FIVE Celtic fans were injured as a result of crowd congestion ahead of the club’s 1-0 win over Rangers at Celtic Park today.
Four were treated at the scene by first aiders while the fifth was taken to hospital after falling from a wall.
Pictures and videos shared by fans showed thousands of fans thronging the tunnel area beneath the North Stand just minutes before the game.
Martin Lennon, Labour councillor for Rutherglen Central & North, was at the game and described the scenes before kick-off as ‘absolutely chaotic’.
@CelticFCSLO Absolutely chaotic scenes before kick-off. Blocked from going round LL to my seat. Confronted with these scenes at JS stand
Closest thing to a crush I've seen in 18 years going to Celtic Park pic.twitter.com/KEQVPcDxRm
— Martin Lennon🌹 (@M4rtinLennon) September 2, 2018
Fans can been seen scaling a wall between the tunnel and the adjoining Janefield Street to escape the crowds.
Some attributed the issues to new segregation plans and Celtic have revealed they are investigating what happened.
“We are aware of the issues caused by congestion prior to kick-off,” the club said in a statement.
“We are pleased that stewards and police were able to assist quickly and we thank our supporters for their patience shown while the matter was being dealt with.
A was lifting weans over walls the day, frightening... pic.twitter.com/L2K6HyxB7V
— Paul Docherty (@Ginge_Ninja) September 2, 2018
“We will work closely with police to investigate and review this matter. The safety of our supporters will always be our priority.”
Brian McNulty, Chief Superintendent with Police Scotland, said they would review the situation with the club.
“This was a dynamic situation, occurring 10 minutes before the match started,” he said.
“Officers and stewards reacted quickly upon realising there was an issue and put in place measures to relieve the congestion.
Gonna end up being a hillsborough at Celtic Park today, absolute carnage going on!! 40,000 crammed into a tunnel designed for 10,000 #OldFirm pic.twitter.com/yzCs372kN5
— Steven Shaw (@StevenShawPT) September 2, 2018
“This included putting in place cordons to prevent further entry at Janefield Street and opening up London Road to allow fans to access the stadium from the south.
“We work closely with Celtic Football Club to ensure the safety of all fans attending matches.
“We plan and practice various scenarios to ensure that if an incident occurs it will be dealt with as quickly as possible, as happened in this case.
WATCH: 'Chaos' - Football fans injured after being crushed before today's Celtic v Rangers match.
Some fans can be seen climbing over walls to get away from the overcrowding.
More here ➡️ https://t.co/gX6lgIU4nl pic.twitter.com/C5teRekDUz
— STV News (@STVNews) 2 September 2018
“We will review today’s incident and work with Celtic to ensure any learning is quickly put in place.”
Celtic fans though described the crowd management as ‘chaotic’ and ‘carnage’.
Celtic’s supporter liaison officer, John Paul Taylor, apologised for the congestion on Twitter, saying the club wanted to ensure there was no repeat of today’s scenes.
Apologies to fans affected by overcrowding issue at North Stand earlier, the Club will be investigating the cause to ensure no recurrence
— Celtic FC SLO (@CelticFCSLO) September 2, 2018
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