St Johnstone emerged as victors over their Tayside neighbours Dundee United from Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final in Glasgow.
And, with the honours settled in favour of the Perth outfit, the man in charge of policing in Tayside reported that the overwhelming majority of fans had been a credit to their teams – both in Glasgow during the afternoon and at home in Tayside.
Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith said:
‘‘We were well prepared for an extremely busy weekend and, make no mistake, our officers were kept occupied across the division throughout Saturday and into Sunday.
‘‘We put extra resources into the night time economy and maintained a highly visible presence throughout the entire day – with earlier opening hours for licensed premises – to try to ensure that everyone enjoyed the occasion.
‘’And I am happy to say that, while the fine weather and cup final occasion saw our officers hard at work, the cooperation of the local authorities and the vast majority of licensed premises, as well as members of the public, played an important part in keeping people safe.
‘‘I extend thanks to them and to my officers in Tayside, as well as our colleagues in Glasgow and across Scotland for their dedication and hard work. There may have been one winning side at Celtic Park, but I believe both clubs and the vast majority of their supporters emerged with great credit.’’
As indicated beforehand, Police Scotland checked a number of buses and coaches en route to Glasgow. In all, almost 80 vehicles were subject to police checks with alcohol being recovered from just under a quarter of them. Operators and passengers understood and accepted that alcohol was seized and disposed of in the interests of keeping people safe and were cooperative in this.
This helped to ensure that the tens of thousands of travelling supporters arrived in Glasgow in good fettle and police officers there were pleased with the general good nature and conduct of both supports.
Similarly, the Cup Winner’s procession and celebrations in Perth, attended by an estimated 12,000 people, was exuberant and good humoured, with no particular issues to speak of.
