Celtic fans have had to endure the recent hardship of having their away ticket allocation cut by a number of clubs over the last two seasons.
Of course, the trend was started by Rangers when they decided that they no longer wanted to give the Celtic support the full 7,000 allocation for the Broomloan Stand back in 2018. [BBC]
At that time, Celtic were in complete domination of their Glasgow rivals under Brendan Rodgers. Whilst Rangers stated at the time the reason for the cut was to meet ‘unprecedented demand’ for season tickets, many Celtic fans will have their own take on that.
However, since then we have seen teams like St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Hearts all follow suit and whilst they have every right to look after their own supporters, there is no denying that when the games are viewed live on TV, there are still a significant number of empty seats that could have been filled by Celtic’s large travelling support.
However, there are two SPFL clubs that are looking to buck that trend. Aberdeen CEO, Allan Burrows told on Twitter last night that he has requested extra away tickets from Livingston after selling out 3000 of their initial 3500 allocation.
Burrows said, “Not even 48 hours out and we’ve sold over 3,000 of our initial ticket allocation (3,500) and have asked Livi for another 750, to take us to 4,250.
“It’s anticipated they will go fairly quick too, so if you want to be there as we open 2023/24, make sure you get in early..”
It looks likely that Livingston will grant that request as they barely have enough home fans to fill their ground. And to be fair to Livingston, they have always been more than accommodating when it comes to issuing Celtic a decent away allocation.
And as for Aberdeen, they have taken a progressive approach as they plan to hold discussions with SPFL clubs as they look to increase their home support at Pittodrie and also accommodate a ‘fair and proportionate’ amount of away supporters next season. [Daily Record]
However, the Celtic fans will be hoping that this recent development will help persuade other SPFL clubs to follow suit or even reverse past decisions to cut allocations.
Scottish football fans are one of the most passionate supporter bases in Europe. Our league is also one of the best supported per capita in the game. What makes our game unique is the atmosphere created by both sets of opposing supporters and we are in danger of diluting that if the current trend of cutting away ticket allocations continues.
In other news, “That’s my concern”: Peter Grant highlights problem position for Celtic ahead of new season
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
