The emotions which were being experienced by Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and his Rangers counterpart Philippe Clement at Hampden last night in the wake of a remarkable Premier Sports Cup final could not have been any more conflicting.
Rodgers was relieved and elated after seeing the Parkhead club win a penalty shoot-out 5-4 to lift the first piece of silverware of the season while Clement was devastated the Ibrox outfit had been left with nothing to show for their gallant efforts at the end of an epic tussle.
But the two men were in complete agreement about one thing – the incident-packed, dramatic, tension-filled, crazy, entertaining, never-shredding and engrossing match between the Glasgow giants had been fantastic advertisement for football in this country.
“It was a great final,” said Rodgers as he spoke to the media at his post-match press conference. “A Celtic vs Rangers game that finishes 3-3 after extra-time and goes to penalties? People got their money's worth watching it.”
“It was a really good game for Scottish football,” agreed Clement in the aftermath of an encounter which was beamed live across the world by the competition sponsor. “Everybody only can be happy about that.”
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The horrifying scenes which took place in the streets of Glasgow and in the stands of Hampden before, during and after the flagship occasion, however, did nothing to show Scottish football, or Scottish society for that matter, in a positive light.
Exactly the opposite, in fact, was the case. The shameful actions of the hardcore elements of both supports took the sheen off of what should have been a day of celebration and pride for our national sport.
A smart phone video which showed frightened Christmas shoppers cowering in a shop doorway for safety as dozens, hundreds even, of Celtic and Rangers ultras clashed with each other and Police Scotland officers on Argyle Street before the final got underway went viral after it was posted on social media.
The shocking footage captured pyrotechnics being ignited and hurled in the direction of opposition fans amid terrified screams from passers by as police desperately attempted to restore order by lashing out at the trouble makers with batons.
More unrest was to follow at the match. The SPFL, the tournament organisers, had issued warnings in the build-up to the final. They stressed that pyro inside football grounds was illegal and emphasised that anyone caught setting off flares, smoke bombs, strokes and rockets would face criminal prosecution.
Dozens of flares and smoke bombs were set off in both ends of the stadium as the teams lined up before kick-off. The start of the showdown was delayed, as both semis had been, for several minutes to allow the smoke around the ground to clear and full visibility to be restored.
But many more were lit and thrown onto the trackside during the match. The use of pyro at games, something which originated in mainland Europe, is viewed by ultras as an integral part of their culture. Their defiance of and disregard for authority were glaring.
Apologists for the use of fireworks at football matches will argue that nobody was hurt during the course of the 120 minutes and the atmosphere was enhanced.
But the potential for injury is very real. There have been some deeply troubling incidents in Scottish football in recent months. A young Dundee fan was scarred for life and a Celtic supporter had his hair set on fire when flares were discarded last season.
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Further afield, KCT Menen player Fabio Schiafino lost a finger and had two others partially amputated after a firework which one of his own club’s supporters had thrown onto the field after a Division C4 match against SK Sillebek in Belgium in October exploded in his hand.
It later emerged the offending article had been a Cobra 6 firecracker – a device which is banned in Belgium, contains 25 grams of explosive material and has the power of a hand grenade when it is set off.
The fumes which pyrotechnics, which can burn at temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Celsius, emits are also problematic for those who suffer from breathing conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. They have been shown to increase sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide to 10,000 times the recommended level.
There were crisis talks involving representatives from the Scottish government, Police Scotland, the SFA, the SPFL, PFA Scotland and the Football Safety Officers Association (Scotland) at Hampden last November following a Premiership match between Dundee and Rangers at Dens Park.
A coordinated flare display in the Bob Shankly Stand had triggered fire alarms and the players had to be removed from the field for 15 minutes in a match which had already been delayed due to the late arrival of the visitors.
Football hooliganism in Scotland is slowly but surely returning to the levels it was at during the era of the casuals back in the 1980s. That phase gradually died out with the rise of the rave and dance music scene. Youths became more interested in taking ecstasy tablets and boogying until the break of dawn than pre-arranged scraps with followers of opposition clubs.
However, research which was led by health and behaviour experts at the University of Stirling last year suggested that cocaine use may have superseded excessive drinking as a cause of violence and antisocial conduct in the modern game.
Alcohol Consumption Among UK Football Supporters: Investigating The Contested Field Of The Football Carnivalesque – a paper which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and supported by Loughborough University and the University of Edinburgh – was published in the journal Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy.
Fans, supporters’ organisations, police officers, government advisors and safety groups in England and Scotland were all interviewed about the relationship between match-goers and alcohol during the extensive three year study. It was found that Class A drug use was of far greater concern. Cocaine is at the heart of the problem.
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Celtic and Rangers have both, to their great credit, come down hard on the Green Brigade and Union Bears ultras groups who attend their matches home and away in past. Public rebukes have been issued and bans have been meted out when their behaviour has crossed the line of what is acceptable.
It will be impossible for the hierarchies of the Parkhead and Ibrox clubs to prove that members of those groups were responsible for the disturbing flashpoints which took place in Glasgow city centre as ordinary members of the public attempted to enjoy the festive period. The offenders wear balaclavas to hide their faces.
But they were most definitely guilty of setting off pyrotechnics as their teams battled for supremacy on the park at Hampden. The clubs must send out a strong message that such criminal activity will have consequences. The vast majority of fans will not shed a tear if these groups are prohibited from filing through the turnstiles en masse.
That much was obvious at the Europa League match between Rangers and Lyon at Ibrox back in October. Ordinary punters angrily booed and jeered the Union Bears and the Wrecking Crew as they ignited flares and fired rockets over the heads of their own players on the pitch, showering them sparks and putting their personal wellbeing at risk.
The SFA and the SPFL are both examining what, despite the absence of strict liability, they can do to snuff out what has become a regular feature at matches at all levels across the country. They must do whatever they possibly can.
But if Police Scotland, whose resources are currently stretched to breaking point due to a dramatic reduction in staffing levels, can identify and charge any of those who caused such chaos in Glasgow and at Hampden it will also serve as a powerful deterrent.
The authorities have to date been unwilling to make use of the full powers available to them by law to tackle these issues because they are reluctant to criminalise a particular sub-section of society. It is time, though, to take off the kid gloves before the situation spirals out of control.
The Green Brigade displayed banners during the Premier Sports Cup final which expressed their unhappiness at not being allowed to unfurl the tifo they had made. One read, “No tifo – more pyro.” Their delusion knows no bounds. Celtic and Rangers ultras are now nothing short of a national disgrace.
