Joe Hart doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of Celtic receiving a small allocation for Tynecastle.
The Hoops received just over 1,200 tickets for trips to Hearts last season, but that number will be almost halved in the coming campaign.
The Jambos are said to be reducing our allocation due to “high season ticket sales and match-by-match demand”. (BBC)
Celtic were victorious on their two league visits to Tynecastle last season, including our title-clincher in early May.
After that 2-0 win, Hart spoke to BBC Scotland and admitted that it gave him extra pleasure doing it against a team who had cut the Hoops allocation.
“They’re amazing,” he said of the travelling Celtic support. “They’ve been everywhere. They go everywhere with us.
“I think it’s even sweeter to come to a stadium where they’ve tried to have as few in as physically possible. But they can’t be stopped.”
Hart’s comments got a bit of a reaction from Michael Stewart at the time, with the pundit reckoning that they didn’t need to be said.
But Hart was only fighting Celtic’s corner, and it seems like he’ll need to do more of that next season.
It is Hearts’ choice what they do with their stadium. But you can’t help but feel it’s a bad look for Scottish football when thousands of Celtic fans are shut out while seats lie empty in the home end.
Bigger away supporters mean better atmospheres, and league organisers should be looking to get the Hoops faithful involved as much as possible.
As Hart says, regardless of number, we can’t be stopped. We’re due at Tynecastle in late October. That should be interesting.
In other news, Conor Hazard has finally ended his nine-year affiliation with Celtic
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