The worst crowd trouble witnessed inside a football ground in this country since the 2016 Scottish Cup final flared at Ibrox earlier this month after police commanders failed to react quickly enough to overcrowding in the Broomloan Stand, it has been claimed.
The SFA and Police Scotland have both launched investigations into the reasons for the shocking scenes of disorder which broke out in Govan after Celtic had beaten Rangers on penalties in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final on Sunday, March 8.
Hundreds of Celtic fans, who had received 7,500 tickets for the Broomloan for the first time in eight years, invaded the pitch to celebrate after Tomas Cvancara had netted the winning spot kick to send the visitors through to the semi-final at Hampden.
That prompted hundreds of Rangers supporters, with many wearing balaclavas to cover their faces, to flood onto the playing surface and there were ugly skirmishes on the park for several minutes before police and stewards managed to restore order.
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David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, has now received an update on the unrest.
He believes that a failure to react quickly enough to the overcrowding, the dramatic conclusion to the last eight tie between the bitter city rivals and inadequate policing levels were partially responsible for what happened.
“What I’ve had confirmed is that there were too many Celtic fans in the Broomloan Stand,” said Kennedy. “I don't think the police, not the officers on the ground, the commanders, were quick enough to realise what was going to take place.
“They weren't quick enough to realise what they needed to do to stop the Celtic fans coming onto the pitch. Undoubtedly, the Celtic fans only did what they did because of the way the match went with the penalties. That is what resulted in that surge of fans onto the park. It probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
“Some cops did have their batons out. But the reality is they needed two lines there to stop the surge. If it's not tight enough then people will just push through it and that is what happened.
“There's a lot of learning that will come from it. There were too many fans in the Broomloan Stand and the commanders weren't quick enough to recognise that. Then it was compounded by what transpired in the tie, by Celtic winning on penalties.”
He continued, “I have been told that police officers asked to go to level one, which means they would have had more protective equipment, such as helmets, on, and that request was refused.
“There was clearly a concern that if officers appeared with helmets and shields then that would have antagonised the crowd and made the situation even worse. That would have been part of the thought process.
“There were several officers injured. I have had if confirmed to me that at least three officers got injured, but I know there were more. Health and safety investigations are now going to take place and then potentially claims against the police service.”
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Kennedy also feels that significantly reduced policing levels across the country – the force had 17,170 full-time officers nationwide when Celtic last received a full complement of tickets for the Broomloan Stand in 2018 and that has dropped to 16,416 in 2026 – is a major problem.
“At football games in the past there used to be a lot of police officers present,” he said. “Over the last 10 to 15 years they've been trying to reduce the number of police officers and that is one of the main issues. There probably wasn't enough cops in the ground.
“Historically, we used to have a lot more. In fact, we used to have nearly double what was required. We don't have that now and that is obviously reflected in what they can and can't do.
“There's no reserve there any more. In the past, if I was policing a football match and I arrested somebody, somebody took my place. But now what happens is officers don't arrest. Over the years, they've increasingly been told, ‘Try not to arrest, let the club deal with it’.
“When you were in the reserve, you were sitting waiting to do something. The bean counters have said, ‘That's no use, we can’t have officers doing nothing, we're not having that’. But when something does happen you need them to be there and they're not there.
“We are policing with less police officers that we did at a time when the fans, or certain groups of fans, didn't act the way they act now. Police numbers have been reduced, but we're now dealing with different entities. I feel we are going back to the nastiness again. For me, the police numbers need to be higher.
“Having a police presence there is enough to make people think, ‘Can I do this?’ But because there's not enough cops now, there's no visible presence. So people are just blatantly saying, ‘I can do what I want’.
“It's obvious to me that they're going to have to make sure that reserve is there going forward so that they've got enough officers if they are required. It's also clear to me that there's going to have to be more conversations taking place with these groups of fans. They are going to be there and a connection is needed.”
Kennedy is also concerned about the impact that drafting a substantial number of police officers in to maintain order when Celtic play Rangers is having on the towns, villages and cities across Scotland they normally work in.
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“We don't have enough cops,” he said. “What they are doing within the police service at the moment is robbing Peter to pay Paul. If you are putting all these officers within a football ground, you're taking them out of the communities they serve.
“Some people will say, ‘Well, the communities are moving because they're going to the ground’. That is a point that gets made. But not everybody goes to watch the football. Why should they be deprived of a police officer because of a match? We need more police officers, that's the bottom line.
“But this is a historical problem. I can remember being an officer serving in the city centre of Glasgow when there was a Rangers v Celtic game on. There were only four of us answering calls in the whole of the city centre because everybody else was at the match.
“The police service is not a business, but it's run like a business. They say, ‘Well, we can't have a cop standing there for two hours not doing anything. We don't need them if they're not doing anything’. But the reality is we do need them because when something happens they have to be there.”
Kennedy, whose organisation represents rank and file police officers, was also alarmed to see a large number of the troublemakers at Ibrox wearing balaclavas. He would like to see Scotland’s politicians address what is a growing problem in the modern game.
“One of the big concerns is the face coverings as well,” he said. “There maybe needs to be a change in the law to stop that. Unless it is for religious or medical reasons, you should not have your face covered within a football ground. But if there was a law to prevent it the issue then would be enforcing it. It's really difficult.”
There has been criticism of the matchday organisation in the first game at Ibrox to house 7,500 Celtic fans in eight years – but Kennedy argued that a large number of supporters without tickets attempting to gain access to the Broomloan Stand had been the root of the problems which arose.
“The only way people get into a stand is if they have a seat,” he said. “It's one person, one seat. But what sometimes happens with some fans is they try to sneak through the turnstiles in twos. If there are too many people in a stand there are people there illegally. If there were fans there who shouldn't have been there, then that is a concern.”
Some commentators have stated the ban on selling alcohol inside football grounds in Scotland – which dates back to the riot after the Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden in 1980 - needs to remain in place in the wake of the crowd trouble at Ibrox.
But Kennedy said, “I don’t see what that has to do with anything. This is a societal problem. It's wrong to say that Rangers and Celtic fans caused trouble because it wasn’t really Rangers and Celtic fans, it was a tiny proportion of people who caused trouble.”
Police Scotland officers made a number of arrests during the disorder at Ibrox.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "The behaviour of a number of supporters at the Scottish Cup quarter final between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox was shameful and must be condemned by everyone involved in football and wider society.
"A number of arrests have already been made, and we are working with both clubs and the Scottish Football Association to carry out a robust investigation following the scenes on the pitch at the conclusion of the match.
"The investigation is also looking at the actions of some supporters who entered the Broomloan Road stand without tickets before the match started, forcing delays in the security operation and the turnstiles to be closed for a period of time."
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