Celtic Boys Club beast Frank Cairney removed from home by police after protest

Serial sex offender Frank Cairney was removed from his home by police officers last night following a protest outside the property.

A demonstration took place outside the home of the 90-year-old Celtic Boys Club beast in Viewpark, Lanarkshire.

Cairney, who was previously jailed for his abuse of boys during his time with Celtic Boys Club, was seen being helped into a police van.

An officer in hi-vis clothing helped him from his home before helping him into the back of a van with a cell within it.

Shouts of "beast", "evil monster", "dirty scum", "disgusting", "vile old beast" and "time to leave" were heard before police officers arrived on the scene.

The protest was live streamed on the Facebook page of Awareness Protection Team, a group "dedicated to identifying and exposing individuals who pose a risk to society".

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 9.50pm on Monday, 2 March, 2026, we received a report of a crowd gathered outside a property on Elmbank Avenue, Glasgow.

“Officers attended and the crowd later dispersed.”

In 2023 Cairney was ruled to have indecently assaulted three players in the 1970s and 80s, following a hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

He had been due to stand trial over the claims but was deemed unable to participate in the proceedings due to health issues.

An examination of facts was held, and Sheriff Tom Hughes ruled there were no grounds for acquittal.

The court heard that Cairney assaulted the three boys in the Celtic Park shower room and dressing room of the club's Barrowfield training ground between July 1978 and June 1989.

He also carried out abuse on a team trip to Aviemore and in his car. The incidents emerged after three former players contacted police in 2018 and 2019.

In 2019 he was jailed for four years for the sexual abuse of boys as young as 12 between 1965 and 1986.

Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that "the revered football manager was in fact an active paedophile" who abused boys in the teams he ran.