Changes needed to stop Old Firm violence

Police would like to see Old Firm games scheduled early in the week in a bid to curb the alcohol-fuelled violence that blights the fixture.

Strathclyde police staged a summit on Tuesday following last week’s spiteful Scottish Cup replay between Rangers and Celtic, in which three Rangers players were sent off before an ugly confrontation between Celtic boss Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant Ally McCoist at the final whistle.

There were 34 arrests inside Celtic Park during the match, and both Glasgow police and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) were vocal in their criticism of both clubs.

Tuesday’s meeting was hosted by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, and was attended by the police as well as Rangers chief executive Martin Bain and his Celtic counterpart Peter Lawwell, and the SFA.

A number of ideas were outlined in a bid to stem the trouble, among them the changing of the game’s scheduling and the introduction of tough new measures to cut alcohol consumption before the game.

Strathclyde police chief constable Stephen House told STV the ideal situation would be stage the matches on a Monday or Tuesday night.

“I think what we put before everybody today at the summit was that we believe there is very compelling evidence over the last three or four years that there are peaks of violence associated with Old Firm matches,” House said.

“That’s not to say that the clubs are responsible for the violence but we are asking them to work with us to reduce and control that level of violence.”

“We believe the best way to do that is to look at the fixtures and to try and move it to a midweek fixture, Monday or Tuesday night and that’s what we’ll be seeking to do.”

“We don’t expect it to happen this season, there’s only two games left, one of them is a cup final and it’s at the weekend. Realistically, it will be next season when we try to implement some of these measures.”