The problem of overcrowding inside Scottish football stadiums was highlighted by the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox back in March.

Hundreds of the Parkhead club’s fans tried, despite the defending Scottish champions receiving 800 tickets to the Broomloan Stand for the first time in eight years, to gain entry to the ground using counterfeit tickets, tailgating through turnstiles or by forcing their way through emergency exits.

I spoke to Celtic fan Raymond about his experience attending the last eight tie between the city rivals in Govan and got an eyewitness account of what took place.

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 “I could tell that something wasn’t quite right the second I went out into the stand. As I came out of the concourse onto the stairways, it needed a big push to get through all of the people who were there.

“But once I got out into the stand I still couldn’t get up the stairways because they were all blocked. I was still fighting to get through folk to get to my seat. 

“The stewarding was completely pointless. I went up to a steward with my ticket and asked where I was sitting. He just gestured in the general direction of my seat. There was no point checking with him.

“I still don’t actually know where my seat was. It became pretty obvious pretty quickly that I wasn’t going to get to it. I just spotted an empty area with a few spare seats and tried to make my way to it. Most people were occupying the seats towards the front of the stand so I headed up to the back.

“But there were people coming down the aisles, people coming up them, people just standing there shoulder to shoulder and not moving. I was in the ground in plenty of time too. The players were still warming up. Very early on, I was thinking, ‘Something is not quite right here’.

“When I finally got to a seat and the game started there were more issues. There were a few seats on either side of me on my row, but there were around 15 people all squeezed in together where I was. I had guys right up against my shoulder on either side of me, but there were guys standing directly in front of us in the same row.

Celtic fans at Ibrox last month (Image: Andrew Milligan)

“I had been to games at Ibrox when the Celtic fans had the full Broomloan before. My recollection of those games is of the route in to the stand outside the ground being very narrow and tight. That is a police crowd control tactic. Masses of people get funnelled through a corridor.

“Once you got through the turnstiles, though, it was always fine. It was maybe a bit busier than most football matches, but it was just like a normal game. But it felt like a free-for-all at the last Ibrox game. The best way to describe it was precarious, it felt precarious.

“But I can honestly say didn’t have any concerns about my safety. I didn’t feel there was an imminent danger to my wellbeing. I never thought, ‘Something terrible is about to happen here’. I just knew there were far more people than the stand could accommodate and felt uneasy about it.

“This maybe goes against the narrative that emerged after the game, but the Celtic fans were well-behaved. There were lots of people, too many people for the space there was. But there was no fighting, or drinking, or people getting pushed out of the way, or arguments breaking out. For the most part, fans were just watching the game and singing songs.

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“I was in the bottom tier and had a good view of the pitch invasion after [Tomas] Cvancara had scored the winner the penalty shootout. But as far as I could see from my vantage point, it was just the people who were near the goal line who left their seats. Nobody rushed down to join them. It was almost like they just spilled onto the pitch. 

“I’m used to attending big games at Celtic Park and Hampden and I thought the lack of the police cordon in front of the Broomloan as we got closer to the end of the game was peculiar. It is something that you are accustomed to seeing. There were certainly some police, but not many.

“Strangely, I thought the policing outside the stadium was really strict. We approached from the Transport Museum and the road in, as you can probably imagine, was packed with fans as we got closer to the ground. They were on the road and the pavements.

“Police had set up a horse cordon that was perhaps 10 metres wide. They were shouting, ‘Have your ticket ready!”. But you couldn’t get your hand out from by your side because there were so many people packed in together. The policing wasn’t as strict inside the ground for some reason.   

Celtic players celebrate their win over Rangers at Ibrox last month (Image: Stuart Wallace / Shutterstock)

“I’ve never experienced overcrowding as bad as that at any game I’ve been at. I can’t say I’ve witnessed it with my own two eyes. But it’s common knowledge that two fans will bunch up and go through the turnstiles together with just one ticket. That’s not unusual, that’s what people do.

“Obviously you want to feel comfortable going to a football game. But generally speaking it’s not as bad as the Ibrox game at regular away games. I just think the demand for a Celtic v Rangers game far outstrips the supply of tickets and people are going to try to get in however they can.

“But it’s just wee chancers if you ask me, it’s not organised hooliganism. It’s what boys do. If your dad’s pal can push you through a turnstile you are going to try it. It there is a group of boys and one of them pushes open a fire escape the others will sprint inside the stadium and try to get to see the game.

“It’s not right, but it isn’t high criminality to my mind. All that said, the Ibrox game was like something from the 1980s. It felt archaic.”