Ibrox violence completely unacceptable, says police chief

The violence at Sunday's Old Firm match at Ibrox was "completely unacceptable", a senior police officer has said.

A Celtic physiotherapist was hit on the head by a glass bottle and glass was removed from the Celtic penalty area.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said enquiries were continuing into both incidents during the game.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon condemned the actions of the Rangers supporters as "mindless, thuggish behaviour".

Three men were also charged over vandalism before the game.

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The men, aged 18, 22 and 25, were arrested after officers were called around 02:45 on Sunday after a large group was seen at the stadium and different areas were vandalised.

Three other arrests were made for breach of the peace and drugs offences.

Rangers ground staff search for glass after shards from a broken bottle were found in the Celtic penalty area

Stewards recovered a host of discarded bottles at Ibrox after the match

Police Scotland also said 70 people were refused entry to Ibrox and 21 were ejected from the stadium.

ACC Williams said: "The disorder and violence shown during the game on Sunday was completely unacceptable.

"All the relevant authorities must work together and with genuine fans to prevent incidents such as this in future. There is no place in Scottish football for this type of behaviour."

There has been widespread condemnation regarding events at Ibrox but what can realistically be done to make sure it doesn't happen again?

The police can prosecute but keeping a close eye on the movements of 50,000 football fans is no easy task - they need the help of the stewards.

Stewards sometimes search bags of people going in but in the main, football fans are not routinely searched going through the turnstiles and that is unlikely to change.

Punish the club? If Rangers can show the league that they took all reasonable steps to prevent any potential problems, it's unlikely sanctions from the governing body will follow.

The club will search for and ban the culprits if and when they are found but the reality is, despite the condemnation and calls for all parties to work together to prevent similar scenes in the future, not much is likely to change.

Nicola Sturgeon said the behaviour "has no place in any civilised society".

"Whether it happens at a football match or in the street, people throwing glass bottles is just not acceptable," Ms Sturgeon told LBC radio.

"But these are matters for the authorities, obviously for the football authorities and potentially for the police and criminal justice authorities."

A Rangers supporters liaison officer said they were working with Police Scotland to identify the individual who threw a bottle from the Copland Road Stand onto the pitch at half-time.

The club and the SPFL, which is awaiting the match delegate's report, both urged any fans with information about the incidents to contact police.

Ms Sturgeon said that regardless of what team you support, "people should be able to enjoy football".

"Football should be something that people can take their kids to and have a happy, joyful occasion," the first minister added.

"Behaviour like that, whether it's at an Old Firm match or any other football match, besmirches that, and it should absolutely be seen as unacceptable."

Celtic came from behind to beat Rangers 2-1 and extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership over their city rivals to six points.