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THE chief of Scotland's biggest police force watched the Old Firm mayhem in a state of disbelief and anger.

And yesterday, Steve House told First Minister Alex Salmond: "This can't go on."

Within minutes of arriving at his desk, House drew up plans for a summit to tackle the problem.

But even before he finalised his draft, the Strathclyde chief constable received a phone call from Salmond. And the two men agreed: "Enough is enough."

Wednesday night's clash between Celtic and Rangers saw 13 bookings, three Gers players sent off and 34 arrests in the crowd - most of them for sectarian breach of the peace.

And the match ended with a furious confrontation between Celtic boss Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist.

A fortnight earlier, a match between the sides led to a wave of drink-fuelled violence, more than 300 arrests and saw domestic violence soar by 80 per cent.

House had already warned that seven Glasgow derbies in a season was placing an "intolerable strain" on his force.

And Wednesday night's shame game saw his patience run out.

A police source said: "On an angry scale of one to 10, the chief was a 10.

"After everything that had been said in the build-up to the match he simply could not believe what he was seeing.

"He vowed enough was enough."

During their 10 minute conversation, House and Salmond agreed urgent action was necessary to address the problem before the sides meet in the League Cup final on March 20.

Two hours later, the First Minister publicly endorsed the plans - and launched a thinly veiled attack on Lennon and McCoist.

Salmond told MSPs: "The players are role models for society - and the management of football clubs have a particular responsibility. They are people in positions of responsibility and they must - absolutely must - behave responsibly."

The summit will bring together police, politicians and club bosses.

The SFA yesterday confirmed they had launched a probe as chief Stewart Regan condemned the ugly scenes.

He said: "The unedifying sight of two of the country's most recognisable and respected coaches engaged in an angry confrontation was not only unsavoury but exacerbated an already incendiary atmosphere inside the stadium and throughout the west of Scotland."

But last night the two sides still seemed far apart.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell took issue with Regan's comments.

He said: "Celtic had three players booked last night. Contrary to Stewart's statement, I do not think that our players showed a lack of respect to officials. "The team remained composed throughout what was, at times, a difficult game. They should be congratulated in this regard. I believe that events should be put into some perspective.

"I know Neil and Ally have moved on from this in the correct manner."

Rangers chief executive Martin Bain suggested events at the previous Old Firm clash had played a part.

He said: "There was increased tension, mainly as a result of incidents at previous matches where two of our players were the subject of extreme verbal abuse in the tunnel and around the dug-out area at Ibrox.

"When the First Minister and I spoke today I said we would willingly take part in the summit and welcomed the opportunity to discuss matters surrounding these fixtures 'frankly and openly'.

"As regards drunken, violent or sectarian behaviour, we are at one with the police and government. Indeed, we work closely with Celtic through the Old Firm Alliance and other initiatives to tackle sectarianism."

Strathclyde Assistant Chief Constable Campbell Corrigan said last night: "We can't arrest our way out of this. The time's come for a wider debate on this.

"The day after these fixtures we are literally mopping up the pieces.

"If anybody is so naive to think that the activity of the people involved in the game itself doesn't have a huge impact on the crowd, whether it be in the ground, in the pub, on the other side of the world, they are hugely naive.

"I would very much encourage that in any game in the future, whether it's players, managers or coaches, that they understand that we need to deal with the consequences of a two-minute, fairly aggressive in appearance, interaction."

Anti-sectarian charity Nil by Mouth welcomed the summit and condemned the behaviour of the players, coaches and fans.

A spokeswoman said: "Never was there a better time to start using football banning orders properly and nor a better time for those involved in professional football to rein in their egos and think about the example they are setting.

"Our job just got even harder." Last weekend, Scottish Police Federation chairman Les Gray called for Old Firm matches to be banned as they caused "murder and mayhem".

Yesterday, he said: "The behaviour of all those involved last night was nothing short of disgraceful.

"Something needs to happen. It may well be that they'll have to look at playing the game behind closed doors."