Celtic will experience a 23-year first on Saturday as they play at home at the same time as Rangers.
As reported by the Scotsman, Celtic’s friendly against Norwich will be the first time they’ve kicked off at the same time, and in the same city as Glasgow rivals Rangers, who are facing Tottenham Hotspur at Ibrox, since 1999.
On that occasion, Celtic beat Airdrie 3-1 in the Scottish Cup whilst the Ibrox side progressed against Stenhousemuir.
Police Scotland Chief Superintendent Mark Sutherland insists that plans are in place to deal with the unusual circumstances.
He said: “We are aware of the upcoming football fixtures in Glasgow on Saturday, 23 July, 2022.
“We are working with a range of partners including both Celtic and Rangers Football Clubs to ensure an appropriate plan is in place that delivers safe and secure events and reduces disruption to the wider public.”
Likely an unusual one-off
UEFA also have strict rules about concurrent kick-off times between teams from the same city, with two clubs a distance of 31 miles or less apart being unable to both play in European competitions in the same city on the same night.
It was a situation Celtic had to accommodate last season, with the club’s Europa League group tie against Hungarian side Ferencvaros being moved to a Tuesday 3:30pm kick-off due to additional complications stemming from UEFA regulations around Champions League broadcast rights, and Glasgow’s COP26 conference the same month.
Exceptions have been made to the rule in the past, with Arsenal and Chelsea both playing at home in Europe on the same night in February 2018, Arsenal kicking off at 5:55pm and Chelsea the later time of 8:05pm.
The forthcoming friendlies are likely a pub quiz question oddity rather than something we can expect to occur routinely in the coming years.
Whilst most match-going Celtic fans would no doubt welcome more 3pm fixtures, it’s probably in everyone’s best interests that these don’t clash with other Glasgow teams playing at the same time.
In other news: Broadcast shake-up for Celtic as media company announces ‘significant’ rights acquisition
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