Celtic will get more brilliant backing in Dublin this afternoon against Wolves.
It’s the Hoops penultimate pre-season clash and a tasty one against the Premier League side in a city close to many of our hearts.
2018 was the last time Celtic visited Dublin, and it’s seven years since we last played at the Aviva Stadium.
Despite that, there were plenty of reasons for supporters not to go along to today’s match.
For a start, the fixture was only announced 17 days ago. That’s not a huge amount to time to finalise plans, including travel and accommodation, especially with the All-Ireland Football Final also on in the city this weekend.
Tickets for the match aren’t cheap either. The lowest ones currently left on the Ticketmaster website are the equivalent of £40. The ‘best’ seats in the stadium cost around £73. A regrettably high number for a friendly match.
Despite all of that, and the fact that Wolves are unlikely to have too many in the ground, the Celtic support seem to have snapped up a fair amount of tickets.
The Aviva won’t be anywhere near full for the match, something that is highlighted by tickets being available up until kick-off. It will, however, have a healthy number of Celtic fans in attendance, judging by the Ticketmaster page.
With the Bray Air Display also on this weekend, it’s a busy time for Dublin, and it seems like the police are struggling for numbers.
A Saturday report from the Irish Mirror says that Garda (Irish police) bosses are “desperately seeking officers” for both today’s match and the All-Ireland Final on Sunday.
They say that over 200 “officers from Waterford city and surrounding areas have been asked to volunteer for duty”.
Dublin is currently experiencing a shortage of officers.
The trip to the Irish capital does have the feeling of something that was thrown together at the last minute, mainly because it was.
That’s not really anyone’s fault, and it’s unlikely to take away any of the enjoyment of the thousands of Celtic supporters at the game. They’ll make themselves heard as usual.
In other news, team news and Celtic Predicted XI vs Wolves
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