Simon Jordan fires warning to Scottish FA after Rangers and Celtic fans cause chaos
Simon Jordan believes the chaos Rangers and Celtic fans caused after their Scottish Cup clash should not lead the Scottish FA to ban large away Old Firm attendances.
For the first time since 2018, Celtic fans were given the full Broomloan Road Stand allocation at Ibrox as Rangers lost on penalties to their bitter rivals on Sunday.
For the last eight years before this quarter-final clash, which ended goalless after extra time, away allocations at Ibrox and Celtic Park have fluctuated between zero and 750 in an ever-moving feast.
Shortly after Celtic won 4-2 on penalties, supporters from both teams clashed during a pitch invasion, leading to several arrests during what Police Scotland described as “despicable” scenes.
Some believe this was down to allowing a much bigger away allocation, but former Crystal Palace chairman Jordan thinks that won’t tackle the problem festering among some Rangers and Celtic fans.
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‘Eliminate the morons’ from the equation for Old Firm games
After the match, flares were thrown by rival supporters as police and stewards formed a barricade to separate the two factions.
Police also said some of the fans had entered the Broomloan Stand without tickets, leading to delays in the security operation, with turnstiles closed for a time.
In the wake of this unsavoury episode, Jordan thinks that large away followings in Old Firm games are not necessarily the main issue.
He said on talkSPORT on Monday: “You can’t legislate for morons behaving in a certain way.
“You have to get the balance right between making the argument that you (Jim White) were making, which is, have we just proven the case that we should have no away fans in the Old Firm?
“No, we’ve proven the case that we have to eliminate the morons from the equation. And then hopefully, the rest of it will take care of itself.”
Currently, Football Banning Orders (FBOs) are only imposed if supporters are involved in violence or disorder. These allow the authorities to stop football fans attending games anywhere in the United Kingdom for 10 years.
It remains to be seen what comes from this.
Rangers hit with another hammer blow
Just over a week ago, Rangers were second in the Scottish Premiership and held realistic desires of winning the league title and Scottish Cup.
However, a 2-2 comeback draw for Celtic in the league, in addition to their midweek win at Aberdeen, means Rangers are now a point adrift of their bitter rivals – and six back from leaders Hearts.
Rangers are also out of the Scottish Cup despite being on top for the majority of a low-quality clash with the Hoops.
Since 11 February, Rangers have drawn with 10-man Motherwell, lowly Livingston, and Celtic, on top of being edged out by Martin O’Neill’s team on spotkicks in the cup on Sunday.
Their season is rapidly in danger of unravelling as they try to win their first league title since 2021.
Not all that long ago, they were some people’s favourites to top the pile this season. Now, the doubters are growing louder and louder.
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