Callum McGregor has experienced every type of Glasgow derby atmosphere under the sun during his time at Celtic.
He’s faced Rangers home and away with zero away fans in attendance, but has also played in numerous cup clashes at Hampden where the ticket split it 50/50.
McGregor was also privy to the derby games that saw roughly 7,000 away fans allowed into either Celtic Park or Ibrox.
That was last seen in 2018 before Rangers cut Celtic’s allocation as the Hoops dominated the domestic landscape and scooping up trophy after trophy.
Since then, we’ve seen 750 away tickets sold and fans sadly being locked out entirely for one of the best spectacles in world football.
But thankfully, both clubs have now confirmed that 4% of saleable capacity will be allocated to Celtic and Rangers away fans at their opponents’ ground.
McGregor wants 7,000 Celtic & Rangers away fans at derbies
That will kick into gear in March when Celtic host Rangers in the Premiership. It means 2,400 Rangers supporters will be inside Parkhead for the occasion.
But McGregor actually wants more and a return of the 7,000 away allocations. Asked initially if he wanted to see that again, the Celtic captain said: “Yeah, yeah. It was obviously a while ago now but it was great.
“I think the atmosphere generally in the stadiums and in the games created a real buzz around the place.
“So yeah, listen, it’s a big fixture and we want to try and maximise it as much as we can. Every game that’s on the TV then show the best version of Scottish football and that includes the supporters as well.
“So if we can make it a really good spectacle, more people will watch and buy in etc. So it can only be a good thing for the game.”
McGregor insists Celtic & Rangers fans must behave
However, McGregor made it clear that away fans need to behave themselves upon their returns to both Celtic Park and Ibrox before any further increase in allocations.
Celtic’s most expensive ever transfer export Matt O’Riley was targeted with a bottle during last season’s 3-3 draw with Rangers at Ibrox.
While in April 2022, Celtic physiotherapist Daniel Friel was left with permanent scarring after being struck by a bottle thrown by a Rangers fan.
McGregor said: “It just adds to the spectacle and I think it’s a good thing. So hopefully, as I say, we can have a positive experience and we can maximise the game being at home and we just take it from there.
“Hopefully everybody behaves themselves properly and we can take another step forward from there hopefully.”
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