The Rangers fans stopped the police getting into Hampden

[matty_f]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/cops-claim-mob-rule-outside-8052126#TFYGz6tf4YLozHfj.97

Apologies for posting the link. Just in case anyone wanted to knock the Rangers fans off the moral high ground that they're desperately trying to take.

[Greencore]

Don't bother clicking the link, don't give them ad money

Cops claim mob rule outside Hampden stopped them getting in to deal with battling Rangers and Hibs fans

POLICE officers stationed outside the ground say they were prevented from entering the stadium by angry crowds of Rangers fans who had just left Hampden

POLICE officers stationed outside Hampden when thousands of fans invaded the pitch claim they were prevented from entering the stadium by angry Rangers crowds.

Complaints included being subjected to a barrage of abuse, their vans being jostled and some parents were accused of using their own kids to block roads.

One account given to the Record said a “mob mentality” prevailed outside the National Stadium after Hibs beat Rangers 3-2 in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final.

We were told people impeding and attacking a police convoy led to a 20-minute delay in riot control officers getting into the stadium.

The detailed description claimed: “This wasn’t 18 to 30-year-olds doing this, it was families, older men in suits, 12-year-olds shouting as fiercely as their fathers and mothers.

“It was ordinary people totally affected by ‘the mob mentality’.

“No one was attacking shops or other cars, it was all directed at me and my colleagues. The venom and bile directed at us shocked everyone in our detail and we are all experienced officers. I’ve never seen such anger directed at the police.”

He was addressing criticism of the police reaction to the Hibs fans’ pitch invasion which saw Rangers players being attacked. It descended into further violence as supporters of the Ibrox club entered the field to battle their rivals.

He said: “I, along with approximately 75 other officers who had public order duties outside the ground, immediately made our way to the ground from no further than one mile away.

"There were many more officers on duty but I can only speak about our detail. We were in marked police vans in convoy with blue lights and sirens. Our priority was to assist within the stadium.

“On entering Cathcart Road from Prospecthill Road, we were presented with a large crowd of Rangers fans leaving the ground on the pavements and road.

“Within seconds, they all started shouting at us, pointing to their watches saying we were ‘too late’.

“They were refusing to get out of our way, in some cases using their children to block our road and stop our vans, a tactic I had only seen in Northern Ireland.


"They then started hitting and spitting on the vans, throwing items at the vans, trying to rock the vans, kicking the vans, trying the doors.

“This isn’t a few bad eggs in the crowd – this was everyone walking past us. This lasted for 15 to 20 minutes. Had the road been relatively clear, we would have reached the stadium in 30 seconds.”

His comments were backed up by other cops, with one public order officer saying: “We heard lots of vans were attacked by Rangers fans, preventing police getting to the stadium quickly.

“Hibs fans were all inside invading the pitch and the ones who weren’t were waiting for the cup presentation.”

Another police source said: “A few of the lads were stopped from getting in the stadium when their vans were ambushed by Rangers fans outside Hampden.

“They’ve just joined in with mob mentality and surged towards the cops.”


The Record revealed yesterday that only 138 police officers were deployed inside the stadium at the final whistle with the majority outside as that’s where police chiefs anticipated most trouble.

Critics have said police were slow to respond inside to thousands of fans on the pitch, running battles and players being assaulted.

The cup presentation was delayed for 45 minutes. Just 14 people have so far been arrested.


We asked Police Scotland to address the officers’ accounts. They responded with a general statement.

Quoting Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, it read: “A full criminal investigation is now under way.

“We have a dedicated incident room and I’d appeal to anyone who has information in relation to criminal
behaviour at Hampden on Saturday to contact detectives on 0141 532 5457.

“Although we’ve made a number of arrests, I fully expect more to be made in the coming days as we sift through evidence from CCTV and other video footage and photographic images.

“Public safety is our No1 priority and the pitch incursion was unacceptable and jeopardised that.

“Our response was immediate, measured, proportionate and professional. In a short period of time, we deployed mounted officers, public order and conventional officers to separate the opposing supporters.”

[TRC]

The Rangers statement will read "Brave Bears save police from nasty Hibs Fans"

[linlithgowhibbie]

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The Rangers statement will read "Brave Bears save police from nasty Hibs Fans"

Followed by "It was English hooligans dressed as The Rangers fans"

[Captain Trips]

Saying its a cover up of Hillsborough proportions. What an absolutely disgraceful comparison, this is what they think on follow follow.

Utterly disgusting.

[Velma Dinkley]

It must have been the first match involving The Rangers this person had policed.

[lyonhibs]

The tide is turning I feel, and I bet the inhabitants of Traynor's Fantasy Palace are absolutely hating it.

Good.

