Celtic fans deserve to know the details of Police Scotland’s arrests.

The arrests over the Scottish Cup game at Ibrox continue to come, and it will be interesting to see whether there is ever a final tally of who is charged, what they are charged with, and which clubs those people actually support.

For the first time, I think that matters.

Not because I am interested in whataboutery. I am not. I am interested in actual justice.

If there are Celtic fans guilty of serious offences, then they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The club should then have the opportunity to find out who they are, what they did, and act accordingly.

If that means expelling them from Celtic Park, cancelling season tickets or taking other action, I do not think many Celtic fans would complain.

But the toxic narrative around Celtic supporters has to end.

That is why facts matter.

Because there are several stories around that day at Ibrox. Some are true. Some are incomplete. Some are manifestly untrue. Some have been allowed to hang in the air because they paint our club and our support in the worst possible light.

That cannot continue indefinitely. Police Scotland now has a responsibility to tell the truth about these events as clearly as possible.

We all know what happened at Ibrox was a flat-out disgrace.

We all know Celtic fans were attacked by Ibrox supporters. We all know there has been a dishonest media narrative around the whole thing. But unless that narrative is challenged by cold, hard facts, it will never end.

When newspapers published pictures of fans wanted in connection with the events of that day, there were a lot of Celtic fans on those pages.

Since simply being on the pitch is not currently a specific criminal offence in Scotland, it will be interesting to know exactly what those people were charged with. Ian Maxwell has already backed the idea of tougher sanctions, including the possibility of criminalising pitch invasions, which tells you where the current gap sits.

So, if those Celtic fans have been charged, it has to be for something else.

Assault. Reckless conduct. Breach of the peace.

Something specific.

Because this cannot be left as a fog of “Celtic fans were on the pitch too” and nothing more. If someone committed a criminal offence, say what the allegation is. If someone threw something, assaulted someone, threatened someone or acted recklessly, then let the courts deal with it.

But if the main thing some people did was enter the pitch during a moment of celebration, then that is not the same category of behaviour as fans storming forward to attack others.

That distinction has to be made.

Police Scotland’s own reporting and the subsequent media coverage have repeatedly referred to violence, disorder, assaults on officers and stewards, missiles and reckless conduct. The latest reports say the total number of arrests is now 37, with six more men charged in connection with the disorder. Fine.

Let those cases proceed. Let the facts come out. Let the evidence be tested.

But let us also have clarity.

Because the public deserves to know the difference between fans who were guilty of actual violence and fans who were caught up in a pitch invasion. Celtic supporters deserve that distinction too, because the media has shown no interest in making it.

This is why it may be worth keeping an eye on court records as these cases move forward. That is where the proper story will eventually emerge. Not from breathless newspaper headlines. Not from fan-site hysteria. Not from selective clips on social media.

From evidence. From charges. From convictions, if there are convictions. That is where the truth will be.

On top of that, the SFA’s independent investigation is due to be published soon, if Ian Maxwell’s comments last week are to be believed. That report is going to be the subject of great interest. The media will look for anything it can pull apart, anything it can use, anything it can weaponise.

But if that independent report is highly critical of the Ibrox club and the way it handled events, nobody will be able to blame it on the Grand Conspiracy of the Unseen Fenian Hand. The frame of reference for the investigation will also be interesting, because that is something the SFA does have control over.

The questions asked matter. The scope matters. The terms matter.

If you are in charge of an inquiry, you can shape what gets asked and what does not.

So, we should be watching closely.

On the whole, I understand why Celtic are cooperating with it. I understand why the mood inside Celtic Park appears to be that the report may vindicate some of the club’s concerns about what happened that day.

Just as with what happened at Celtic Park on the final day, the point is not that Celtic fans are automatically innocent of everything. Nobody serious is saying that.

The point is this: where is the proof that Celtic fans were anything more than victims of the worst violence at Ibrox? Where is the proof that Celtic fans committed assaults of the sort some people have implied? Where is the evidence that condemns us as a support?

That is what matters.

We asked the same questions over the Hearts allegations after Celtic Park. Where was the proof? Where was the complaint? Where was the footage? Where was the evidence?

Police Scotland were later reported as having received no formal complaints from Hearts over alleged assaults on players and staff, despite all the noise that followed that game.

That is why facts matter. That is why formal complaints matter. That is why charges matter. That is why evidence matters.

Because if people are allowed to make serious claims and then walk away without proving them, the narrative becomes the punishment. Celtic fans get smeared whether the evidence exists or not.

The SFA report should spell some of this out in relation to Ibrox. The SPFL investigations into events at Celtic Park and Motherwell will continue separately, and it will be interesting to see what conclusions are drawn from those as well.

Tomorrow I am going to post a piece that sets the Trongate situation in a slightly different light from the one you have read in the mainstream press.

But for now, the wheels are in motion.

People are being arrested. People are being charged. Cases are moving towards court. That is how this should work.

What cannot happen is that the Ibrox club escapes accountability for the actions of its own supporters and, just as importantly, for its own statements in the aftermath of the match.

Because that matters too. If a club releases statements which inflame a situation, defend the indefensible or encourage a toxic narrative, then that club should answer for it. If we are serious about moving Scottish football forward, we cannot only punish individuals in the stands while ignoring institutional behaviour from the clubs themselves.

The Ibrox club should have to account not only for what its fans did, but for how it responded afterwards.

Because if it is not made to account, we will not move forward as a game. We will simply do what Scottish football always does. Arrest a few people. Issue a few statements.

Talk about lessons being learned. Then wait for the next explosion.

That is not good enough.

If Celtic fans committed crimes that day, prosecute them. If Ibrox fans committed crimes that day, prosecute them. If clubs inflamed the situation afterwards, sanction them.

But above all, tell the truth.

Tell the whole truth.

Because until that happens, the toxic narrative around Celtic supporters will continue.

And some people will be perfectly happy for it to continue.

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