(Credit: Imago/Sky Sports)

Rangers v Celtic 'should have been delayed' to make shock announcement

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). Focus: Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

Published on:

05 May 2025, 2:40 am

Rangers fans once again were the centre of attention as Celtic arrived at Ibrox on Sunday.

The Bears battled to a 1-1 draw in the final Old Firm of the season on 4 May, with Cyriel Dessers' opening goal cancelled out by Adam Idah in the second half.

The home side could face trouble already from a display including imagery of a shotgun, with fans also appearing to throw glass bottles on the pitch during the game, described as a "shock".

Rangers always create a hostile environment (Credit: Imago)

Rangers and Celtic in trouble

Celtic fans were back at Ibrox after the recent agreement, but even they could be in trouble with pyrotechnics spotted in the away end.

Keith Hackett believes that once glass bottles had been thrown onto the pitch, the game should have been stopped and delayed.

The ex-FIFA official admits that Nick Walsh could then have discussions with security and police to cover that area and try to find offenders, making a stadium announcement.

"My view is that the referee should have stopped the game and discussed the situation with the Security Officer and Police," Hackett said.

"Then a stadium announcement is made, and the increased presence in the area facing the spectators to detect any offenders."

Paraag Marathe and Andrew Cavenagh will take over soon (Credit: Imago)

Rangers new owners get ready for the ride

Although Paraag Marathe may be used to some hostile scenes at Leeds already, Andrew Cavenagh will love the passion on show that he is seeing.

Despite the season being over for what feels like months, the Rangers' support is still as good as ever, and that is the best sign for an impending new owner.

Rangers v Celtic

49,883

Ibrox was rocking with a packed crowd (BBC)

However, days like the latest Old Firm will also show how it could cost them.

The Scottish FA will almost be guaranteed to hand down fines for the fan display and throwing of missiles, only weeks after UEFA did the exact same.

The season will now slowly come to an end with nothing left to play for, but this trouble and the huge changes ahead make it an eye-opening summer at Ibrox.

Keith Hackett

Nick Walsh