Police Scotland officers dealt with unacceptable violence and hostility as fans gathered in Glasgow on Saturday, 16 May, to celebrate Celtic’s Premiership title win.
Around 3000 people made their way to the Trongate area of the city following the match, where we faced significant levels of disorder in which officers were injured. Missiles, including glass bottles, were thrown at them when assisting with a medical emergency.
Specially trained public order officers were deployed and action was taken to restore order, disperse the crowd and make arrests.
Extensive enquiries are underway to identify others involved and further arrests will be made.
A significant amount of alcohol and pyrotechnics were also proactively seized by officers across the day.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said: “While we recognise that the majority of fans respected the appeal from police and partners to act responsibly, several thousand still descended on the Trongate area, some of whom engaged in serious disorder.
“Once again, we have seen unacceptable levels of violence and anti-social behaviour and Police Scotland’s officers have been left to deal with the consequences. Being assaulted is not part of the job and regrettably a number of them were injured.
“The levels of criminal behaviour witnessed, in particular the hostility directed towards our officers, is simply unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Those involved should be in no doubt that they will be identified and arrested.
“This mass assembly of people caused significant disruption to local businesses, residents and members of the public in the City Centre.
“Urgent discussions with Celtic, wider Scottish football authorities and other stakeholders, including Glasgow City Council, is required to achieve a solution that improves public safety, reduces disruption and prevents this from happening again.”
Police are engaging with Heart of Midlothian FC to establish if any of their players were assaulted on the pitch at the conclusion of the event. The circumstances of the incident are being reviewed.