[euro Hibby]

this article again leads me to wonder what fate waited the Hibs fans had they exited the stadium earlier. Yes . their atupid club statements are looking quite shabby now.

Hopefully it will not be long before the DR gets pulled up for it's lies and biased reporting about what really was happening inside the stadium.

Each days that passes the " statement " looks more laughable.

[Winston Ingram]

Pal of mine was in Glasgow on Sat night and he said a load of police had to be deployed to stop them getting round to the Hibs fans

[IWasThere2016]

Bit of a blow for The Rangers as they'd just re-written The Billy Boys to start "Halo Halo" haha..

[SlickShoes]

Ill take this with a giant pinch of salt, since they still make the thing sound like it was world war 3.

Saying it was every rangers supporter is just as ridiculous as assuming we were all responsible for the guy trying to punch shooter Wallace.

[macca70]

Well if these personal accounts and statements are coming directly from Police Officers I'll be fully expecting Rangers and their fans to get hammered.

Must be CCTV or police camera footage of this from outside the ground

[Haymaker]

Police getting their blame deflection in.

[Joe6-2]

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Don't bother clicking the link, don't give them ad money

Cops claim mob rule outside Hampden stopped them getting in to deal with battling Rangers and Hibs fans

POLICE officers stationed outside the ground say they were prevented from entering the stadium by angry crowds of Rangers fans who had just left Hampden

POLICE officers stationed outside Hampden when thousands of fans invaded the pitch claim they were prevented from entering the stadium by angry Rangers crowds.

Complaints included being subjected to a barrage of abuse, their vans being jostled and some parents were accused of using their own kids to block roads.

One account given to the Record said a “mob mentality” prevailed outside the National Stadium after Hibs beat Rangers 3-2 in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final.

We were told people impeding and attacking a police convoy led to a 20-minute delay in riot control officers getting into the stadium.

The detailed description claimed: “This wasn’t 18 to 30-year-olds doing this, it was families, older men in suits, 12-year-olds shouting as fiercely as their fathers and mothers.

“It was ordinary people totally affected by ‘the mob mentality’.

“No one was attacking shops or other cars, it was all directed at me and my colleagues. The venom and bile directed at us shocked everyone in our detail and we are all experienced officers. I’ve never seen such anger directed at the police.”

He was addressing criticism of the police reaction to the Hibs fans’ pitch invasion which saw Rangers players being attacked. It descended into further violence as supporters of the Ibrox club entered the field to battle their rivals.

He said: “I, along with approximately 75 other officers who had public order duties outside the ground, immediately made our way to the ground from no further than one mile away.

"There were many more officers on duty but I can only speak about our detail. We were in marked police vans in convoy with blue lights and sirens. Our priority was to assist within the stadium.

“On entering Cathcart Road from Prospecthill Road, we were presented with a large crowd of Rangers fans leaving the ground on the pavements and road.

“Within seconds, they all started shouting at us, pointing to their watches saying we were ‘too late’.

“They were refusing to get out of our way, in some cases using their children to block our road and stop our vans, a tactic I had only seen in Northern Ireland.


"They then started hitting and spitting on the vans, throwing items at the vans, trying to rock the vans, kicking the vans, trying the doors.

“This isn’t a few bad eggs in the crowd – this was everyone walking past us. This lasted for 15 to 20 minutes. Had the road been relatively clear, we would have reached the stadium in 30 seconds.”

His comments were backed up by other cops, with one public order officer saying: “We heard lots of vans were attacked by Rangers fans, preventing police getting to the stadium quickly.

“Hibs fans were all inside invading the pitch and the ones who weren’t were waiting for the cup presentation.”

Another police source said: “A few of the lads were stopped from getting in the stadium when their vans were ambushed by Rangers fans outside Hampden.

“They’ve just joined in with mob mentality and surged towards the cops.”


The Record revealed yesterday that only 138 police officers were deployed inside the stadium at the final whistle with the majority outside as that’s where police chiefs anticipated most trouble.

Critics have said police were slow to respond inside to thousands of fans on the pitch, running battles and players being assaulted.

The cup presentation was delayed for 45 minutes. Just 14 people have so far been arrested.


We asked Police Scotland to address the officers’ accounts. They responded with a general statement.

Quoting Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, it read: “A full criminal investigation is now under way.

“We have a dedicated incident room and I’d appeal to anyone who has information in relation to criminal
behaviour at Hampden on Saturday to contact detectives on 0141 532 5457.

“Although we’ve made a number of arrests, I fully expect more to be made in the coming days as we sift through evidence from CCTV and other video footage and photographic images.

“Public safety is our No1 priority and the pitch incursion was unacceptable and jeopardised that.

