Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson has vowed to take action against any Ibrox supporter found guilty of disorder at the Scottish Cup final.
But the Robertson has reiterated the club’s belief that the finger of blame for the chaotic and violent scenes witnessed at Hampden on Saturday should still be pointed at the Hibernian fans who swarmed onto the pitch.
The Hibs faithful flooded on to the playing surface in their thousands to celebrate their first cup triumph in over a century.
But the jubilant scenes which followed the Leith side’s 3-2 win quickly turned sour when a section of the Easter Road support headed straight for the Rangers end to taunt and goad their rivals.
Several of the Light Blues’ players were targeted while fights broke out as Gers supporters also spilled onto the pitch.
Rangers issued a statement on Sunday night admitting a “tiny minority” of their fans had entered the playing surface but only to “protect our players and officials”.
However, speaking at the launch of the Club 1872 supporters group, Robertson said: “We don’t condone violence and we will wait to see what comes out of the investigations. We will deal with any Rangers fans in the appropriate manner.
“But we have to remember is was the Hibs fans who came over the wall. It was the Hibs’ fans who ran over the half-way line towards the Rangers fans. They provoked, they goaded, they taunted.
“In no shape or form do we condone any fan who came onto the pitch.
“But I don’t think we can get away from the fact that it was Hibs fans who came onto the park and provoked them.”
Easter Road chairman Rod Petrie has promised to work with the authorities to ensure “those who have transgressed face the consequences of their actions”.
Police Scotland – which has so far made more than a dozen arrests – has launched a criminal investigations into the shocking scenes, while the Scottish Football Association is also setting up a independent commission to examine the causes of the trouble.
But Rangers remain angry that the safety of their players and staff were put in jeopardy.
Now Robertson hopes the enquiries being carried out can also help to pinpoint a solution that guarantees there will be no repeat next season when his side return to Scotland’s top-flight.
“The scenes we saw afterwards were horrendous, disgraceful,” he said. “For the Hibs fans to come over the wall the way they did and for the attacks on our players and staff to happen the way it did, that is something no-one should experience when they are at their work.
“So that has still left a bad taste in the mouth.
“Is there a concern this could happen again in future? I hope not, I really hope not.
“We’ve asked the SFA to set up an investigation and they have done very quickly. Police Scotland have set up their enquiries very quickly so we just have to wait and see what comes out of those investigations.
“Hopefully they will get to their conclusions within a short space of time.
“These enquiries need to look at ways of making sure they don’t happen again. One of the main things that needs to come out of this is looking forward, how do we prevent it happening again.
“The Rangers fans have had a hard time over the last couple of years but I’d like to think that we will never see what we saw on Saturday happen again.”
