Hibs cut Celtic’s allocation but can’t fill their own stands

Hibernian made the decision at the beginning of the season to cut Celtic’s allocation for this afternoon’s game at Easter Road.

The Edinburgh side cited fan behaviour and feedback from their own support for the rationale behind the move.

However, as the teams lined up, it was clear to see that the Hibs faithful had once again failed to fill their own stands.

The Famous Five stand was littered with empty seats as was the East Stand. The excuses that usually get rolled out about fans not being able to make games due to the weather, proximity to Christmas etc simply do not apply. This is Hibs’ first home game of the new season.

The rationale behind cutting the allocation appears to be little more than pandering to their support at a time where their board was under attack. The blocking off of sections in the Celtic End has no real impact other than to simply punish supporters looking to go to the games.

The Celtic fans filled their allocation, as usual, and could have filled it up many times over. The reality is that clubs in Scotland are happy to cut their nose off to spite their face – Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Mirren all come to mind too.