Celtic and Rangers away fans banned from Old Firm derbies after SPFL talks

The SPFL have announced that away fans have been banned from attending any of this season’s Old Firm encounters.

It comes ahead of this month’s highly anticipated double-header between the city rivals, with the first meeting to come at Ibrox on September 13 in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final before they lock horns on league duty at Celtic Park seven days later.

The decision follows the shameful scenes which marred the Scottish Cup quarter-final clash between the sides last term.

Both clubs were recently sanctioned by the SFA after an independent review into the incident on March 8 in which supporters from both teams entered the pitch at Ibrox following the penalty shootout.

In response, Rangers decided to give their Glasgow rivals just 300 tickets for next weekend’s cup clash, with Celtic rejecting that proposal.

And now, meetings between league officials and representatives from both clubs have resulted in a complete ban on away supporters being present in stadiums until at least the end of this season.

An SPFL statement read: ‘This temporary arrangement will allow both clubs, together with the SPFL, Police Scotland and other relevant stakeholders, to give proper consideration to the findings and recommendations of the Independent Review, take forward the necessary actions and ensure sufficient time is available to plan future fixtures thoroughly.

‘It will also provide greater certainty for supporters and those involved in matchday planning, while avoiding repeated uncertainty around ticketing arrangements for individual fixtures.

‘All parties have committed to working constructively during this period, with safety and security remaining the priority.

‘The position will remain subject to review should circumstances materially change during the season.’

The March cup meeting marked the first time Celtic fans had been given the full Broomloan Road Stand allocation since the number of away fans permitted at the famous fixture was reduced to fewer than 1,000 in 2018.

Negotiations between the clubs saw a 5 per cent allocation agreed for league fixtures in 2025 and 2026, but that arrangement has now been nullified for the foreseeable future.

Speaking ahead of today’s visit of Motherwell, Rangers boss Derek McInnes admitted he was surprised by the decision: ‘It’s always better when opposition fans are allowed into a derby game.

‘In the context of everything that’s gone on with this fixture and the last part of it, I think there’s a lot to consider and a lot to discuss.

‘As far as I was led to believe, that was still up for discussion, so it’s kind of caught me on the hop a wee bit.’

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill echoed his counterpart’s disappointment, but admitted it was somewhat expected.

He said: ‘I think that was inevitable, really, when Rangers were offering 300 tickets, and we refused that.

‘Really sad, I must admit, just from a normal punter’s viewpoint. It’s a great, great fixture when the ground is absolutely full. And I think the away fans make this.

‘I can think back to the years gone past, at the beginning of the century, when I was involved, and they were magnificent fixtures, absolutely fantastic. It is quite sad.

‘Hopefully the two clubs will maybe get together at some stage or another and try to iron out the particular problems.

‘It’s not to say that we haven’t had a few problems in the past, but they seem to have escalated over the last number of seasons, which is a problem.’