Clubs must silence 'thugs' - Gold

Gold wants to silence the 'morons' who sing abusive songs at games

Lex Gold, the executive chairman of the Scottish Premier League, has spoken out about those who sing sectarian and abusive songs at football matches.

Describing them as "mindless thugs and morons", Gold insisted something had to be done to silence those who continue to sing the likes of the 'Famine song'.

Gold said: "You don't start with points deduction. We have a range of sanctions which can be applied.

"The test is, are the club doing the maximum to ensure their fans behave?"

Speaking at the launch of a campaign to publicise the Scottish Poppy Appeal, Gold said: "Clubs know they need to be alert and make sure their fans are doing all they can to avoid sectarian or other offensive abuse."

Referring to the 'Famine song', he said: "The verse of the song that has featured hugely is racist, it's not sectarian as such, it's racist. The rules were structured to help to try to tackle this.

"I just wish that this is going to go away. We're going to work hard on our side to try to make sure that it does," promised Gold.

While the SPL will do its part, Gold insists clubs must be on the look-out for troublesome fans.

"Clubs will have to keep alive to the need to ensure they're doing the most they can to prevent sectarian or other unacceptable behaviour of their fans," he said.

"To date, that is what has happened but I've got be careful because there are certain things we're considering at the moment.

"But there is no doubt they've worked very hard with us and I think it's going in absolutely the right direction.

"I would hope that we can concentrate more on the vast majority of supporters, not the mindless thugs and morons who besmirched the name of our game."