Mark Clattenburg compares Rangers v Celtic scenes to something he saw in Millwall v Birmingham | OneFootball

Mark Clattenburg has compared the full-time scenes between Rangers and Celtic to the Millwall vs Birmingham City play-off semi-final in 2002...

Rangers and Celtic played out a 0-0 draw in the Scottish Cup, which included some scenes likened to Birmingham City facing Millwall in the play-offs in 2002.

The police considered suing Millwall, per The Guardian. There were 47 officers injured in the most violent football disturbance seen in Britain for years following the south London club's defeat to Birmingham City.

Bryan Hughes scored early in the second half of the first game to put the home side ahead. However, with eleven minutes remaining, Dion Dublin, on loan from Birmingham's local rivals Aston Villa, headed in the equaliser from a Steven Reid cross and the first leg ended 1-1.

The second semi-final was held four days later at The Den. Dublin missed a fantastic chance early in the second half, shooting wide from six yards. In the last minute of regular time, a shot across the penalty area from Steve Vickers was put in the net by Stern John, winning the game for Birmingham 1-0 with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

The police later described the scenes which followed as "the worst incidents of football hooliganism for more than 20 years" (The Guardian), with violent clashes with Millwall fans outside the ground following full-time.

Mark Clattenberg compares Celtic and Rangers to unsavoury Millwall and Birmingham City scenes

Similar scenes ensued after Celtic's 4-2 penalty win against Rangers, with former FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg left astounded at the ‘unpleasant’ footage of Celtic and Rangers fan clashes after the Scottish Cup quarter-final ended.

Speaking to 67hailhail, he said: “The scenes after the Rangers v Celtic match was unsavoury to say the least.

“I have never witnessed this type of behaviour for many years. I remember being a fourth official at Millwall vs Birmingham in a play-off semi-final which had some similarities.

“All the referee can do is report the incident to the association and allow the association to investigate the incident using all the video that there is available to make charges.”

Clattenburg is now a referee pundit and analyst, but he has years of experience in the Premier League and at major tournaments, having refereed the 2016 Euros final between Portugal and France.

Millwall and Birmingham could yet repeat play-off feat

It's fair to say the Championship play-offs are football’s purest cocktail of hope, fear, and unbearable tension. Currently, there will be four clubs, one final ticket to the Premier League, and a season’s worth of emotion compressed into a handful of matches.

It is precisely that intensity that makes the play-offs so captivating — but, at times, it has also pushed supporters beyond the boundaries of what the game should represent. Few examples underline that darker side more than the ugly scenes surrounding the 2002 semi-final between Birmingham and Millwall.

What should have been a fierce but passionate contest instead descended into violence outside the stadium. It was a reminder that when stakes feel existential, emotions can spill over in ways that damage the integrity and soul of the sport.

More than two decades later, the possibility of these clubs colliding again in the play-offs still lingers. Millwall, in particular, remain very likely to make the play-offs at least, and may yet be the kind of side capable of grinding out the results needed to get themselves above the dotted line and into the top two.

Birmingham have their own ambitions too and the unpredictable nature of the Championship means the door is never fully closed until the final weeks, with a well-timed run now required to make it in. But if fate were to bring them together again, the game must be defined only by the passion and intensity inside the stadium and not any chaos outside of it.