Police move on Rangers fans ahead of Celtic march

Media caption,

Police guide Rangers fans away from Trongate ahead of Old Firm match

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Police shepherded a group of Rangers fans away from Glasgow’s Trongate ahead of a Celtic supporter march to Hampden before the Scottish Cup final.

Videos from the area show fans clad in blue T-shirts being ushered back into the city centre shortly after 10:00 on Saturday.

Celtic supporters set off from Glasgow Green on their march to the national stadium at midday.

There were no reports of serious disorder ahead of the 15:00 kick-off - which Celtic won 1-0 in the first Scottish Cup final clash between the two sides in 22 years.

A video from the scene shows officers on foot and a van moving the group on.

Several hundred Rangers supporters later arrived at Glasgow Central Station shortly before 11:00 with a large police escort.

Most had their faces covered as they made their way through the concourse.

They boarded trains to Mount Florida, the designated station for Rangers fans heading to the game.

Image caption,

Fans later arrived at Glasgow Central station to board trains to Mount Florida

Images also appeared to show a small group of Celtic fans scaling the fence outside Hampden prior to kick off.

A group of ticketless supporters targeted the south-east corner of the national stadium before running up a grass verge and into the stadium.

It was not clear how many, if any, fans managed to get into the stands.

Image source, SNS
Image caption,

Fans appeared to scale the fence outside Hampden before kick off

Police Scotland said “appropriate” measures had been put in place ahead of the match in an effort to curb bad behaviour.

Four officers were injured and 19 people were arrested when about 25,000 Celtic fans descended on the Trongate to celebrate their Scottish Premiership title victory last weekend.

Glasgow City Council described the damage to the area – which is home to a number of Celtic fan pubs – as “unacceptable” after shop fronts and street furniture were vandalised.

The local authority said football-related disorder in previous years had caused “significant” problems for the city.

In 2021, more than 50 people were arrested when Rangers fans celebrated the club's league trophy win in George Square.

The Scottish Police Federation has called for the introduction of dedicated fan zones as a way of tackling football-related disorder.

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