{"id":454246,"date":"2026-05-18T02:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T02:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/454246\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T02:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T02:46:12","slug":"repeated-failure-to-punish-celtic-for-fans-behaviour-shows-up-the-spfl-for-what-it-is-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/454246\/","title":{"rendered":"Repeated failure to punish Celtic for fans\u2019 behaviour shows up the SPFL for what it is \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The placing of a full stop on any league campaign offers cause for reflection. In Scotland, there are reasons to wonder if the grim denouement<\/a> to a stunning title race will prompt a shift in attitudes on two fronts. Whether a Celtic<\/a> board which has been castigated for its stewardship regard the securing of another title as vindication is an intriguing question. <\/p>\n

More immediate is how the champions and others will respond to the grim scenes that triggered an enforced conclusion to the visit of Hearts. The behaviour of a section of the Celtic support is so unruly during dominance that one wonders what on earth may happen if the team struggle badly.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) \u201cutterly condemned\u201d Celtic supporters who flooded on to the pitch at the time of Callum Osmand\u2019s third goal. \u201cSupporters entering the field of play in any circumstances is wholly unacceptable and puts those participating and working at a match at risk,\u201d added the SPFL. Hearts players were accosted and abused during their most crushing of moments, having lost the opportunity to break the Old Firm\u2019s four decades of title dominance.<\/p>\n

The same SPFL statement scrambled to assert that the game had \u201cnot been abandoned\u201d, therefore seeking to pull the rug from under those who want the fixture replayed or result annulled. There should be no serious call for such outcomes anyway; Celtic won the game fairly and squarely where it should happen, on the field. <\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it is an undeniable fact that the referee was forced to call time earlier than intended. The fourth official had informed Celtic manager Martin O\u2019Neill there remained a minute to play. But the game was ended after Osmand\u2019s goal because of pitch invaders. What kind of dangerous precedent does this set?<\/p>\n

On the eve of Hearts\u2019 potentially historic trip to Celtic Park, the Scottish Football Association issued a lengthy polemic against various constituents within the game whom they blame for enflaming tensions towards referees. After one of those officials found himself surrounded by rampaging punters as Hearts players were being pulled to safety by club staff, amazingly the association\u2019s script writer has lost their tongue. Because it falls directly under their control, the Scottish FA set up a review into trouble at the end of the Scottish Cup quarter-final<\/a> between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox. That game was on March 8th and outcomes remain unknown.<\/p>\n

\"HeartsHearts player Lawrence Shankland is escorted from the pitch by security after Celtic fans invaded the pitch before the end of Saturday’s title-deciding match at Celtic Park. Photograph: Andrew Milligan\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the same derby, Celtic\u2019s interim chair, Brian Wilson, essentially shrugged off the pitch invasion by his club\u2019s \u201cexuberant\u201d fans. It was a bizarre approach then and remains one now; those supporters have no business on the pitch. It is not, as some seem to believe, a necessity. <\/p>\n

Scotland fans did not swarm Hampden Park when World Cup qualification was sealed on an epic night against Denmark. Hearts punters managed to remain in the stand despite a late victory at Hibernian only weeks ago. Yet with Celtic it has been allowed to become a theme, as also witnessed during last Wednesday\u2019s win at Motherwell<\/a>. No wonder, when messaging from on high is so woefully lame. Scenes such as Saturday\u2019s in Glasgow are not enthralling or exciting; instead they are ones of horrible mayhem.<\/p>\n

In a serious league setup, Celtic would begin next season in front of an empty stand. There is as much chance of them opening 2026-27 in blue and white. The SPFL and SFA wobble at the knees when it comes to punishing their biggest clubs over the conduct of their supporters, no matter the extent to which it brings the sport into disrepute. There has been a direct correlation between that inaction and a clear regression in fan conduct.<\/p>\n

For so much of this season, Celtic\u2019s hierarchy were in the sights of paying customers. Dermot Desmond, the main shareholder, made a rare match appearance as a fifth title in a row was secured. The perception of Desmond as an absentee landlord, presiding over a stale regime, will only have temporarily disappeared if Celtic do not produce smart work in the summer transfer window. <\/p>\n

In the aftermath of winning the title against Hearts, O\u2019Neill sounded almost sure that Saturday\u2019s Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline will be his last in the Celtic dugout. He is a young 74 but has visibly aged amid the rigours of this run-in. Celtic will need a manager and a squad reboot.<\/p>\n

\u201cHearts have been brilliant this year,\u201d said O\u2019Neill. \u201cIt is an absolute wake-up call to Celtic and Rangers. I think Hearts have been the story of the year. They have been terrific. If they had won it, they would have deserved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be adjustments at Tynecastle in the coming months. The sharp rising of expectations and return to European football are among the elements that the Scottish Premiership runners-up will need to handle. O\u2019Neill is correct \u2013 and Celtic fans may object to hearing it \u2013 that Hearts will forever be the broader reference point for 2025-26. That and the unnecessary manner in which the season reached denouement. \u2013 Guardian <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The placing of a full stop on any league campaign offers cause for reflection. In Scotland, there are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2675,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-454246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-celtic","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}