The Aftermath

[Uilleam 5,948]

Or, fallout, if you will, as this will set Club-police relations back, somewhat. 

Exactly what the SNP want, is my guess. 

 

Tuesday March 09 2021, 12.01am, The Times

Football

Police attack Rangers for ignoring fan control orders

Title celebrations in Glasgow put safety at risk, says deputy chief constable

Mark McLaughlin

 

Rangers repeatedly ignored police orders to control their fans as thousands broke the law to celebrate the club’s first league title in a decade, a leading officer said yesterday.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-attack-rangers-for-ignoring-fan-control-orders-bbstr72h9

 

Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham condemned the “lack of support from Rangers Football Club”, accusing it of failing to help police to dissuade supporters from mass celebration or encourage those partying in Glasgow city centre to disperse.

Dozens of supporters were arrested after congregating in George Square and outside Ibrox Stadium after Rangers prised the Scottish Premiership title from Celtic on Sunday.

 

Graham criticised the “disgraceful” actions of the fans and said they had put officers and the community at risk.

“I also strongly condemn the lack of support from Rangers Football Club over the messages we repeatedly asked them to put out to persuade fans not to go out celebrating and encourage those who did gather in large numbers to return home,” he said.

“It was very clear through the lack of messaging that Rangers did not take seriously their responsibilities in terms of seeking to persuade their fans to celebrate safely and responsibly.

“I commend the officers who delivered a policing operation which was entirely consistent with our approach throughout this pandemic. They did this faced with considerable danger, all of which was completely unnecessary and avoidable.”

Police Scotland was accused of taking a light touch with the crowd that had gathered in George Square. “Where large numbers of people gather at an unplanned event such as this, we use established crowd control measures to ensure we are keeping the public safe and manage those who are refusing to disperse,” Graham said.

John Swinney criticised the “shameful” parties, saying the “silence from Rangers was deafening”. The deputy first minister echoed police claims that Rangers had failed to advise fans to obey public health restrictions and said ministers would make their “extreme disappointment at the lack of leadership clear to the team management”.

Dr Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said there was a “real risk” that Covid-19 had spread during the gatherings. Swinney warned that it may lead to “difficult decisions” about easing lockdown.

Rangers said they had “actively engaged” with the government and Police Scotland to maintain “a cohesive message regarding public safety”. A spokesman added that Rangers understood the “jubilance” of their fans and highlighted “frustration” about the fact that stadiums had been closed for months. Steven Gerrard, the Rangers manager, defended his players for joining early celebrations with fans on Saturday.

 

 

From this report it would seem that Poileas Alba abdicated its policing responsibilities, and expected the football Club to pick up the slack.

Rangers, "repeatedly ignored police orders to control their fans".

Is this actually true? Quite how it was to execute this directive is unclear to me; it should -would, surely?- have been clear to the police that this was a non-starter.

 

Rangers, itself, says,

"DURING the last number of weeks, Rangers can confirm that we initiated open dialogue with key stakeholders in relation to the possibility of us achieving a historic 55th league title", and that

"We have proactively engaged with our local MP, the Justice Minister, the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the SPFL in relation to maintaining a cohesive message regarding public safety during the Covid-19 pandemic."

 

The Chief Constable says

“I also strongly condemn the lack of support from Rangers Football Club over the messages we repeatedly asked them to put out to persuade fans not to go out celebrating and encourage those who did gather in large numbers to return home.” 

Steven Gerrard -the man whom the fans would be most likely to listen to- did this in two press conferences before Sunday.

Perhaps he was not persuasive enough; perhaps his message was not strong enough; perhaps he should have iterated and reiterated the message on social media, until he was, well, blue in the face. Perhaps an uncompromising statement should have been penned by the SNP, as I take it the Chief Constable's was. Of course, even if Humza, or Swinney, or Sturgeon, or even all three, had written a script, for the Club, the question of dissemination has to be addressed, as the 'national Broadcaster' refuses to cooperate with the Club or report on its activities to any meaningful extent.

 

Clearly, the government, and the police, knew that this was likely to happen, but were unprepared. The Club also knew, but quite how it is meant to accept responsibility for events on public streets and squares is anybody's guess.

As we are, alas, i m o, unlikely to hear the truth from the current administration, the Club should make public the minutes/notes/confirmatory communications/whatever content, which followed dialogues with government, and police.

 

I would guess that the police underestimated the no. of ecstatic madmen who would hit the streets.

 

For the avoidance of doubt: the supporters were wrong; we can explain it, but we cannot excuse it.

 

[Bluedell 5,627]

Both Swinney and Sturgeon are guilty of lying in that article.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

the fans who did this have let us down but nothing the club said would have made a jot of difference to that. 

[compo 7,055]

As far as I'm led to believe the club had been involved in ongoing talks with police Scotland concerning Saturday's game so it looks to me like the person in charge of policing is the one who shou.d be on a charge of dereliction of duty .

[ranger_syntax 4,330]

Defund the police plz.

[Gonzo79 15,294]

Nothing Rangers could have said would have stopped the large gatherings.  It was inevitable.

 

If the SNP's collective knickers are in a twist about it, all the better. 

[Uilleam 5,948]

36 minutes ago, the gunslinger said:

the fans who did this have let us down but nothing the club said would have made a jot of difference to that. 

Agreed. 

[Scott7 6,018]

If Rangers had been encouraging supporters to go out and celebrate their joy, the Police would have every right to complain but its their job to police the streets, not Rangers’ and if they can’t it’s the job of the government to provide the necessary resources.

 

I used to know a few senior coppers. Only two of them had college degrees but even they had started feeling collars on the beat. None of them would have sat in overheated offices in short-sleeve shirts issuing statements, whining and buck passing.They would have been out clearing the streets.

 

[der Berliner 3,748]

IMHO, a clear attempt of deflecting from their own shortcomings and faults. What happens outside Ibrox and Auchenhowie happens outside of Rangers` direct influence. Whatever we had said wouldn`t have stopped what happend on Sunday.

 

But rest assured, had the police cordoned off St. Georges Square or other public places in advance of the Scum game ... and the Scum had won, the SNP and their lackeys would have slammed the police for overreacting, probably even laughing at them. That said, the comments of the Chief Constable seem somewhat over the top ... anyone knows his football allegiances?

[BlackSocksRedTops 3,752]

2 hours ago, Gonzo79 said:

Nothing Rangers could have said would have stopped the large gatherings.  It was inevitable.

 

If the SNP's collective knickers are in a twist about it, all the better. 

Yep. That's what really important here...