Completely Unacceptable’ – Ex-Official Wants SFA to Contact Rangers Over Fan Scenes vs Celtic
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has called on the Scottish Football Association to formally contact Rangers over a tifo display raised by supporters ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win over Celtic at Ibrox, describing the aggressive imagery shown before kick-off as completely unacceptable. The intervention comes despite a resounding 3-0 victory for Derek McInnes’s side, with the focus in the immediate aftermath shifting from the scoreline to a pre-match fan display that Hackett believes could land the club in further trouble with the game’s governing body.
On the pitch, Sunday’s derby could hardly have gone much better for Rangers. Dan Neil scored twice either side of a goal from Kevin Kelsy as McInnes’s side completely blew Celtic away at Ibrox, a result that took the visitors by surprise and sent Rangers into the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup, where they will face the winner of a tie between Hearts, Hibernian and Aberdeen at Hampden Park. The scale of the victory represented a significant statement from McInnes’s side against a Celtic team that had arrived unbeaten in the league so far this season.
Yet in the hours following the final whistle, attention turned away from the result itself and toward a tifo display unveiled by sections of the Rangers support before kick-off. With no Celtic fans present at Ibrox, following the away-fan ban imposed on all Old Firm fixtures in Scottish football this season due to continued crowd disorder in the fixture, focus fell squarely on the home end and the nature of the imagery supporters chose to display ahead of such a high-profile
Speaking to Ibrox News, Hackett, the former Premier League referee and ex-general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, made clear his belief that the tifo crossed a line that the SFA should address directly with the club. He stated plainly that the display was completely unacceptable and argued that the Scottish Football Association should contact Rangers to advise the club that it was unsuitable. He went further, suggesting that any such contact from the governing body should come with a clear warning that similar displays must not be repeated in future.
Hackett’s intervention reflects a broader concern about the timing and context of the display, coming as it did amid what he characterised as a period of considerable friction between Rangers and the SFA. Given the circumstances surrounding this particular fixture, played without away fans and under close scrutiny following the events of previous Old Firm meetings, Hackett suggested that any aggressive imagery from the stands risked being interpreted as provocative regardless of its intended meaning, and that the governing body would likely feel compelled to address it through formal contact with the club
Sunday’s match had already been notable for the extraordinary security and behavioural context surrounding it before any tifo was even unveiled. The fixture marked Celtic’s first return to Ibrox since the disorder that marred the sides’ Scottish Cup meeting back in March, when a pitch invasion following Celtic’s penalty shootout win led to violent scenes involving both sets of supporters. That episode resulted in both clubs being ordered to play a home cup fixture behind closed doors and pay a combined £100,000 in compensation, while also contributing directly to the SPFL’s decision to bar away fans from all Old Firm derbies in league and cup competition this season.
Adding further to the sensitive atmosphere around the fixture, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill had confirmed earlier in the week that Police Scotland visited his squad to deliver a reminder about their general conduct ahead of the derby. There was also an on-field flashpoint during the match itself, with Celtic’s Haissem Hassan and Rangers full-back James Penrice both cautioned by referee Nick Walsh after a confrontation that drew in several other players from both sides. Against that backdrop, any additional talking point relating to conduct or behaviour, whether from players or supporters, was always likely to attract heightened scrutiny in the aftermath of the match.
Hackett’s comments also come against the backdrop of previous disputes between Rangers and Scottish football’s governing bodies over supporter displays and conduct in the stands. The Ibrox club has, on past occasions, found itself the subject of investigations and sanctions relating to matters such as sectarian singing and other supporter behaviour, with UEFA previously taking action against the club over chanting during European fixtures. That history means any fresh controversy involving supporter displays is likely to be viewed within a wider pattern of scrutiny that has followed the club, and Scottish football more broadly, for a number of years.
