Old Firm cuptie moved to Sunday
Old Firm clash moved back 24 hours as seven Scottish Cup ties switched to avoid clash with Royal funeral
THE Old Firm’s Scottish Cup showdown has been rescheduled for Sunday as part of an emergency overhaul of the fourth-round fixture schedule.
Record Sport revealed yesterday the SFA had convened a breakfast time pow-wow in order to thrash out a contingency plan to reschedule this weekend’s packed schedule around the funeral of Prince Philip.
And we then broke the news online that part of the solution would see Celtic’s trip to Ibrox moved from Saturday to Sunday.
The news was confirmed by Hampden bosses last night along with a completely redrawn SPFL fixture list
for this weekend across the three lower leagues – with all of Saturday’s matches across the Championship, League One and League Two switched to noon kick-off slots.
But the scheduled card for the last 16 of the cup had to be completely ripped up in a show of respect to the Duke of Edinburgh who passed away on Friday aged 99 and will be laid to rest in a ceremony at Windsor Castle at 3pm on Saturday.
The new-look fixture list kicks off at 6pm on Friday when St Mirren will host Inverness Caley Thistle followed by a 7pm slot for Motherwell v Morton.
Dundee United’s trip to Forfar – which had already been selected for live broadcast by BBC Scotland – will go ahead as originally scheduled on the same night with a 7.45pm start.
Kilmarnock will take on Montrose at 11.45am on Saturday to ensure any extra time and penalties do not overlap with the royal funeral.
And that potential for a clash has also caused Stranraer’s live BBC match with Hibs to be moved back 24 hours to 12.15pm on Sunday.
Aberdeen’s last-16 tie with Livingston – one of two matches to be screened live by Premier Sports – has been brought forward from Sunday afternoon to 5.30pm on Saturday. St Johnstone will take on Clyde at the same time.
It’s understood police stonewalled any talk of the Old Firm derby being pushed back into that Saturday evening slot, which is why it will now be held back until 3pm on Sunday and shown live on Premier Sports.
Fixtures: Friday, April 16 – St Mirren v Inverness (6.0), Motherwell v Morton (7.0), Forfar v Dundee Utd (BBC Scotland, 7.45).
Saturday 17 – Kilmarnock v Montrose (11.45), St Johnstone v Clyde (5.30), Aberdeen v Livingston (Premier Sports, 5.30).
Sunday 18 – Stranraer v Hibs (BBC One, 12.15), Rangers v Celtic (Premier Sports, 3.0).