Ball boy attacked at Celtic match

Hearts vow thug fans won't win as ball boy, 13, struck by coin ...

By DAVID McCANN

Published on Friday 10 February 2012 15:55

HEARTS today vowed to keep ball boys at games against Celtic despite another schoolboy being injured by a coin thrown from the crowd during the high-pressure clash.

The latest incident saw a 13-year-old struck in the lower back about 30 minutes before full-time, prompting Tynecastle security to withdraw all ball boys and girls from the area as tensions mounted.

Police have launched an investigation but it is understood CCTV footage of the incident was “inconclusive” and it is not known which set of supporters was responsible.

Wednesday night’s incident, which saw paramedics treat the boy for a minor injury, is the latest in a string of ugly incidents during games against the Glasgow club.

It comes less than a year after Hearts supporter John Wilson ran on to the pitch at Tynecastle and lunged at Celtic manager Neil Lennon. During that same match, a 14-year-old ball boy was reported to have been hit by a 2p coin.

And in October the News told how a schoolboy football team was left “shaken and shocked” after being subjected to foul-mouthed abuse from Celtic fans when they took to the Tynecastle pitch.

It is understood fans from both clubs had been aiming coins at each other during Celtic’s 4-0 win.

Linda More, a Hearts season-ticket holder whose 14-year-old daughter was a ball girl at Wednesday’s match, said there was a “poisonous” atmosphere whenever Celtic visited.

“It’s so hostile at these games now and it’s kids who have got caught in the crossfire,” she said.

“My daughter said there were coins being thrown and that they were told to leave the pitch and go into the main stand for their safety. It seems like in each game we play now there’s some sort of incident.

“Why do kids need to be subjected to that, especially when you are trying to encourage them to go to football? It’s just wrong.”

Gorgie Councillor and Hearts supporter Eric Milligan said: “Last season there was a very bad edge at the Hearts games against Celtic and it has led to things that shouldn’t have happened.

“Throwing coins on the pitch or doing anything that might disrupt the business of the ball boys has to be deplored.”

A Hearts spokesman said: “There was a ball boy struck by a missile and he was examined by the medical people, but no further treatment was required.

“The ball boys and girls were removed as a matter of precaution.

“They will be back in place when we next play Celtic, but if their safety is compromised the same action will be taken.”

Celtic FC said they had not been informed about the incident, but it is understood that they would co-operate with Hearts and the police if necessary.

A police spokesman, said: “Inquiries are ongoing following a report of a 13-year-old ball boy being struck by a coin.”

Meanwhile, a 42-year-old man has been charged with a breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice during the game and is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a later date.

Celtic fan denies singing pro-IRA chants at Dundee United game

A Celtic fan accused of singing a pro-IRA chant at a game is contesting the accusation on the grounds that of "relevancy".

Gary Moore allegedly chanted pro-terrorist slogans at the Glasgow club’s match against Dundee United at Tannadice Stadium on November 4 last year.

The 36-year-old is accused of singing in support of a proscribed terrorist organisation which was likely to incite public disorder.

Moore, of Tanfield Street in Glasgow’s Springboig, was not present at Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday when the case under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act called.

Andrew Sloane, defending, said: "We are taking a plea to the relevancy in this case. The song he is accused of singing should not be under this legislation. It wasn't a song related to a proscribed terrorist organisation."

Moore had been banned from attending matches after being charged in a previous hearing, but that sanction was lifted at the most recent calling of the case.

Mr Sloane added: "He is a 36-year-old man, an accountant, a father-of-three and a man of good character. He is a Celtic season ticket holder and has been since 1995. His ticket cost him £600 for this season."

Sheriff Richard Davidson continued the case to a hearing on the relevancy of the charges on February 20.

The SPL match finished 2-2 with Dundee United scoring twice late on to cancel out Celtic's goals from Miku and Tony Watt.

http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/211388-celtic-fan-denies-singing-pro-ira-chants-at-dundee-united-game/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Celtic fan to stand trial for 'racially abusing Rangers players' on Twitter

A man is to stand trial accused of racially abusing two former Rangers players on Twitter.

Michael Convery, 41, from Govan, Glasgow, is accused of making racist remarks which caused or were intended to cause alarm and distress.

The alleged comments were made to Swansea player Kyle Bartley and Bursapor midfielder Maurice Edu on January 14, 2012.

Both players were with Rangers at the time of the alleged incident.

