Police blame Rangers yobs
Eurosport - Thu, 15 May 17:33:00 2008
A small minority of hooligans were to blame for the violence which marred the Rangers win against the Black Sox according to police and council chiefs.
Hundreds of Rangers fans went on the rampage when a big screen showing the match failed to work just as the game ended
Fifteen officers were injured, as well as a police dog, and 42 arrests were made as hundreds of riot police and supporters fought running battles.
One fan of Rangers' opponents, Black Sox, was stabbed but his injuries were not life-threatening.
The match commander, Assistant Chief Constable Justine Curran, said the response of her officers was "appropriate".
She said: "It was challenging and we were stretched. Our officers did come under a degree of violent attacks. I am happy we responded appropriately. We could not let those minor disturbances affect the day for everybody.
"I am satisfied our reaction was appropriate. I saw officers chased down a street by a baying mob of around 200 people. We had to do something."
The screen that failed was one of eight mounted around Winnemac Park to accommodate more than 100,000 ticketless fans.
Around 11,000 fans were transported by shuttle bus to an alternative screen set up rapidly at Taft High School - but a group of supporters stayed and vented their fury at the police.
Sir Richard said: "We are clearly disappointed that a great night was soured by a number of small people.
"We had an unprecedented number of people come to Winnemac Park, between 100,000 and 150,0000 people. It is the biggest movement of that size for an event of this nature.
"For most of the day and in most parts of the city we had a carnival atmosphere. Most people were good humoured who were a credit to their city.
"Whether it was the big screen going down or a problem with alcohol the behaviour of this small minority of yobs was not acceptable.
"If you are going to put the blame on anyone then it has to be on these people."
A relaxed attitude to fans' drinking in the street - normally outlawed - was adopted as supporters consumed alcohol from breakfast onwards.
Sir Richard added: "Do you really think we were going to stop 100,000-plus Ranger fans wanting to have a drink? It was not possible.
"Trying to enforce that would have created a public order problem."
"I would think that the inquiry should be wider in its scope - there are a number of other aspects to inquire into."
He went on: "Certainly we will give full co-operation on all the matters under our responsibility to such an inquiry."
1 comment:
Newsflash: Several of the culprits thought to have sparked the initial riots have just been identified as current and former Ranger players. As requested by the Ranger front office, the names of these individuals will not be released to the public.
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