Green Brigade and others will demonstrate against Police Scotland before the Scottish Premiership match

Celtic supporters will stage a protest ahead of Hearts’ match at Celtic Park on Saturday as fans react to Police Scotland’s methods at the Glasgow ground. The Edinburgh club travel west for an important Scottish Premiership fixture, with the home team looking to take one step nearer the league title and the visitors seeking points to qualify for Europe.

Celtic followers are angry after some were refused entry to their game against Rangers earlier this month and have organised a demonstration before the game. Supporters of both clubs were prevented from entering the ground by police for failing to comply with Section 60 stop and search requests. Other incidents during the match also required police to intervene.

In a post on social media, Celtic fan groups have united against what they claim are unlawful actions by Police Scotland officers. The Green Brigade, Bhoys Celtic, The Celtic Trust and Fans Against Criminalisation are among the organisations preparing to take part in a protest at 1.15pm on Saturday at London Road Police Station.

Following the Rangers fixture, the Green Brigade released a statement explaining their thoughts on what happened the previous day: “Yesterday, there was a premeditated attack on football supporters by Police Scotland. We believe their actions were unlawful and we are currently taking legal advice. The actions of the police should serve as a stark warning to all football supporters in Scotland and anyone who values civil liberties.

‘Scottish football fan culture should be embraced’ - Green Brigade

“Scottish football has a committed, passionate, creative and overwhelmingly positive supporters culture. Instead of embracing this, it is routinely targeted, often leading to mainly young males being unnecessarily and harshly criminalised. Strangely, yesterday's incident was exactly 12 years since the infamous 'Gallowgate Kettle', which sparked mass demonstrations and ignited the successful Fans Against Criminalisation campaign.

“In light of recent events, we are calling for a formal review of fan engagement in Scottish football with a view to implementing a formal framework for fan engagement at both a central and a club level. It is only through proper two-way engagement with supporters that supporter concerns can be efficiently managed. We will begin consulting and coordinating with all interested supporters in Scotland on how to achieve this.”

Hearts fans will travel to Glasgow’s east end hoping to capitalise on any local unrest following Celtic’s 3-2 home defeat against Rangers. That result brought Brendan Rodgers’ team their first domestic loss at Celtic Park this season and they will be eager to avoid back-to-back reverses when Neil Critchley and his side arrive in town looking to cause an upset.

Celtic remain top of the Premiership and hold a 13-point lead over second-placed Rangers ahead of this weekend’s games. As a result, they are overwhelming favourites to retain the league title this season. Hearts moved into the top six with a 2-0 win over Ross County prior to the international break and will hope for a result in Glasgow to aid their European aspirations. They want a top-four finish after a poor start to the campaign.