KRIS BOYD believes the foundations of the Old Firm disgrace and violence were laid before kick-off at Ibrox on Sunday.
Former Rangers striker Boyd returned to Ibrox to watch Rangers fall to Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarter-final on penalties.
Disturbing scenes broke out just moments after the shoot-out as supporters clashed, objects were thrown and police scrambled to restore control.
But Boyd who believes away supporters could now be banned from the fixture — says the atmosphere felt volatile even before the 1pm start.
He told SunSport’s Go Ballistic YouTube show: “A lot of it stemmed from before the match.
“You were hearing reports of people attacked on the streets beforehand.
“You saw Celtic fans going through barriers.
“Going to the game, I just knew something was going to happen.
“It was bubbling away. The longer the game went on, the frustrations of the fans were growing.
“But the way it ended, the football is irrelevant. The behaviour after the game is all that’s being spoken about.”
Celtic triumphed 4-2 on spot-kicks after a 0-0 stalemate at Ibrox.
But the match itself was quickly overshadowed as rival supporters spilled out of the Broomloan and Copland Stands, creating chaos on the pitch.
Celtic had been given an increased allocation of 7,500 tickets by the SFA — their biggest number of Ibrox briefs in eight years.
Away supporters had previously been banned from the derby before smaller allocations were gradually reintroduced for Premiership games earlier this season.
But Boyd now fears the fixture could return to a complete away-supporter ban following the ugly scenes on Sunday.
He said: “We have heard the clubs speak of wanting to get the crowds back in to make it a better experience.
“But you can forget it, and it still wouldn’t surprise me if there were no Rangers fans at Celtic Park after the split.
“It was grim. There’s no getting away from it. There is no excuse for what happened after the game.
“We try to talk up the Old Firm and everything it’s given us over the years.
“But for that to be beamed round the world on Sunday – the scenes were shameful.
“I’d imagine there will be a lot of people facing consequences for their actions after the match and rightly so.
“It’s going to come to there being no away fans.
“There have been arguments and people putting forward cases to get the away fans back in.
“There have been trials of alcohol in the grounds in recent months.
“You can forget all that now. There’s absolutely no chance that’s going to happen now.”
The SFA quickly condemned the violence at Sunday’s quarter-final and are set to probe the incidents which were broadcast around the world.
Rangers are still expected to receive tickets for the post-split league trip to Celtic Park.
But former Scotland international Boyd has urged calm after being deeply shocked by the violence which marred the sell-out Old Firm clash at the weekend.
He added: “Look at the spectacle created in Edinburgh at the rugby on Saturday.
“Scotland beat France and I’m sure a lot of the French fans were disappointed to lose the game.
“But it was peaceful, people went to enjoy the game and there were no problems.
“But you get the feeling there are a lot of people feel they can go into football grounds and do anything they want.”