Rangers and Celtic have been told by the police that they need to stop doing a lap of honour after derby successes.
The latest was when Celtic defeated Rangers 1-0 at Parkhead back in September. Brendan Rodgers’ side then ultimately did a lap around the stadium, and this led to incitement of the Rangers supporters.
According to the Daily Record, some Rangers fans tried to charge onto the pitch and caused danger to disabled supporters. This led to the police doing an internal investigation into the events of the match, with several recommendations coming out of that.
A superintendent’s memo to match-day officers explained that there was a clear link between Celtic’s actions and the response of the Rangers fans. Clubs have therefore been advised to act wisely after the match.
Rangers supporters, of course, weren’t able to leave Parkhead at full-time to avoid conflict with Celtic fans. But, this only led to certain Parkhead players goading some of the Gers support at full-time.
A byproduct of ticket nonsense?
It’s perhaps a bit of a byproduct of this new ticket fiasco involving both clubs. Rangers fans were never locked in at Parkhead the way they were back in September. At full-time, supporters used to be able to leave without any fuss.
In truth, a lap of honour should never be advised against in a football match. Both sets of supporters deserve the chance to clap their team around the pitch if they succeed in the derby.
The issue isn’t so much in the lap itself, but more the fact that opposition fans have to sit and watch it. That’s unacceptable, and clear incitement towards the opposition supporters if it goes ahead.
Sure, there’s an argument that supporters should be able to lap it up. That’s true, and fans should be big boys and girls when they lose an Old Firm match. But there’s no particular need to goad opposition supporters after the match in a needless fashion.
Police Scotland have also recommended that a review of away support numbers and segregation come into effect. As well as that, the police want the fan hold-back to be looked at again.
Whether the clubs actually heed this advice remains to be seen, as no law has been put in place for it. To avoid fan trouble, however, it’s probably worth doing.
