SFA defend Hampden stewards

The Scottish Football Association today jumped to the defence of the Hampden Park stewards while condemning the conduct of Livingston stars Derek Lilley and Stuart Lovell.

The players complained of heavy-handed security after the jubilant duo tried to approach family and friends at the national stadium following yesterday’s CIS Insurance Cup victory over Hibernian.

Lilley, who scored his side’s first goal in the 2-0 win, was stopped from bringing his kids Derek and Stephanie on to the pitch while captain Lovell was hustled away before being warned by the police.

But the SFA have revealed that both clubs were told beforehand about their conduct and claimed that stewards acted in the correct way to prevent serious injuries.

The SFA head of security Willie McDougall said: “The stewarding is fine.

“The Livingston players have put their hands up and said that they were swearing and they were wanting to bring their wives and kids on to the park and that’s not allowed.

“It’s a cup final and quite honestly running to throw jerseys to the crowd in that particular area - where we have disabled at the front and a blind section - causes mayhem.

“This was clearly pointed out to the Livingston people prior to the game at the pre-operational meeting on Friday.

“Obviously in the heat of the moment of winning a cup final sometimes that’s lost.

“There’s no great issue in it. It was disappointing that the two Livingston players reacted the way they did to the police. It was more the police than the stewards.

“Who pays if somebody breaks their leg with the rush? It’s not the player but the stadium people.”

The issue of heavy-handed stewarding at Hampden came to light when James McFadden was stopped from giving a young fan his shirt after Scotland’s Euro 2004 victory over Lithuania in October.

But McDougall feels that players have to take responsibility for fan safety and insisted that the incidents did not overshadow the day.

He added: “I would suggest that perhaps the league would express their dissatisfaction at the action of the players following what we agreed at the pre-operational meetings.

“The League Cup final match instructions detail what they have to do with the medal ceremony because there has to be a bit of decorum to be kept.

“It’s the same stewarding company. We had the incident when James McFadden tried to give his shirt to a fan.

“This is not allowed. Players running and throwing jerseys to the crowd is dangerous.

“We have the responsibility for the safety and security and cup finals are the greatest when you see the players on the park and celebrating with their fans, who are in the stand.

“We’re not there to stop that but we’re not allowed to bring people onto the park and the players admitted that’s what they were trying to do.

“After it all finished they were sorry that it happened but it didn’t tarnish it in any way. It was a super day.”

The players could also be under investigation if the incidents are included in referee Willie Young’s report.

An SFA spokesman said: “There is not a great deal to tell you at the moment.

“What action will be taken will be determined by anything that comes in from the referee.

“If he has been made aware of any issues then we will look into it but otherwise we would have no interest in taking the matter further.

“It depends on whether he saw the incident in question or it was brought to his attention by police officers.”