Convery denied the charges when he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

A trial date has been set for later this year.

http://local.stv.tv/glasgow/211094-man-to-stand-trial-for-racially-abusing-kyle-bartley-and-maurice-edu/

Celtic fan arrested for sickening bigoted abuse

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/4757175/Footy-bigot-baits-Andy-Goram-in-bookies.html

A YOB was arrested yesterday after launching a vile sectarian attack on former Scotland goalie Andy Goram.

Bigot Aaron Laing, 25, is seen yelling sickening abuse at the Rangers legend in a video posted online.

In it he brands Goram, 49, a “dirty Orange b*****d” and jokes about his battles with mental illness.

Cops nicked Laing at his home in Peterhead last night and charged him with breach of the peace.

Laing — who dated Scotland boss Gordon Strachan’s niece when he was in charge at Celtic — ran into Scottish SunSport columnist Goram in a bookies in his hometown of Peterhead at the weekend.

The video shows the ex-footballer sitting at a gambling machine. Laing pokes fun at his past problems with schizophrenia by shouting: “There’s only two Andy Gorams.”

Foul-mouthed Laing then yells: “What a dirty ***t”.

He also makes a quip about Gers’ tax affairs when he bawls: “Andy Goram spending all his EBTs on the *****ng roulette machine. W**k.”

Goram — who keeps smiling throughout the incident — was in the town as a guest of a local supporters club.

He said yesterday: “I was shocked. You don’t expect that kind of abuse. I bit my lip as I didn’t want to get done for assault.”

Outraged fans slammed Laing last night after the video, which it’s thought he filmed himself, went viral.

Rangers Supporters Association boss John Macmillan said: “It’s totally unacceptable.”

On Twitter, user Only an Excuse wrote: “If you behave like a bigot you can’t expect police not to get involved.”

Last night Grampian Police said a 25-year-old man is due to appear at Peterhead Sheriff Court today.

60 injured as Celtic fans riot in Burnley

1978-09-12: Burnley 1-0 Celtic, Anglo Scottish Cup

• Play had to be stopped after Police moved in to several areas of the ground after disturbances.

• Over 20 arrests are made.

• 60 injured in riot

Celtic fans had arrived in the town centre all day and had been drinking heavily. When the game began the Burnley fans had taunted the Celtic fans with chants of 'Rangers' and 'Argentina'. After this Celtic fans threw cans and bottles and invaded the 'no mans land' piece of terracing separating the rival fans.

Only the appearance of Police dogs managed to force them back into their own section. Celtic fans tore up six foot iron railings and used them as missiles.

Superintendent Henderson of Lancashire police said it was the worst hooliganism he had experienced and that 60 people were injured including several police.

Referee, Pat Partridge had to withdraw the players for a period until order was restored. Billy McNeill and the Celtic players appealed to the fans for calm.

http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/1978-09-12%3A+Burnley+1-0+Celtic,+Anglo+Scottish+Cup

Celtic fans in 'serious disorder' at Dundee

A Dundee official has labelled trouble within Dens Park on Boxing Day as ‘seriousdisorder’ and that scenes were ‘a throwback to the 70s’, as Celtic fans fought among themselves inside the stadium’s concourse.

Celtic secured all three points against Dundee thanks to goals for Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper, but the shock for Dundee came from the visiting support and their booze fuelled behaviour.

Dundee FC operations manager Jim Thomson, said: “There was widespread drunkenness, and I mean widespread, within the Celtic support. We were confiscating drink from supporters in the concourse leading to the turnstiles. They were clearly drunk coming in and we had a decision to make on whether we let them in and we took the decision that we had to let them in because we would have had other consequences if we didn’t.

“Once in, they were abusing our turnstile staff, our canteen staff and even fighting among themselves, and I mean serious disorder within the concourse. All in all it was just not a nice experience. In the 20 years I’ve been organising games here at Dens Park I have never seen anything like that – it was a throwback to the 70s that we are all probably ashamed of.

“I would say that the scheduling of the fixture didn’t help. Nonetheless, I don’t want to make light of it, but I can have a skinful but I’m not going to go and behave like people did last night. It’s just not acceptable.”

According to further reports drunken Celtic fans urinated where they stood and trashed the away end toilets.

Thomson claimed that he stopped counting those fans ejected when he got to 40 in number, but one erroneous report claimed over 70 Celtic fans were involved in running battles, a Scotzine source put the number at around 30 Celtic fans, with the trouble starting before kick off as fans were being penned in towards the turnstiles outside the away end – far from the running battles that the newspaper paints a scene of.

