STV “CELTIC PARK DISORDER” HEADLINE IS DANGEROUS, DELIBERATE AND TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 20 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Unfortunately, it’s not just the terminally declining tabloids who love a good Celtic scare story to try and get those rage-driven clicks from fans of Glasgow’s newest football club.
However, STV News aren’t usually as bad as the likes of the Daily Record or the S*n. Sadly, they seem to have gone full “clickbait mode” with an utterly atrocious and misleading headline.
“Celtic Park Disorder” Happened Nowhere Near Stadium, Instigated by Visiting Fans
STV News’ banner headline reads as follows: “Four officers injured after 'missiles' thrown during Celtic Park disorder”.
No mention of the members of the public who were caught up in the chaotic scenes, lest Police Scotland have their delicate wee feelings hurt by not being made front and center of every story.
Oh, and it goes on to add as a follow-up subheading: “Three men have been arrested with one allegedly carrying a bladed weapon.”
Because if there’s one thing STV absolutely loves its hyperbolic, made-up nonsense concerning Celtic supporters and knives.
So, first of all, there were, indeed, disturbances in the run-up to last night’s 4-2 win for Celtic over Utrecht. However, none of them happened in or around the vicinity of Celtic Park. So, unless they’re talking about Celtic’s occasionally shambolic defending last night, I’m not quite sure what “Celtic Park Disorder” this idiotic headline is referring to.
Secondly, the missiles mentioned in the article were fireworks, thrown by visiting hooligans among the Utrecht support. Video evidence supplied by onlookers at the scene clearly shows this, but of course that kind of actual, honest journalism doesn’t fit the narrative here.
It’s also interesting to note that none of the three arrested have been identified, nor has it been disclosed what team they support. I think you’ll find they’ve all got the sort of names that are far more likely to be seen in the orange of Holland than the blue of Scotland.
However, as we all know, a truer headline, along the lines of “Dutch hooligans arrested for throwing fireworks at police”, wouldn’t get those rage-bait clicks from the blue side of Glasgow, desperate for anything to distract from their own team being embarrassed yet again in Europe this season with yet another defeat.
I expect clickbait nonsense from the newspapers. After all, their industry is in a death spiral, and they need to do whatever they can to sustain some kind of reader engagement.
However, and perhaps it was naïve of me to expect this, but I genuinely thought STV was better than this. I genuinely thought they cared more about the truth than appeasing the one side of Glasgow still desperate and stupid enough to fall for clickbait.
Alas, I was wrong.