Hopes the archaic, ineffectual, needless and counterproductive ban on selling alcohol inside Scottish football grounds might be relaxed or even lifted were dashed last season by some of the worst incidences of crowd trouble seen in the game in this country for many years.
The findings of the independent investigation which has been carried out by sports event consultant Mark Blackbourne into the reasons for the unrest which flared after the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic have still to be published.
But the shocking scenes which were witnessed during the mass pitch invasion that followed the penalty shootout – a member of the visitors’ coaching staff was attacked, stewards and police officers were assaulted and a lit flare was thrown into a packed away end – mean the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 is here to stay.
MSPs had, despite Arbroath, Ayr United and Aberdeen all allowing supporters to drink within concourses and in fan zones which were not in view of their pitches during successful trials, shown no appetite to end the restrictions which were brought in as a result of the riot at the 1980 Scottish Cup final at Hampden in 1980. So they are hardly going to change their stance in the wake of the affray at the last eight tie.
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John Swinney, the First Minister, last year stressed that he was “not sympathetic” to lifting the ban despite it emerging that senior Police Scotland officials were open to “a limited number” of pilot projects being held inside Scottish stadiums.
“I understand the aspiration among football clubs to address this,” he said. “But we’ve got a set of arrangements in place just now that work, that are appropriate, that are necessary, and I think we should stick with them.”
Will being over in the United States to watch Scotland’s opening World Cup game against Haiti last weekend prompt Swinney to revise his opinion?
Tens of thousands of his countrymen and women have descended on Boston this month to cheer on the national team in their first appearance in the international tournament in 28 years. It is fair to say that a few refreshments have been taken. In fact, Tartan Army footsoldiers have drunk the city dry.
But have there been inebriated scuffles with followers of rival countries? Have police officers needed to intervene to maintain order? Have properties been damaged by mindless acts of vandalism? Have seats been ripped up? Has sick graffiti been daubed on walls? Have local residents complained about the disruption to their daily lives? Have the revellers brought shame upon their homeland? No, exactly the opposite has been true.
Scotland may not be the best team at these finals, but their fans have, not for the first time, shown they are the best supporters by a considerable distance.
When it emerged on Thursday that Boston was to be twinned with Glasgow – a letter of intent has been signed and a formal agreement will follow during Tartan Week next April – it told a story about just how well they have conducted themselves.
“What has been most beautiful about this whole experience is not just seeing fans who are as passionate about your teams, your heritage, your culture as Boston fans are, but then seeing those connections built across different cultures too,” said mayor Michelle Wu.
The Tartan Army have offered a timely reminder that it is possible to back your side in a febrile fashion without staging mass pyrotechnic displays, hurling missiles at players, scrapping in the streets, encroaching onto the playing surface, tailgating through turnstiles, posting a referee’s personal details online, wearing balaclavas or polluting the air with racist abuse or sectarian songs.
There is much that supporters of Scottish clubs – not least those Celtic and Rangers ultras whose unfortunate, anti-social and often ugly conduct has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late – can learn from what has been witnessed on the other side of the Atlantic during the past fortnight or so.
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Namely, that they can get firmly behind their heroes, create an amazing atmosphere in the stands and have a rare old time without causing absolute chaos and endangering the safety of the less partisan members of their fanbase.
Club football is, and has long been, a completely different environment to the international game. There is an intensity, a bitterness, an unpleasantness, to long-standing rivalries which add a definite and perhaps desirable edge to proceedings. It would be a shame if that was lost in these increasingly politically correct times we live in.
Still, there is no need at all for some of the behaviours which have slowly but surely crept into the sport in the modern era and it is only right that every possible step is taken by governing bodies, politicians and the authorities to eradicate them.
Stadium bans, stand closures, arrests, fines, kettling and football banning orders invariably lead to anguished cries of heavy-handed policing and the criminalisation of working class fans from those who lack self-awareness about how harmful their actions are and have a misguided sense of entitlement.
But the times are changing. Football has altered beyond all recognition since the dark days of the 1970s and 1980s. It is, for good or for bad, big business now. Intolerance of those who cling on to the past and mistakenly believe they can act with impunity is growing. The Green Brigade being locked out of grounds for five months last season underlined that.
Plans to change the wording of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 and increase the reach of banning orders are proceeding apace and there have been calls for Scotland to follow the lead of England and bring in specific laws to tackle pitch invasions and illegal entry to grounds.
The Tartan Army have set the bar for supporter behaviour over at the World Cup and fans of Aberdeen and Annan Athletic, Celtic and Cove Rangers, Kilmarnock and Kelty Hearts, Rangers and Ross County, must strive to emulate them in the seasons to come or face the inevitable consequences. They might just find they enjoy themselves if they do.
