Celtic open to allocation return as no Rangers fans to be welcomed at New Years game

Celtic are reportedly open to a return of an away allocation for Glasgow Derby fixtures after the bold decision was taken to lockout Rangers fans for the game on January 2nd. The allocation in August was cut entirely as Rangers decided that they didn’t have enough assurance over tickets for the game in the New Year. Now, they will reap what they sow as Celtic decided that there would be no away fans in the stadium for the crucial fixture.

Now, The Scottish Sun are reporting that the Celtic hierarchy are open to discussing a resolution to the three-year dispute with their Ibrox counterparts. Rangers cut Celtic’s allocation in 2018 following 4 wins out of 4 since Rangers were promoted. Celtic decided to reciprocate the Ibrox decision by cutting the allocation of Rangers supporters after Dave King decided to cut Celtic’s from 8000 to just under 800.

The atmosphere has suffered as a result and Celtic have reiterated that they are merely following the lead from across the city. It will certainly be a different spectacle playing with no away fans but the issue will hopefully be addressed after this lockout of Rangers supporters.

In anticipation of the whataboutery and blame that folk love to sling about on here…No away fans means poorer atmosphere and therefore a lesser spectacle. The single biggest selling point of Scottish football |(to a global audience) is greatly depreciated and less valuable https://t.co/Qh9DuWW9oj

— Rory Hamilton (@HamiltonRory) November 1, 2021

In the interests of parity, there should be no Rangers fans in attendance when the teams meet for the first game of the 2022. However, thereafter, the clubs should be discussing a resolution that sees the spectacle of a full away end returning to both Celtic Park and Ibrox.