One Celtic supporter reportedly blocked the way of a number of younger fans, creating a flash point in which the fan refusing to move was pushed back and through the turnstiles, when the three fans were through they were targeted by the fan and members of a Celtic supporters club, which escalated in
Fuelled by booze other so-called fans got involved as Tayside Police along with Stewards, according to our sources ‘lost control of the situation and let the fans fight among themselves’.

A Tayside Police spokesperson confirmed that five supporters had been arrested, four Celtic supporters and one Dundee fan, she said: “There was a level of disturbance at the match, primarily within the Celtic section of the stadium. Five people are to be reported to the procurator fiscal for alleged football-related offences. Officers responded to the incidents quickly and took appropriate action.”
Meanwhile, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has apologised to Dundee, he said: “We are very proud that Celtic supporters enjoy such a great reputation and it is therefore extremely disappointing that the behaviour of a small minority has tarnished the good name of the club and our fans in this way.

“Clearly, we apologise to Dundee Football Club – we will work with them and look into any incident which is raised and if we can identify any individuals involved, we will obviously take the strongest possible action.

“We have received a number of complaints today from our own supporters about the conduct of this minority – we cannot allow our supporters’ enjoyment of our matches to be affected in this way and we will not sit and allow the club’s reputation to be damaged. Our supporters over many years have earned such a fantastic reputation for positively supporting the club, we will not allow this to be taken from them. It is time for all our true supporters who care about Celtic to unite with the club and find a solution to this problem.”

The police, authorities and even the broadcaster showing the game on Boxing Day night have been criticised by some quarters for allowing the game to go ahead at 7.30pm, which gave fans plenty of time to get boozed up.

Thomson added: “The game should never have kicked off at 7.30pm on Boxing Day. It was a disaster waiting to happen. It gave the supporters too much time to get drunk. It’s just a joke to play a game at that time on that day. Everyone knows this time was chosen to fit in with the TV schedule but the atmosphere at the game was just frightening.
“That was meant to be the Celtic v Rangers game as we got Rangers’ place in the SPL. If that had been an Old Firm match do you think it would have been played at that time? I very much doubt it.”
Celtic could face sanctions from the Scottish Premier League over the trouble, if it is noted in the referee’s report. Source: http://www.scotzine.com/2012/12/serious-disorder-at-dundee-match-as-celtic-fans-fight-among-themselves/

Dundee Boss feared Celtic fans' "full scale riot"

DUNDEE last night slammed Celtic fans for their shameful Boxing Day behaviour at Dens Park.
Seething stadium boss Jim Thomson admitted he feared “a full-scale riot”.

Fans openly urinated in stands and fought with each other, with Dundee revealing more than 70 punters were ejected from the ground.

Thomson, blasted: “I have never seen anything like the behaviour of the Celtic fans in the 20 years that I have been running games at Dens Park. Our fans were abused, our stewards were abused and no doubt the police were abused.

“My staff were genuinely at risk and it was not just a small minority to blame.

“I’m not pulling any punches here. I did not feel safe. It was like a throwback to the 1970s. It really was scary. I had Celtic fans coming up to me to tell me in the street they were embarrassed by their own fans’ behaviour and the state they were in.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/feeds/smartphone/scotland/4715583/Inside-story-Yobs-who-shamed-Celtic-at-Dens.htm

Celtic fans "fought running battles, wrecked toilets and urinated in public areas"

DUNDEE security chief Jim Thomson last night told how staff were PETRIFIED as drunken Celtic fans ran amok at Dens Park.

Operations manager Thomson was left disgusted as visiting fans fought running battles, wrecked toilets and urinated in public areas.

Celtic have slammed the thugs and called for decent supporters to root them out.

Five people were arrested but that total is expected to rise sharply when police study CCTV footage to identify the troublemakers, with up to 200 believed to have been involved in the shocking scenes.

SunSport understands more than 70 Celtic fans were ejected from the ground as police battled to stop things escalating into a full-scale riot.

The clubs are now waiting to see if SPL match delegate Tom Purdie includes the incidents in his report.

If so, Celtic could be hit with a hefty punishment.

Long-serving Thomson, who likened what he saw to the dark days of 1970s football hooliganism, believes booze played a major factor and slammed the decision to stage the game at 7.30pm on Boxing Day.

Many supporters travelled to Dundee early and were in local pubs from lunchtime onwards.

The Dens official branded the disturbances as the worst he’s seen from any supporters.

He said: “In the 20 years I have been running games at Dens Park, I have never seen anything like the behaviour of the Celtic fans.

“It was not just a small minority to blame. There was almost a full-scale riot. My staff were genuinely at risk. I had female turnstile operators coming to me visibly shaking.

“The situation was almost unmanageable. I have never seen so many people drunk.

