Scotland's first minister, John Swinney, has condemned the violence that erupted after Celtic's Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday as 'completely and utterly unacceptable'. Dozens of Celtic fans spilled onto the pitch to celebrate their penalty shootout victory, while more than 100 Rangers supporters also invaded the pitch and charged towards the away end. Several police officers, stewards and members of the public were injured, with nine arrests made within 24 hours and more expected.
Chief Superintendent Emma Croft, who is leading the investigation, said that the large allocation of about 7,500 away fans – the first time Celtic had such a presence at Ibrox since 2018 – contributed to the trouble. She described the setup as 'not sustainable and not safe', and called for realistic conversations about balancing the football experience with safety. Recent away allocations have varied from 750 to 2,500 or none, but Scottish Cup rules allow up to 20% of tickets to the away club.
Police are investigating incidents before and after the game, including Celtic fans without tickets breaking into the stadium and graffiti referencing the 1971 Ibrox disaster, where 66 Rangers fans died. Pyrotechnics were also used by those invading the pitch, which Swinney said 'exaggerates and escalates that level of danger'. He called for government and authorities to work together to prevent such items being brought into grounds.
Stuart Murphy, chief executive of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, described the scenes as a 'debacle' and expressed anger on behalf of decent fans who feel tarnished by the violence. He noted that the incident echoed the 1980 Scottish Cup final pitch invasion that led to a ban on alcohol sales in sports grounds in Scotland.
