’t an ounce of trouble. I’ve no concerns at about their behaviour.
“We’ll welcome Rangers supporters to Wigan as we did before their last match with United a few years ago. This is one of the reasons why the Premier League and Manchester United approached us again.
“The fans will go into one of the lounges and have something to eat and drink. They’ll no doubt want to stretch their legs after their coach trip.
“These are real Rangers supporters and they’ll collect their match tickets at the DW stadium. I’m not expecting any trouble whatsoever.”
Ian, Glasgow around 1 year, 5 months ago