FANS RETURN FORSPFL PLAYOFFS
Joy as fans to return for play-offs... and maybe even Cup Final
SCOTTISH football is set for a huge shot in the arm next month with padlocks ready to come off the turnstiles in time to let fans in for the end of season top-flight play-offs.
And the prospect of fans being allowed back by the middle of next month may even help convince the SFA to switch the Scottish Cup
Final away from the National Stadium in order to get supporters back for the showpiece season finale on May 22.
Record Sport can reveal plans are being drawn up to allow as many as 2000 supporters into both legs of the play-off doubleheader that will decide promotion to and relegation from the Premiership.
The move comes after the Scottish Government announced the country is to be let out of lockdown and returned to a tiered system, with all of Scotland expected to be placed in level two by Monday, May 17.
And the planned lifting of restrictions means club football is in line to be given the green light to reopen its gates a month ahead of schedule, with around 12,000 fans expected to be at Hampden for Scotland’s Euro 2020 opener against Czech Republic on June 14.
The lifting of restrictions will come too late for Rangers fans to attend title celebrations when Aberdeen visit Ibrox on May 15 – or for supporters at the other end of the table to attend relegation shootouts the following day.
But by the time the Premiership play-off final first leg kicks off on May 19, the Government expect the entire country to be in level two or lower.
That means crowds of up to 2000 will be permitted to attend the showdowns, with the second leg on May 23 – the day after the Scottish Cup Final.
The Cup Final is set to go ahead behind closed doors at an empty Hampden only because, from May 14, SFA chief Ian Maxwell is to hand over the stadium to UEFA to begin preparations for the Euros.
But the prospect of supporters being allowed into play-offs on either side of the big event may force the SFA into a rethink.