Celtic Supporter Arrested for Assault on Frankie Kent During Title-Clincher
A Celtic supporter has been arrested over an alleged assault on Hearts defender Frankie Kent during last season’s dramatic title-clincher at Parkhead.
The man was detained four months after hundreds of Celtic fans flooded onto the pitch in May, igniting angry flashpoints with Hearts players and staff in the aftermath of the final whistle. He has since been released on an undertaking and is expected to appear in court at a later date.
SunSport understands Kent is the player at the centre of the allegation. The experienced centre-back came off the bench shortly after half-time in the decisive fixture and has since left Tynecastle for Oxford Utd this summer.
The incident has unfolded against a backdrop of claims and denials that have rumbled on for months. That storm intensified when BBC pundit Pat Nevin publicly apologised for “heat of the moment” comments suggesting then-Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland had been assaulted during the same pitch invasion.
Disciplinary fallout followed quickly for Celtic. The club was fined £7,500 and warned it could lose 1,000 home supporters for a future Scottish Premiership match if there is another “significant incursion” onto the pitch before the end of the 2027-28 season. Celtic were also hit with a separate £2,500 fine after fans entered the field and used pyrotechnics in the previous league game away to Motherwell, settled by a 99th-minute penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho.
Celtic chairman Brian Wilson pushed back hard after the Hearts clash, dismissing talk of serious disorder.
“There was nobody attacked. The game did finish,” he said. “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 took a very different view. In a strongly worded statement on the day of the match, the Tynecastle club condemned what unfolded at Celtic Park.
“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 looming, the legal process will decide what really happened in the chaos of that title-winning afternoon.
