Celtic supporters chanted: “If you hate the royal family clap your hands,” during a minute’s applause in memory of the Queen, before the Scottish Premiership defeat at St Mirren in Paisley.
The hosts had confirmed the planned applause days after Celtic became the subject of Uefa disciplinary proceedings when supporters displayed an banner reading “Fuck the Crown” during Wednesday’s Champions League draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Poland.
Visiting fans housed in one stand behind the goals in Paisley chanted the anti-monarchy sentiment and there was banner held up which also read: “If you hate the Royal Family clap your hands.”
The 2-0 defeat to St Mirren, brought about by goals from Mark O’Hara and Jonah Ayunga, was Celtic’s first league loss in a year. It was the hosts’ first win over their opponents in the Premiership since March 2010.
In the run-up to Sunday’s game, Celtic’s manager, Ange Postecoglou, had called on fans to respect the tribute: “I have the same message to our fans that we always have. As I said before the game [against Shakhtar], we will abide by the protocols. We wore black armbands on Wednesday night.”
He added: “I think there’s a minute’s applause [on Sunday], we will abide by whatever obligations and responsibilities we have as a football club. We will do that in a respectful manner. We want our supporters to do the same.”
A minute’s silence at Ibrox on Saturday was disrupted by Dundee United supporters. Boos and derogatory chants could be heard coming from the corner of the stadium housing several hundred United supporters before Rangers played God Save the King.
In a brief statement, United later stated that they had “reached out to advise our supporters of the pre-match arrangements with the expectation that the minute silence would be observed”.
There were similar reactions ahead of Hibernian’s game with Aberdeen at Easter Road, where boos and chants were audible during a minute’s applause.
The Scottish Football Association had postponed all matches last weekend after the Queen’s death and gave clubs the option of choosing whether and how to pay respects when games resumed.
In a joint statement with the Scottish Professional Football League on Monday, the SFA said: “This week, as a mark of respect and in keeping with the period of national mourning, home clubs may wish to hold a period of silence and/or play the national anthem just ahead of kick-off, and players may wish to wear black armbands.”
