First Minister John Swinney has branded the disorder during Celtic’s title celebrations in Glasgow’s Trongate as “unacceptable” as he spoke to the press on Monday.
Thousands of fans descended on the city centre after Celtic’s 1-1 draw with St Mirren sealed their fourth consecutive league title and 55th overall.
Despite warnings from the club, Police Scotland and Glasgow City Council, large crowds gathered, resulting in damage to public property, with traffic lights broken and pyrotechnics set off. Police confirmed nine arrests and multiple further charges, with council workers beginning a clean-up operation last Saturday night, which carried on into Sunday.
Reacting to the events, Swinney said: [Glasgow Live]
“The disorder that took place in Glasgow as part of the celebrations of Celtic’s performance this year is equally unacceptable.
“All of us want football to take its course, for people to enjoy celebrating their club’s success and their club’s performance but it shouldn’t involve such implications for other people, for other communities, but it certainly shouldn’t involve any form of behaviour that leads to damage and injury to other individuals.”
The First Minister saw the weekend’s scene as an opportunity to talk about the alcohol ban in stadiums – unless you’re wearing a suit in a lounge – and stood firm on his long-held stance against the introduction of alcohol at football grounds, stating:
“I’m not going to change our position on alcohol at football grounds and I think what we’ve seen at the weekend is just too many examples of disorderly behaviour that has an impact on other members of the public.
“Now, I understand why people want to support and celebrate the performance of their football teams and I don’t want to take away from that in any way, shape or form but that can’t be, surely, acceptable for it to be undertaken when it damages and disrupts the lives of others and causes injury to others – that’s completely unacceptable.”
Let’s be clear, Saturday’s Trongate title celebrations do not represent how fans will act after a pint or two in the concourse, but Swinney has his mind made up.
His comments come as Glasgow City Council prepares for talks with Celtic in an attempt to find more suitable, managed ways for supporters to celebrate future title wins.
