Sunday past - November 30th - was, of course, St Andrew’s day - a day when we should all be proud to be Scots! Unfortunately, I was certainly not overly proud of some of the behaviour I witnessed and heard about both during and after the game.
The match was a disappointing football spectacle for both sets of supporters. However, as football supporters, we know that things will not always go our way on the pitch; we know that players will make mistakes; we know that referees will make calls that we do not all agree with. That is football! It does not justify bad behavior - on or off the field.
At Hearts, poor on-field behaviour is scrutinised, disciplined and, where appropriate, punished. The same approach must apply off the field.
The police report confirms that one Hearts supporter was arrested at the match for sectarian abuse. That is unacceptable and dangerous. In line with my previous statement of zero tolerance, that individual will not be allowed back into the stadium.
The same police report confirms that five Celtic supporters were arrested for sectarian abuse, coin throwing and disorderly behaviour. I hope that Celtic will take appropriate action against those individuals who let them down. Certainly, at Hearts, we will do everything in our power to ensure they are never again allowed into Tynecastle.
I was appalled at the vandalism carried out by our visiting supporters on Sunday. Having recently spent significant sums to replace broken seats in the Roseburn Stand, for the benefit, primarily, of our away supporters, I was hugely disappointed to witness the destruction of close to 100 seats. Similarly, the graffiti on walls, tiles, doors - basically all types of surfaces - was quite disgraceful and this is not to mention the damage to toilets.
I have discussed all of these matters with members of the Celtic Executive and we are working co-operatively to address the issues. No club should be on the receiving end of such unacceptable behaviour and no club should be put in the position of having to defend such behaviour.
The most distressing emails/reports I have received are of intimidation both to fans and to staff from away fans. Everyone gets frustrated when officials and police appear to take little or no action.
This is something I will discuss with the authorities but as many of us know, their response is very often influenced by a need not to further inflame a situation. The only real answer is to try to remove those people who cause the problems and who spoil the whole experience for so many others.
I was pleased to learn that approximately 20% of the Hearts supporters on Sunday were youths. This is fantastic evidence that we are appealing to the family. The not so good news is that I have received a number of emails/letters from parents stating that their children were terrified/had to be removed part way through the game/were traumatised - and as such would be unlikely ever to want to return to a game. This is appalling.
http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/4010
http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/4010
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