JOIN US IN STIRLING FOR A NIGHT OF CELEBRATION FIND OUT MORE
Date: 6th November 2024
The above photograph was taken by a disabled (wheelchair user) Celtic fan at Hampden before kick-off in the League Cup semi-final. The game was delayed by 10 minutes and for much of the first half spectators’ views were impaired by a miasma of smoke that clouded the pitch. Bearing in mind that this is toxic, and that in the last year we have seen some horrific injuries caused by pyros, when is football – the authorities, the government, the clubs and, hopefully, the majority of fans (who don’t want pyros) – going to take robust action to stop this? Over recent years we’ve just seen the usual reports of serious injuries (often after bonfire night) – such as a man in the USA losing his hand, blown off by a firework, or this in Liverpool where a man lost two fingers, or, also in Liverpool, a policeman losing his hearing, or this Welsh child who also lost fingers and was scarred by a firework and unable to see for six days, to say nothing of the Edinburgh police being attacked by fireworks, bricks and bottles a few days ago – all this suggests that the likelihood of another serious injury at a football match from pyros cannot be far away.
Bear in mind that we were promised a “Range of Steps to tackle flares at Viaplay Cup semi-finals” last year, so why is the problem, as amply demonstrated at this year’s semi-finals, getting worse? Does someone have to die before this is stopped?
Alastair Blair, Director of Operations, SFSA
Posted in: Latest News
Tags: pyros