Saturday 17 January 2015 12:18, UK
Rangers fans were involved in protests and violent confrontations with Hearts supporters and police on Friday night as their Scottish Championship match was abandoned after 24 minutes when snow made the pitch unplayable.
The match was played out against a backdrop of protests against the Rangers board - inside and outside the ground, before, during and after the game. Upwards of 3,000 fans are believed to have been at the protest before the match.
After the game was called off there were some ugly scenes in the stands, with stewards and police having to separate rival fans. And later on Friday night, some Rangers supporters broke into stadium offices, forcing police to move in again.
Sky Sports News HQ's Charles Paterson said: "The atmosphere at this game tonight was pretty spiky - it was bordering on poisonous at times. A major section of the Rangers support chanted 'sack the board' towards the directors box within the first minute. When it was announced that the game as abandoned there were boos ringing round the stadium as you might expect.
"But a short time after that there was a confrontation, or an attempted confrontation between sections of the Rangers fans at the far side of the stadium, heading towards the Hearts away support - both sets of supporters trying to get at each other. Stewards and police separated them. Not particular pleasant scenes. It's not been a great night at all for Rangers Football Club or Scottish Football."
Just before the game, former oldco director Dave King called an emergency general meeting of Rangers shareholders and plans to ask them to vote to remove the current Ibrox board.
Heavy snow fell on Glasgow on Friday, and although the pitch did pass a pre-match inspection, it quickly became clear that the conditions were worsening and after consultation with both coaches, referee Bobby Madden called a halt with the score 0-0.
Madden told Sky Sports News HQ: "When we arrived at the stadium 90 minutes before kick-off, the snow shower had started. The field of play at that time was in perfect playing condition and it remained that way until half an hour before kick-off. We were forecast that the snow would stay on for 10 to 15 minutes. That was extended to 30 or 40.
"We took another look...and were happy to kick the match off. The advice we had was that the snow would stop and that the undersoil heating would allow the snow to dissapate. It didn't work out that way. My priority is looking after the players' safety. Both managers seemed to have concerns."
Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson believes Madden made the right decision.
"I think Bobby made the right call to start the match - you never know with snow as it can break up and melt and we could have had a decent game," he said.
"But tonight it just turned to ice. It was soft underneath and then hard on the top and it becomes a shambles. Players were missing the ball and others were falling over it, but the real worry is that someone gets injured."
Rangers caretaker boss Kenny McDowall claimed the under-soil heating had been on "full blast" but within seconds of the match starting it was clear the turf was not safe.
"It's easy in hindsight what should have happened but I think the referee hoped with the players on it and the under-soil heating that it would thaw out," he said.
"But the temperature was pretty cold so it didn't allow it to thaw out at all and it turned into ice. The players couldn't pass the ball or turn when they tried to run so it became very difficult and it was the correct decision in the end to call it off."
On the protests in the stands, he added: "All I can say is we did hear it, but we were fully concentrated on the game."
