THE PYRO PROBLEM
Illegal smoke bombs and flares are becoming part and parcel of the matchday experience. But as the Ultra scene in Scottish football continues to grow, is it time for clubs and supporters to work together and find a safer way forward?
SOME are dazzlingly bright. Others murky enough to envelope a football stadium in a thick veil of smoke. The effects of pyrotechnics are as conflicting as the opinions stoked by their everincreasing presence at football. On the burgeoning Ultras scene, they are an essential element of the matchday routine, the flares and smoke bombs adding colour and noise to the spectacle.
To many others these devices are a menace, a dangerous and noxious blight on the supporter experience. They are also illegal.
And new legislation passed by the Scottish parliament last year will give the police extra powers to search fans entering grounds from next month.
Yet as the authorities muscle up for a clampdown and supporters become ever more entrenched over their ‘no pyro, no party’ stance, the clamour for a more nuanced, adult debate around the issue grows louder.
In Scandinavia, trials around the use of so-called safe pyro devices in designated areas has taken the sting out of the issue. The French government has moved the debate forward by mooting a three-year trial at Ligue 1 matches.
Here, fans’ chief Paul Goodwin has called for a summit involving the football authorities, Scottish Government and police to find a way to better manage a growing problem. During his campaign to
become SNP leader, First
Ultras want to explore ways in which pyros can be safely used at games
Minister Humza Yousaf expressed a willingness to take part in such discussions.
Those are yet to materialise but at ground level clubs are actively engaging with supporters.
Under fan ownership for the best part of a decade, it’s no surprise that Hearts have been especially proactive. Just last week it was announced that the new Gorgie Ultras group would be allocated its own section behind the goal at Tynecastle from next season.
A strict condition of this arrangement is no pyro.
The Ultras have consented but are unsurprisingly eager to explore ways in which they might one day safely incorporate it into the matchday experience.
On guarantee of anonymity, a member of the group spoke to the Mail on Sunday to articulate the view from stands.
He said: ‘Pyro can be dangerous, there’s no point in pretending otherwise. And football fans do themselves no good when they are standing there with rocket launchers in their hands.
‘But what I hope for is a commonsense approach. In Norway for example, they test pyro and make it as close to safe as they can. They have designated areas and times for setting it off.
‘I’m all for the discussion but there is a stigma around football in this country. Politicians could curry a lot of favour if they would even just walk down the road of finding out what could be done.’
Pyro has been sighted sporadically in Scottish grounds for at least a decade but is now virtually endemic. The issue became big news in the wake of the Viaplay Cup final, at which both Rangers and Celtic fans launched various manifestations of pyro onto the track and the pitch.
A week later there was another incident at Tannadice as a smoke bomb thrown by Aberdeen supporters narrowly missed Dons midfielder Ryan Duncan.
It’s not an issue exclusive to the Premiership either. Arbroath were moved to issue a lengthy plea to their fans following the deployment of pyrotechnics before kick-off at their Championship derby match with Dundee on
April 8. And although there is no strict liability law in Scottish football, Hearts donated £3,000 to Hamilton’s youth academy after a smoke bomb was thrown and caused damage to the Accies pitch at a Scottish Cup tie in February. The response from the Gorgie group is sensibly blunt: ‘Don’t throw it. That’s one of the biggest issues we have here. Common sense tells you not to do that. You hit somebody and it’s dangerous. So use it safely.’
The new Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 is due to become law three days after next month’s Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden.
‘Obviously, it’s illegal and people will get their doors kicked down at 8am,’ continued the Hearts fan. ‘But is that not the most monumental waste of police time and money? ‘People will go to jail, sitting beside murderers. … “What did you do?” “Oh, I set off a pyro”. Educate people about the dangers. Pyro is banned but broadcasters, papers all use the images.
‘That’s a mixed message. If it was another form of misbehaviour, you wouldn’t use it on highlight reels.
‘I get annoyed as pyro has been made illegal because it’s football. And yet every two minutes, you’ll see parents using a smoke bomb for a gender reveal on Instagram.’
Often confused, the distinctions between the different devices are important. Marine flares are especially dangerous due to their highest burning temperature of around 1600 degrees centigrade.
Flashing strobe flares have grown in prevalence and there are fireworks such as rockets which carry their own, well-documented risks.
Smoke bombs are the most common form of pyro, readily available and advertised online as providing the perfect accompaniment to weddings and personalised photo shoots.
Yet deployed within a football stadium they can cause issues for fans with breathing difficulties — and, in the case of their mass deployment by supporters of both Rangers and Celtic, affect visibility to the point where a kick-off is delayed. Yet, as the Ultra points out, the signalling is confused.
Last year, Manchester United and England defender Harry Maguire took part in a magazine photoshoot in which he was pictured strolling through a park with a red smoke bomb in each hand. Hardly a role model of deterrence.
It is one thing to wave a smoke bomb in an open area, quite another for several to be lit in unison in the packed and roofed stand of the away end at a football ground.
So what would constitute so-called safe pyro? In Denmark, Brondby fans have pioneered the deployment of a ‘safe’ smoke bomb.
In Germany, a trial was held at the Bundesliga 2 fixture between Hamburg and Karlsruhe in 2020, where smoke bombs were lit at the front of the section under supervision from the fire brigade.
The Gorgie Ultras would be open to dialogue with their club over pioneering any such trials here.
‘The club have told us they will ban us and take away the section if we use pyro,’ added the fan. ‘But they have also said they will listen