Call for organised football fan celebrations after Celtic disorder

Organised football fan events could help avoid disruptive street celebrations like those seen in Glasgow city centre at the weekend, an MSP has claimed.

An estimated 25,000 fans gathered in the city centre around Glasgow Cross and the Merchant City after Celtic won the premiership on Saturday, leaving litter and damage costing thousands of pounds to repair..

Another street celebration is expected this weekend after the Celtic and Rangers game to decide the winner of the Scottish Cup.

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney suggested that large scale events for fans could be planned in advance because Glasgow teams dominate the top of the league.

The Scottish Premiership trophy was presented to Celtic after they beat St Mirren 3-2 on Saturday.

Damage caused by fans as they gathered to celebrate in the city centre was later branded “unacceptable” by Glasgow City Council.

Teams of council staff and volunteers – including Celtic fans – worked though the night to clear up a “substantial” amount of litter, debris and broken glass which was left in the area.

The roads were cleared in time for a Race for Life running event on Sunday morning.

There were also 19 arrests for various offences on Saturday and four police officers were injured during the disorder.

Paul Sweeney, a Glasgow MSP for Scottish Labour, told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland said the street gatherings had become the norm since the Covid pandemic.

He said he had spoken to Celtic directors on Sunday and felt there “could be more progress made about formalising these events”, and suggested bus parades like those held by English football clubs could offer a way forward.

“I think Glasgow needs to lean into this a bit more,” Mr Sweeney said.

“We’re seeing on each occasion we are seeing around £90,000 of vandalism caused and clean-up costs.”

He said an organised event on Glasgow Green that brought the team on to a stage could be properly managed with toilets and bars like at a major championship such as the cycling events in 2023.

“Let’s recognise that the combined contribution of Celtic and Rangers to Glasgow is hundreds of millions of pounds a year – it’s a Commonwealth Games every year in Glasgow,” Mr Sweeney said.

“It’s a huge economic opportunity so lets minimise the damaging effects.”

He said the dominance of the Glasgow clubs in Scottish football mean it could be possible to organise large scale events in advance.

“A Glasgow team has won the Scottish Premiership every year for the last 40 years.

“It’s a pretty safe bet it’s going to be in Glasgow so you can plan with a degree of certainty that it is going to happen and the branding can be changed over in fairly a late stage of the planning process.”

Paul Goodwin from the Scottish Football Supporters Association said the mass celebrations were a new social media-driven phenomenon.

“If it’s not going away it needs to be controlled and managed,” he told BBC Scotland.

“Not just Celtic and Rangers, because let’s be honest it’s those two clubs that are going to be celebrating usually in Scotland, but also the SFA and SPFL.

“They take the money off the fans but they’ve got to look after the fans and think about what the fans’ needs are.”

He said they could be like fan zones at the Euros with a ticket fee to cover the costs of facilities, and include live music.

“Hopefully that would stop some of the silliness as well,” Mr Goodwin added. “It really shouldn’t be something that is in the streets of Glasgow.”

A council spokesman said unofficial celebration events by fans of both Celtic and Rangers had “caused significant problems” in and around the city centre in recent years.

“The council continues to believe that one way to reduce the negative impact of these events would be for clubs to offer supporters more opportunities to celebrate safely,” he said.

“The council, for its part, has always committed to looking at how it can support and facilitate any proposed plans.”

He added that council officials had “positive discussions” with both clubs to discuss organised celebrations.

“While this has not yet led to any proposals, we have continued to engage regularly and positively with both clubs over recent months and right up to Friday afternoon,” he added.

“With a cup final taking place next weekend, we’ll continue to engage with clubs about how supporters can have appropriate opportunities to celebrate and how the city can facilitate any plans that are brought forward.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said they would work with their partners to have a “proportionate policing plan in place” after the match on Saturday,

Celtic has been approached for comment on events in the city centre.