A Scots crime photographer who has witnessed some of the UK’s most brutal riots says the Trongate chaos was the scariest he has ever witnessed.
Brian Anderson, 55, has snapped some of the world’s most notorious criminals and riots in the UK and Europe, and placed himself at the heart of the violence on Saturday night.
He was one of several people injured as drunken fans threw missiles and bottles at police hours after Celtic had been crowned league champions.
Anderson, who currently runs his own Naked City blog, said: “I was in the middle of a war zone. I was getting abuse from the fans on the rampage and it was absolute chaos.
“I like to record history and get the images nobody else can get and that requires me to be in the heart of things.”
View 5 ImagesMany fans wore tricolour balaclavas(Image: Brian Anderson)
During the chaos, Anderson described seeing a young woman being knocked unconscious after being struck by a bottle.
He said: “A girl was lying on the deck. I saw her being struck by a flying bottle which had come from the Celtic fans.
“They were so drunk they were throwing them at the police but not caring where they landed. The bottle hit her on the head and she went down.
“A guy who was sitting at the side of the road picked her up and carried her to the police cordon where eventually she was let through for treatment.
“Another guy with a tricolour balaclava was standing with his top off with the riot police behind him. I think he might have been trying to discourage the violence, but I was busy taking pictures among the fans and it was absolute chaos. It was so dangerous and I had to get out at one point because people were turning on me.
“It was scary because of the number of bottles whizzing past my ears.
View 5 ImagesBrian was amongst the chaos on Saturday(Image: Brian Anderson)
“I was also chased by the cops after I took a photo of someone injured. It was truly frightening and absolute mayhem.
“I have covered English riots and this was up there with the sheer levels of danger. People didn’t seem to like me documenting what was going on.
“These were drunken maniacs throwing bottles. I got injured by a bottle that smashed and the glass went through the sole of my boot and cut my foot.
“I eventually limped away because I feared for my safety.”
Former press photographer, Anderson is no stranger to dangerous assignments.
He has snapped some of the world’s biggest criminals including London mobsters such as Freddie Foreman and Kray rivals, Eddie and Charlie Richardson who controlled parts of London’s underworld in the 1960s.
View 5 ImagesRiot police were called in(Image: Brian Anderson)
He has been involved in portrait shoots with Scots former gangland figures such as Paul Ferris and Tam ‘The Licensee’ McGraw.
Occasionally, that led to threats over his photographs of some of the country’s biggest villains.
He also documented the infamous ‘battle for Rostock’ when police and protestors clashed in the German city during the G8 summit in 2007, leaving 1000 injured.
Anderson says Saturday’s violence was up there with the most dangerous he’s encountered.
He said: “I covered the Battle of Rostock and also the riots in Manchester at the Uefa cup final in 2008 when Rangers fans rioted before the game between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.
“I had to hide under a bin lid for that one and I saw another photographer being kicked senseless. I was the only person who captured what was a full scale riot.
“This one at the weekend was up there with that even though it was smaller. It was very dangerous due to these mindless maniacs who are spoiling it for decent supporters.”
The disturbance at the weekend took place in the Trongate and Merchant City in Glasgow.
View 5 ImagesThe streets were covered in rubbish(Image: Brian Anderson)
Two police officers were “seriously injured” and 14 arrests were made during the trouble which occurred after Celtic’s Premiership title win against Hearts.
Bottles and other missiles were thrown at officers as around 3,000 Hoops fans gathered after the game.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland later said he was “disgusted and frustrated” by the violence shown towards officers.
He said Celtic FC needed to “step forward” to ensure there was no repeat of the disorder next year.
Sutherland said one officer was left with facial injuries while the other had been left with bruising to his body after being struck by bottles.
Anderson added: “The police did well to hold the line. It was mindless thuggery. Some people have tried to defend the behaviour but throwing bottles is never acceptable.
“It was pandemonium.
“I’ll remember this as the battle for Merchant City.
“The police handled it well but they should never have been out in that position.
“People attacking fans is never acceptable. It was a hardcore of mindless morons but there were also fans celebrating who weren’t part of the violence.
“There were fans who didn’t like what they were seeing. Mindless morons spoiled it for everybody else.
“Hopefully, these unsavoury scenes will mark the end of these kinds of celebrations because the authorities will want to take control and not lose the city to rioters in future.
“I really put myself in danger to get these photographs because I believe that social history, even if it is unsavoury, should be documented for posterity.
“That is part of my job whether people like it or not. I think these pictures tell the story that will shock a lot of people because thankfully incidents like this and major disturbances like this one are still pretty rare.”
Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE