17 Old Firm derby arrests as Rangers deny Celtic victory
A TOTAL of 17 arrests were made at the Old Firm match as Rangers beat Celtic in the first derby since the club went into administration.
Rangers won 3-2, denying the Hoops the chance to win the Clydesdale Bank Premier League trophy at the home of their greatest rivals.
St r a t hclyde Police had appealed for fans and officials of Celtic and Rangers to behave ahead of the match which was described as “unique” because of Rangers’s position in administration and Celtic’s opportunity to win the league with a victory at Ibrox Stadium.
While three players and Celtic manager Neil Lennon were all sent off, the game passed off relatively peacefully among the crowd of thousands.
Seven arrests made at the game were for offences under the new Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012, eight were for drink-related offences, one was for a breach of the peace and one for assault.
The welcome victory for the home side came after it emerged that a fifth bid for the club had been received. Administrators Duff & Phelps are believed to have received an offer from a Singapore-based consortium.
Paul Clark, Rangers’s joint administrator, said: “What we want to do is analyse the bids and I would suggest we will be moving to a shortlist that might be two or three bidders.
“Our preference would be for somebody else to be in control of the football club other than us by the end of the season so they have got the whole close season, the whole transfer window, they have got proper preparation for the new season.”
Rangers manager Ally Mccoist was adamant the opportunity to deny Celtic a Clydesdale Bank Premier League title party at Ibrox was not behind Rangers’s win, but said if there was any extra motivation to win this game, it was the chance to reward supporters for the way they have rallied round the club.
“We didn’t want to stop Celtic doing this, that and the next thing – we wanted to win the game for ourselves and the support, who deserved it. Hopefully they will be going home happy,” he said.