Simon Jordan calls for Celtic and Rangers to 'eliminate the morons' after Old Firm fan chaos
Shocking scenes at full-time overshadowed the Old Firm clash on Sunday as Celtic won at Ibrox
Celtic reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals after defeating arch-rivals Rangers 4-2 on penalties on Sunday, but the day was overshadowed by scenes at full-time at Ibrox as fans from both sides encroached onto the pitch.
Missiles and flares were thrown in both directions after the players hurriedly exited the scene, with a group of Rangers fans wearing masks appearing to be amongst the chief culprits after their side were defeated despite a dominant display across much of the 120 minutes in a 0-0 draw.
The unsavoury scenes have led to calls for away fans to be banned at Old Firm derby matches altogether – after the grim result of a first derby between the two sides in eight years which had a full 7,500 away allocation present.
Speaking on talkSPORT, though, radio pundit and former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes banning away fans from attending derby matches entirely is not the answer.
Simon Jordan: Old Firm should ban the ‘morons’
Jordan said on talkSPORT that it should instead be about banning the minority of ‘morons’ who are ruining it for the majority of match-going fans.
"It's an underbelly of society where people think they can do what they want, and they don't respect authority,” he said.
"So we have to look at this and ask 'was enough done?' Should we have to police these games in such a way that excludes these people from finding their way onto the pitch? Should there have been a line of police around the stadium?
"We shouldn't have to do it. Whether we shouldn't have to do it, or we do have to do it, they are two different discussions. We have to get all of this into the discussion.”
Resolution to Old Firm crowd issue raised
Jordan continued: "There must be a reason [the boards tolerate the ultras]. I've been in their boardroom. I don't confess to being particularly impressed with what I heard from the two sets of directors at Celtic and Rangers, who are silly buggers in that situation, but they're not weak people.
"So there must be a reason why they allow certain factions inside their stadiums. You can't legislate for morons behaving in a certain way, you have to get the balance right.
"Have they just proven the case that we should have no away fans in the Old Firm? No! They've proven the case we have to eliminate the morons from the equation, and then hopefully the rest will take care of itself.
"Why aren't they nicking them on the pitch? Why aren't the police nicking people? Why aren't the people running on the pitch with their Spider-Man masks being arrested? They should have nicked as many as they possibly could. Even if you nick 20, 30, 40 or 50 of them, you create a situation where there is more consequence attached to it."