The potential dates Celtic's postponed Scottish Premiership fixture could take place

By Lewis Laird

September 9, 2022

As confirmed earlier this afternoon, Celtic’s Scottish Premiership fixture against Livingston this weekend has been postponed.

Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, the SFA came to the decision to postpone all fixtures taking place on Saturday to pay their respects.

With funeral arrangements still to be announced, there is also the possibility that next weekend’s games, including the Bhoys outing against St Mirren, are also moved.

As is standard procedure for any fixture postponement, a new date for the match against Livingston will be announced in due course.

However, supporters have been left questioning where this game will fit into the extremely busy schedule over the coming months.

Looking closer into the Scottish Football calendar, we could potentially have to wait until 2023 for the Hoops match-up against Livingston at Parkhead to take place.

At the end of September, players at clubs across the globe will go their separate ways due to the up-and-coming international break.

Upon their arrival back at Lennoxtown, Ange Postecoglou’s squad face a packed few weeks of fixtures between October 1st and November 12th.

During that time, the Bhoys will be participating in 13 games across three different competitions, with two games per week and no current free midweek gaps in between.

In November and the beginning of December, there is also the small matter of a World Cup taking place in Qatar, with several Celtic stars expected to be involved.

Scottish Football action returns on the 17th of December as Celtic travel to face Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Currently, the only free date in 2022 that Celtic’s postponed clash against Livingston could take place is the midweek beginning the 19th of December, squeezed in between weekend games against Aberdeen and St Johnstone before Christmas.

However, club’s may be reluctant to rush their players into two games a week right from the off, after a long break away due to the World Cup.

To me, the most likely dates for these games to take place will be during the month of January.

At this moment in time, the Bhoys are scheduled to take part in four fixtures during the opening month of 2023, including games against Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Dundee United.

Our first game of that month comes against Glasgow rivals Rangers, with the second derby of the campaign being played out on Monday 2nd of January.

With that game taking place on a Monday afternoon, I think it’s fair to rule out the first midweek in January. But, at this point, the Hoops do not have any further fixtures scheduled into the opening month of the year.

So, the midweek dates starting on the 9th, 16th and 23rd seem like a real possibility.

Overall, this looks like a bit of a logistical nightmare for the clubs and all those involved in the decision-making process.

The fixture schedule was already crammed together as it is, and with other sports such as Cricket and Rugby going ahead this weekend, it seems to me that football authorities may have jumped the gun a little with this decision.

It could become a further logistical problem for the Scottish Football authorities should next weekend’s games be called off.

There is also the possibility of Celtic reaching the Premier Sports cup semi-final should they advance past Motherwell, with the tie taking place next month.

That would lead to another of Celtic’s Scottish Premiership clashes being postponed, with a home fixture against St Mirren pencilled in on the same weekend that the cup semi-final is set to take place.

Hopefully, the Scottish Football authorities can come to a quick conclusion in order to give supporters plenty of time to change or cancel their plans.

It certainly seems like there is a lot to be discussed, and Celtic’s fixture schedule could be about to become crammed once again heading into 2023.

In other news, Report: Celtic’s Champions League fixture against Shakhtar Donetsk expected to go ahead.