Celtic have confirmed they’ll hand bitter rivals Rangers just 800 tickets for their first meeting of the 2018/19 Scottish Premiership campaign in September.
Rangers released a statement back in May revealing that every visitor to their Ibrox stadium would be receiving no more than 900 tickets for the forthcoming season, with away fans now sitting exclusively in the corner between the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine Stands.
That policy includes their arch enemies from across the city, who would usually bring between 5,000 and 7,000 supporters to Govan on a usual Old Firm match-day.
And earlier this afternoon, via the club’s website, the Celtic hierarchy hit back and said Rangers will be receiving around 800 tickets for the match on September 2 – but they’re not particularly happy about it.
The statement reads: ‘CELTIC Football Club has confirmed that it will issue approximately 800 tickets to visiting supporters for the fixture against Rangers at Celtic Park on September 2. This mirrors the decision announced recently by Rangers.
‘This is not a development we welcome and it is unfortunate that the initial decision came without any form of discussion.
‘The previous arrangements worked well for both sets of supporters as well as contributing to the status of the fixture as a sporting occasion.
‘Following the unilateral action by Rangers, we cannot allow our own supporters to be doubly penalised, by having access to the away fixture reduced so dramatically, while not being offered the opportunity to maximise our own support at Celtic Park.
‘The rules of the SPFL call for ‘reasonable’ provision to be made for visiting supporters, without being specific on numbers. Within that context, we would welcome further discussions involving the two clubs and the SPFL.
‘Celtic’s decision relates, at this stage, to the match on September 2, 2018.’
What do you think of the developments? Surely big away presences at both Old Firm grounds help to make the fixture more of a spectacle, no?
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