Speaking of endings...
Saturday should have been one of the most glorious days in the history of Scottish football. We'd had the most fascinating season of my lifetime, and entered the final week with two games to go and one point between the top two teams, with both having difficult games ahead. Hearts then won their midweek game, while Celtic struggled in theirs... only to be given a controversial penalty at the last minute to win the match.
I didn't see the footage at the time, but have since, and while the video is truly bizarre, it does also appear to be a legitimate penalty. I'm not sure what the Motherwell player thinks he is doing, but somehow it does seem he contrives to put his hand on the ball when simply heading it would have been easier. And, of course, the same rules apply in the first minute and the last minute of the game...
And so we went into the final game with Celtic playing Hearts in a league decided. This, of course, basically never happens: almost every year someone has won the league some weeks before (almost always Celtic), and in the rare occasions when it is undecided it is usually between Celtic and Rangers who are not allowed to play each other on the last day (for fear of crowd trouble). So to have a title decider you need two unlikely things to happen at once.
Anyway, we kicked off in glorious sunshine, and what turned out to be a really interesting game ensued: Hearts were the better first half, and scored a deserved goal. They were then somewhat unfortunate to concede a penalty, and an equaliser, just before half time. But then in the second half Celtic were the better team... without quite ever getting there. Then, about five minutes from time came the decisive blow, as Celtic scored again.
This led to Hearts having to push hard for another goal that would win them the title. And, in turn, this left them vulnerable at the back, and so with 30 seconds to go Celtic had an opening, surged forward, and scored into an open goal.
What should have happened then is that the game restarted, they played another thirty seconds or so, and the match ended with a well-fought and deserved Celtic win. A real shame for Hearts, but Celtic came into form at just the right time, and the season plays to the very last whistle of the very last match.
What actually happened, though, is that there was another pitch invasion, in a repeat of the disgraceful scenes from the Scottish Cup quarter-final.
A few things before I go on: the SPFL and the match referee are claiming that the match was ended. This is not the case. The final whistle had not blown before the pitch invasion started, and play did not resume thereafter. That's an abandonment. I understand why that happened, and I also understand why they're claiming otherwise (as an abandonment creates all sorts of complications, especially with Celtic having been declared champions), but details really matter.
Ultimately, two things, though:
- Playing those last few seconds wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome. Celtic were indeed the best team on the day, and at the end of the season the league table doesn't lie - they were, just, the best team across the season.
- There must be a proper sanction applied for this, and it must be of a footballing nature. Deduct points for next season, or close a stand, or something. Not a fine, because that's meaningless.
And if the SPFL or SFA won't address this, the Scottish government and the police must. Enough is enough - I'd suggest a statement that if it happens again, the police will no longer attend home matches of the club involved, meaning they can't complete those fixtures. Put them on notice: sort it out, or we'll put you out of business.
(And, yes, it was Celtic fans this time. But this hasn't even been the only horrifying incident associated with Scottish football this week, and it wasn't Celtic fans who were responsible for the other.)
And so the curtain comes down on another Scottish league season, what should have been the very best this millennium. Congratulations to Celtic on a deserved championship. You disgust me.
