Well, here we are. The madness has reached another level.
Celtic fans will not be attending the League Cup game at Ibrox on 20 September because there will be no away supporters at the fixture, and I have to say something here very clearly. I think Celtic was absolutely right to refuse tickets.
I really do, because at what point are we supposed to stop accepting ridiculous decisions simply because somebody tells us that this is how things have to be? At what point do we finally say enough?
is not some wee club which should simply bend over backwards because another club has decided what is convenient for them or for their fans, and especially not for that club, where our players and staff have been assaulted and our supporters frequently attacked.
Celtic fans certainly should not be treated as though they are an inconvenience which can be squeezed into 300 seats because somebody else has made a petty decision to keep thousands of our fans away from their stadium.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this particular nonsense.
There had been an agreement between Celtic and the Ibrox club for visiting supporters to receive around five per cent of the available capacity for their SPFL meetings. That would have meant roughly 2,500 Celtic supporters at Ibrox.
Instead, the Ibrox club proposed reducing Celtic’s allocation to 300 tickets for the League Cup game on 20 September, citing safety and risk concerns following the disgraceful scenes at the Scottish Cup quarter-final in March. They hid behind the League Cup not being covered in the agreement.
Celtic rejected that proposal and asked the SPFL to make a determination.
Then the whole bloody thing exploded.
Because Celtic basically said no. And I love that. I genuinely do.
I have spent so much time criticising Celtic when I think our club has been too passive, too quiet and too willing to accept things. Too willing to smile politely while Scottish football takes the piss out of us.
But on this, I am standing right behind Celtic.
Because there has to be a line.
I understand safety. Of course I do. What happened at Ibrox in March was disgraceful. Pitch incursions, violence, missiles, pyrotechnics and chaos have no place in football. The independent review has now led to serious consequences, and both clubs have had to deal with what happened.
The Ibrox club itself has acknowledged that the disorder was unacceptable. But they were the cause! Safety cannot become a magic word which suddenly allows football clubs to make whatever decisions they fancy, especially when they are responsible for the very situation they are attempting to hide behind!
If there is a genuine safety problem, then fix the safety problem.
Improve stewarding. Improve policing. Improve segregation. Improve stadium procedures. Implement the recommendations of the independent review and do whatever the bloody hell needs to be done. The trouble is, they had a chance to do that some years back when this sort of issue first reared its head after events at that ground.
When they refused to, that’s when Celtic imposed the 100% ban.
They wanted to “punish” us for what they perceived to be our bad behaviour (how dare we celebrate in their stadium?) that’s why they did it. For a fixture of this magnitude, 300 tickets. For a club with a travelling support capable of taking thousands and thousands of supporters across the country. Then Celtic is supposed to shrug its shoulders and say, “Oh well, thank you very much”?
No. Absolutely not. I wouldn’t accept that either, and neither should Celtic.
Because this is bigger than one allocation. It is about the principle. It is about whether Celtic is prepared simply to accept being dictated to by a club which operates under Divine Right. And I want my club to know its own value and stand up for its fans.
Martin O’Neill himself has described the situation as really sad, pointing out that away fans are part of what makes the fixture special and recalling the atmosphere these games had in years gone by. I agree with him, although that atmosphere was often downright ugly.
But take away the away fans and what are you left with? A stadium deliberately stripped of one of the things which gives any large fixture its identity. A rivalry without the rival support inside the ground. A football match missing much of the noise, colour, emotion and sheer madness which makes these games what they are.
I know some people will say: “But Celtic fans are missing out.”
Yes. We are. And that bloody hurts. Celtic fans, like the fans of any other side, want to go and support their club and they would prefer that this matter was resolved in a way that lets supporters attend, safely.
I know James doesn’t agree, but I want Celtic fans at Ibrox. I want the Celtic end bouncing. I want thousands of green-and-white scarves. I want the songs, the atmosphere and that horrible, magnificent, emotionally exhausting afternoon where you can barely hear yourself think. Of course I do.
But there is a difference between wanting something and being prepared to accept absolutely anything in order to get it.
I won’t do that. And apparently Celtic won’t either.
So now we have reached the bizarre situation where neither Celtic supporters nor Ibrox supporters will be inside the other club’s stadium for SPFL fixtures for the remainder of this season. And as regretful as it is, it’s the right decision because we can’t let the Ibrox club dictate the policies of this fixture to us.
So the SPFL announced on 4 September that, following discussions involving Celtic, the Ibrox club, Police Scotland and the league, there will be no away supporters at Celtic-Ibrox SPFL matches for the rest of the 2026/27 campaign. The arrangement is described as temporary and can be reviewed if circumstances materially change.
That means Ibrox supporters will not be coming to Celtic Park either.
That, of course, set their fans off last night and they released their mad statement blaming Celtic for everything. Obviously, I don’t agree. I see it differently. I see our club being presented with a ridiculous choice and refusing to play along.
If the principle is that away supporters are important enough to be part of this fixture, then let’s have a proper conversation about allocations. They don’t want that. Not even their FAB, which is moaning about the decision, wants that.
They think their club was correct to stick it to our fans. So where’s the middle ground?
If the principle is that safety comes first, then let’s have a proper conversation about safety. But they don’t want that either. What they want in that instance is to use safety as the justification for unilaterally reducing Celtic supporters to a tiny handful and expecting Celtic to accept it without complaint.
So, what happens next?
The SPFL says the current arrangement gives everybody time to consider the independent review’s recommendations, put necessary measures in place and plan future fixtures properly. The position can be reviewed if circumstances materially change, while arrangements beyond this season will be considered ahead of 2027/28.
That is what I want to see. I want common sense. I want proper safety. I want responsibility from everyone. And eventually I’d like to think away fans will be back. I know that’s not a universally held view, but having been at one Glasgow derby I found the whole thing fascinating and emotionally intense … and I’d like to be at more.
But not at any cost. So until then, I will absolutely defend Celtic’s decision to reject being handed 300 tickets and told, essentially, to accept it.
Celtic refused. Celtic stood its ground. And for once, I am backing the board on something, after an entire summer identifying them as “the pricks.”
If the price of refusing to be treated like a bloody pawn is that there are no away fans at these games this season, then so be it. I would rather Celtic stand up and say no than quietly and meekly accept whatever is handed to us.
Because sometimes standing your ground is not about getting everything you want. Sometimes it is simply refusing to accept what you believe is wrong.
And on this one, I am with Celtic all the way, as tough as it might be.
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What’s the betting we draw them at £1brokes in the Scottish cup as well , it’s all very convenient for the zombies and they have a huge advantage for the game next week , they’re the problem they’ve always been the problem in all this crap but yet again our board can’t be arsed challenging the SFA, SPFL or the zombies themselves , hope our players have there helmets on next week
“If the principle is that safety comes first, then let’s have a proper conversation about safety.”
Yes, let’s do. And let’s start by asking them where was the “safety” concerns when bottles and glass were thrown onto the Celtic goal area at Ibrox? And then let’s ask the Scottish football authorities what, EXACTLY, did they do about those incidents?
The SFA did SFA about the incidents as our Board were too gormless and craven to pursue them further.