Stuart Patrick: New thinking on Old Firm would boost Glasgow

The sixth Old Firm meeting of the season on Sunday thankfully passed without major incident. However, it is clear that the fall-out from the previous match will still have repercussions far beyond the field of play, with commitment from the First Minister, the police and others to take strong action.

My organisation's view is that while we recognise events such as those at that earlier game risk damaging Glasgow's image for investment, any action taken must be proportionate.

For instance, we urge caution on the much-discussed limiting of access to alcohol before and after matches. Businesses in no way associated with Old Firm games should not suffer, and it is also important that Glasgow tourism isn't adversely affected by visitors being unable to have a refreshment simply because their stay happens to coincide with a Rangers-Celtic match.

The Old Firm's importance to Glasgow's economy is emphasised in a Fraser of Allander study commissioned by the City Marketing Bureau a few years back.

It showed that, over a season, you can estimate the Old Firm's impact as being something of the order of 120 million of added value to the city's economy, supporting around 3,000 jobs – especially if the teams can put together a decent run in Europe – through attracting fans from outwith the city to spend money in our hotels, restaurant and shops.

The economic downside is in the impact that actual match days have, with some people deciding not to come into the city centre.

Retailers and restaurants report losing as much as 25 per cent of their business on match days, and licensed premises have to incur much higher security costs to deal with fans who have been drinking all day.

With this in mind, we would like to see the option of rescheduling Old Firm matches to a Monday night being seriously considered, since that would reduce the scale of the impact on city centre business and limit the amount of time working fans have for drinking.

l Stuart Patrick is chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce