Rugby Park pitch invasion: ‘It’s just not to be tolerated,’ says Kilmarnock director

Kilmarnock say they are determined to avoid a repeat of Sunday’s pitch invasion at Rugby Park.

Director Phyliss McLeish said she was “horrified” as Rangers fans spilled out of the Chadwick Stand following a last-gasp winner from Connor Goldson.

The roof of a shelter covering disabled supporters collapsed, with one man injured.

“It’s just not to be tolerated. We will definitely be taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said McLeish.

“We have reached out to Rangers to say we’d like to speak to you, how do we prevent this and to work together, because I’m sure the vast majority of Rangers fans don’t want to see anything like that happen either.

“We need to make it safe for both sets of fans. It’s a total disregard for people’s safety. I’m horrified and it’s not acceptable behaviour. The feeling is shock and dismay.

“We as a club and lots of other clubs see this kind of behaviour as increasing again. We want to encourage families to come here – that’s our big target and this isn’t helpful.”

A spokesman for the Ibrox club said: “Rangers does not condone the behaviour of those fans who invaded the pitch and who caused the damage to the facility housing disabled supporters.

“The appropriate action will be taken to deal with those who can be identified but it should be pointed out that Rangers had made Kilmarnock aware of concerns over facilities for the disabled.”

Rangers, who won 2-1, were given an allocation of 4,200 tickets on the opening weekend of the Scottish Premiership season.

“We haven’t had the first two rows netted off for some time and by and large it’s been OK,” added McLeish. “Yesterday just teaches you you have to go back to the bad old days where you can’t rely on anyone not coming on to the pitch.

“We will deal with it and learn our lesson, but the football authorities also have to look at that. The whole of the Rangers team came up to the front – it’s almost like encouraging the fans. That’s not something that we can fix.

“This just doesn’t happen at Rugby Park; we saw it all over last season. I would just like all member clubs and the SPFL to really put their heads together to work to improve the situation.”

Rangers point to ‘failure’ with ticketing system

There were issues before kick-off for visiting fans getting into Rugby Park.

Visiting supporters briefly breached a gate before order was restored, with McLeish saying queue delays were down to inspections for pyrotechnics.

“We are not going to apologise for making searches,” said McLeish. “Unfortunately, that’s what we have to do now. I don’t think we can be blamed for away fans forcing a turnstile.”

However, the spokesman for Rangers said: “Rightly or wrongly a gate was forced but the real cause of the serious congestion and crushing which occurred outside the stadium before and after kick off cannot be disguised. The failure of Kilmarnock’s ticketing system caused the problem and this has to be addressed.

“After all, it had become apparent long before kick off that there was a problem with their entry system which resulted in a safety issue with people fearing they were in danger of being crushed. This is not the first time Kilmarnock’s system has failed.”