“Our fans were abused, our stewards were abused and no doubt the police were abused.

“You could not send a steward in to sort it out as you never know what might have happened.

“I’m not pulling any punches here. I did not feel safe.

“It was like a throwback to the 1970s. It really was scary. The away fans had no respect for their surroundings. They were basically doing the toilet where they stood.

“I had Celtic fans telling me they were embarrassed by their own fans’ behaviour and the state they were in.

“I stopped counting at 40 ejections from the Bob Shankly stand where all the trouble was.

“They were fighting among themselves, which was frankly astonishing.”

Thomson also revealed that the toilets were left in such a state that it took a team of cleaners hours to get them back into a decent state.

With so many drunks attempting to get into the ground, Dundee feared there would be trouble.

Thomson insists refusing them entry was a bigger risk because there was a real fear of sparking a riot outside.

He revealed: “There were so many drunk people outside that we just had to let them in.

“If we didn’t, there would have been a riot outside. It’s as simple as that.

“The state of the toilets was a disgrace. It took us the whole of Thursday morning to hose them down.”

In the end the police decided to contain the out-of-control supporters in their section, with Thomson comparing it to the ‘kettling’ tactics police employ at many games across Europe. He said: “It was like a continental-style policing operation.

“In other words, they were in that stand so keep them there and if they want to fight among themselves then let them go ahead.”

Dundee have received complaints from fans who feared for the safety of kids they had taken to the game.

They believe the authorities blundered by allowing TV to schedule the match for the evening of a public holiday.

Thomson said: “The game should never have kicked off at 7.30pm on Boxing Day.

“It was a disaster waiting to happen. It gave the supporters too much time to get drunk. It’s just a joke to play a game at that time on that day.

“Everyone knows this time was chosen to fit in with the TV schedule but the atmosphere at the game was just frightening.

“That was meant to be the Celtic v Rangers game as we got Rangers’ place in the SPL.

“If that had been an Old Firm match do you think it would have been played at that time? I very much doubt it.”

A Tayside Police spokesman said: “There was a level of disturbance at the match, primarily within the Celtic section of support.

“Five people are to be reported to the Procurator Fiscal for football-related offences.”

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/feeds/smartphone/scotland/4715296/Drunken-yobs-were-like-a-throwback-to-the-1970s.html#ixzz2I9SVC6lU

Celtic fans Mass brawl at Dens Park under inquiry

Published on Tuesday 1 January 2013 02:02

POLICE investigating disorder among Celtic fans at the club’s clash with Dundee on Boxing Day are looking for those who threw coins, set off fireworks and took part in a mass brawl.

Violence erupted in the concourse under the Bob Shankly stand at Dens Park, which housed 3,000 away fans.

Five people have already been reported to the Procurator Fiscal over alleged offences committed at the match.

Superintendent Jim Leslie, of Tayside Police, said: “We are aware of fighting in the concourse but when officers arrived it had split up and we didn’t receive complaints from the people involved so we couldn’t make any arrests. We are carrying out further inquiries to see if we can identify the people fighting. We are also investigating coin throwing and fireworks.”

http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/mass-brawl-at-dens-park-under-inquiry-1-2713858

Celtic apologise to Dundee after 'disturbance' at Boxing Day game

http://news.stv.tv/tayside/207661-football-fans-reported-after-disturbance-at-dundee-v-celtic-game/

Watch video interview

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has apologised to Dundee after trouble in the away end during their Boxing Day game.

During the tie at Dens Park, Tayside Police dealt with a "level of disturbance primarily within the Celtic section of the stadium".

The trouble at the Scottish Premier League match included a series of bangers being set off in the away end during the first-half.

Police confirmed that five supporters, one for the home side Dundee and four following away team Celtic, will be reported to the Crown following the disturbance.

A force spokeswoman said: "There was a level of disturbance at the match, primarily within the Celtic section of the stadium.

"Five people are to be reported to the procurator fiscal for alleged football-related offences. Officers responded to the incidents quickly and took appropriate action."

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell responded: "We are very proud that Celtic supporters enjoy such a great reputation and it is therefore extremely disappointing that the behaviour of a small minority has tarnished the good name of the club and our fans in this way.

"Clearly, we apologise to Dundee Football Club - we will work with them and look into any incident which is raised and if we can identify any individuals involved, we will obviously take the strongest possible action.

"We have received a number of complaints today from our own supporters about the conduct of this minority - we cannot allow our supporters' enjoyment of our matches to be affected in this way and we will not sit and allow the club's reputation to be damaged. Our supporters over many years have earned such a fantastic repuation for positively supporting the club, we will not allow this to be taken from them. It is time for all our true supporters who care about Celtic to unite with the club and find a solution to this problem."

