It was an incident that took the shine off of a fine 3-1 Celtic Women’s win over Rangers three weeks ago.
As Fran Alonso and his players offered their condolences to their rivals and congratulated each other, Rangers assistant manager Craig McPherson approached the Celtic manager from behind and headbutted him.
McPherson was given a six game ban by the SFA last week which, ironically, means he will miss the next game between the two sides on the 4th of May.
After his team’s 4-2 win over Glasgow City yesterday the Celtic manager was asked if he had heard from the Rangers assistant since the incident.
Speaking to the press, Alonso revealed, “He called me to apologise and said that myself and Celtic did nothing wrong. For me that’s everything I wanted to hear, so I’m ready to move on.
“Our CEO, chairman and many of our directors, they called me to express how proud they were of my behaviour and my players’ behaviour.” [The Scottish Sun]
Alonso did show incredible restraint in the face of adversity and I am pleased to hear that the Celtic board offered support after what must have been a stressful time for the Celtic manager.
Alonso’s Celtic inflicted Glasgow City’s first defeat of the season to keep the Hoops within five points of the league leaders.
The result also keeps them one point ahead of Rangers as both teams battle for that second-place spot which would guarantee qualification for the UEFA Women’s Champions League for season 2023/24.
Next up for Celtic is a trip to the Oriam where they face Hearts on the 19th of April.
Glasgow City also face Rangers in a fixture that could have major say in not only Celtic’s European hopes, but also their own title bid.
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