I would struggle to think of any club who wouldn’t have a small proportion of fans who would run onto the pitch if there team won the league on pretty much the last minute of the season after being behind all year.
Contrary to initial reports there was no ‘assault’ on any hearts players, there was a couple of idiots goading which can’t be excused but the reality was nothing terrible happened.
The only time I can remember anyone being assaulted on the pitch was ironically when Neil Lennon the Celtic Manager was attacked at Tynecastle.
I think the coverage has been a bit unfair towards Celtic, when the same thing happened at Kilmarnock, who won promotion on the last kick of the ball a few years back, the media described this as ‘amazing, joyous scenes’.
Or exactly the same when Hibernian won the Scottish Cup, no goal in the last minute there but the fans were just genuinely overjoyed.
One of the main critics of Celtic just now is ‘Lord’ Foulkes, many fans on social media are pointing out that the Sunday Mail reported that his son has a conviction for sectarian abuse towards Celtic fans.
Here is a link to the original story being cited, obviously this isn’t a reflection on Foulkes himself but it would be dismissive to not empathise with why many fans believe that much of the criticism the club received has a sectarian tone, especially when the language used has not been utilised for other clubs in the media.
As for Social Media, I generally have a fairly thick skin but anyone who thinks sectarianism isn’t an issue in Scotland should go on to X or some Facebook pages and see the bile that our fellow Scots deem fit to publish.
www.thefreelibrary.com/MP%27S+SON+IS+SOCCER+HOOLIGAN%3B+Yob+claimed+minister+dad+would+%27trouble%27…-a064963554
The fact is that Glasgow has two huge football clubs, which bring huge economic benefits to the city through visitors, fans, tourism and hospitality etc..
However Glasgow City Council does very little to facilitate the needs of these fans.
It is not unreasonable to provide a fan area, parade when these teams achieve something that fans want to celebrate.
Most European football cities do this, even similar places such as Liverpool and Manchester.
Paul Sweeney (Labour MSP) has been pushing for an official fan zone at Glasgow Green which the council won’t entertain, personally i don’t see the problem with this, arranging some bands to play, food/toilets and charging people £5 or so to attend which would cover any costs.
The majority of fans would be happy to attend something organised and would allow it to be contained somewhere more sensible.
As for football fans behaviour, There does seem to be an anti-social element involved in the ‘Ultras’ culture which needs to be clamped down upon by the clubs, police and society at large.
Again, contrary to what many voices state, this is not restricted to Glasgow or the Old Firm.
There have been incidents recently at clubs as diverse as Stranraer, Alloa and especially Stirling.
It’s just the sheer numbers of old firm fans that make this more visible.
My son, his friend and myself were caught in a riot between Thistle and Airdrie fans a couple off years ago, it was terrifying and again much much worse than anything I saw on Saturday but as was away from the stadium it didn’t even make the news.
So yes, there are problems, but it’s not all the fault of one or two clubs.