Celtic’s win over St Mirren was marred with an unprecedented event that caused VAR and the club’s broadcasting channel to go down at the weekend.
Celtic Park was plunged into darkness as the Bhoys were beating St Mirren 2-0 after a power cut saw the floodlights and internal lighting go down, Celtic TV go offline and VAR deemed useless as the club tried desperately to get normal service resumed.
As it happened, BBC man Alisdair Lamont confirmed the Celtic Park lights were out for a matter of mere seconds but, unfortunately, the live television broadcast and VAR remained offline as both teams agreed to continue the match without the video referee.
And in a statement released on the Celtic FC website, the club explained exactly what went wrong and how they rectified the momentary lapse of power.
Celtic clear up TV and VAR outage vs St Mirren
Celtic said, “A power outage this afternoon in the Parkhead area of Glasgow caused disruption to normal matchday services inside Celtic Park.
“The outage, which happened early in the second half of the game against St Mirren, affected the operation of the stadium’s big screens and PA system.
“Thankfully, the stadium’s emergency generator system ensured continued power to the stadium’s floodlighting and safety systems, including the public thoroughfares ensuring that the match was able to continue after a short stoppage.”
The advice given to Celtic supporters at the end of St Mirren win
“Due to Celtic TV’s live streaming being based at Celtic Park,” the statement continued, “Today’s live broadcast of the game was also impacted upon, with the normal Celtic TV coverage interrupted. This included a loss of commentary following the reinstatement of pictures after the power outage.
“Supporters were also advised to take extra care when leaving the stadium at the end of the match due to the limited street lighting in the immediate Parkhead area.
“Celtic would like to thank all supporters for their understanding of these issues arising from circumstances being beyond the club’s control.”
An unfortunate turn of events that Celtic could do nothing about but it’s clear the club did everything within its power to get the game back on and look after the safety of the fans.
Fortunately for Celtic, the disruption didn’t have a material impact on the result as St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson was left frustrated at Celtic Park.
Hopefully, there will be no interruptions on Wednesday night as Celtic entertain Dundee United and hope to continue their defence of the title with another win at Parkhead.
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