SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE: The Scottish game is attempting to pick up the pieces after a weekend that threatened to turn the clock back to the days when crowd trouble was the rule rather than the exception.
Officials from Aberdeen met local police yesterday to discuss the trouble that marred 1-0 defeat against Rangers at Pittodrie on Saturday evening, and which could ultimately harm Scotland's hopes of hosting the European Championship in 2008.
The trouble started when Aberdeen's Robbie Winters was hit on the head by a coin thrown from the area containing Rangers supporters as he was about to take a corner.
The referee Michael McCurry encouraged the player and his assistant away from the danger zone as coins and other objects rained on to the pitch. Local fans then jumped on to the field and raced towards the visiting fans.
McCurry led the players and officials off as 40 policemen in riot gear quelled the disturbance. It was 16 minutes before order was restored and the match restarted.
The incident follows recent trouble in England and Wales, but Pittodrie was the most serious yet. The Scottish Premier League, whose chief executive Roger Mitchell called the participants "mindless morons", will today launch its own inquest while the Scottish FA will hold a fact-finding review.
Aberdeen police will review their strategy for a fixture that has long been fraught with danger. Initial suggestions to prevent a recurrence include noon kick-offs and banning away fans from these matches.
Campbell Ogilvie, Rangers' director-secretary, admitted the recent incidents in England and Wales might have had a knock-on effect. "It's certainly a possibility," he said. "There hasn't been a great deal of hooliganism in this country for a while. But this fixture over a period of time has been a hard one [to control]."
The ill-feeling between the clubs' fans began when Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen broke the Old Firm monopoly in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the fires were stoked by a tackle by Neil Simpson on Rangers' Ian Durrant in 1988 that prevented the Ibrox star fulfilling what promised to be a glorious career.
Aberdeen's chief executive Keith Wyness condemned the fans' behaviour but insisted: "We can't let the mindless minority rule Scottish football." He added he did not believe the problems at Pittodrie would have "too serious" an effect on Scotland's efforts to host the 2008 European Championship, though not everyone shares that view.
The only goal of the game came after 33 minutes when Italian Lorenzo Amoruso fired home a left-footer from 25 metres.
Earlier on Saturday, leaders Celtic beat bottom club St Johnstone 2-1 at Parkhead. Darren Dods headed St Johnstone into a shock lead after just six minutes but Henrik Larsson soon equalised with a firm shot and Alan Thompson claimed the second when his free-kick bounced awkwardly to beat goalkeeper Alan Miller.
Second-half goals coming from David Bingham and David Fernandez saw third-placed Livingstone beat Hearts, who had Irish full back Alan Maybury sent off in the 42nd minute.
In other games on Saturday, Dundee United beat city rivals Dundee 1-0 with a last-minute goal by Jim McIntyre, Dunfermline Athletic defeated Motherwell 3-1 and Hibernian drew 2-2 with Kilmarnock.
Guardian service
