Calls for Celtic and Rangers fan zones in Glasgow after weekend 'trail of destruction'

A Glasgow MSP has called for organised fan zones after four police officers were injured during Celtic's title celebrations.

Thousands of fans gathered in the Trongate area of the city after the club secured their third title in a row following a thrilling 3-2 win over St Mirren on Saturday, May 18.

Celebrations were largely respectful, however, there were outbreaks of chaos with videos of violence posted to social media and reports of damage to city infrastructure.

Fans were pictured scaling the Mercat Cross building, as well as bus stops and traffic lights which were left in a state of disrepair. Mounds of litter were also left strewn across the streets, with piles of empty booze cans, bags, other rubbish, and broken glass covering much of the area around Glasgow Cross.

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Glasgow City Council previously slammed some fans that left a trail of destruction in their wake for the "damage, disruption, and antisocial behaviour". Glasgow Live reported yesterday how the 16th century Tolbooth Steeple was vandalised with green paint during the celebrations.

Now Paul Sweeney has called for fan zones to be established to minimise disruption with the Scottish Labour MSP meeting with Celtic directors about “formalising events” to discourage street gatherings.

Speaking to BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland he said that he believes Glasgow Green could host the events which could feature a stage with team appearances, live music, toilets and bars similar to other major championships such as the cycling events in 2023.

He said: "I think Glasgow needs to lean into this a bit more. We're seeing on each occasion we are seeing around £90,000 of vandalism caused and clean-up costs.

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"Let's recognise that the combined contribution of Celtic and Rangers to Glasgow is hundreds of millions of pounds a year - it's a Commonwealth Games every year in Glasgow. It's a huge economic opportunity so lets minimise the damaging effects."

Sweeney added that due to the Glasgow teams dominance over Scottish football it could be possible to organise the events in advance.

He continued: "A Glasgow team has won the Scottish Premiership every year for the last 40 years.

"It's a pretty safe bet it's going to be in Glasgow so you can plan with a degree of certainty that it is going to happen and the branding can be changed over in fairly a late stage of the planning process."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said previously: “This graffiti will be removed as we continue to assess the full extent of the damage caused by the unofficial fan gathering on Saturday. A substantial amount of litter, debris and broken glass was also left behind in a wide area around Glasgow Cross with damage caused to infrastructure such as bus stops and traffic signals.

“After an exceptional clean-up effort by our teams overnight, the area was made clear, which helped ensure course for the Cancer Research UK Race for Life was ready for use yesterday morning. The damage, disruption and antisocial behaviour experienced on Saturday remains unacceptable. It should be possible to celebrate and show a basic level of consideration for others in the city at the same time.”

“With the cup final next weekend, we’ll continue to engage with clubs about their responsibility to speak to fans and what opportunities they can offer them to celebrate safely.”

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