Kevin Clancy fan threats '100 times worse' than in Hugh Dallas' day as ex ref slams out of control 'morons'

The harrowing image will last a lifetime and longer. A shocked, dazed Hugh Dallas, down on his haunches, with a stream of blood trickling from his hairline. Felled by a flying coin. The victim of Old Firm rage.

It’s been 24 years since those shameful events at Celtic Park which highlighted so horribly the depth of the hatred and poison that runs so deeply beneath what is billed as the crown jewel rivalry of the Scottish game. But Dallas believes the situation facing today’s referees is far more sinister and dangerous than anything he had to deal with during his own high-profile days as the man in the middle in the 90s and early 2000s.

“I think social media has made it 100 hundred times worse than it was in my time,’ Dallas told Record Sport as Scottish football engaged in yet another period of navel-gazing in the aftermath of this fixture’s latest outrage.

Cops confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that they’ve launched a criminal investigation after a barrage of vile abuse and threats were made to Kevin Clancy and passed on to them by the SFA following Saturday’s latest showdown between Glasgow’s incompatible neighbours.

The dossier contains ‘hundreds’ of examples of evidence of potential hate-crime offences, gathered chiefly from emails, text messages and social media platforms. Clancy’s personal details were posted online as part of an apparent malevolent rallying call for retribution over his decision to disallow an opening goal for Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos.

And Dallas said: “Thankfully, in my day, we didn’t have to contend with that. Yes, you’d get the odd phone call from or a text message from somebody who had managed to get hold of your mobile number. But you just deleted it and it was finished.

“But now it’s