GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MARCH 08: A Rangers fan faces off with Police as fans storm the pitch at full time during a Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Quarter-Final match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium, on March 08, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Police Scotland seems to spend an awful lot of time focused on football these days, and it is tiresome to hear the way they go on about it. They are always demanding that football get its house in order. They are always demanding that football does more.
I don’t disagree with that in principle. Football does have things to fix. Clubs have responsibilities. Governing bodies have responsibilities. Supporters have responsibilities too.
But I have a fundamental problem with the way this debate is being framed.
We are being told there is growing violence in football and that Police Scotland can only do so much about it. I do not accept that framing, not as it stands.
Police Scotland is getting very good at passing the buck. It is getting very good at pushing issues onto football which are, at least partly, matters of policing. When police are responsible for crowd control at games, it is their job to ensure that certain things are prevented and certain risks are properly managed.
Football cannot be given sole responsibility for what happens in spaces where the police themselves are present and operational.
But this is not just about Police Scotland. Clubs are lax in how they deal with some of this. The governing bodies are lax. The media is lax as well, because too many people involved in this conversation do not want to tell the truth.
One of the reasons the events at Celtic Park were so overhyped, and one of the reasons the assault claim got airtime after the pitch invasion, is that the perception of Celtic fans as an violent support was already in the public domain.
That perception did not appear by accident.
The media made damned sure Celtic fans would be held jointly accountable for the events at Ibrox. In fact, if you examine the coverage, you will find that we were often held almost solely responsible. After all, if Celtic fans were not on the pitch, so the argument goes, there would have been no trouble that day.
That argument is convenient. It is also rubbish.
There was no violence on the Ibrox pitch until Ibrox fans stormed onto it to attack Celtic supporters. Police Scotland’s own statement after that match described officers and stewards facing “extreme hostility and violence” over a sustained period, with individuals armed with items intended to cause harm.
That is not the same thing as fans celebrating on a pitch.
That distinction matters. They never made the distinction, nor identified, in a proper way, those who were responsible for the violence. One side’s fans celebrated. The other side attacked them. That should have been said, whilst not condoning Celtic fans being on the pitch. Instead the disorder that day was framed as a “plague on both your houses” when in fact it was the toxic sludge of one of them.
Police Scotland has also loudly echoed the narrative of violent Celtic fans at the Trongate, but this didn’t happen only after the events unfolded there, but well before it in a climate already primed to expect trouble.
I have avoided writing about the Trongate because the stage was set weeks in advance by all the usual hysterical voices who don’t want Celtic fans celebrating at all. I have no intention of pretending to know every detail of what happened there because I gave all the coverage a steer, knowing only that it would just piss me off.
But I do know what happened at Ibrox. I know what happened at Motherwell. I know what happened at Celtic Park. In those three football grounds, the only proven violence involving fans on the pitch was directed at Celtic supporters.
Fan violence should not be taken lightly. It should be taken seriously by everyone. But there was no violence on the Celtic Park pitch of any description, unless we are now accepting the pathetic rebrand of “non-physical violence,” which some are using in one of the most desperate shifts in position I have ever heard.
We know where the real violence took place.
The failure by the media, the governing bodies and Police Scotland to acknowledge that clearly at the time has helped conflate things that are not the same.
Martin O’Neill was entirely correct on this point. Fans coming onto the pitch is not, in itself, violent. It may be wrong. It may be unsafe. It may be something football has to stop. But intent matters. Fans coming onto the pitch to celebrate is one thing. Fans coming onto the pitch to attack other fans is another.
That is dangerous. That is illegal. That is violence. The two things should not be treated as if they are morally or practically identical.
Police Scotland is forever making fresh demands of football and football clubs. But supporters have asked more than once why police do not go into crowds and arrest wrongdoers when offences are happening in plain sight.
Why are people allowed into stadiums wearing masks? Why are people with flares, smoke bombs and other prohibited items not dealt with at the point where they are openly visible? These are legitimate questions.
That does not absolve clubs or supporters of responsibility. It does not mean football has no work to do. But it does mean Police Scotland cannot simply frame itself as an exasperated bystander to problems it is also paid and empowered to manage.
There is also a football-policing bureaucracy here, and it has grown significantly. I do not know exactly how much money football intelligence now absorbs from police budgets, but it is clearly far more than it once did.
