Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has said he would not take his teenage son to an Old Firm game following last weekend’s shameful scenes at Ibrox.
A number of arrests were made after Celtic’s penalty shootout win culminated in supporters from both sides storming the pitch, with police and stewards attacked.
Swinney, who described the actions of fans as ‘completely and utterly unacceptable’, was asked if he would take his teenage son Matthew to a game between the Glasgow rivals, and replied: ‘No’.
However, he stopped short of suggesting that future Old Firm games should be played behind closed doors, without supporters in attendance.
‘I would rather that’s not the case, but I think none of us can watch those scenes and think that there isn’t something that’s got to give as a consequence of what happened at the weekend,’ he said. ‘I want to take time to engage… the clubs and the SFA, to identify what’s the best course of action to take.’
Clashes have flared in recent years when the teams have faced each other. At the 2024 League Cup final, police were forced to use special powers to lower the bar for searches following reports of missiles being thrown at officers and the windows of a city centre pub being smashed.
Swinney said the best way to stop the violence between the two fanbases is for the clubs to engage with footballing authorities, police and the Government, and added that he will be looking at the use of banning orders if he is re-elected as First Minister in May.
‘The way through this, I think, is it’s got to involve, first of all, the people responsible being apprehended, and the police are pursuing that,’ he said. ‘I welcome what Police Scotland are doing.
‘There’s also got to be engagement between the clubs, the Scottish Football Association and the Government about what further steps can be taken to avoid a recurrence of this behaviour, because it is just quite simply intolerable that we have that now.
‘We’ve just concluded a consultation on football banning orders – we have football banning orders available already, we’ve got to review them periodically to see if they remain appropriate for the times.
‘We’re analysing the outcome of that and there’s been a big response to that and we need to do that carefully, then in the next Parliament, we’ll have to look at these issues.’
Meanwhile, Rangers head coach Danny Rohl has urged everyone to take responsibility to protect the presence of away fans in derbies with Celtic amid his fears over allocations in the wake of Sunday’s Ibrox pitch invasions.
However, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill sees no reason why Rangers’ allocation for their upcoming league game at Parkhead should be impacted.
‘The emotional part was great during the game,’ said Rohl. ‘I like to have these Old Firms with supporters from both sides. I think this is great.
‘This makes the football exciting, it makes the atmosphere in the stadium and everyone should take responsibility that we can keep going like this.’
When asked if he feared there would be no away fans for Rangers’ post-split league encounter at Celtic Park, the German said: ‘It would be a shame for us – and for all of us.
‘I really enjoy this game with the supporters on both ends. If you’re away or at home, that makes the football exciting and hopefully we can carry on.
‘But, of course, if such a thing happens, then you have to be careful because it could be that there’s a consequence and it might not be nice.’
O’Neill had already spoken of his sadness that a permanent return to the traditional allocation now looked unlikely but he saw no danger of Rangers losing a circa-2,500 allocation for their upcoming trip to Celtic Park.
O’Neill said: ‘Rangers will be due their allocation, won’t they? And they are entitled to that as well, it’s a league game. I don’t think anyone is arguing about that.
‘What I was talking about was the full allocation, something that I feel the fixture – although still a great fixture – has missed in recent years. I assume everyone will have a look at it and think it’s not worthwhile.’
The SFA launched an investigation immediately after the game which could lead to disciplinary action and the governing body announced on Thursday that it would commission an independent review into security operations at the game.
