Scotland First Minister John Swinney says he would not take teenage son to an Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic after latest disorder
Scottish First Minister John Swinney has said he will not take his teenage son to an Old Firm game following unrest between Rangers and Celtic fans last weekend.
A number of arrests were made following last Sunday’s chaos at Ibrox, when fans from both sides stormed the pitch after the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
Officers and police officers were reportedly attacked during the chaotic scenes.
Mr Swinney condemned the fans’ actions as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
“The risk to other fans, referees, police officers and players was truly appalling,” he said.
Asked if he would take his teenage son Matthew to an Old Firm game, the Prime Minister said: “No.”
But he stopped short of suggesting that future Old Firm games should be played behind closed doors, without fans in attendance.
“I would prefer that wasn’t the case, but I don’t think any of us can watch those scenes and think there’s nothing to give as a result of what happened over the weekend,” he said.
“I want to take time to work out with the clubs and the SFA what the best course of action is.”
Clashes have flared in recent years when the two teams have faced off against each other, including in the 2024 League Cup final when police were forced to use special powers to lower the bar on searches after reports that missiles were fired at police officers and windows of a city center bar were smashed.
Mr Swinney said the way to stop violence between the two fanbases was for clubs to engage with football authorities, the police and the Government, adding that he would consider imposing banning orders if he is re-elected as First Minister in May.
“The way to solve this is to involve those responsible who are arrested in the first place, and that’s what the police are after,” he said.
“I welcome what Police Scotland is doing.
“There also needs to be agreement between the clubs, the FA and the Government on what steps can be taken to prevent a repeat of this behavior because it is completely unacceptable that we have this now.
“We have just completed a consultation on football banning orders; there are already existing football banning orders and we must review them periodically to see if they are appropriate with the times.
“We are analyzing the outcome of this and there has been a huge backlash to this and we need to do this carefully and then we will need to look at these issues in the next Parliament.”
