Celtic Supporter Arrested Over Assault on Frankie Kent
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 arrest comes four months after hundreds of Celtic fans poured onto the pitch in May, turning the post-match celebrations into a flashpoint as Hearts players and staff found themselves caught up in angry confrontations.
Police confirmed the man has been released on an undertaking to appear in court at a later date.
The development follows a public apology from BBC pundit Pat Nevin, who rowed back on “heat of the moment” claims that then-Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland had been assaulted during the same pitch invasion.
SunSport understands the player at the centre of the alleged incident is Kent, the experienced centre-back who came off the bench shortly after half-time that day and has since left Tynecastle for Oxford Utd this summer.
That afternoon’s chaotic scenes have fuelled months of bitter back-and-forth. Accusations, denials, and sharply opposing versions of events have dominated the fallout from a match that should have been remembered solely for the title being sealed.
Celtic were fined £7,500 and warned they could be forced to close a section of Parkhead, with the club facing the loss of 1,000 home supporters for a Scottish Premiership fixture if there is another “significant incursion” before the end of the 2027-28 season.
The Parkhead side were also hit with a £2,500 fine after fans entered the pitch and used pyrotechnics in the previous league game away to Motherwell, a contest settled by a dramatic 99th-minute penalty from Kelechi Iheanacho.
In the immediate aftermath of the Hearts match, Celtic chairman Brian Wilson fiercely rejected claims 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 stance. The Edinburgh club issued a strongly worded statement condemning what their players and staff had faced.
“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 arguments around that title-deciding day move from the court of public opinion to a legal arena that will scrutinise exactly what happened on the Parkhead turf.