“Our response was immediate, measured, proportionate and professional. In a short period of time, we deployed mounted officers, public order and conventional officers to separate the opposing supporters.”

Thanks, saved me opening the link to that rag

[Onion]

Oh dear, it's all unravelling.

This will all come out in the Police and Commission review and (as per usual) the Rangers fans will be shown up for exactly what they are and have always been... animals.

What's new in all of this is the Ranger Board jumping in to defend the indefensible and trying to portray their THUGS are some kind of white knights or "defenders of the cause". That is a highly dangerous position to take and I expect the Commission, SFA and the police to publicly criticise Sevco for that.

[SaulGoodman]

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this article again leads me to wonder what fate waited the Hibs fans had they exited the stadium earlier. Yes . their atupid club statements are looking quite shabby now.

Hopefully it will not be long before the DR gets pulled up for it's lies and biased reporting about what really was happening inside the stadium.

Each days that passes the " statement " looks more laughable.

Got a text at FT on Saturday saying that the Hibs end was swarming with Rangers fans and that I shouldn't leave early (don't know why I'd want to do that )

[.Sean.]

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Police getting their blame deflection in.

The Polis can defelect as much blame on the Huns as they want for me

[greenginger]

That whole statement does not add up.

Assuming no Rangers fans left before the final whistle, how were they away down the street causing a hold-up by the time the extra police were called ?

The police were able to form a line to separate fans within 5 minutes of of final whistle. These officers must have been in/at the stadium and should have been trackside at the final whistle.

It was a cock-up at the end of the game ,but the police did a good job once they got organised and didn't use excess force as far as I could see.

[Haymaker]

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The Polis can defelect as much blame on the Huns as they want for me

Same here, just pointing out the police are now in deflection mode, they know they will be critised heavily

[CapitalGreen]

This is the comeback of Rangers calling out the police in their 'lengthy tirade' of a statement.

[jacomo]

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Saying its a cover up of Hillsborough proportions. What an absolutely disgraceful comparison, this is what they think on follow follow.

Utterly disgusting.

The only valid comparison is the concerted smear campaign to paint all Hibs fans as rioting yobs.

[LaMotta]

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Well if these personal accounts and statements are coming directly from Police Officers I'll be fully expecting Rangers and their fans to get hammered.

Must be CCTV or police camera footage of this from outside the ground

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All starting to unravel now.

I had heard yesterday from someone i know through West that Police outside the ground trying to get back in recieved prolonged attacks from Rangers Fans and significant acts of violence occurred towards the police.

Hadnt seen any reports in press and didnt want to post a rumour but looking now like the story is emerging. Why has it taken so long to come out though??

[Andy74]

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The only valid comparison is the concerted smear campaign to paint all Hibs fans as rioting yobs.

Yep, still calling the largely peaceful pitch celebrations a riot in their headline.

[Smartie]

Whilst it's nice to believe this story, there has been so much garbage spouted about our fans over the past few days I'm going to take this with a massive pinch of salt.

The papers are having a field day - this edition will fly off the shelves to the hand-wringing Celtic faithful.

Print media is on it's arse in this country and Saturday's events have given them a big payday.

They'll want to keep this one running on for as long as possible.

[Craig_HFC]

It wasn't 'mob mentality' affecting them... it was the Hun mentality; it's just what they do.

[Greencore]

Seen on periscope someone made a scope at Hampden titled "mon the gers" in the hibs end.. So you would suspect a few were in our end and ran on.

[jacomo]

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Whilst it's nice to believe this story, there has been so much garbage spouted about our fans over the past few days I'm going to take this with a massive pinch of salt.

The papers are having a field day - this edition will fly off the shelves to the hand-wringing Celtic faithful.

Print media is on it's arse in this country and Saturday's events have given them a big payday.

They'll want to keep this one running on for as long as possible.

Yes, agreed.

Still, it's another aspect of the day that warrants proper investigation.

[Jack]

These will have been the sevcovians who left as soon as St David scored.

They weren't to know what sort of emergency those police were on their way to.

It could have been a life threatening event for either or both sets of supporters still in the stadium.

[les83]

Yip the above certainly sounds like "Rangers class"!!
Still it's a new day, so I'm sure they'll have someone new to blame today!

[midfield_maestro]

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That whole statement does not add up.

Assuming no Rangers fans left before the final whistle, how were they away down the street causing a hold-up by the time the extra police were called ?

The police were able to form a line to separate fans within 5 minutes of of final whistle. These officers must have been in/at the stadium and should have been trackside at the final whistle.

It was a cock-up at the end of the game ,but the police did a good job once they got organised and didn't use excess force as far as I could see.

As far as I can remember, the extra police didn't appear until well after the horses came on.