It happened as Lawrence Shankland headed Heart of Midlothian in front, and again towards the end of the regulation 90 minutes: layers of police officers gathered in front of the 752 away fans.
In contrast, stewards were mostly spaced out around the substantially larger home end. It meant that when Celtic scored their third goal deep into injury-time, the outpouring of emotion from taking the initiative in the Scottish Premiership title race so late, in such a dramatic manner in the most dramatic of seasons, spilt easily onto the pitch.
Many just wanted to celebrate, some chose to get in the faces of a few Hearts players and there were a few altercations. One man, holding a child, was one of the first on the scene and appeared to get as close as possible to Shankland’s face to make a ‘wanker’ sign.
By this point, stewards had to surround the Hearts captain and a few other players in maroon in other areas of the pitch to ensure they were protected from the swirling mob. The Hearts substitutes and backroom staff also took to the field to protect their colleagues.
Some Celtic fans appeared to go beyond taunting and verbal abuse and there were reactions from a few Hearts players. Christian Borchgrevink has said everyone “eventually made it back in unharmed, though with a bit of blood here and there”.
Hearts have since liaised with Police Scotland, who are reviewing incidents to establish if there was any criminality.
Amid the carnage at the end of Saturday’s game, police eventually escorted the away players and staff up the tunnel and there was confusion about whether the game had officially ended.
Hearts have since been accused of point-scoring by leaving the stadium at this point and in such a manner, but it was the police who advised them to make a swift exit. That led to the players getting on the team bus still in full kits and the club foregoing any post-match media duties.
When Callum Osmand ran in Celtic’s third goal, many of the travelling support headed for the exits, joining the few who left at 2-1. A substantial number stayed behind after the game, probably in shock but also to acknowledge their players for a fantastic season, despite the crushing disappointment of its final minutes.
And while not the most important thing, the pitch invasion at the end from Celtic fans robbed the players and the few fans in attendance of that moment. Fans who had paid £36 to watch 90 per cent of the playing field through a pillar and a net. Fans who would have to climb over fencing and a disabled section and then get through two layers of police officers before they got anywhere near the advertising hoardings, never mind the pitch.
It’s appreciated that it was partly for the away fans’ protection, and it would take a lot more manpower to similarly secure the home end, though it did feel like an odd distribution of resources given what followed.
Hearts fans are by no means perfect and have had incidents in the past that have shamed the club, but there is no recent history of going on the pitch to celebrate a win en masse. Certainly not this season.
Celtic, meanwhile, are still the subject, along with their Glasgow rivals, of an SFA investigation into the disorder that followed their Scottish Cup victory over Rangers at Ibrox in March. There have been 31 arrests, and counting, from that match. Many Celtic supporters also entered the field of play when they scored a late winner at Fir Park just three days before Saturday’s title decider.
To their credit, some Celtic fans booed what they were seeing on Saturday as a PA announcement asked supporters to leave the pitch. A few on the pitch tried to stop their fellow fans from approaching Hearts players.
Others are suggesting Hearts players were the aggressors. Videos appear to show some reaction, but I would defy anyone who says they would not do something similar if they were approached in such a manner. How many people in attendance on Saturday would accept being treated like that in their own workplace?
People have the right not to feel goaded, threatened or worse at their job. That extends to footballers, coaching staff and the media team who were there to represent Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday. All of which were caught up in the furore.
Even the stewards, put in an impossible situation, shouldn’t have to deal with behaviour like that.
It seems that lessons from the shameful scenes at the end of the Old Firm game in March have not been learned quickly enough, going into what was always going to be an emotionally charged atmosphere, in a final-day title decider.
Even on the way into Celtic Park, there was a lack of police protection for the away fans, who had missiles thrown at them between leaving supporters' buses and making their way to the ground.
After the game, they were allowed to leave the stadium but were blocked from leaving the complex by mounted police officers.
Some Hearts fans, understandably emotional after the season had come to a crushing conclusion moments before, got angry at the injustice of being blocked from leaving when the carnage was taking place in the stadium behind them. Again, it felt like the resources were being concentrated in the wrong place.
I witnessed children crying at the upset caused by being blocked from leaving the stadium complex. We also spoke to another supporter who was there and said the police blocking the Hearts supporters seemed unsure why they were doing so. One officer agreed with the fan that it was putting Hearts supporters in danger as more and more Celtic fans came from nearby areas to join the celebrations outside the main stand entrance.
Hearts called the scenes "disgraceful", "menacing and threatening" and called for the strongest possible action to be taken. Celtic have since apologised to Hearts for “the situation”.
An SPFL statement congratulated the champions and addressed whether the game had officially finished before mentioning anything about the safety of anyone concerned.
Police Scotland has since released a statement about the events inside the stadium, as well as those in the city centre afterwards. That was followed by a statement from the players' union PFA Scotland, which has previously raised concerns about player safety. First Minister John Swinney said he is considering making entering the field a criminal offence, as it is in England and Wales, after the "astonishingly bad behaviour".
Read more
- PFA Scotland statement on 'workplace safety' after Celtic v Hearts pitch invasion
- Hearts supporters group calls for SFA & SPFL to act following Celtic pitch invasion
- FM Swinney condemns 'astonishingly poor behaviour' in Celtic pitch invasion vs Hearts
- Hearts star reveals team-mates were left bloodied after Celtic Park pitch invasion
Meanwhile, the Federation of Hearts Supporters have expressed their concerns about the events at the end of the game, while the equivalent Celtic group raised concerns about an over-reaction.
New measures and potential sanctions will surely follow. One of these could be the avoidance of any title deciders in future, as they have whenever there is a possibility of one between Rangers and Celtic. That would be disappointing in what feels like the start of an exciting new era for Scottish football.
Pitch invasions aren’t bad in and of themselves. Still, when people’s safety is put at risk, as was the case on Saturday and at the Old Firm game in March, the actions of a stupid minority usually mean draconian measures placed on the decent majority who go to the football and behave.
Hearts came up short in the game, though there was a bitter taste going in after the decisions that had gone against them in the two games before last weekend’s final-day showdown.
Some were already crying foul when the post-split and Hearts were scheduled to play away from home on the final day, when the tradition is for the league leaders to finish the campaign at their own stadium. This was complicated by the fact there was a three-way title race until recently. After the way the season ended, you can understand some of the Hearts fans' frustration at it all.
We shouldn’t even be in a situation where these words have to be typed: but a team should never be in a situation where one minute they are unsure if a game has finished and a few minutes later they are being told to leave in full kits for their own safety. That is unacceptable and questions must be answered.
Everyone needs to come together, put the tribalism to the side and do what is right to keep people safe at the football. Hearts aren't raising these concerns because they are sore losers, they have a duty of care to their players and staff, and a motivation to make sure they are not put in this situation again.
Things like changing your story to suit your club’s narrative, engaging in whataboutery and dismissing Hearts' concerns as nonsense do no one any favours. It's not constructive and it’s a petty way to deal with a serious discussion.
