Rangers and Celtic have agreed to allocate around five per cent of tickets to away supporters for Old Firm matches from next season.
After missing out on the travels to Rangers this season, Celtic supporters will be back at Ibrox next season.
An understanding has been reached by Rangers and Celtic to allow more spectators from outside the stadium to attend Old Firm derbies going forward. Beginning with the upcoming season, roughly 5% of the seats in their stadiums will be reserved for Scottish Premiership away fans.
The two Glasgow heavyweights were involved in a squabble whereby each team would periodically reduce the number of tickets available to the supporters of the opposing team for away games at Celtic Park and Ibrox.
This began in 2018 when Rangers manager Steven Gerrard was appointed. Before that, almost 7,000 supporters of the other team could take in the intense atmosphere of the derbies.
However, there haven’t been any away supporters at the games lately. The main explanation given for the low number of away fans is the safety of the supporters. Earlier this season, Celtic turned down 700 tickets for a match at Ibrox.
All that is required of host teams by SPFL rules is that a “reasonable” amount of away fans may attend league games. However, following conversations between the clubs and the police, the league’s decision-makers have now intervened and assisted in solving the issue.
The SPFL made the following announcement on Friday: “Following engagement with both clubs, the SPFL is pleased to confirm that Rangers FC and Celtic FC will provide ticket allocations of around 5 per cent for away supporters, for SPFL matches between the two clubs.”
Rangers fans can once more attend Celtic Park en masse (Image: GETTY)
They also said: “It does not affect the remaining two league matches between the clubs in season 2023/24, which will remain at a zero allocation for away supporters.”
With Ibrox having 50,817 seats and Celtic Park 60,411, this means about 2,540 Celtic fans and 3,020 Rangers fans can go to away games in the future.
Rangers shared that this decision came after talks with everyone involved, including the SPFL, local authorities, and TV companies.
Their statement included: “While this will not affect the two remaining league derbies this season, from next season, both clubs will be required to provide five per cent of their stadia to the away team for Old Firm games only – mirroring the UEFA European match model.”
Rangers also said: “Rangers’ position has always been for away supporters to be present at these games, and with this move, a significant number of our fans will be able to support our team at Parkhead in seasons ahead.”
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