A Rangers fan who ran on to the pitch at Ibrox and attacked a member of Celtic’s backroom staff after last season’s Scottish Cup quarter-final has been jailed for 18 months.

Marc Spence, 48, grabbed Celtic’s first-team masseur and dragged him to the ground after Celtic won the tie on penalties on 8 March. He has also been banned from football matches for seven and a half years and has a lifetime ban from Ibrox.

What the court heard

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that a large number of fans from both sides went on to the pitch at full-time. Police officers saw Spence, a former youth football coach from Lanark, come on from the south stand.

See the full Celtic v Rangers head-to-head record on our derby page.

Reported by STV News, prosecutor Abbas Ali said: “Spence was running in an aggressive manner towards Celtic fans who had entered the pitch.”

Two officers grabbed Spence and took him off. As he was led away in handcuffs, he said the staff member “stood in my way, and I just took him out”.

CCTV shown in court had Spence surrounded by Celtic players as well as the officers who arrested him. He was remanded in custody after admitting the assault, as we reported in October.

‘Your behaviour was appalling’

Darren Fleming, defending, said Spence was heading for the turnstiles when he became aware of the pitch invasion and “made the stupid decision to turn around”. He told the court Spence had seen opposition fans damaging seats and felt he “could perhaps assist”.

Sheriff Owen Mullan said a custodial sentence was “merited”. He told Spence: “Your behaviour was appalling and witnessed in the stadium and on national television.”

“As an SFA accredited youth football coach you will be aware of the standards of professionalism and responsibility expected at football,” the sheriff said. He also pointed out that Spence’s background report contained no apology to his victim.

What it means for Celtic

The scenes at full-time have already cost both clubs. The Scottish FA ordered Celtic and Rangers to play their next home Scottish Cup ties behind closed doors and to pay £100,000 to the other club, and both lost their appeals last month.

Celtic called it an “excessive and disproportionate punishment relating to an incursion by supporters at a moment of emotion and celebration”. Police arrested 43 people after the game.

Celtic are back at Ibrox for the Glasgow derby on 3 January.