A football boss has hit out after a gang of around 30 masked youths forced their way onto a Glasgow pitch and caused thousands of pounds of damage.
One person was arrested and charged and further games of the season could be cancelled as a result of the violence that ensued last Saturday.
Fraser Cromar, CEO of Partick Thistle Charitable Trust, which owns Petershill Park, explained: "This is the second similar incident in 12 months. It's absolutely not on.
"We can try and find a way to protect the facility, but more importantly, we need to talk about the health and well-being of people, football can wait.
"Until safeguarding measures are put in place, I will not be asking my staff to work.
"Until we've got a plan around enforcement and have badged security marshals for the gates and the turnstiles, I'm not willing to allow Petershill Football Club to play out here."
Two members of staff were "assaulted" when the large group, wearing black clothes and balaclavas, burst into the building and forced their way to the grass pitch, carrying poles and corner flags, which they had ripped out of the ground earlier.
The incident shook attendees and the chief exec claimed several 101 and 999 calls were made when the group burst in, shortly before Petershill FC faced Sauchie Juniors FC in the South Challenge Cup.
He added: "The ultras forced their way into the reception area, assaulted a 69-year-old member of staff, which is pretty disgusting and assaulted committee members of the football club as well.
"Pyrotechnics were thrown onto the pitch and over the fence.
"Fireworks were also fired into the ground and they ripped down CCTV cameras, broke turnstiles and tried to enter storage facilities, where different football clubs keep expensive equipment."
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Employees are heartbroken as £1500 of damage was caused, in addition to £2000 of destruction earlier this year.
The trust is a charity working to combat deprivation and child poverty and this cash will make a significant dent in its finances.
Mr Cromar continued: "They're actually harming the charity because it's our name and it's our responsibility to keep the place watertight.
"The charity has heavily invested in the fantastic pitch, floodlights and all that kind of stuff.
"Damages come out of the budget that I should be spending on kids coming in for after-school clubs, holiday hunger programmes, mental health football, and more.
"Now, I will need to go and spend it on fixing these issues.
"I don't think people really understand that that's the effect that it has. They don't have a clue."
The CEO said education, enforcement and the monitoring of the vandals are key to avoiding similar attacks in the future.
He has called on the football club and the Scottish Football Association to step in and increase security at games.
A Petershill FC spokesperson said: "The club utterly condemns the abhorrent actions of the crowd of youths who attended our match against Sauchie last Saturday, with the sole intention of causing trouble and subsequently caused damage to the stadium at Petershill Park.
"Since the match, we have been made aware that there were social media posts encouraging so-called “ultras” to come to our game, posts which have since been deleted or made private.
"We have complete sympathy and understanding with Partick Thistle Charitable Trust that they have a duty of care to protect their staff and property while any match is taking place at Petershill Park.
"We are also very concerned at the threats of violence that were made towards staff, our committee members and fans, when they tried to intervene to stop trouble escalating and that members of the general public were also put at risk."
They thanked local politicians and Police Scotland for their support and confirmed they are looking at ways to prevent this from happening again.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 2.20pm on Saturday, September 13, 2025, officers received a report of a disturbance at a pitch in the Southloch Street area of Glasgow.
“A male youth was charged in connection and a report was submitted to the relevant authority.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
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