Celtic Supporter Arrested Over Assault on Hearts Defender Frankie Kent
A Celtic supporter has been arrested over an alleged assault on Hearts defender Frankie Kent during last season’s explosive title decider at Parkhead.
The arrest comes four months after hundreds of Celtic fans flooded the pitch in May, turning a day of celebration into an ugly confrontation as Hearts players and staff found themselves face to face with jubilant – and some aggressive – home supporters.
Police confirmed that a man has been detained and later released on an undertaking to appear in court at a future date.
The development lands after BBC pundit Pat Nevin publicly apologised for “heat of the moment” comments in which he claimed then-Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland had been assaulted during the same pitch invasion. That claim fuelled a storm of debate in the aftermath of the match.
It is understood the alleged victim is centre-back Kent, who came off the bench shortly after half-time that day and has since left Tynecastle for Oxford Utd in the summer window.
The fallout from that afternoon has rumbled on for months. Accusations and denials have flown between clubs, pundits and supporters, with the pitch invasion drawing heavy scrutiny on Celtic’s crowd control and the wider image of the Scottish game.
Celtic were fined £7,500 and warned they could be forced to close 1,000 seats for a home Scottish Premiership fixture if there is another “significant incursion” onto the pitch before the end of the 2027-28 season. The governing bodies made it clear: one more major breach and there will be tangible consequences inside the stadium.
The club were also hit with a separate £2,500 fine after supporters entered the field and used pyrotechnics in the previous league match away to Motherwell, a dramatic contest settled by a 99th-minute penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho.
Celtic chairman Brian Wilson pushed back strongly against talk of serious disorder after the Hearts clash. He said: “There was nobody attacked. The game did finish.
“The Hearts players were not advised by police to leave the stadium promptly. It was all rubbish.
“And yet people who should have known better or people with axes to grind who couldn’t quite conceal them, made this into a running narrative until it ran out of steam. So we weren’t going to get involved in that stupid debate.”
Hearts saw it very differently.
In a stinging statement released on the day, the Edinburgh club said: “Heart of Midlothian utterly condemns the shameful scenes at Celtic Park this afternoon which have, once again, embarrassed Scottish football.
“Reports of serious physical and verbal abuse towards our players and staff, both on the pitch and elsewhere, are deeply disturbing.
“We are investigating this fully and are in dialogue with Police Scotland.
“We will make no further comment at this time other than to say that it is completely unacceptable that our players and staff were put in that situation.”
Now, with an arrest made and a court appearance to come, the flashpoints from that title-clinching afternoon are no longer just a matter of football politics and public statements. They will be tested in a courtroom, under oath, with the wider conduct of Scottish football’s biggest occasions once again under the microscope.
