LOCK THEM UP
McCoist wants police to hit hooligans hard
ALLY McCOIST has called on Police Scotland to clean up Scottish football by taking a zerotolerance approach towards hooliganism.
The national game has been shamed by an alarming series of incidents, including missile throwing, the firing of pyrotechnics and smoke bombs, and — just last weekend — the alleged racial abuse of Hibernian midfielder Marvin Bartley during the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.
SNP Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has warned that Holyrood could introduce strictliability legislation if clubs fail to act over bad behaviour by fans inside grounds.
Appalled at the prospect of closing stands, however, Rangers legend McCoist would like to see police deal with the rise in hooliganism by taking a hardline stance against unruly fans.
Speaking after a Hibs fan who confronted Rangers skipper James Tavernier on the pitch during a game at Easter Road was this week jailed for 100 days
and banned from attending matches for ten years, McCoist said: ‘We have to jail them — it’s that simple. ‘In this day and age, we’ve got cameras everywhere in our stadiums. ‘So whether it’s racism, religious bigotry or bampots, the police have just got to go in and start arresting people, throwing them in jail and banning them from stadiums for life. ‘We have got to start taking really hard measures.’ McCoist’s playing career coincided with the football hooliganism epidemic of the 1980s. The former Rangers striker, who once had to dodge a golf ball with a nail embedded in it thrown by Aberdeen fans at Ibrox, believes the issues facing Scottish football in this day and age are smaller in scale but still need to be weeded out. He said: ‘The hooligan element probably isn’t as big as it was in the 1980s with the casuals and all that stuff. Social media really blows the whole thing up. ‘But there is definitely an (unsavoury) element creeping back into the game of late. ‘I’ve been to four or five Edinburgh derbies in the past three years and loved them. But there have been incidents that are ridiculous. ‘The Hearts goalkeeper was attacked and things were thrown on to the playing surface. Then a Hibs fan confronted James Tavernier when Rangers played at Easter Road. ‘I was also up at Aberdeen for a Rangers game and the atmosphere was horrible — the worst I’ve seen in 15 years. ‘But there are lots of fans who work all the hours that God sends and they want to take their kids to a game of football at the weekend, the way their dads did with them.
‘How unfair would it be for 99.9 per cent of fans to get their whole weekend ruined by a couple of idiots (if stands were shut down)? ‘The time has come for strict measures — just go in and jail them and embarrass them. ‘I’m told the idiot that ran on to the pitch at Easter Road against Rangers recently, his family are getting phone calls and people are coming to their door. ‘That idiot has got to live with that and what’s happening to his family — and if that doesn’t hit home, then we’ve no chance.’