OFFSET YOUR WORLD CUP TRAVEL WITH GREENERTRAVEL
Date: 19th May 2025
I was invited to speak on Good Morning Scotland today, to give my thoughts on the injury sustained by Aberdeen’s Jack MacKenzie. It wasn’t a hard question. I said that the vast majority of fans will condemn this and it’s simply another manifestation of increasingly unacceptable fan behaviour.
I cited various examples of fan violence and anti-social behaviour and the number of parents who get in touch with the SFSA to say they are not taking their kids to games because of this. I also noted that the balance between stick and carrot in dealing with this is vital, but that the immediate need is for a bigger stick to sharply reduce the use of pyros and violence, while working to educate these fans about the dangers of their actions. I have been told that when ultras lit pyros at a Cup semi-final this past season, one of their own fans was hit by a thrown flare, a disabled fan was covered in toxic detritus and, most dangerous of all, another of their own fans had an epileptic fit. Although rare, deaths from epileptic seizures can happen, and when they do, they are most often associated with breathing difficulties. So, the next time you think lighting a flare will contribute to the atmosphere at a game, stop and think that it might also kill someone. But if you go ahead and light it, don’t complain if you get a stadium ban.
I also pointed out that fan violence is nothing new, citing the 1909 Hampden riot, the 1955 ‘Battle of Brockville’ and the cycle of fan violence of the 1970s and 1980s that led to English clubs being banned from Europe. Condemnation of fan violence was much harsher in the past: the Celtic legend Willie Maley described his club’s fans who hurled so many bottles at Brockville that police reinforcements had to be called, as “Curs and Cowards.” Will any modern-day CEO be as forthright?
In addition, while it’s clear that the organised groups of fans are driving much of this, there is a tendency on the part of these same ultras to look the other way and seek to blame others when they are challenged. Those others, frequently include the police and stewards. To find out more, I spoke with a former match-day commander, who explained that fans are not aware of the challenges that the police can face on any specific day. When asked why officers don’t go into the crowd to lift those burning pyros, it was pointed out that these things burn at 2,000C and trying to arrest someone holding a flare would dramatically increase the risk of others being injured. As well as preventing crime, the police have a duty to protect the public. Similarly, with pitch invasions, arresting half a dozen fans takes officers away from the main crowd and this decrease in police presence is potentially dangerous: if anything happened when police numbers were reduced, you can be sure that it would be the police that were blamed, yet, as my contact pointed out, it’s not the police who ignite flares, invade pitches and fight outside grounds. Moreover, he also stressed that not taking immediate action does not mean that culprits can’t be identified later (via cameras and police intelligence work) and charged if necessary.
The problem is that the CEOs don’t want to lose the passion and noisy support their ultras provide. Yet in the past few years, it’s become clear that the rising tide of anecdotal and hard evidence of ultras’ violence and anti-social behaviour is now getting such that ‘something must be done.’ We now have what appear to be organised fights between rival groups of fans, videoed and shown on social media, as uncovered by The Scottish Sun newspaper. And as the BBC said, the attack on Jack Mackenzie is a tipping point. So, I have a question for our CEOs…
Are you prepared to deal with the immediate threat to your players, as demonstrated by the Aberdeen fan who threw the seat that injured Jack MacKenzie, and to support the vast majority of your fans (the ultras, despite punching above their weight in terms of [social] media coverage, are the minority) who will have to pay ultimately when your club is fined, has tickets taken away, has increased policing and stewarding costs, increased insurance premiums and, heaven forbid, has its ground closed because someone has died? And if, as surely it has to be, the answer to this question is yes, what are you going to do about it and when are you going to do it?
Alastair Blair, Director of Operations, SFSA
Postscript: The SFSA represents, as far as possible, the varied interests of fans the length and breadth of the country. Underpinning everything we do is our firm belief that all fans have the right to attend any match in safety and free from intimidation and danger. That, surely, is not too much to ask?
Posted in: Latest News
Tags: Ultras