Celtic and theRangers are holding talks regarding an away allocation for the two remaining Scottish Premiership matches this season, according to a report in The Times, which states that the SPFL has encouraged both clubs to find a compromise after the first two matches this season have had no away fans in attendance.
The first match at Ibrox last September, which Celtic won 1-0 thanks to a wonderful strike from Kyogo, saw Celtic return an allocation of 750 tickets after theRangers failed to take appropriate measures to make-safe the away corner. The latest Ibrox club, as exclusively reported on The Celtic Star (the day before Daily Record reported the same thing claiming it was their exclusive), admitted that the away corner was dangerous after seven Celtic supporters had received injuries due to being hit by objects, including glass bottles, thrown from the home support.
READ THIS…Senior Celtic Source – Rangers agreed that Ibrox corner is unsafe and plan to install nets
And we told you that theRangers had promised to install nets around the away section but this could not be carried out in time ahead of the first Glasgow Derby of the season.
And with their usual brass neck, they then attempted to force Celtic to give them an away allocation on 30 December for the Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park, which Celtic won with goals from Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo – again with a brilliant finish from outside the box.
Now for the third game at Ibrox on 6 April, there could be a return to an away allocation with Celtic getting the 750 tickets and them getting the same for the post-split fixture at Celtic Park, presumably the next month.
Celtic had enjoyed considerable success at Ibrox since theRangers completed their journey through the lower divisions to reach the Scottish Premiership for the first time in season 2016-17. That season Celtic won twice at Ibrox, including the 5-1 humiliation that we looked back on yesterday on The Celtic Star.
By March 2018, hopes were high that a victory over Celtic could lead to a late title challenge but in a dramatic game with the score at 2-2 and Celtic down to ten men after Willie Collum had red carded Jozo Simunovic, Odsonne Edouard scored a sensational winner to win the three points and effectively end their title hopes. How the Celtic support celebrated! And as an extra bonus we all got to enjoy the commentary highlights on theRangers TV…
On their fans forum Follow Follow a plan was then hatched to reduce the away support in order to increase their chances of winning a first ever league title for the new club. They reckoned if they could win their games at Ibrox then the Celtic Park fixtures were cancelled out even with Celtic wins, which they expected. Therefore the league would come down to who could get the most points against the rest.
Did CELTIC start the TICKET ALLOCATION WAR OF 2023!?!
Eh, no.
Another reminder… here is Gary Ralston, on the official Daily Record Rangers Podcast, August 2017… 2 0 1 7… vocalising the Rangers fans desire to cut allocation cause we scudded them.pic.twitter.com/OzIUn4s68y
— 🍔 Gastro Celtic 🍀 (@Gastro_Celtic) August 17, 2023
That was the plan and before the Willie Collum VAR issue was jumped on – even though it was OFFSIDE – there was considerable ‘rebellion’ mounting on that very forum as posters argued that they had caused the away reduction and that had 8000 of their fans been at Celtic Park on 30 December then after Tavernier scored to make it 2-1, their support could have inspired their team to get something from the match.
From a football supporters’ point of view that’s a valid argument but it’s the first time that it’s been aired over there since they themselves instigated the away allocation.
There’s a meeting next week of all 42 clubs and the away ticket issue was going to be discussed. That though will now not happen as the SPFL believe that the matter is better left to the two clubs to sort themselves if possible and if not that the league will look at it further down the line.
And there’s also talk of Hearts being asked to account for the reduction in away supporters with the two Glasgow clubs and Aberdeen having complained about the reduction in the away support to just 650 tickets. Hearts claimed that this was due to ‘overwhelming demand’ from home supporters but at the recent match at Tynecastle against Celtic there was plenty of empty seats and they ended up with their lowest attendance of the season so far.
Returning Celtic accepting tickets for the game at Ibrox in April, this will only be done if the club are satisfied about the safety issues that are going to be put in place. The Celtic support has been supportive of the club’s stance on returning tickets for the last game at Ibrox due to safety concerns and also on subsequently refusing their request for tickets for the most recent game in December.
Celtic’s preferred option is to return to the original away allocation but that logistically couldn’t happen until next season at the earliest. So for the two remaining games the likelihood is that there will be 750 away supporters allowed at Ibrox in April and 800 of theRangers supporters inside Celtic Park in May, but that’s all dependent on the Ibrox club – who has accepted that the away section is unsafe as it stands – makes the necessary alterations that Celtic regard as being acceptable.
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Dig yer heels in for once,Lawwell and do something that actually helps the Celtic support rather than your usual bending over to the huns.
Mibbe if this fat parasite was to fight our corner he might gain some respect from the non happy clappers among our fans.
Not before time,anyway !!
The full Free Broomloan or NOTHING !!!
Tell them to bolt otherwise,as putting up some nets might stop batteries,golf balls etc but last time l heard they don’t stop cans containing hun piss from being deposited onto the away support.
Until they can guarantee our fan’s safety100% we shouldn’t even be considering an end to the impasse.
I,for one,don’t miss them at Paradise !!