Celtic fan banned two years over offensive gesture to Lawrence Shankland

Celtic fan banned for two years over Shankland gesture

A 37-year-old Celtic supporter has been banned from attending football matches for two years and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after making an offensive gesture towards then Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland during a pitch invasion at Celtic Park.

Celtic Park, the scene of the 16 May pitch invasion

Liam Connolly, of Kirkcaldy, Fife, ran on to the Celtic Park pitch after his side defeated Hearts 3-1 on 16 May — a final-day, top-of-the-table clash that secured the Scottish Premiership title for the Hoops, their 56th league crown. A mass pitch invasion by home supporters followed the full-time whistle.

According to court papers, Connolly “conducted himself in a disorderly manner,” forming part of a disorderly crowd before approaching Shankland, 31, and making the offensive gesture. He was carrying a child unknown to the Crown at the time of the incident. Shankland and other Hearts players were escorted from the pitch after fans flooded the field.

Connolly pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to committing a breach of the peace. He was handed 150 hours of unpaid work and a two-year ban from football matches.

Broader crowd-disorder backdrop

The incident sits within a wider wave of crowd-control problems at Scotland’s leading clubs. On 25 September 2026, BBC and Sky Sports reported that Celtic and Rangers had appealed Scottish FA sanctions ordering both to play their next Scottish Cup home ties behind closed doors and pay £100,000 fines, after pitch invasions and crowd violence at Ibrox in March.

Later, on 9 October 2026, BBC reported that the Green Brigade ultras announced a boycott of Scottish Cup and home European ties in an escalating board row, after the club threatened an “indefinitely ban” on anyone “established to be involved in planning, facilitating or participating” in an incident and withdrew recognition of the Celtic Fans Collective, a coalition that includes the Green Brigade.

Shankland, 31, remains on Hearts’ books; a player snapshot taken on 13 October 2026 listed him with five Premiership appearances and three goals in the 2026-27 campaign.