MP's plea to clubs after Celtic fan Premiership party chaos

Football clubs should organise their own fan celebrations, an MP has said, after mass disruption around Celtic's Premiership trophy day.

Thousands of fans gathered in Glasgow city centre on Saturday leaving streets strewn with rubbish.

Three people were attacked and ten arrested amid "unacceptable" levels of anti-social behaviour, police said.

Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss condemned the "disruption" and "mess" caused on social media.

She said football clubs should be billed for the clean-up costs.

The SNP MP told the BBC: "My preference would be for the clubs to organise things, so that there was safety for fans and residents and responsibility for ensuring everyone is looked after."

Fans gathered in Glasgow Cross causing disruption to local residents

Footage taken by a resident near Glasgow Cross shows the litter-strewn aftermath of the celebrations, which council staff had to clean through the night.

The council said it was concerned about the risk to public safety associated with the gathering.

Last minute road closures had also taken place while traffic signals had been damaged.

One man who was attacked was in serious condition in hospital over the weekend. There have been no updates on his condition.

Celtic FC did not endorse the gathering but has not yet commented.

The council said it was too early to comment on clean-up costs.

Celtic fans gathered in Glasgow city centre after the team lifted the Scottish Premiership trophy

On Sunday a spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "Staff worked through the night to deal with the build-up of waste and a continued effort was required on Sunday morning to restore the area to a good condition.

"Roads closed at short notice for safety reasons were reopened on Sunday morning and traffic signals damaged during the gathering were also repaired."But the gathering clearly caused disruption to residents, local businesses and the roads network.

"We are also concerned about the anti-social behaviour and risk to public safety associated with the gathering. We will be engaging with our partners in Saturday's operation on how the issues that arose during the gathering can be addressed in future."

• Three serious assaults amid Celtic fan celebration

Fans gathered to celebrate after Celtic lifted the SPFL trophy at Celtic Park, following a 5-0 win against Aberdeen.

The club had already sealed their fate as champions before the match with Aberdeen kicked off at 12:30.

The league was settled with a victory at Tynecastle at the start of May.

The sight of thousands of football fans gathering away from the stadium to celebrate on-field success, is relatively new.

Traditionally, many supporters would gather in pubs and bars and, while singing and dancing may often have spilled out onto the streets, it would rarely lead to road closures and the need mass policing.

It is a change that brings with it challenges.

Some politicians have been vocal about clubs taking more responsibility but just how feasible is that?

Can there really be an expectation that football clubs should be liable for what happens miles away from a stadium, simply because the majority of the crowd is wearing colours relating to that club?

It would make for an interesting legal challenge about where the boundary falls between social and club responsibility.

It doesn't help that our national game's relationship with Holyrood has been a tricky one in recent years.

Football's contribution to society is often maligned by politicians and others, sometimes with very good reason, but in Scotland it's a huge, and for the most part, a positive part of people's lives.

Embracing all of it and deciding who is responsible for it, has always been the tricky part.

Chaotic scenes

Robert Robinson said there was broken glass, blood and sick left outside his shop

Robert Robinson, the store manager of Guitar Guitar in the cities' Trongate, he said he witnessed "chaotic" scenes outside the shop.

He told BBC Scotland: "It's quite worrying more from the security aspect, customers trying to make their way into the store. We had some people who had travelled from outside the city, not aware that was going on that were then unable to gain access to the property.

"Getting staff home safely is obviously a really big priority for ourselves, we don't want anybody getting injured or caught up in anything. The damage and the mess outside, that can be cleaned but if somebody got hurt that would be terrible.

"I think people celebrating something is fine but it shouldn't impact anyone else."

He said he would welcome an organised event with security in future.

"Unacceptable"

Supt Gerry Corrigan from Police Scotland called the levels of anti-social behaviour and incidents of disorder "unacceptable".

Ten people were arrested for a number of offences including assault, acts of public disorder and police assault and another eight people were issued with fixed penalty notices.

Police confirmed that 18 people sustained minor injuries mainly due to intoxication.

Concerns have been growing after so-called title-celebrations for a number of years. Last year, when Celtic lifted the trophy, celebrations featured flares and smoke bombs, this was called "unacceptable" by Police Scotland.

In 2021, when Rangers won the league, fans massed in the city's George Square where more than 50 people were arrested.