According to Hackett’s own assessment, Sunday’s tifo was, in fact, fairly tame in comparison with some previous displays put on by Rangers supporters at Ibrox, though he maintained that the specific imagery involved still warranted formal intervention from the SFA given the sensitivity of the fixture and the broader context of tension between the club and the governing body. That framing suggests his concern was rooted less in the display being unprecedented in its intensity, and more in the particular timing and circumstances surrounding this specific derby
Should the SFA choose to act on Hackett’s suggestion, the most likely outcome would be a formal written communication to Rangers outlining concerns over the tifo and setting expectations for future supporter conduct at Ibrox, rather than any immediate disciplinary sanction. Hackett’s own comments focused on the idea of a warning being issued, indicating a preventive measure aimed at avoiding repeat displays, rather than punitive action directly tied to Sunday’s specific incident.
That kind of response would be consistent with how the governing body has approached similar supporter conduct matters in the past, often preferring direct dialogue with clubs over formal charges unless the conduct in question is deemed to breach specific regulations relating to matters such as sectarianism, political messaging or safety. Given Hackett’s own admission that the tifo was relatively mild in comparison to previous Rangers displays, it seems more likely that any SFA response, if it materialises, would take the form of guidance and a reminder of expectations rather than a formal disciplinary charge against the club.
Hackett’s intervention also carries added weight given Rangers’ present situation with regard to closed-doors sanctions already imposed on the club. As a consequence of the disorder that marred the sides’ Scottish Cup meeting in March, Rangers are already set to play a home fixture in this season’s Scottish Cup entirely behind closed doors, should they progress to a stage of the competition requiring a home tie. Hackett suggested that this context makes it more likely that the SFA will maintain close attention on matters of conduct and supporter behaviour connected to the club moving forward, given the heightened sensitivity already surrounding Rangers’ recent disciplinary history in fixtures involving Celtic.
That combination of factors, an existing closed-doors sanction, continued away-fan restrictions across all Old Firm fixtures, and now renewed scrutiny over a pre-match tifo, paints a picture of a club whose off-field conduct continues to be closely monitored by the governing body, even amid an otherwise successful run of results on the pitch. For Rangers and their supporters, balancing the passionate matchday atmosphere the club is renowned for with the increasingly cautious regulatory environment surrounding Old Firm fixtures appears set to remain an ongoing challenge as the season progresses.
For McInnes and his players, the hope will be that Sunday’s on-field performance, a comprehensive 3-0 victory secured through two goals from Neil and one from Kelsy, ultimately proves to be the more lasting story to emerge from the derby, rather than the tifo controversy that has since generated discussion in its aftermath. Progression to the semi-finals of the Premier Sports Cup represents a significant marker of progress for a Rangers side that endured a difficult start to the season under their new head coach, and one that McInnes will be keen to build on as his side prepare for a return trip to Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership just a week later.
Even so, with figures such as Hackett publicly calling for the SFA to take action, and with the broader context of ongoing tension between Rangers and Scottish football’s governing body still very much in the background, it seems likely that conversations about conduct, both on the pitch and in the stands, will continue to accompany discussion of Rangers’ results for the foreseeable future. Whether the SFA ultimately does contact the club over Sunday’s display, and what form any such communication might take, remains to be seen, but Hackett’s comments ensure that the topic will not simply disappear in the aftermath of what was otherwise a resounding win for Rangers over their fiercest rivals.
As both clubs prepare for their next meeting in the league at Celtic Park, questions over supporter conduct and club discipline seem set to remain a recurring theme of this season’s Old Firm fixtures, layered on top of an already unusual campaign shaped by away-fan bans, closed-doors sanctions and heightened police involvement. For Rangers specifically, continuing to deliver on the pitch, as they did so emphatically on Sunday, may go some way to easing the broader narrative around the club’s recent disciplinary history, but calls like Hackett’s ensure that scrutiny of matchday conduct at Ibrox is unlikely to fade any time soon, regardless of how well the team itself is performing.
