It’s back to the future for football hooliganism, but at least we know how to deal with it

This is my latest column, published in today's Scotsman (26th May 2026).

There was a weary familiarity about the hooliganism following Celtic football club’s league victory earlier this month. A pitch invasion, threats and abuse against opposition players, followed by drunken and violent disorder masquerading as celebration in Glasgow city centre.

We have seen it all before in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Today’s so-called ‘Ultras’ can sometimes be the old ‘Casuals’ rebadged, and both are essentially criminal gangs, some with sectarian overtones, that use football as an excuse for their violence. Many years ago, I was in charge of a police surveillance operation on a gang of well-known football casuals.

As usual, they turned up at the stadium of their club on the day of the match, all dressed in their uniform colours, but when denied entry they retired to a nearby pub where they paid scant attention to the match, which was being live streamed on a dodgy television. Their loyalty to their club was a sham, a flag of convenience.

We have seen pitch invasions before as well, by supporters intent on celebration or to interrupt a game that wasn’t going their way. Indeed the problem became so widespread that high fencing was introduced in most stadiums, effectively caging supporters in.

At Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield in 1989, the fatal flaw in that idea was cruelly exposed, the fencing being in part responsible for 97 deaths and hundreds of injuries that followed crushing. Much has changed since then. Football stadiums are hugely improved and privately hired stewards have taken much of the responsibility from police.

But beneath the shiny facades, many of the old problems still bubble. ‘Front-loading’ with alcohol and the availability of cheap cocaine have turbo-charged violent behaviour, while, sad to say, some clubs still make the right noises but baulk at confronting some sections of their fan base. That must change.

Football clubs are big commercial enterprises that must take their responsibilities to confront disorder and sectarianism among their supporters. The Scottish Professional Football League, representing the clubs, must ensure their members all adhere to the same high standards.

And for Police Scotland, it looks like a reluctant return down a well-trodden path. The good news is that the solutions are well-tried and tested, they just take time and, of course, resources.

Football gangs are like any other criminal group, they can be infiltrated and broken up. They are not sophisticated organisations and once the leadership is isolated, they can be dismantled.

Police Scotland has recently demonstrated its expertise in breaking up international criminal gangs, and I have no doubt that, aided by new technology, they will quickly identify the ringleaders, and close them down.

However, it will be a lengthy and expensive process, a use of police resources that can be ill-afforded as commitments in other areas of policing rise. And in the end, we know that any success will be temporary until the football clubs themselves take coordinated action.

Anyone convicted of football-related violence should be banned from all club activities. As simple as that.

Until responsibility is taken by the clubs, the problem of football hooliganism will recur time and again.