Two clubs in the Scottish Premiership have sent letters to the SPFL to clarify the situation regarding the lack of away fans at Celtic Park, Hugh Keevins reports in The Sunday Mail today.
Celtic have been unable to host away supporters so far this season due to a Covid-19 redzone surrounding the dugouts, as demanded by the Scottish football joint response group.
As confirmed by the Celtic SLO, the club have to accommodate visually impaired and disabled season ticket holders who are normally in the Main Stand. Section 120 is the only part of the stadium that a dedicated area with easy access and exiting can be provided, say Celtic.
Keevins reports that two clubs have now written to the SPFL for a “definitive ruling” on the situation, with an answer expected this week.
And the veteran journalist goes on to accuse Celtic of a rule breach, writing in his Sunday Mail column: “Away fans being locked out of grounds is a blatant breach of the SPFL ’s own rules that state clubs must provide a reasonable portion of any stadium for opposition supporters.
“It is a dereliction of duty on the part of the governing body to turn a blind eye to this recent practice of the Old Firm clubs not abiding by the rules.
“Stopping the newly-developed notion of excluding travelling fans should be considered a priority as things stand. The SPFL’s Rule I 27 states home clubs must make provision for ‘reasonable number of visiting supporters at every home match’.
“In the event of there being no agreement able to be put in place, the SPFL Board are empowered by Rule I 28 to specify a number of away fans and their decision is ‘final and binding’. What are they waiting for?”
There’s a good explanation for all this from a Celtic perspective
There’s definite sympathy for away fans here, but I think criticising Celtic too much for this is harsh.
This is a presumption, but I’m guessing the club have already told the SPFL and other clubs exactly why away fans can’t be accommodated. It’s a stretch to suggest that Celtic are doing this out of badness.
The JRG rules being what they are means that there are limited options to house the visually impaired and disabled season ticket holders in a manner that respects their situation. That may be an inconvenient truth for some, but it remains a truth.
Certainly away fans couldn’t be crammed into another part of the stadium, with season ticket holders dotted all over the stadium even when some can’t make it. Those seats are bought and fans could turn up even when it doesn’t look full.
Some will point to the league cup games and reduced attendances, but again there’s a fair explanation. Celtic’s home cup ticket scheme, which automatically purchases tickets if supporters opt-in, ensures that fans are ostensibly dotted all over the stadium again, even with gaps and a smaller crowd. That makes it difficult to give away supporters a dedicated section of the stadium without a serious rejigging of the ticketing system.
You could argue Celtic could go to that effort, but this is a temporary situation. No one is saying this is ideal, but there are reasons behind all of this beyond being big, bad Bhoys. The logistics in ensuring all season ticket holders are sitting together in a block without gaps, allowing a new away section to be created, are quite grand in scale.
So while clubs are well within their right to contact the SPFL, I’m not expecting too much to come of this when the answers are out there already.
In other news, full-back dilemma & other Ange puzzles; Predicted Celtic XI vs Dundee United.
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