Hearts condemn 'disgraceful' Celtic scenes as investigation launched into 'deeply disturbing' claims

Celtic emerged with a 3-1 victory over the Edinburgh club at Celtic Park on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season to secure a fifth consecutive championship - their 14th in the last 15 years - and deny Hearts a first title since 1960.

After Daizen Maeda had put Celtic 2-1 ahead in the 87th minute, hundreds of home fans spilled onto the pitch in the aftermath of Callum Osmand's clinching third goal in the seventh minute of added time.

The clock showed there was still around 40 seconds left to play but the game did not restart, with some Hearts players including captain Lawrence Shankland surrounded by Celtic supporters before being helped off the pitch by stewards.

Hearts players and staff were then given a police escort out of the stadium and left without conducting media duties for safety reasons.

The Tynecastle club described the scenes as "shameful", "disgraceful" and “completely unacceptable” and called on the Scottish football authorities to take the strongest action possible.

A club statement read: "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.

"Given the menacing and threatening atmosphere inside the stadium, our entire staff had no alternative but to leave immediately, without undertaking post-match media duties. To our media partners, we apologise but the safety of our staff was our prime focus during these unacceptable scenes.

"The pitch invasion caused a chaotic end and nobody seemed to know whether or not the match had been brought to a finish.

"Our players were then denied the opportunity to thank our magnificent fans – sensational to a person – for their backing this afternoon and all season long.

"We expect the strongest action possible to be taken by the footballing authorities in the interests of protecting the safety of players and supporters, and the integrity of our game.

"This season has seen Hearts capture the imagination of football fans, not only in Scotland, but the world over. We pay tribute to Derek McInnes, his staff, the first team and the supporters, who have done the club proud this season. None of them deserved the disgraceful scenes that unfolded."

Under normal circumstances, the Hearts players – win, lose or draw – would have gone over to acknowledge the 752 supporters in the away end at Celtic Park at the end of the match.

Instead, they boarded their bus almost immediately and, still wearing their kits, headed back to Edinburgh.

The squad were greeted by fans at Tynecastle on their return and looked visibly upset as they got off the bus, with the likes of Cammy Devlin and Frankie Kent struggling to contain their emotions.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill addressed the pitch invasion during his post-match interview.

“If some Hearts players have been accosted, then that's just not right at all,” he said. "I genuinely didn't see the scenes at the end because I thought the game wasn't over, so I'm trying to push some of our fans off the pitch again to play whatever's left.

"Obviously, at 3-1, I think that the fourth official had said to me, there was like a minute to go when we scored the goal, so with the best will in the world, they're not going to get two goals in that time.

"Obviously, there's a lot of commotion in the tunnel, so I don't know, but getting back to the point, if Hearts players have been accosted by some of our fans, that's pretty serious. Honestly, I'm not pushing it to the side, it'll be something that the officials or people will have to look at."