The pained faces of the Hearts players as they returned to Tynecastle, some still wearing their kit, said it all. Forced to leave Celtic Park promptly due to the “menacing and threatening atmosphere” that engulfed the end of the most dramatic of title deciders, there were tears at the reception they received back in Gorgie, apologies that did not need to be offered. There was anger, too; a strongly-worded statement going in hard on the “shameful” scenes that were an “embarrassment to Scottish football”, confirming the club are working with Police Scotland to investigate the “disturbing” allegations of “serious physical and verbal abuse towards players and staff”.
In invading the pitch following Callum Osmand’s goal, when there were still 30 seconds of injury time to play, a minority of Celtic supporters tainted what was otherwise a special day as Martin O’Neill savoured a fourth Scottish Premiership title at the age of 74. To return to Celtic and win the league was beyond his “wildest dreams”, he said, while a 56th title moved Celtic ahead of rivals Rangers for the first time in a century. It was no excuse, though, for hundreds flooding the pitch and abusing Hearts players, essentially forcing the referee Don Robertson to call full-time as the visitors were escorted down the tunnel for their own safety.
