Celtic will have no away allocation when they travel to Rangers in the New Year as the deadlock over visiting supporters at Glasgow Derby matches continues.
The Bhoys have spent the summer implementing safety measures for the return of away fans to the fixture, which have since been completed. Nevertheless, Rangers won’t have any supporters present in Glasgow’s east end next month either.
Unsurprisingly, our rivals haven’t held up their end of the bargain due to playing at Hampden while stadium work at Ibrox continues after a well-documented delay.
Before the lockout was extended, a five per cent allocation was set to be present at both Celtic Park and Ibrox for the first two meetings of the Scottish Premiership season, providing the safety of fans was guaranteed on both sides.
With that not going to happen despite Celtic fulfilling their obligations, the club have now released a statement on the matter.
Celtic statement on Glasgow Derby lockout situation
Earlier today, Celtic released a statement on their official club website regarding the ongoing situation surrounding away supporters at Glasgow Derby matches.
In full, it reads: “Across a number of months, Celtic has completed all necessary works with regard to accommodating away supporters for derby matches.
“Without a guarantee that our supporters could attend Ibrox in January, however, unfortunately we were not in a position to allocate tickets to away supporters at Celtic Park for the forthcoming match in September. We will continue to engage with all parties to seek a satisfactory solution.”
Visiting supporters are now scheduled to return in 2025, prolonging the wait for the first two fixtures at least.
Celtic are correct in pointing out that they held up their end of the bargain. With the long-running feud over allocations set to continue for a while to come, we will need to wait and see what transpires now.
Either way, the whole process is becoming increasingly tiresome for fans and only damages the wider spectacle.
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