Celtic Fans Deserve Answers – Andy Halliday and Ryan Stevenson Must Account for Those Sportsound Claims

I had a clip from the end of last season appear on my newsfeed today. It immediately took me back to one of the most disgraceful episodes surrounding Celtic last season.

It showed Andy Halliday discussing the extraordinary scenes after Celtic’s dramatic title victory over Hearts.

Watching it again rekindled everything I thought at the time.

Because months later, there are questions which still haven’t been answered.

Celtic supporters were accused of extremely serious behaviour after entering the pitch. Nobody needs to defend the pitch invasion itself.

But entering a football pitch and assaulting footballers are completely different matters.

That distinction seemed to disappear remarkably quickly in the immediate aftermath.

What Andy Halliday and Ryan Stevenson actually said

The programme was BBC Radio Scotland‘s Sportsound, with the title-winning Celtic-Hearts match receiving extensive live and post-match coverage.

Ryan Stevenson told listeners:

“For a player to be attacked by fans is absolutely outrageous.”

Not allegedly attacked. Not that he had heard an unconfirmed report.

The language presented an attack as something that had happened.

Andy Halliday also entered the discussion, saying:

“For the third time in as many months that there are fans again entering the pitch and we’re now led to believe that a couple of opposition players, Hearts players, have been struck.”

That is a massive allegation.

Notice how quickly it escalated.

We had gone from an unacceptable pitch invasion to Hearts players apparently being struck and attacked.

So where was the evidence?

Celtic supporters are still entitled to ask

Police Scotland initially investigated whether there had been criminality during the pitch invasion.

Yet by May 28, police confirmed they had received no complaints from Hearts regarding alleged assaults on their players.

Martin O’Neill also challenged Tony Bloom after the Hearts investor claimed “one or two” players had been assaulted.

O’Neill said Celtic had examined the pictures and could find no evidence of it.

He quite properly described it as a serious allegation that had not been proven.

Then Hearts midfielder Cammy Devlin provided an enormously important piece of evidence.

“None of the players got hurt,” Devlin said when discussing the incident later.

When was the wall-to-wall coverage of that?

Where were the apologies?

Where was the same enthusiasm to correct the impression created immediately after Celtic became champions?

Pundits cannot demand accountability from everyone except themselves

This is why Celtic supporters should remember these comments.

Halliday and Stevenson continue working in Scottish football media.

So do Pat Nevin, Tom English, Ally McCoist, Kris Boyd and others who regularly scrutinise Celtic.

That’s their job.

But scrutiny works both ways.

When any of them appear on radio phone-ins, Celtic supporters should politely ask the question.

What evidence did you have for saying Hearts players had been attacked?

Ask whether they still stand by it.

Ask whether the subsequent Police Scotland position and Devlin’s comments have changed their view.

That isn’t abuse. That’s accountability.

Tony Bloom should be asked the same question.

When he appeared with Jim White and said Hearts players had been assaulted, why wasn’t the immediate follow-up simply: What evidence do you have?

A serious allegation deserves a serious evidential standard.

Celtic’s incredible achievement was overshadowed

The saddest part was what became secondary.

Celtic had just produced one of the most astonishing championship finishes in Scottish football history.

Hearts were minutes from the title.

Then Celtic ripped it away.

Daizen Maeda struck late, Callum Osmand added another, and Celtic became champions after an extraordinary season.

Yet almost immediately, the narrative shifted.

The pitch invasion. Alleged attacks. Hearts’ statement. The ridiculous controversy about Keith Jackson’s supposed “missing minute”.

The SPFL subsequently confirmed the referee had ended the match before supporters entered the field.

Celtic’s victory deserved to be the story.

Instead, sections of the media appeared desperate to turn the afternoon into something darker.

Were some disappointed because Hearts’ fairytale had collapsed?

Did personal football allegiances influence some of the commentary?

Only those individuals can answer that.

But Celtic supporters can certainly ask.

Celtic fans deserve answers

Months later, the fundamental question remains unanswered:

Where is the evidence that Celtic supporters assaulted Hearts players?

Halliday, Stevenson and everyone else who helped broadcast those allegations should be prepared to explain exactly what they knew before saying it.

You cannot scrutinise Celtic every week and then expect your own words to disappear when the evidence fails to follow.

If evidence had emerged showing Hearts players being physically attacked, those responsible should have faced the consequences.

Absolutely.

But the opposite principle matters too.

People with national broadcasting platforms have a responsibility not to turn suspicion, confusion or something they think they witnessed into established fact.

Cammy Devlin’s subsequent comments deserve just as much attention as the original allegations received.

The championship cannot be rewritten.

Celtic won 3-1 and became champions after one of the most extraordinary finishes Scottish football has witnessed.

The people who made serious claims afterwards should not simply move on as though nothing happened.

Celtic supporters are entitled to ask one simple question:

What was the evidence?

Until somebody produces it, that question deserves an answer.