BBC Sportsound’s pitch-side reporter Liam McLeod delivered a blistering first-hand account of the chaotic scenes at Ibrox after Celtic beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
The media narrative surrounding the Ibrox chaos appears to be that it was a 50/50 split between Celtic and Rangers fans who were causing the trouble at full-time.
It appears that was not the case as BBC Sportsound share an account of the events that paint the home fans in worse light than the visiting Celtic supporters.
Rangers fans throw flares at Celtic supporters
As the action all unfolded on TV, McLeod gave his own account as the BBC journalist reported just yards away from all the carnage.
McLeod said on BBC Sportsound, “Yeah, it’s horrible. And I mean, if the supporters of these two clubs want to have these big away sections at Celtic Park and here at Ibrox, then this is not going to do them any favors at all. Rangers fans have run on, primarily, I think, from the Copland Road end up the other end.
David Tanner’s deluded Rangers vs Celtic fan take debunked
While David Tanner attempted to generalise the issue as a ‘breakdown in behavior’ across the board, the actual pitchside audio from Liam McLeod (below) clarifies that the aggression was primarily focused from one end of the stadium.
“The Celtic fans were on the pitch celebrating. I mean, there’s now flares getting tossed between the two rival factions. The players have made a hasty getaway.
“The Celtic players haven’t been able to celebrate with their fans after that shootout success because of what’s going on here.”
McLeod details Rangers fan confrontation near Celtic six-yard box
Any sane person looking at the footage can see that the Celtic fans were only celebrating with players before the Rangers supporters threw their toys out of the pram.
McLeod continued, “You’ve probably got a few, a couple of hundred Rangers supporters are standing there with a throng of police and stewards between them and the Celtic fans who are trying to get to them. They’re being held back by the stewards.
“They are just inside the kind of six-yard box. Now the Rangers fans are trying to get away from the police, they’re running into the main stand and trying to get out of the stadium without being recognised by the looks of this. But just nasty scenes”
Listen to the controversial audio below:
It was a shameful scene that marred a great win for Celtic, who had a seriously depleted squad.
As for Rangers fans, their sectarian bile as well as their behaviour at full time leaves a lot to be desired.
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