Brian Wilson delivers Celtic response with criticism for Police Scotland | OneFootball

The Celtic response to the shameful events at Ibrox on Sunday when hundreds of Rangers supporters charged across the Ibrox pitch with violent intent after some Celtic fans spilled onto the pitch to celebrate the penalty shootout victory, was last night delivered by Celtic’s interim Chairman Brian Wilson…

Last night we covered the response from The Scottish FA and the Rangers statement on the unsavoury events at Ibrox on Sunday afternoon at the Scottish Cup quarter-final where Celtic won the tie on a penalty shoot out.

Scotland’s Shame – theRangers fans attacking the Celtic support at Ibrox after Celtic won the Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Brian Wilson the interim Celtic Chairman then appeared on a club video being interviewed by Gerry McCulloch to provide a Celtic response with our highly paid CEO Michael Nicholson nowhere to be seen, pointing to a disengagement from him ahead of a summer exit from the club.

Celtic Director Brian Wilson with CEO Michael Nicholson at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock v Celtic, 14 September 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Wilson dealt with two matters – the trouble at Ibrox caused by the Rangers fans aggression and the on going stadium ban of the Green Brigade from Celtic Park with both separate issues having the role of Police Scotland entwined across the issues.

Ibrox Stadium. Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Speaking about Sunday’s Scottish Cup victory at Ibrox the interim Celtic chairman said:

“It is unfortunate that the events after the game have to some extent detracted or overshadowed the actual result. I was frankly disappointed by the chief constable’s comments, as she presumably knows we work closely with Police Scotland.

“We respect the role of the safety advisory group and when there is evidence of unacceptable behaviours, we act against both individuals and groups. All of that is on the record. Measuring responses by condemnatory statements isn’t really accurate,” Wilson said.

“If this could be resolved by statements of condemnation, it would have been resolved decades ago. It’s actions that matter and the way we handle these experiences as a club and the way others handle these experiences.

“If you’re going to be asking for condemnation, you have to be more specific and I would happily condemn and regret. But the highest profile aspect of this (the chaos) was after the penalties and Celtic had won.

“What you had there was a euphoric response from our supporters. It is not uncommon. It has happened on numerous occasions this season alone in Scottish football where you have an overspill onto the pitch.

“That in itself does not usually draw expressions of condemnation. What I would say is that I welcome the SFA’s intention to have a full inquiry. Let’s look at the evidence. If there’s evidence of violence, if there’s evidence of threats of violence, then of course I will condemn that – but let’s look at the evidence before we create maybe a false narrative.”

The Police have plenty of questions to answer themselves, particularly surrounding their match day plan to use the same entry procedures for the away support as the previous week for the Scottish Premiership match with a much lower crowd rather than the tried and tested system last used in March 2018 when Celtic supporters were occupying the entire Free Broomloan. This always worked well so it was reckless and stupid for Police Scotland’s actions to lead to another near crush event involving large numbers of Celtic supporters.

Will they never learn?

On this Wilson said: “That will be part of this inquiry by the SFA, and I welcome that. We met this week with the Celtic Supporters Association, a well-established, well-respected organisation which doesn’t raise issues lightly.

“They had real concerns about the access to the Broomloan Stand – a departure from previous procedures which they believed had worked well. They had a genuine concern about supporter safety.”

Wilson concluded: “We didn’t rush out a statement on that because we think the way to address that is through discussion with the authorities and an evidence based approach. We take that very seriously and I can assure you that people with a lot of experience attending these games had genuine concerns.”

Yesterday The Celtic Star posted five questions for Police Scotland.

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A senior Scottish police official has rebuked Celtic and the Ibrox club for not publicly denouncing the conduct of their supporters following the disturbances at the weekend.

Meanwhile we have five questions for Chief Constable Jo Farrell….

Chief Constable Jo Farrell urged both clubs to take stronger action, including measures to remove their respective ultra supporter groups.

Farrell is the latest figure to speak out after chaotic scenes unfolded following the Scottish Cup quarter-final clash. The encounter ended in a 0-0 draw before the Hoops secured a sweet victory through a penalty shootout.

Post-match, supporters from both sides entered the pitch. Police are also investigating an incident involving a member of Celtic’s backroom staff who appeared to be assaulted by a Rangers supporter. Separate incidents of disorder were reported in areas surrounding the stadium.

Police Scotland confirmed that nine individuals have been arrested so far and warned that additional arrests are expected as investigations continue.

The chief constable discussed the situation while appearing before the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee, where the events at Ibrox were raised during proceedings.

She said: “The events of Sunday afternoon were absolutely disgraceful and I condemn the people involved in violence. Fans, families, friends, people working at the clubs, my officers, do not go to and work within that environment to witness or receive or be on the receiving end of threats and violence.”

Union Bears with flares.Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Referring to the intense media discussion that has followed the incident, Farrell also pointed out that neither club has issued a public statement addressing the matter.

“When we got to Monday evening, there was still no commentary from either of those clubs in respect of the violence that was witnessed,” she said. “Nobody came out to condemn that violence.”

Farrell was later asked on whether the clubs should consider restricting ticket allocations to ultra supporter groups as a potential step towards preventing similar incidents in the future.

She said: “That would seem like an obvious action that needs to be considered and taken by the clubs.”

“How do they ensure the safety of their broader fan base and eliminate those individuals who come in and have prepared the balaclavas and the pyrotechnics in order with the intent of causing disruption, harm to those other people around them.”

Scotland’s Shame – theRangers fans attacking the Celtic support at Ibrox after Celtic won the Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Police Scotland have plenty of questions to answer themselves after the events on Sunday. Here are a few but there will be many more.

The last words on the Premier Sports commentary on the video above sums up the situation perfectly and in real time.

Premier Sport commentator Rory Hamilton is in no doubt about what he is seeing.

“Supporters [are]making their way on to the pitch at both ends of the stadium, Celtic in celebration, Rangers fans in retaliation.”

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