Disabled safety row after Rangers v Kilmarnock roof collapse

And they say it was a miracle that nobody was seriously hurt following Sunday's disabled shelter collapse at Rugby Park.

Kilmarnock and Police Scotland are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shelter collapse which happened as Rangers fans celebrated a late winner at Rugby Park.

Connor Goldson's 91st-minute header secured a 2-1 Scottish Premiership victory and sparked an invasion of the pitch.

READ MORE: Supporter chaos as pitch invasion and fan behaviour tarnish Kilmarnock v Rangers clash

The disabled fans group have raised their continuing concerns with Rangers who are seeking a debrief of what happened and has promised to take appropriate action. The club has said issues had been raised with Kilmarnock  about the shelter in the past but it was down to the Rugby Park club to take action.

Kilmarnock are planning on charging Rangers for the damage, with the club saying it has no intention of increasing the Glasgow side's ticket allocation for future matches at Rugby Park.

Footage shows the roof collapse

Club director Phyllis McLeish said: "We were horrified at what we saw. We already had our team in to start our internal investigation.

"We have reached out to Rangers to hopefully work together to ensure the safety of both sets of fans for the next time they come and to learn some lessons."

Rangers Disabled Supporters Club chairman Billy Paterson who was in the shelter when it collapsed says what happened at Rugby Park is one symptom of a "wider problem" in Scottish football over the treatment of disabled fans.

He said Aberdeen had taken action over issues with their shelter by improved stewarding and believed that that should have happened well before Saturday's collapse.

And in a strong criticism of official attitudes, he believes Scottish football should have a rethink about how it provides for the disabled at football grounds.

He believes Scotland was going "backwards not forwards" over the amount and standard of facilities for the disabled at football grounds.

He said both Kilmarnock and Rangers had been contacted at "various times over the years" about the dangers of the shelter but said: "They don't do anything about it.

"They just let people do it and Sunday was the consequences of inaction.

"The stewarding is frankly pathetic. It's a case of stick a yellow jacket on somebody and pretend he is a steward and it just doesn't work.

"Of course, if people didn't jump on the roof in the first place, it wouldn't collapse, it is as simple as that. But proper stewarding would have prevented access to the disabled section."

READ MORE: Investigation after roof collapses at Rugby Park 

Television footage shows the away end shelter caving in with at least two supporters falling inside the section.

Both are seen climbing out of the destroyed shelter, while another fan launches himself on to the pitch.

Disabled supporters were escorted to the side of the pitch following the safety scare.

Mr Paterson said he was hit on the head and shoulder by debris but "was okay" and that the worst injury was to a young boy who received scratches.

He said: "Although this came to a head at Kilmarnock it is a wider issue across Scottish football.

"The facilities for disabled fans is nothing short of a disgrace. It is nothing short of a national scandal.

"You can't discriminate against people on grounds of colour, religion, sexuality, anything like that. But they seem happy to discriminate on grounds of disability.

"The problem is the amount of facilities for wheelchair users and the standard of them.

"And ironically Kilmarnock was one of the better ones.

"Nobody listens, everyone pays lip service and patronises you, but nobody takes action.

"They will take action this time, but what will probably happen now is that they will close that section down and disabled wheelchair fans will lose out through the actions of others.

"The idiots won't lose out, they never do."

Police Scotland have confirmed they have launched an investigation into the incidents surrounding the pitch invasion.

Mr Paterson said the shelter roof served the purpose for which it was constructed but added: "It was not constructed as a dancefloor, or a platform for people to bounce upon it.

"They should have prevented people from getting on top in the first place, that is all they had to do, but they haven't take our concerns seriously over a number of years.

"It was miraculous that nobody was seriously injured."

A Rangers spokesman said the club was thankful nobody was seriously injured and said it had asked Kilmarnock to look into a second safety issue, the "failure" of their ticketing system, which was apparent "well before the kick off and which was the cause of serious congestion and crushing."

"On behalf of our supporters we had highlighted concerns about this facility [the shelter] but it is up to Kilmarnock to improve it. After all, it is their ground.

"However, Rangers does not condone the behaviour of those fans who invaded the pitch and who caused the damage to the facility housing disabled supporters. The appropriate action will be taken to deal with those who can be identified but it should be pointed out that Rangers had made Kilmarnock aware of concerns over facilities for the disabled at Rugby Park."

A spokesman for Scottish football governing body, the SPFL said: “The scenes at the end of the game at Rugby Park were simply unacceptable.

“The passion and energy of Scottish fans is a huge asset to the game, but nobody wants to see them invading the pitch – their place is in the stands.

“We will be working with Police Scotland and both clubs to investigate the incidents at the game, including turnstile and ticketing arrangements and will be studying CCTV footage to see what additional actions are required.”

Ms McLeish said security searches led to supporters becoming inpatient in the queues before the game. "We are looking at some different measures for next time. We don't have a cost yet. Prior to the incident, we thought we had adequate measures but we will review this."