GERS’ FURY
Ibrox crowd restricted to only 8500 fans this weekend while Celtic get approval for 18,500
RANGERS were last night raging after Glasgow city council greenlighted 18,500 fans for Celtic’s friendly on Saturday – 10,000 more than at Ibrox just two hours later.
But local authority chiefs insist they are only following safety guidelines after
ordering Gers to leave Ibrox more than threequarters empty for their clash with Brighton while at the same time giving Celtic the thumbs up to stage the biggest crowd in Scotland since the start of the pandemic.
Steven Gerrard’s squad are gearing up for a glamour double-header against Graham Potter’s Premier League side on Saturday with Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid visiting the following day.
Gers announced earlier this week they’d use the tune-up clashes to ramp up their preparations for the return to full houses.
The Brighton game – that kicks-off at 5.30pm – will be staged in front of 8500 fans, with 12,500 lucky ballot winners set to pile through the turnstiles for Sunday’s showdown with the Galacticos.
Rangers plan to increase the capacity to 17,000 for their first league game of the new season against Livingston on July 31 before hopefully throwing the gates open and staging a 51,000 sell-out for their Champions League clash with Malmo or Helsinki on August 10 – the day after Scotland’s Covid restrictions are due to be lifted.
But news the Hoops will run out to a crowd of 18,500 fans for their 3pm warm-up match with West Ham left both Ibrox chiefs and fans stunned.
A well-placed Ibrox source told Record Sport: “The board are not happy about this at all.
“They simply cannot understand why Glasgow city council are only allowing them to welcome in 8500 fans to Ibrox when there will be double that
at Parkhead for a game kicking-off two hours before. It doesn’t make sense.”
However, council bosses say the discrepancy is due to a graduated build-up for large-scale events that’s been agreed with the Scotland’s Safety Advisory Group, which regulates attendances.
As Celtic hosted 9000 fans for Tuesday’s European qualifier with Midtjylland, they can now increase the capacity for the Hammers showdown.
But because Rangers’ clash with Brighton is the first since Scotland moved to level zero on Monday, they are only allowed to make use of around 50 per cent of their 17,000 Covidsafety crowd limit – with the proportion jumping to 75 and then 100 per cent for the matches against Real and Livingston.
A council spokesman said: “We think this gives the right balance and allows Glasgow’s clubs to start moving towards normality.”
Celtic bosses have welcomed the decision that will see Parkhead beat the country’s previous pandemic crowd record of 16,500 for the Lions rugby clash at Murrayfield last month.
The Hoops said: “We will be doing all we can to work closely with the relevant authorities and welcome our fans back in even greater numbers in the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, Rangers have confirmed there will be no away tickets available when they travel to face either Malmo or Helsinki on August 3.