The Rangers Fan Advisory Board and Rangers Supporters Association have issued a joint statement demanding more answers from Police Scotland over their handling of the Scottish Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
Rangers lost on penalties to Celtic in another game that Danny Rohl’s side squandered, but most of the headlines concerned matters off the pitch, sparked by a pitch invason from Celtic fans in the Broomloan Stand.
That led to a response from Rangers fans, with a significant outbreak of disorder but thankfully it didn’t escalate to a full scale riot.
The Rangers fan groups’ statement was scathing of the police operation around the game, inside the stadium and out, while outlining several key issues.
While Police Scotland is rightly facing scrutiny, the SFA also has questions to answer for its role in the organisation of the fixture, and the decision to hand 7,500 tickets to Celtic.
With the dust yet to settle on the crowd disorder after the Scottish Cup clash at Ibrox, the full outcome is still to unfold.
What seems obvious is that the ‘traditional allocation’ won’t be seen for a long time at Ibrox or Parkhead, with the away allocation debate sent back to square one.
Rangers fans’ deep concern over police operation
The fan groups’ statement read:
“The Rangers Fan Advisory Board and the Rangers Supporters’ Association are deeply concerned with the handling of Sunday’s Old Firm game by Police Scotland, which we consider to have been wholly inadequate and which created unnecessary risks for our fans that should have been avoided.
“We are appalled that visiting supporters were allowed to storm the turnstiles before the match – not for the first time. Then, later, to invade the pitch in reaction to events on it, with little or no attempt made to stop it – also not for the first time.
“Our fans were also placed in danger before and after the match by a chronic lack of segregation on Helen Street.
“This failure in basic matchday planning contributed to heightened tensions around the stadium as opposition supporters were allowed to walk and gather freely in the area where Rangers fans had been asked to park.
Police marking their own homework
The response went on to demand more from Police Scotland, following on from their initial media briefing:
“Police Scotland’s Greater Glasgow Chief Superintendent Emma Croft is marking her own homework when she describes her satisfaction with their matchday operation.
“More disturbing was the abhorrent mockery yet again of the Ibrox disaster, with the memory of our 66 desecrated by vile graffiti, the perpetrators emboldened to vandalise our stadium and its infrastructure with impunity.
“The failure of Police Scotland to act on Sunday and the failure of Scotland’s civic society to call out this repeated and shameful behaviour, from across our game, is a disgrace.
“It would not happen in Liverpool or Manchester. Collectively, we call on Rangers to take robust, decisive, and public action in defence of our club.
“The handling of this fixture, from ticketing and allocation decisions to policing arrangements, fell far below an acceptable standard and breached an expected duty of care. Our support cannot be expected to tolerate repeated failures that compromise safety and dignity.
“We will never apologise for protecting the wellbeing of Rangers fans and will continue to work with the club, ensuring there can be no repeat of the events we witnessed in the build-up and aftermath of Sunday’s fixture.”
Much more is to follow on the response from the clubs and authorities as well as the consquences of the Ibrox mayhem.
