The SPFL have been urged to adopt the same hard line stance on missile throwing and offensive chanting at matches that they have taken with illegal pyrotechnic use in the wake of a fiery William Hill Premiership game at Pittodrie yesterday that saw several Rangers players targeted.
And football fans have also been warned the Scottish government and local councils will step in and take action – including potentially closing down stands and stadiums – if clubs show they are unable to maintain order and prevent crowd unrest themselves.
Bojan Miovski, the Rangers striker who spent two years as a player at Aberdeen, was barracked by home supporters in the Merkland Stand when he came out to warm up at the weekend and the North Macedonian internationalist and his fellow substitutes then had to retreat to the away dugout after they had cups thrown at them.
Worse was to follow when midfielder Thelo Aasgaard had put the Ibrox club in front midway through the first half – centre-half Emmanuel Fernandez was struck on the head by what appeared to be a coin as he and his team-mates celebrated the opener in front of the “Red Shed”.
Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland had to clear cups out of his penalty box in the second half of the encounter between the bitter rivals.
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Nicolas Raskin, the visitors’ midfielder, had liquid from a cup thrown on him by an irate Aberdeen fan in the Main Stand as he made his way up the tunnel following his side’s 2-0 victory and the Belgian, who is set to be censured by the SFA, retaliated and hurled water at the individual responsible.
Fraser Wishart, the chief executive of footballers’ union PFA Scotland, was appalled by the treatment which his organisation’s members were subjected to during a match that was screened live on television by satellite broadcasters Sky Sports and he would now like to see the SPFL take action.
Wishart, who was speaking on the day an Aberdeen ultra was jailed for 18 months for throwing a seat which struck Jack McKenzie on the head at Tannadice last season, has been pleased to see the governing body punish clubs for their supporters staging illegal pyrotechnic displays in the past year.
He believes the SPFL, who last week hit Aberdeen, Hibernian, Motherwell and Rangers with reduced ticket allocations for their followers breaching Rule H37 and staging mass pyro displays at their games this season, have to take the same tough approach to other fan behaviours and possibly even increase their sanctions before the authorities intervene.
“It's like Groundhog Day,” he said. “I've been involved in this side of the football industry since I retired for 25 years ago. I seem to have been talking about things being thrown at players on the pitch for the entirety of my post-playing career. But here we are in 2026 and it is still happening.
“I’m afraid some people just don't know how to behave themselves in a football ground. It's extremely hard to change that mentality. But the people who are throwing these missiles are not only putting the players’ health and safety at risk, they are endangering their fellow supporters and they're also putting themselves in the firing line as well.
“They maybe don’t realise this, but people who throw objects at football matches can get arrested and prosecuted. It could affect their jobs, their life. They could lose their livelihood. It's just total stupidity.
“The SPFL is starting to sanction clubs for their supporters’ pyrotechnic use and this is absolutely welcomed by us. But what has been missed a little here is the fact they have done this and why they have done this. I think fans have to ask themselves that question.
“For me, it's because behind the scenes clubs know that if football doesn't deal with these problems, if football doesn't stop issues like pyro use, missile throwing and offensive chanting, the authorities outside of football will step in. People have to understand that is a real threat.
“Football has done quite well keeping the authorities outside of football at arm's length, which is good. But that's the reason why the SPFL have now acted. The message isn't getting through on pyro yet because some clubs have now become serial offenders. I suspect the SPFL are going to have to crank up the sanctions if it doesn't stop.
“But I also think they should look at missile throwing and discriminatory chanting as well. If these supporters don't listen, their club will end up in big trouble. That's where we're at now.”
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Celtic announced they were extending the ban on the Green Brigade last month following a meeting with the safety advisory group at Glasgow City Council about the conduct of the ultra group’s members in the rail seating section at Parkhead at a Falkirk match in October.
“Celtic actually mentioned the fact they've been in discussions with their local authority about the issue,” said Wishart. “That is who provides the safety certificate to allow a football stadium to open, not just at Celtic, everywhere.
“If problems continue to occur at a certain ground the threat of closure is there. How big a threat is that? Hopefully not that big. But if this keeps happening and somebody gets seriously hurt then something will happen.”
Wishart added, “I have attended quite a few roundtable discussions about this very topic. I have been invited to attend by the Scottish government. Angela Constance, the Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, invited us to take part after Jack McKenzie was hit by a seat.
“So people in the government are watching. That's how serious it is. The government is calling football together and saying, ‘You need to get your house in order’. To be fair to the SPFL, they've stepped up and said, ‘We need to try to address this’. But the message that a ground could be closed if this behaviour doesn’t stop needs to be driven home.”
Opponents of strict liability – which holds a club responsible for supporters’ misconduct regardless of the preventative measures they have put in place before a game or efforts they taken to identify and punish the troublemakers after it – argue that it has been shown to be ineffective.
But Wishart has seen evidence to the contrary in recent months. “When I have mentioned UEFA taking action against clubs for their supporters’ misconduct in European matches, clubs have claimed it hasn’t worked,” he said. “But I disagree. I think there has been better behaviour as a result.
“Rangers were told last season that the Copland Stand would be closed if there was racist of discriminatory chanting and that hasn’t happened since. Celtic were told last season that their fans would be banned from an away game if there was another mass pyrotechnics display and that hasn’t happened since either.
“Both clubs’ supporter behaviour has been better. It has been really good to see. So I think it does work. Unfortunately, no Scottish club really wants to go down that route. But I think Scottish football is going to have to look at charging clubs for other fan behaviour inside grounds, for throwing missiles, for discriminating chanting. If they don’t they risk the authorities intervening.
“PFA Scotland have said for a number of years that we would support a form of strict liability. That doesn't need to mean closing stands immediately. You could go through a series of warnings before a punishment is meted out. It could be like a player who gets suspended after six yellow cards. You could work out a fair system.
“If you get a game with constant pyrotechnics, with children getting hurt, with missiles being thrown, with discriminatory chanting, it becomes more and more difficult to find good sponsors, agree good television deals and bring money into the game.”
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