Rangers bar warned after supporters seen leaving in 'hoods and balaclavas'

A Rangers pub where fans gathered before clashing with Tottenham Hotspur supporters has been warned by licensing chiefs.

The city’s licensing board heard how members of the Union Bears supporters group left the 3 Cheers bar “in hoods and balaclavas” ahead of “large-scale disorder”.

The incident was part of a series between May 2019 and May this year which led to Police Scotland asking for a review of the Paisley Road Toll venue’s premises licence.

An inspector said there had been “an ongoing and flagrant disregard for the conditions”.

Police Scotland’s concerns centred on outdoor drinking and a failure to use Security Industry Authority (SIA) qualified door stewards when football matches were being played at Ibrox.

The bar, originally known as NN10, was opened by former Rangers player Nacho Novo and his business partner John Campbell in 2017. The ex-player exited the business in early 2020 and it was rebranded.

Licensing lawyer Archie MacIver, representing landlord and licence holder Rosemount Taverns and the current leaseholder and manager Darren Tait, said there had been “very few” incidents since Mr Tait took over in October last year.

He said a condition of the licence, relating to when stewards were needed, was “not clear”. The board agreed to change the wording and issued a written warning.

The old condition stated SIA licensed stewards must be present when “a football match, concert or similar large scale event is scheduled to take place at Ibrox Park”.

Mr MacIver argued it could relate to reserve, charity or women’s team games at the stadium.

The licensing board heard how police found around 20 people drinking in the bar’s courtyard in May 2019, despite then manager and leaseholder John Campbell confirming the premises were not licensed for outside drinking.

A police inspector said two bar staff were acting as door stewards but were not SIA accredited and, later that day, a “member of staff, who was acting as a door steward, became involved in an altercation with a younger male”.

He added, later that same night, public CCTV showed a fight broke out between two men which “spilled onto the road and a glass bottle was thrown”. The inspector said door staff “could be seen observing but took no action at all”.

On September 1, 2019, when Rangers played Celtic at Ibrox, police found patrons consuming alcohol in the courtyard, the inspector said.

He added officers met with Mr Campbell and Mr Novo on September 12 and observed picnic benches in the courtyard as well as “partially full and empty beer bottles and glasses”.

Board members were told on July 23, 2022 – the day of Rangers v Tottenham Hotspur at Ibrox – “approximately 100 Rangers supporters, known as the Union Bears, were observed in the downstairs area of the premises”.

The inspector said: “A number of these supporters then left the premises with hoods and balaclavas on and began engaging in large scale disorder with Tottenham Hotspur fans who were being escorted to Ibrox.

“Attending officers believed the premises were understaffed and did not properly control patrons.”

In May this year, when Rangers played Celtic at Celtic Park, police were called due to “a large group of football fans outside the premises who were throwing eggs at vehicles”.

A police vehicle was “struck several times”.

The inspector said Mr Tait had tried to get the group to return into the bar. He added officers “observed approximately 150 ‘risk’ supporters within the downstairs lounge area”.

Mr MacIver said: “Since Mr Tait has appeared as the tenant and named manager of the licence, incidents related to the premises are very few indeed.”

He said Mr Tait had been working in the venue but there is a “difference between working in premises and being the person that makes the decisions to do X, Y and Z”.

The lawyer added, Mr Tait had “read the riot act to those who had been involved [in the egg-throwing incident]”.

Signs have been installed to warn against outside drinking, benches have been removed and a new CCTV system installed, Mr MacIver said.

Mr Tait has applied for a “supervisional stewards licence” and plans to have “in-house SIA badged stewards under his supervision”.

The police inspector said the review is “not because this is necessarily a hotbed of criminality” but because there has been “an ongoing and flagrant disregard for the conditions attached to the licence”.

Stewards are now required when Police Scotland inform the bar that a “high-risk” football match is being played at Ibrox. They will need to be in place two hours before kick off and for five hours after.