Parplod, Sun 17 May 17:46

You will never stop the Neanderthal element invading the pitch but Police Scotland need to have a serious look at themselves. I suspect that the Match Commander(s) at the recent cup match at Ibrox and at yesterday’s game have little awareness of football. On both occasions the dynamic of the game meant that a crowd incursion was predictable.
At Ibrox, Celtic were completely outplayed for 120 minutes and, as penalties became increasingly likely, the realisation among the fans that they could actually win was growing. Prior to penalties starting there should have been a reinforced line of yellow jackets in front of the Broomloan Stand, and another along the centre line behind the players.
Yesterday, having hopefully learnt a lesson from that Ibrox game, the line of yellow jackets should have been reinforced around the perimeter of the pitch.
Unless things have changed since my retiral, football clubs only pay for officers who are within the stadium. The charges for Police services are set by the Police Authority not Police Scotland. I remember Rangers always trying to persuade us to reduce police numbers because of the cost.
I doubt the SFA/SPFL will have the balls to sanction the clubs, so the easiest way to hit the clubs would be to insist on a significant number of officers within the stadium and less reliance on stewards. That would seriously hit them in their pocket.

It`s bloody tough being a legend
Ron Atkinson - 1983

veteraneastender, Sun 17 May 18:24

"Over and above the responsibilities of the clubs and the police, the stewards at football matches these days are of little to no use. They wear a hivis jacket but that`s about it. There are some good ones left, but by and large they are young, with no physical presence, and little understanding of football culture.
How many Celtic fans just walked past a steward without intervention yesterday?
The police are shouldering a large amount of criticism here, but I see the stewards as the front line of in-stadia crowd control, and the standards have slipped greatly over the last 10 years or so."

Stewards have absolutely no powers to prevent anybody from entering the pitch etc. - only the police have such "physical presence" authority.

thebear, Sun 17 May 19:46

The steward role is to help control normal crowd issues. They are not there to get into issues that put themselves at risk

That is the polices role, so dont state stewards are crap when a thug wants to come past them with feet and fists flying.

It is up to football club and police to understand crowds and risk and provide a plan and level of resources

Stanza, Sun 17 May 23:14

Realistically, you could have doubled the number of stewards around the pitch and some fans would still get through . Anyway, I don`t see why low-paid stewards should have to put themselves in harm`s way by grappling with adrenaline-fuelled fans, many of whom are younger, stronger and fitter than them.

Perhaps someone could devise a six-foot high net or fence that completely surrounds the pitch, but lies flat until it is deployed by the stewards or police match commander. Stewards need not try to intercept anyone, just allow them onto the pitch, deploy the net and then round up all the intruders to be handed over to the police! 😁