Rangers have lost their battle to have the Union Bears attend the upcoming Glasgow Derby at Celtic Park which takes place a week on Sunday…
After the disgraceful scenes at Ibrox after Celtic completed a double in knocking the latest Ibrox club out of both cups, the Union Bears wearing face covering marks ran from the Copeland Road stand all the way to the other end of Ibrox with violent intent. Celtic staff, police, stewards and Celtic supporters were attacked with injuries sustained.
Subsequently Celtic advised the Rangers Board that they could have 2100 tickets for Celtic Park but due to safety concerns they must not go to the Union Bear ultras. This was rejected by the Ibrox club so the offer of tickets was removed and this lead to their appeal to the SPFL.
The SPFL accordingly formed a sub-committee to consider the matter and this afternoon as expect, they released their decision which if final.
Rangers can have their tickets IF they meet the conditions imposed by Celtic and ensure that the Union Bears do not receive any tickets.
In a season where they could do little right, it has to be acknowledged that the Celtic Board has got this one 100% spot on. It’s about time Scottish football stood up to these mask wearing hooligans and hopefully legislation will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament after the election next week to ban the wearing of these masks in and around football stadiums on match-days.
This decision could see other clubs impose similar restrictions on the Ibrox club regarding away allocations, with Falkirk being the latest Scottish Premiership club to complain about the behaviour of the Rangers support.
Ideally Rangers will accept the decision, take the 2100 tickets and sell them to fans from their wider support. If they choose to play the martyr then Celtic can quite easily sell these tickets to our own supporters.
Today the sensible decision was reached without any pandering. The ball is now in the Rangers court.
Here’s the details on the decision from the SPFL via their official website.
“On Friday 24 April, Rangers requested that the SPFL Board determine the away ticket allocation for the William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and (the) Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday 10 May.
“This followed discussions between the two clubs failing to reach agreement on the ticketing arrangements for the match.
“As both clubs have noted publicly, Celtic offered Rangers an allocation of tickets broadly amounting to 5 per cent of the stadium, subject to an additional condition. Rangers rejected that condition and referred the matter to the SPFL Board.
“A hearing took place on Thursday 30 April in front of an independent SPFL Board Sub-Committee during which both clubs presented evidence and legal arguments. The Sub-Committee noted the following:
* It was extremely regrettable that the two clubs had been unable to reach an agreement between themselves
* A reciprocal agreement is in place between the two clubs which provides that each club should allocate around 5% of their stadium to the away club
* The home club in SPFL Matches is responsible for safety and security in terms of SPFL Rule H36
* The last match between the two clubs (in the Scottish Cup) featured widespread disorder and led to the governing body for Scottish football, the Scottish FA, announcing an independent review into the match. That report has not yet been published, and the Sub-Committee was therefore in a position where it did not have the benefit of any lessons to be learned from that match when considering the matter
* The referral to the SPFL Board for a determination was made just 16 days before an important league fixture at a time of intense scrutiny on the Scottish game
* Celtic, as the party responsible for the safety and security of the event, had imposed an additional condition on the distribution of away tickets that it considered necessary and proportionate for managing safety and security
* Subject to that condition being agreed, Celtic remains willing to offer the amount of tickets to Rangers that they had undertaken to provide in their reciprocal agreement and that allocation remains available to Rangers
“The Sub-Committee then determined that, based on the evidence presented, it would not overrule a risk assessment carried out by the party legally responsible for the safety and security of the event, or interfere with the mitigation measures it considered to be necessary to comply with SPFL Rule H36. Having reached that conclusion, the Sub-Committee confirmed that 5 per cent of the stadium was a reasonable allocation for this fixture in terms of SPFL Rule I27.
“An SPFL spokesperson said: ‘We note the decision of the independent Sub-Committee.
“We have been consulting with all clubs for months regarding the rules in this area and had achieved consensus that the current deadline of 14 days before a match for a referral to the SPFL Board is insufficient to allow a proper forensic analysis of the circumstances.
“Following discussion at the SPFL’s Rules & Regulations Working Group, we had intended to table a resolution at the June AGM to bring forward the deadline to 35 days prior to a fixture and will now take time to reflect on this decision.’”
3 Comments
The tims invading Ibrox were good bhoys,it was just a bit of craic,you know.
It is an absolute disgrace that the authorities have not yet themselves recognised the danger of allowing these Union Bear morons anywhere near the game. Celtic have been reasonable and taken the correct decision. The danger came completely from the Ibrox followers’ invasion with intent to harm others. The Ibrox club have NOT accepted this and therefore are a big part of the problem because they not only allow this, but actively encourage it.
So you think anyone should be allowed on pitch then?