Celtic won the tie 2-0 with goals from Georgios Samaras and Gary Hooper.

Dundee FC operations manager Jim Thomson said that his staff were shocked at some of the behaviour by an element of the travelling support on Wednesday night.

He added: "There was widespread drunkenness, and I mean widespread, within the Celtic support. We were confiscating drink from supporters in the concourse leading to the turnstiles. They were clearly drunk coming in and we had a decision to make on whether we let them in and we took the decision that we had to let them in because we would have had other consequences if we didn't.

"Once in, they were abusing our turnstile staff, our canteen staff and even fighting among themselves, and I mean serious disorder within the concourse. All in all it was just not a nice experience. In the 20 years I've been organising games here at Dens Park I have never seen anything like that - it was a throwback to the 70s that we are all probably ashamed of.

"I would say that the scheduling of the fixture (it was televised on ESPN with a 7.30pm kick-off) didn't help. Nonetheless, I don't want to make light of it, but I can have a skinful but I'm not going to go and behave like people did last night. It's just not acceptable."

Police hunt Celtic yobs who threw coins and fireworks

YOBS who threw coins and set off fireworks in shameful scenes at Celtic’s Boxing Day match are being hunted by police.

Police were called to clashes among the 3000-strong travelling support in the Bob Shankly stand at Dens Park.

The fighting had stopped before they arrived.

But they revealed yesterday that they are continuing to hunt down those responsible.

And they are also probing coin-throwing and firework offences.

The trouble-makers have been condemned by Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell and manager Neil Lennon. And the club have vowed to assist with police inquiries.

Five people have been reported to the procurator fiscal over alleged offences at the match.

One man, Dion McLeish, has appeared in court over alleged pro-IRA chanting and has been banned from Celtic away matches ahead of his trial.

Match commander Superintendent Jim Leslie said: “We are carrying out further inquiries to see if we can
identify the people fighting.

“We are also investigating coin-throwing and fireworks.

“What we had was an evening kick-off on Boxing Day where football fans had ample time to get through a lot of alcohol.”

He added that, although stewards would refuse entry to any obviously drunk people, the number of fans present at the sell-out match made it difficult for them.

He added: “It’s clear that there were people within the ground who had consumed alcohol and a number of offences were committed by fans in the Celtic end.”

Jim Thomson, Dundee’s operations manager, said after the game: “There was almost a full-scale riot. I had Celtic fans coming up to me to tell me they were embarrassed by their own fans’ behaviour.”

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/police-hunt-for-dundee-v-celtic-1512757

Celtic fans disturbances "like a throwback to the 1970s"

CELTIC chiefs yesterday apologised to Dundee FC for the drunken behaviour of some fans at the Boxing Day game at Dens Park.

Chief executive Peter Lawwell vowed to work with the Tayside club to identify any supporters involved in the disorder.

It followed angry comments from Dundee’s operations chief, who described the scenes as the worst he had seen “in 20 years” and a “throwback to the 70s”.

Parkhead bosses said yesterday they had been contacted by their own supporters to complain about the behaviour of fellow fans.

The worst trouble took place in the Bob Shankly Stand, which housed 3000 Celtic supporters.

Jim Thomson, Dundee operations manager, said: “I have never seen anything like the behaviour of the Celtic fans in the 20 years I have been running games at Dens Park.

“There was almost a full-scale riot. I have never seen so many people drunk.”

Thomson said home fans and stewards were abused and Celtic fans fought among themselves.

He added: “It was like a throwback to the 1970s. It was scary. I had Celtic fans coming up to me to tell me they were embarrassed by their own fans’ behaviour.”

Thomson blamed the late kick-off for the game, which was screened live on ESPN.

He said: “It should never have kicked off at 7.30pm on Boxing Day. It gave the supporters too much time to get drunk.”

Lawwell said: “We are very proud that Celtic supporters enjoy such a great reputation and it is therefore extremely disappointing that the behaviour of a small minority has tarnished the good name of the club and our fans in this way.

“Clearly, we apologise to Dundee. We will work with them and look into any incident raised, and if we can identify any individuals involved, we will take the strongest possible action.

“We have received a number of complaints from our own supporters about the conduct of this minority.”

Police said there was “a level of disturbance at the match, primarily within the Celtic section”. One Dundee supporter and four Celtic fans will be reported to prosecutors for alleged offences.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/celtic-bosses-vow-to-identify-fans-1508111