Celtic fans are unhappy after STV News erroneously claimed to show broken seats in the away end at Ibrox.
Much of the conversation since the game, won by Martin O’Neill’s men on penalties, has centred around the behaviour of supporters which saw a widespread pitch invasion after the game.
The match was the first time that Celtic fans were given the full Broomloan Stand in eight years, and after the events that transpired, it looks unlikely to happen again in the foreseeable future.
In reporting the events, STV News have been left with egg on their faces after an error.
How can we ensure that the Glasgow derby can continue having full allocations after the latest incident?
STV’S Celtic vs Rangers mistake
The broadcast showed drone footage of seats at Ibrox, with a voiceover saying: “An aerial view of Ibrox this afternoon and broken seats, and broken seats in the away end are obvious.”
The one issue is that the pictures were of the Copland Road stand.
READ MORE: Daizen Maeda’s offside Celtic goal vs Rangers called ‘farcical’ by ex-referees
Fans noticed this from the Safe Standing barriers at the front, and Rangers-coloured stickers all over seats. This is where the Union Bears were seated for the game.
The Broomloan Stand is also against a solid brick wall, rather than the hollow sheltered section seen at the top of the Copland Road.
This is another case of reality being ignored in coverage of this story. This is an example of home supporters causing damage to Ibrox.
Whilst neither group can be exonerated of blame, this also goes against the idea that Rangers fans were simply responding to being provoked by the away end.
Police Scotland chief Emma Croft said that the allocation ‘isn’t workable’ at the moment, after widespread criticism of how the game was policed.
For much of the last decade, a capacity of 800 away fans has been in place at the games, though this was eventually dropped by Celtic due to fan safety concerns.
Celtic’s run of fixtures before the the SPFL split.
How many points are we picking up from these?
Martin O’Neill reacts to Celtic vs Rangers
Understandably, Parkhead boss O’Neill was asked about the post-match events after the game, but he was keen not to let it distract from the team’s performance.
He told Premier Sports: “It looks as if there was a few tête-à-têtes anyway, as much as anything else.
“Yeah, that’s unfortunate, but hopefully it doesn’t dilute the performance, or in terms of character, all the things that we had.
“It was our fourth game in 10 days, and we were really, really out on our feet, but we defended magnificently, absolutely magnificently.
“Got blocks on, players throwing their bodies on the line, all the things that you can describe, I’ve got the utmost regard for the team.”
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