The fallout of the Rangers vs Celtic Ibrox chaos continued yesterday after Police Federation chief David Kennedy delivered his update on what caused the events of the day.
According to Kennedy, the carnage at the end of the match was partly down to ‘too many Celtic fans’ in the away end and a ‘surge’ from the Broomloan Stand.
It was a classic deflection tactic. Kennedy has a job to do, protecting his members and setting up health and safety claims against Police Scotland, but he’s doing it by throwing the Celtic support under the bus while conveniently ignoring what actually went down on the pitch with Rangers supporters.
And here is why the one-sided story from the Police Federation chief just doesn’t stack up with Celtic supporters.
How can we ensure that the Glasgow derby can continue having full allocations after the latest incident?
David Kennedy’s Ibrox narrative focuses on Celtic fans and not Rangers’
In his recent comments to The Herald, Kennedy was quick to point the finger at overcrowding in the Celtic end.
He claimed the ‘surge’ only happened because of ‘the way the match went’, basically pointing the finger at Celtic fans for celebrating the win. But, and we didn’t notice it at the time, it’s absolutely clear what he left out.
He doesn’t mention the hundreds of Rangers fans who flooded the pitch from the other end. These weren’t just celebrating fans, many were wearing balaclavas specifically to hide their identities while charging the length of the park to try and reach the Celtic support.
If the SPF is so concerned about officer safety, why is there a total silence on the nature of the home support’s response?
By framing this as a Celtic overcrowding issue and blaming the Ibrox police commander’s response, Kennedy has blatantly ignored what the Rangers support did during the 30-minute incident.
He’s using our 7,500-strong presence as a scapegoat for a policing operation that was clearly understaffed and poorly led.
Four big Ibrox flashpoints caused by Rangers supporters
The SPF boss is very vocal about the three injured officers, and he is quite right to do that, nobody wants to see anyone hurt at a football match, but he’s remarkably quiet about the victims on the other side.
Here’s what the Federation failed to highlight:
- The Assault on the Celtic coach: A 47-year-old man was arrested and charged for an assault on a Celtic coach. While fans celebrated Tomas Cvancara’s winning penalty, Celtic’s staff were being physically targeted by home fans who had breached security. One even tried to attack Julian Araujo.
- The 10-Year-Old Victim: Amidst the missiles being thrown from the home stands, a 10-year-old child was struck by a coin. Where is the Federation’s outrage for the safety of the public and the children in the stands?
- Rangers fans throwing lit flares into Celtic supporters: During the charge, a Rangers supporter also threw a lit flare into the Broomloan Stand as police officers just stood by.
- Police and steward attacked by Rangers supporters: A female officer was also tripped up by a Rangers supporter as she tried to calm down the chaos on the pitch and an Ibrox steward was also punched unconscious by one of the home support. All in full view of Kennedy’s officers.
This isn’t about safety, it’s about a narrative. The Police Federation wants fewer fans to manage because they are short of 1,200 officers nationwide, and it seems that the easiest way to achieve that is to target the Celtic away support.
Celtic won the game, and while fans should not have celebrated on the pitch, there should have at least been an acknowledgement that the home supporters’ response after the defeat was out of order instead of just naming the Hoops fans.
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