Celtic return to action this weekend when we take on Hearts at their Tynecastle home.
It’s probably the second tastiest away day we face during the domestic season. We don’t have a great time for the Edinburgh side and you could say the feeling is mutual.
In years gone by, thousands of Celtic fans would be making the journey across to Gorgie. Yet, this Sunday, our allocation at Tynecastle is a measly 576.
The Hearts explanation for the shockingly low allocation is that they’re prioritising their own supporters.
“We’re in a really great position at the moment,” CEO Andrew McKinlay told Sky Sports back in July. “We have 15,500 season ticket holders and we actually have a waiting list now close to 7,000.
“So huge demand from our fans means we already have a large number of season ticket holders in the Roseburn Stand, the traditional away part of the ground, and those season tickets apply for every game other than Hibernian.”
While looking out for their own fans is their prerogative, it really won’t be a good look for Hearts if there are lots of empty seats for a game being shown live on Sky Sports. The pressure is on.
Back in May, when we clinched the Premiership title, there were plenty of spaces in the home end. At that stage, the Celtic allocation was 1,264. So Hearts now have about an extra 700 tickets to sell for this weekend.
If they manage it then fair enough. But something tells me that Tynecastle won’t be sold out. And with thousands of Celtic fans locked out, that’s not great.
In other news, Celtic international round-up: Carter-Vickers relief, promising Bernardo, Oh struggles
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
