Does Scottish football really want to tackle wayward fans? | Ewan Murray

With an upsurge in fan misbehaviour, those in power should tackle this disease rather than concentrate on self-preservation

It was hardly a leap of faith to have envisioned sighs of relief in Scottish football’s high offices this month as chaos reigned at – somewhat poetically – St Andrew’s. Suddenly the patron saint of fan disorder was not a Scottish resident.

Until this season – aside from the odd exception – the biggest embarrassment attached to supporter behaviour in Scotland related to sectarian chanting. Although not exclusive to them, this is the recurring domain of the Old Firm; anti-catholic verse and pro-IRA singing form a depressing backdrop when Rangers and Celtic play away fixtures at Kilmarnock or Hamilton, let alone against each other. That so many of those belting out antiquated anthems could not make a distinction between Derry’s Walls and Niagara Falls adds to the lunacy. They point fingers at each other as the problem persists; clubs themselves are woefully quiet on the matter.

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