CELTIC and Rangers have been urged to take greater responsibility for their supporters’ conduct away from Parkhead and Ibrox during trophy celebrations and issue football banning orders to anyone found guilty of public disorder offences.
John Mason, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, condemned the gathering of tens of thousands of Celtic fans in Trongate a fortnight ago after their heroes were presented with the cinch Premiership trophy during a debate in Holyrood.
Mason asked the Scottish parliament if fines, stadium closures and points deductions could be applied after fights broke out, property was damaged, pyrotechnics set off, arrests made and police officers injured.
Mason believes that setting up an official fan zone in the city centre in future could help to end the scenes of unrest which have blighted title celebrations during the past four years.
He has urged Glasgow City Council to work with Celtic, Rangers and Police Scotland to explore if that is feasible.
“What happened after Celtic had been awarded the title was predictable,” he said. “So theoretically something like a fan zone in Glasgow Green could work. It is absolutely worth exploring.
“There would be a number of questions to answer. Are you going to sell alcohol to people who are already fuelled up? The number of people drinking alcohol a week past Saturday was huge. There were only a few arrests, but if the police arrested everyone who was drinking alcohol in public there would have been huge arrest numbers.
“From what I saw, it was mostly good natured. But there were a lot of people who were a bit drunk or very drunk. I saw the police attending to a number of people who were injured, who had fallen over drunk or whatever.
“I didn’t see any trouble as such. It is, though, intimidating for residents. There were also fireworks set off which hit the surrounding buildings. The Glasgow Cross area was blocked.
“All of the major bus routes in the East End of Glasgow were disrupted. They were all stopped for hours. The Tron Theatre had to cancel their performances. I don’t know what the financial effects of that were.”
Mason continued: “It would be worth a bit of investment. The majority of Rangers and Celtic fans do want to celebrate and would appreciate a fan zone. I heard of one group of Celtic fans who had been to the celebrations in the past, but didn’t this year because they just knew there was going to be trouble.
“Getting some of the fans involved would be a positive step. But getting the clubs to engage has got to be the first step. If they don’t engage then it is very difficult for the council and the police to do anything.
“I don’t think they should be solely responsible for them. The council should be involved, the SFA if it’s the Scottish Cup final. The council, the police and the club should certainly be involved. It needs to be a joint thing. It is impossible for the council and the police to do a fan zone if the clubs are not involved.
“Potentially, a fan zone could save the taxpayer money. I would be willing, even though money is in short supply, for the council to put a bit of money in. If you sell alcohol and food there is a chance to make a bit of money out of that.
“This is the time now for the clubs to work with the council and the police about what might happen next year. The council put out a nice Tweet on the Friday night asking people to behave. Frankly, we need a bit more than that.”
He believes that Celtic and Rangers, whose fans gathered en masse in George Square after they had been crowned champions during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, have a duty to take action against fans found guilty of antisocial behaviour by issuing banning orders.
“Having a fan zone in Glasgow wouldn’t have solved what happened on Saturday morning before the cup final,” he said. “Clearly, these Rangers ultras were there to stir it up against Celtic fans. So I don’t think the fan zone is the be all and end all, but I think it is absolutely worth trying as the first step.
“But both Rangers and Celtic have an element of fans who don’t have a terribly good relationship with their clubs. Celtic especially with The Green Brigade. There have been bans and all sorts of things.
“Even if Celtic supported a fan zone, you still have to question whether all of their fans would actually take part in that. I do feel there is an element which just wants to cause trouble.”
Mason added: “My feeling is that, to a large extent, Rangers and Celtic have washed their hands of the fans and basically said, ‘if it’s not in or around the stadium then it’s nothing to do with us’.
“So the clubs have to take a bit of responsibility. They can’t control their fans, but they have got a very close relationship with the fans. They pay their money. If a fan was arrested at Glasgow Cross they could be banned by Celtic, I don’t know if they are going to do that.
“Celtic are in my constituency. The impression I get is they haven’t. They could be more involved I think. If Celtic at least acknowledge it is a problem, that it isn’t a celebration when police officers are getting injured and the Royal is swamped with A&E cases.
“Celtic are part of this. Their fans pay them money even if they aren’t attending games. They buy strips and pay to watch games on TV. There is a very close link here between Celtic and their fans so I don’t think we can say that Celtic have done their bit.
“They need to take some responsibility, and the same is true of Rangers, and accept that they are benefitting from these people being strong supporters and engage. That is all I am asking for – for Celtic to accept there is a problem and engage with the council and work over the next year so that something better happens next year if they win the title.
“We have to accept there is an edge about the Old firm that is not present at every other football game and is not present at international level. Look at the outcry there was when they arranged to play a friendly in Australia. It is not a typical football rivalry, there is the whole sectarian thing, there is Ireland. It is a tricky situation.
“But we want the clubs to accept it is a difficult situation. Maybe between the clubs, the council and the police they can’t solve it. But at least if they engage and talk it would be a step forward.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “We’ve spoken to both clubs about organised celebrations in various forms, but we have been clear these come with a set of challenges and do require an event organiser.
“Should any club wish to pursue organised celebrations, at any scale, we would welcome this and work with them to review any plans. Open top bus parades have been part of our discussions and plans are in place should either make a request for such an event.
“There are licensing and legislative requirements around an alternative uses for either stadia, but we have committed to work with the clubs to ensure we can deal with these appropriately.”
Read the full Policing the parties series here:
- Police chief brands fan zone failure 'bizarre' after Trongate unrest
- Tourists hounded out of Glasgow by football fans’ title party disorder
- Call to transform Celtic and Rangers into Glasgow's global brands
- Celtic directors frustrated by ‘stalemate’ in talks over title party