Police Scotland may decry the ultras, but the growth of that culture has also allowed parts of the policing structure to expand their role and influence around football. And it is in the interests of those at the centre of that structure to keep magnifying this issue in the public eye. That is not a conspiracy theory. It is what happens when institutions identify an area of risk and build capacity around it. You get little fiefdoms.
But when you build that machinery, you also have a responsibility to frame the risk honestly. That is where this debate keeps failing.
I am not going to give football a free time of it. There are things football could be doing better. Of course there are. I will be writing more about Ian Maxwell and his comments yesterday, because the governing bodies also have serious questions to answer.
But one of the biggest things everyone could do immediately is simple. Tell the truth. Separate violent acts from other football-related issues.
Flares and smoke bombs in grounds are not to my taste. Everyone knows I am opposed to them. They should not be there.
Pitch invasions probably should not happen either. Fans do not need to be on the pitch. Football can and should look at how to stop them, and Ian Maxwell has already backed tougher rules and sanctions around pitch invasions.
But getting hysterical over every pitch invasion and pretending each one is the end of civilisation is not going to fix the problem.
Violence is violence. Violence is a different category.
Pitch invasions are not currently treated in Scotland the way they are in England. We can write new rules or new laws if we think the problem warrants it. But violence is already illegal. When there is proven violence, when there is demonstrable risk to public safety from people attacking others, that cannot be lumped in with ordinary crowd issues, however much we dislike those issues.
What I heard yesterday from Police Scotland was everything being rolled together.
That is not how this should work. If we want to talk about fan behaviour, fine. Let’s talk about it properly. Let’s talk about pyro. Let’s talk about masks. Let’s talk about pitch invasions. Let’s talk about stewarding. Let’s talk about policing. Let’s talk about club statements which inflame things further. Let’s talk about media narratives.
But let’s not pretend all of those things are the same as violence.
They are not.
Until people are honest enough to make that distinction, this false narrative will continue to poison the whole debate and the way Police Scotland framed this yesterday did nothing to further the public discussion.
It simply fed the same tired story.
Celtic fans as the problem. Celtic fans as the danger. Celtic fans as the threat. That is a convenient narrative for a lot of people. It is not an honest one.
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They say world civilization is only a thin crust on top of chaos well I do, and I think anti-Irish attitudes are always lurking below the surface in the UK and any excuse will be used to bring it to the surface. Gary Lineker claiming the Celtic penalty decision was the worst he had ever seen beggars belief but illustrates my point. What that hell has it got to do with him?
Hearts are like kids at Christmas who didn’t get what they are expecting and so the the tantrums begin amplified by the media.
More like the “Karens” you see on You Tube, screaming hysterically when they don’t get their own way.
And it ALWAYS ends badly for them.
That’ll be the same Police Scotland that was 100% responsible for the serious crush at a Glasgow derby a few years ago.
That’ll be the same Police Scotland that, earlier this season, ushered the Rangers fans into Celtic Park without incident but kettled hundreds of our fans for no reason and refused them entry into the ground.
That’ll be the same Police Scotland that didn’t wan’t Celtic fans to party in the Trongate and were itching to send in police in full riot gear on the flimsiest of pretexts at the earliest opportunity. After all, if you have hundreds of officers on overtime dressed in riot gear, it would be an awful waste to leave them sitting in their vans when they could be used to violently break up the party.
I’m an articulate person but I do not have the words to convey how ill served the Celtic family is by this Police ‘service’.
Just why in the actual fuck are SO MANY people and organisations terrified of offending fuckin Sevco…
Ok – We all know that they’re the Scummy Scottish Football Media darlings and that’ll never change until The Scummy’s inevitably rot in their graves…
But Police Scotland should not be scared of them for sure…
Escort Marched during a Covid pandemic to George Square…
What thanks did Polieas Alba get there – 47 of their brothers hospitalised…
Escort Marched from Lorne Street to Liebrox on 8th March…
What thanks did they get for that – Attacked with weapons on the pitch…
Tell the fuckin truth about them please PS !
The simple fact is that the police just want to do less for their money and pass the buck on to the football clubs, which in itself is a scandalous situation. They are well paid and they are public servants , so how about doing your job and serve the public instead of trying to apportion blame where it does not lie?
Any sensible person knows well enough that the furore created recently was due to the remarks being made by commentators who should know better, but were just jumping on the bandwagon of untruth before checking facts. And we also know that two of the chief perpetrators were players of the club across the river, who take great delight in disparaging Celtic whenever the opportunity arises. This is something that the SFA should be investigating, the venomous, toxic, anti Celtic rhetoric which causes so much trouble nowadays!
