Hearts have announced that players and staff have reported “serious physical and verbal abuse” following a “disgraceful”, “unacceptable” and “disgraceful” pitch intrusion at Celtic Park following the home team’s 3-1 win.
Immediately after Callum Osmund’s goal clinched the Scottish Premiership title, many home fans rushed onto the pitch to celebrate, with some even confronting their vanquished opponents in scenes that Hearts said had “embarrassed Scottish football”.
Hart was escorted into the tunnel by club officials and the players were photographed quickly leaving the ground in their match uniforms due to the “intimidating and threatening atmosphere”.
Tynecastle Park club said in a statement: “The safety of our staff was our priority in these unacceptable scenes,” adding that they were unable to take part in post-match media duties or thank the 752 away fans inside Parkhead.
A statement from Police Scotland late Saturday said they were investigating the incident and were “working with Heart of Midlothian FC to establish whether any of their players were assaulted on the pitch at the end of the match”.
Sky Sports News has also contacted the SPFL and Celtic for comment.
Police later said they had dealt with “unacceptable violence and hostility” as fans gathered in Glasgow to celebrate Celtic’s title win.
The statement added: “After the match, approximately 3,000 people made their way to the Trongate area of the city, where they faced considerable disruption, including injuries to police officers. Missiles, including glass bottles, were hurled at them while providing emergency medical assistance.”
“Specially trained security personnel were deployed and action was taken to restore order, disperse the crowd and make arrests. An extensive investigation is underway to identify other persons involved and further arrests are expected to be made.”
752 Hearts fans packed into Celtic Park for the title decider.
Hearts’ full statement
The Heart of Midlothian condemns in its entirety the embarrassing scenes at Celtic Park this afternoon that have once again brought Scottish football to shame.
Reports of severe physical and verbal abuse of players and staff, both on the pitch and elsewhere, are deeply concerning. We are investigating this matter thoroughly and are in discussion with Police Scotland.
We will not be commenting further at this time other than to say that it is completely unacceptable for players and staff to be put in such a situation.
Given the intimidating and threatening atmosphere inside the stadium, all staff had no choice but to leave immediately without taking on post-match media duties. We apologize to our media partners, but the safety of our staff has been our top priority during these unacceptable circumstances.
Hearts’ Cameron Devlin looks disappointed before the full-time whistle
The pitch invasion caused such chaos that no one seemed to know whether the match was over or not. Afterwards, our players were not given the opportunity to thank our amazing fans for their support this afternoon and throughout the season. This was sensational for some people.
We expect football authorities to take the strongest possible measures to protect the safety of players and supporters and the integrity of the game.
This season Hearts have captured the imagination of football fans not only in Scotland but around the world. We pay tribute to Derek McInnes, his staff, first team and supporters for bringing pride to the club this season. None of them deserved the shameful spectacle that unfolded.
McFadden and Sutton strike out at full time.
Former Scotland striker James McFadden told Sky Sports shortly afterwards: “This is unacceptable. Players should be safe on the football pitch. We don’t want to see that. There’s always going to be someone who ruins it for someone else.”
“You can hear the reaction, the booing, from the majority of Celtic fans here, along with the fans on the pitch.
“You don’t want to see it. It’s a football game. On a day like this, two teams earn the right to go head-to-head and the winner takes home the trophy. Hart played a big role. You don’t want to see fans pouring out.”
“I understand the feelings at this time. We have a right to celebrate, but we cannot cross the line. If it is true that a Hearts player was assaulted, that is completely unacceptable.”
Sky Sports’ Chris Sutton added: “There’s no room for that. You can imagine how the Hearts players felt after such a long season and losing at the end.”
Mr O’Neill: Officials need to consider that.
Asked about his reaction after the game, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill said: “If the Hearts players have been accused, it’s simply not right.
“I didn’t really see the last bit because I thought the game wasn’t over yet, so we’re trying to get some of the fans off the pitch again and let us play what’s left.
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The moment Callum Osmund clinched the title for Celtic against Hearts
“Obviously, at 3-1, I think the fourth official said to me, we had about a minute to go before we scored, so with the strongest will in the world, they’re not going to be able to score two goals in that time.
“I don’t know because obviously there’s a lot of fuss in the tunnel, but getting back to the point, if the Hearts players were being accused by some fans, that’s pretty serious. To be honest, I’m not pushing it aside. It’s something that the officials and people will have to consider.”
