No Away Fans for Celtic vs Rangers Old Firm Matches This Season

There will be no away supporters at Celtic vs Rangers Old Firm matches this season after the two Glasgow clubs reached a temporary agreement with the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).

The decision applies to meetings between Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership and Premier Sports Cup. It comes after serious crowd trouble during last season’s Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox.

The March 8 match was followed by disorder and pitch invasions involving supporters from both clubs after Celtic won the penalty shootout. Around 8,000 Celtic fans had attended the game, a much larger away following than is normally allowed for Old Firm league fixtures.

Rangers had proposed giving Celtic an away allocation of just 300 tickets for their upcoming Premier Sports Cup meeting. Celtic rejected that proposal, leading to further discussions over supporter arrangements.

The first Old Firm meeting of the new season will take place at Ibrox on September 13, when Rangers host Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup. The teams will then meet again at Celtic Park in the Scottish Premiership just one week later.

The temporary no-away-fans arrangement follows an independent Scottish FA review into the incidents at last season’s Scottish Cup quarter-final. The review was launched to examine the crowd disorder, security issues and pitch incursions surrounding the fixture.

The Scottish FA has already ordered both clubs to play their next Scottish Cup home matches behind closed doors as part of the disciplinary measures following the incident.

The SPFL said the temporary arrangement will give Celtic, Rangers, Police Scotland and other relevant organisations time to study the review’s findings and put appropriate measures in place.

Safety and security will remain the main priority as officials work towards determining how away supporters could eventually return to future Old Firm fixtures.

For supporters, however, the decision means the famous Celtic vs Rangers rivalry will look very different this season, with only home fans expected inside the stadium for the two upcoming fixtures.