Celtic fans gather in strength after Old Firm incident as they show Police what they really think after serious claim
The demonstration was organised by Celtic ultras group, The Green Brigade in response to ‘criminalisation’
Hundreds of furious Celtic fans gathered outside a police station on London Road in Glasgow to stage a protest against cops on Saturday afternoon ahead of the Scottish Premiership clash against Hearts.
The demonstration, which had been organised by Hoops’ ultras group, The Green Brigade’, led supporters to turn out in their numbers and display banners that read “fans against criminalisation” and to show that “Celtic fans say no to fan repression.”
It’s claimed that police officers showed “criminalisation” and “repression” against fans during the Old Firm derby against Rangers earlier this month after a total of 90 supporters were denied entry to Parkhead before kick-off a fortnight ago after refusing to be searched.
The ultras’ group claim that members were held outside the stadium for up to FIVE hours with no access to food or water, while it was also suggested in a social media statement that some actions of officers in attendance were unlawful and legal advice would be sought.
Celtic has since hired an independent safety consultant after the Scottish champions received an influx of complaints from fans over police handing throughout the game.
Police were granted special powers ahead of the match to prevent fans they believed to be under “reasonable suspicion” of committing a crime, leading the club to hold conversations with the force in the wake of the league encounter.
A statement released by the club read: “Further to our recent statement, the Club has engaged independent safety and event consultants to review concerns voiced to the club on events involving Celtic supporters, Celtic Supporters’ Clubs and buses, and groups, which took place away from Celtic park on 16th March. Our primary concern will always be for the safety of our supporters.”
“While events away from Celtic park are not in any way managed by the club, and we play no role in policing outside of our stadium, we recognise that many supporters have turned to the club to voice their concerns regarding the events of 16th March.
“All supporters should feel safe when attending - and travelling to - football matches. Just as supporters should behave safely and responsibly both inside and outside of football stadia, so too they should be confident at all times that they themselves will be treated fairly.
“Maintaining this confidence is vital, so it is therefore important that any concerns brought to our attention on this front are in turn shared and afforded due consideration. The Club is therefore engaging in discussions with Celtic supporters, supporters’ associations, clubs and groups, and Police Scotland, to understand these events and the circumstances in which they took place.
“To inform this process, we have engaged independent safety and event consultants Fairhurst to collate and review the feedback on supporters experiences received by the Club.”
At around 1:15pm earlier today, dozens of fans made their way to the location and could be heard chanting “We stand up to the police and we stand up for football fans.” Officers were deployed to the scene where they kept a watchful eye on the crowd before seeing them disperse roughly 15 minutes later.
A Police Scotland spokesperson commented: “We were aware of a planned protest at London Road Police Station around 1.15pm on Saturday, 29 March, 2025. A proportionate policing plan was in place and the group dispersed a short time later. There were no arrests.”