Blind football fan spat at and abused outside Ibrox
A BLIND football fan was left feeling “ashamed” after being spat on and subjected to vile abuse by a supporter.
Carl McGee said he was left fearing for his safety following the incident outside Ibrox ahead of their clash with his club Hibs l ast Saturday.
The 30-year-old super fan said he was called a “fat f****** m***” after a man approached him.
Carl, known to friends as “Macar”, claimed the man then spat at him before laughing and walking away.
He revealed he has “never experienced anything like” the treatment at any other stadium he had visited.
Carl, who lives in Durham, County Durham, has racked up the miles travelling to watch Hibs play home and away.
He said: “I could feel him spitting on me, but obviously I can’t tell if I managed to wipe it all off.
“I felt a bit ashamed, I don’t know how long I was walking around with someone else’s spit on my jacket.
“Obviously, I’m then going back down to Durham, so I am travelling four or five hours and I was nervous of what people might think of me.”
Carl, who also supports Sunderland, added: “I’ve been away at lots of grounds, even with Sunderland to places like Newcastle and Middlesbrough, which are big local derbies, and I have never had anything like this happen, so it was a real shock.”
He was later escorted back to the train station by fellow Hibernian supporters following the match and said the incident won’t stop him going to matches.
But Carl did say he would reconsider buying a ticket to Ibrox when Hibs visit next season.
“It won’t stop me from going to games,” he said.
“I love football and the club too much for that, but it will certainly make me think twice before going back to Ibrox again.”
Hibernian won the match 2-1, but off the pitch five people were arrested for offences including breach of the peace, and culpable and reckless behaviour.
Two arrests were made for offences relating to the controversial Offensive Behaviour at Football Act, three weeks after MSPs on a parliamentary justice committee recommended its repeal.
One final arrest was made for a sectarian breach of the peace during the 90 minutes of play.
In December, Rangers fan Sean Cowan, 54, admitted posting death threats about Hibs manager Neil Lennon on a fans forum after a match between the two sides in August.
Hibs fan representative Tracey Smith said: “Any incidents fed back to myself and the other fans representatives have been passed over to our safety officer.”