Grim end to stunning Scottish race must prompt shift in attitudes

The SPFL and SFA wobble when it comes to punishing their biggest clubs but scenes at Celtic Park risk setting a dangerous precedent

Celtic fans invade the pitch at the final whistle following the William Hill Premiership match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire.

The placing of a full stop on any league campaign offers cause for reflection. In Scotland, there are reasons to wonder if the grim denouement to a stunning title race will prompt a shift in attitudes on two fronts. Whether a Celtic board which has been castigated for its stewardship regard the securing of another title as vindication is an intriguing question. More immediate is how the champions and others will respond to the grim scenes that triggered an enforced conclusion to the visit of Hearts. The behaviour of a section of the Celtic support is so unruly during dominance that one wonders what on earth may happen if the team struggle badly.

On Sunday, the Scottish Professional Football League “utterly condemned” Celtic supporters who flooded on to the pitch at the time of Callum Osmand’s third goal. “Supporters entering the field of play in any circumstances is wholly unacceptable and puts those participating and working at a match at risk,” added the SPFL. Hearts players were accosted and abused during their most crushing of moments, having lost the opportunity to break the Old Firm’s four decades of title dominance.

The same SPFL statement scrambled to assert that the game had “not been abandoned”, therefore seeking to pull the rug from under those who want the fixture replayed or result annulled. There should be no serious call for such outcomes anyway; Celtic won the game fairly and squarely where it should happen, on the field. Nonetheless, an undeniable fact remains the referee was forced to call time earlier than he intended – the fourth official had informed Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager, there remained a minute to play – because of pitch invaders. What kind of dangerous precedent does this set?

On the eve of Hearts’ potentially historic trip to Celtic Park, the Scottish Football Association issued a lengthy polemic against various constituents within the game whom they blame for enflaming tensions towards referees. After one of those officials found himself surrounded by rampaging punters as Hearts players were being pulled to safety by club staff, amazingly the association’s script writer has lost their tongue. Because it falls directly under their control, the Scottish FA set up a review into trouble at the end of an Old Firm Scottish Cup quarter-final. Outcomes remain unknown; the game was on 8 March.

In the aftermath of the same derby, Celtic’s interim chair, Brian Wilson, essentially shrugged off the pitch invasion by his club’s “exuberant” fans. It was a bizarre approach then and remains one now; those supporters have no business on the pitch. It is not, as some seem to believe, a necessity. Scotland fans did not swarm Hampden Park when World Cup qualification was sealed on an epic night against Denmark. Hearts punters managed to remain in the stand despite a late victory at Hibernian only weeks ago. Yet with Celtic it has been allowed to become a theme, as also witnessed during last Wednesday’s win at Motherwell. No wonder, when messaging from on high is so woefully lame. Scenes such as Saturday’s in Glasgow are not enthralling or exciting; instead they are ones of horrible mayhem.

In a serious league setup, Celtic would begin next season in front of an empty stand. There is as much chance of them opening 2026-27 in blue and white. The SPFL and SFA wobble at the knees when it comes to punishing their biggest clubs over the conduct of their supporters, no matter the extent to which it brings the sport into disrepute. There has been a direct correlation between that inaction and a clear regression in fan conduct.

For so much of this season, Celtic’s hierarchy were in the sights of paying customers. Dermot Desmond, the main shareholder, made a rare match appearance as a fifth title in a row was secured. The perception of Desmond as an absentee landlord, presiding over a stale regime, will only have temporarily disappeared if Celtic do not produce smart work in the summer transfer window. O’Neill sounded confident in the aftermath of Hearts that Saturday and the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline will be his last in the Celtic dugout. O’Neill is a young 74 but has visibly aged amid the rigours of this run-in. Celtic need a manager and a squad reboot.

“Hearts have been brilliant this year,” said O’Neill. “It is an absolute wake-up call to Celtic and Rangers. I think Hearts have been the story of the year. They have been terrific. If they had won it, they would have deserved it.” There will be adjustments at Tynecastle in the coming months. The sharp rising of expectations and return to European football are among the elements that the Premiership runners-up will need to handle. O’Neill is correct – and Celtic fans may object to hearing it – that Hearts will for ever be the broader reference point for 2025-26. That and the completely unnecessary manner in which the season reached denouement.

Guardian