As far as anti Irish feelings, I honestly can’t say that I see this very much outside of football, but I do believe that there is a strong anti Irish feeling against Celtic and I put this down to jealousy, as the unionist supporting fans can’t cope with our continued success, so they try anything to get a reaction, the two favourites being abuse and Irish racism. As a descendant of Irish stock, I pay no attention to these people because they are just showing their inferiority and that gives me some satisfaction.
Anti Irish sentiment, anti foreign sentiment, is very close to the surface with certain members of society, typically the type pasting their houses and streets in George Crosses and Butcher’s Aprons. The use, and subsequent abuse, of Celtic FC is often merely a portal into openly expressing that ordinarily hidden sentiment. I’ve said on here before, following the Motherwell game I was asked by a bloke at work, “What would you have done if you’d lost? Blow up a couple of pubs?” I did say that events of November ’74 have nothing to do with me, I was fucking 6! However, the anti Celtic, anti Irish/pro Union, pro Ibrox sentiment all go hand in hand.
We’re still double winners Lol. HH
James. I agree with a lot of what you say but there is too much anti police rhetoric and it hurts Celtic. There was a Celtic fan hurt during the “celebrations” in the Trongate and police escorting the ambulance were attacked. This is not a lie and totally different to the narrative about Hearts player being attacked which you have rightly proven to be false.. Too many downplay the Trongate celebrations but they have to take place elsewhere from now on. Why not just open up the stadium and just have stewards.
I’ve heard the police being blamed for this but there is footage on the mainstream media of Celtic fans attacking each other. Apparantly there was only 3,000 on the Trongate. Liverpool had hundreds of thousands at their celebrations last year and no reports of fans fighting amongst themselves or the police.
The anti police sentiment is harming Celtic and giving the club a bad name.
This season the GB posted a video of a Celtic employee grabbing a young kid by the hood in the stadium and tried to paint a negative picture. Anybody who has been in that part of the stadium knows the GB use young people to bring in Fireworks etc. Anyone who denies this happens is a liar or has never been in that section very often, because it is obvious.
Lets not downplay the fans on the pitch either. Hypothetically..what if Hearts had won and their fans had ran on to the pitch and goaded our players? Would that have been acceptable or would it all have kicked off big time? Ask yourself that.
Lets not make it easy for our fans to be criticised. Stay off the fucking pitch and stay away from the Trongate because we are now getting put in the same bracket as the muppets in George Sq.
Mojo you are looking for perfect behaviour amongst 10 of thousands of football supporters, In todays World that is well nigh impossible. What most Celtic supporters are sick of, is the way the Celtic support are judged and criticised compared to others in Scotland.
It might seem a bit of whataboutery, but the difference in tone of coverage by the media and the quotes from Police Scotland when it comes to the behaviour of Celtic fans compared to The Rangers fans is very obviously biased towards one group and that ain’t the Celtic Fans.
I get your criticism of some Celtic fans behaviour, they’re not perfect, but you seem to have the same low opinion of our fans as the Board. and that isn’t a good or fair look.
But then again Mojo, you also make excuses for ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine and that makes me question your judgement even more.
No Im not looking for perfect behavior but there is a hate campaign against the police by a small number inside the Celtic support. This is wrong and its why the numpties think the police are fair game. Make no mistake, the Ibrox ultras hate the police also and have similar issues but on a bigger scale. There was 3,000 in the Trongate compared to close to a million at the Liverpool celebrations. Liverpool have great reason to distrust the police but seemed to celebrate properly.
We are getting put in the same bracket as the Ibrox basket case because of the pigwatch bullshit.
You have plenty to say about Palestine micmac but silent about the persecution and murder of the jews.
Its a theme which is spreading fast throughout Britain and not dissimilar to 1930s German
If you know yer history!
Mr Mojorisin @ 9.41pm…
When we injure FOTRY SEVEN (47) fuckin cops and not TWO (2) then we can be in the same bracket as the muppets of George Square…
But absolutely not before !
Clach I dont think we should be having a competition to see who can injure the most cops.
Why cant we stick to the football and cut out the bullshit?
If cops are getting injured and celtic fans fighting each other in the Trongate is broadcast for all to see, we maybe need to think about celebrating somewhere else in a more controlled manner.
Remember it was estimated only around 3,000 gathered in the Trongate this year which if correct is only a tiny minority, but it still gets us classified alongside the Ibrox mob.