'Unacceptable' - Glasgow council leader lays into Rangers and Celtic after fan violence

Susan Aitken has accused Rangers and Celtic of doing “nothing” to curb violence from ultras groups after chaos erupted ahead of the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday.

Supporters of both clubs were filmed causing problems in Glasgow ahead of the game at Hampden on 15 December, with Tom English predicting political intervention [X].

City council leader Aitken has now slammed the behaviour as “unacceptable” and laid into the Old Firm rivals for letting the violence continue despite warning them over the same last year.

“To say this behaviour is unacceptable is an understatement – but what’s particularly concerning is that this kind of thing keeps happening”, the politician said, as quoted by Radio Clyde (16 December).

“I wrote to both Celtic and Rangers after the similar incidents that took place around Hampden last year and they did nothing.

“The football industry seems to be quite happy to make money off these thugs while decent folk have to live with the consequences. That’s not good enough.”

Susan Aitken slams Rangers and Celtic for chaos on Sunday

Rangers and Celtic played out an enthralling 3-3 draw at Hampden, with Brendan Rodgers’ side eventually winning 5-4 in penalties.

However, the scenes ahead of the game were ugly, with missiles being thrown and one police officer said to be injured.

The Scottish Police also received reports of windows being smashed on Howard Street after chaos erupted before 12:30 pm on Argyle Street.

While there is a limit to what football clubs can do to prevent so-called ultras groups from causing trouble, hooliganism remains a problem in the sport.

It remains to be seen how the Glasgow giants will react to the statement from Aitken amid a risk of facing sanctions from the Scottish Football Association.

Meanwhile, Philippe Clement and Co will be disappointed after their League Cup defence came to an unsuccessful end.

They will feel hard done by after Vaclav Cerny was denied a penalty in extra time after being pulled down by Liam Scales.

In other Rangers news, this BBC pundit has named the player that Clement cannot do without, and a new title verdict has been shared.

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