Hampden on Saturday was a disgrace. Plain and simple.
And just as simple is the fact those to blame are the Hibs fans who ran on the pitch at the end of the Scottish Cup final intent on causing trouble.
Their actions resulted in people who were only doing their jobs being attacked and left shocked and injured.
The fact they were footballers is irrelevant. Whatever the line of work, we all have the right to expect to go about our business safely.
Those responsible for the attacks must be found and hammered by the courts. They can never be allowed to attend a football match again.
And looking ahead there must be a major clamp down on any fan who encroaches on a pitch.
Whether their intention is to cause trouble or just celebrate can no longer matter.
It has to be made clear to punters that if you leave the stands and head for the playing surface it will be the last thing you do in a football stadium.
And it could be done. There is a general feeling these days stadium bans mean nothing.
If you do get banned, just head to a different part of the ground from where your normal seat is and you’ll get in.
Or at worse content yourself with going to your team’s away games.
From the authorities’ point of view the solution to that is simple. Fans guilty of encroaching on pitches should be required to report to their local police station each time the team they support plays.
A Draconian measure, perhaps, but something has to be done to put a stop to this lunacy.
And make no mistake about it, an incident like last Saturday’s has been brewing for a while now.
In recent times pitch invasions have become too frequent. Although they’ve been small and good natured, Dundee United have been in bother over them.
Dundee saw a so-called fan make a dash for Jarek Fojut when he scored the winner in the League Cup.
And not so long ago former Dark Blues keeper Rab Douglas was set upon by Airdrie fans while playing in a cup tie for Forfar.
In the wake of those incidents not enough was done by the authorities to drive home the message such behaviour could not be tolerated.
Now they’ve paid the price. And at a national final.
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