Tit-for-tat ticket spat
● Rangers cut Celtic allocation by 6,000 ● ‘We are happy to reciprocate’ say rivals
Rangers yesterday announced plans to slash Celtic’s ticket allocation for visits to Ibrox, with the Parkhead side almost immediately following suit.
In a move that blew apart a reciprocal arrangement between the clubs, Celtic fans are set to receive fewer than 1,000 tickets for away Old Firm games next season.
Celtic fans have traditionally filled both tiers of the Broomloan Stand in an agreement by which approximately 7,000 travelling supporters attend derbies at both grounds.
Rangers say they have made the decision amid unprecedented demand for season tickets for Steven Gerrard’s first campaign in charge.
Rangers received “more than 40,000 renewals” before their deadline and are now set to announce plans to open up the process to new season ticket holders.
A club statement read: “We have already received an enormous number of requests in advance of the close of the renewal date and we have had to consider carefully how best to accommodate these supporters in light of the record renewals.
“Our supporters will always come first and as many of them as practically possible must be accommodated. That is why the club has decided on an overall increase in the total number of season tickets available to our supporters to what will be a historical record. A further announcement on the final new ticket allocation will shortly be made available on the club’s website.
“An unfortunate consequence of putting our supporters first is that this increased demand negatively impacts on the number of tickets which will be allocated to visiting teams. This means all visiting fans will now be situated in the corner between the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine Stands. We believe that this is the best possible outcome after considering the unprecedented levels of support from Rangers fans.”
Most visiting clubs receive about 900 tickets for league games at Ibrox, which has a capacity of 50,817.
Celtic took little more than an hour to announce plans to cut Rangers’ allocation.
A statement on their website read :“An unprecedented double treble and historic season for the club has led to a phenomenal level of demand from supporters to be part of Celtic.
“We are happy to reciprocate in terms of ticket allocation, something which will give us the opportunity to meet this huge demand to visit Celtic Park.”
Rangers chairman Dave King, meanwhile, yesterday called for the SFA to suspend one of its non-executive directors for comments he allegedly made about the club’s fans.
Gary Hughes appeared to
“Our supporters will always come first and as many of them as possible must be accommodated”
label Rangers supporters “the great unwashed” in an article that appeared in The Publican magazine in August 2006.
At the time, Hughes was chief executive officer of the trade magazine’s publisher, CMPI.
Asked to explain what he loved about Glasgow pubs, Hughes is reported to have said: “Glaswegians are passionate about sport – actually, I mean fitba’!
“The next best thing to being at Celtic Park (only the great unwashed venture south to Ibrox) is watching the game, pint of Tennent’s in hand, along with some like-minded souls.”
King urged Hampden top brass to suspend Hughes, and demanded an in-depth probe.
In quotes reported by the Herald, King said: “I can confirm receipt of information, which would appear to be credible and merits an immediate and thorough independent investigation.
“Mr Hughes should be suspended pending the investigation.
“I also believe steps must be taken to ascertain whether any other SFA individuals were aware of what mr hughes said about Rangers supporters before he was appointed a nonexecutive director of the governing body in 2015.”
King insisted that it was “important to discover” if there had been any breach of the SFA’S duties and responsibilities to all clubs.