The dates and times for next month’s Scottish Cup semi-finals were announced on Thursday – with Celtic once again set to play in the latter of the two matches.
Neil Lennon’s ‘Quadruple Treble’ hopefuls will take on Aberdeen on Easter Sunday (12th April) at the National Stadium with a 3pm kick-off.
The game will be shown on Premier Sports, and will arrive just 24 hours after the Edinburgh derby at the same stadium.
Celtic’s Sunday semi-final pattern
Playing as the second of two semi-finals is nothing new to this Celtic team nor ones from yesteryear.
Since the start of the 2011/2012 season, we have played 12 of our 14 Hampden semis after the other match has already been played. (collated via fitbastats.com)
Only our two Betfred Cup clashes against Hibernian (in 2017 and this season) have bucked the trend – having been played on the Saturday.
There was also the bizarre Murrayfield debacle last season but, in terms of Hampden clashes, we are virtually always the second semi-final.
In the Scottish Cup the pattern is more stark. Our last eight Scottish Cup semis have been played on the Sunday, after the first semi took place a day earlier.
Next month’s clash against Aberdeen will make it nine in-a-row.
So what does it matter?
Playing as the second semi-final has far more pitfalls than positives.
First of all, the Hampden surface has had a game on it the previous day, meaning that it’s in a worse conditions than it was 24 hours earlier.
This can affect our slick passing game and even act as a bit of a leveller for the opposition.
Secondly, Sunday games are far more awkward for fans to get to. Ferries and trains are less frequent and getting to and from the ground can be a struggle.
Surely then, it’s time that Celtic make a point to the SFA (and the SPFL when it’s the Betfred Cup) that we should be given our fair share of Saturday cup semis.
We’re often seen as the bigger of the two games due to our size and fanbase, but that doesn’t mean that we should continue to be hamstrung.
Celtic should make the governing bodies aware that we want just as many Saturday semis as Sunday ones.
That would suit our team, management and fans much better.
What are your thoughts on us continually being made the second Hampden semi-final? Comment below and join the discussion in our newly launched fans forum…
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