A Police Scotland report into the crushing outside Celtic Park on 2 September 2018 has evolved into a review of safety certificates across Scottish football.
With the away allocation for the Glasgow derby cut down to 800 Police Scotland set up a massive exclusion zone around the stadium that forced thousands of Celtic fans to use what is known as the Janefield Tunnel.
As the crowds built up to dangerous levels no action was taken until fans started to climb a wall into the nearby cemetry.
Claims were made about Police Scotland closing a gate preventing fans from getting away from the crushing with Celtic commissioning an independent inquiry into what went on.
It seems that no one is willing to take responsibility for the safety arrangements on the day while extensive CCTV coverage failed to notice the dangerous build up of supporters before the match which kicked off at 12 noon.
Six months after the incident BBC Scotland have reported:
The report, which was commissioned by Police Scotland following a crush outside Celtic Park last year, also highlighted a need for better stewarding and better engagement with fans.
However, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, who was tasked with compiling the report, says overall the current policing of Scottish football is fit for purpose.
His team looked at operational planning for matches, intelligence gathering and allocation of police resources on match days.
Speaking about the report’s findings, Det Ch Con Will Kerr said: “Most of the recommendations are very positive when it comes to the policing of football matches.
“As a senior police officer, I find that reassuring. But there are a number of specific areas where policing can improve but the issue of stadium safety has been subject to quite a lot of public and political commentary over the last number of days.
“The regulatory regime in which ground safety is considered is outside the remit of policing.
“But we all have a collective responsibility to make sure we address the one thing that I know fans would be concerned about when they read the report and that is, is it safe to go to grounds?
“I am confident that in the vast majority of cases that will be the case.”
Since that fixture in September stewards at the Janefield Tunnel have been positioned holding tape in an attempt to ease congestion.
