A report last night suggested that theRangers are now considering offering Celtic a ticket allocation for the first Glasgow Derby game of the new campaign in September.
The report mentions them offering an ‘olive branch’ to Celtic which is amusing as that means there has been a disagreement of some sort, but there is no quarrel between the clubs. It takes two to have a disagreement, and only one club is in wrong here and it’s not Celtic.
As we all know theRangers threw the toys out the pram as they and their supporters were sick and tired of seeing the Celtic support in the Broomloan Road stand at Ibrox celebrate on a regular basis. That’s the one and only reason for it, no matter what anyone says. Them slashing our allocation meant we had no choice but to return to the favour. Anything more would’ve been unacceptable.
This was supporter led, with their leading forums arguing that if they could win their home games at Ibrox against Celtic – aided by having no Celtic fans there – then it wouldn’t matter if they lost on their visits to Celtic Park and it would them come down to them getting the better of the so-called Diddy teams making up the rest of the Scottish Premiership. That was the mindset.
They knew too that the referees would do there bit, as Ange Postecoglou was told in his first day at the club and he then discovered for himself how accurate that advice would turn out to be.
Celtic went along with the Ibrox plan for a reduced allocation with 700 Celtic fans attending the matches at Ibrox and 800 of their fans getting tickets for the Glasgow Derby games at Celtic Park.
READ THIS…Janefield St Crush Report – Police plan ‘significant contributory factor’, praise for Celtic supporters
The only incident of note that happened at Celtic Park as a result of this change was the Janefield Street crush as changes to access meant that more supporters were forced to use the passage behind the North Stand and only the good sense of the Celtic support stopped this becoming a tragedy.
READ THIS…Metal object thrown at Greg Taylor and Celtic physio, Celtic fans hit by bottles
At Ibrox it’s been a different story. We have had a Celtic fan seriously injured in January this year after being hit by a bottle. In 2022 a member of the Celtic coaching staff was scarred for life after being hit by a glass thrown by a thug (who is no doing time in jail) from their CORPORATE area in the main stand. And in the same game play was halted after the interval after broken glass was thrown onto the pitch at the Copland Road end of the ground into Joe Hart’s penalty area.
Apparently the ‘new offer’ it’s the measly 700 on offer yet again, an absolutely ridiculous amount for a such a big fixture and one that Celtic has also rejected because the club cannot guarantee supporters safety. Celtic cannot and must not accept this offer and in the extremely unlikely event that they did then Celtic Supporters should boycott the fixture anyway. That corner is a death trap for Celtic fans.
I hope and expect that Celtic will tell them where to shove it, and we offer them nowt for Celtic Park too. It looks unlikely there will ever be a return to the old allocation of 8,000, but surely a comprise like a European style allocation of 3,000 is worth discussing? It’s better than the current situation, which is entirely the fault of one club and it’s not Celtic.
They have sold their season tickets, as have Celtic so there will be no short term solution. Get used to no away fans at Glasgow Derbies, unless of course Sky Sports complains.
It’s widely believed that it devalues the derby without the presence of away fans. There could be a hint of truth in that, but it will remain this way until one club comes to it senses. It’s all down to them, make no mistake.
JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy
HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!
The Celtic Star’s Summer Promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).
All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!