Away fan Glasgow Derby lockout has been caused by one club and one club only, and it’s certainly not Celtic…

On Friday it was confirmed by the SPFL that the four Scottish Premiership Glasgow Derby matches plus the Premier Sports Cup quarter final at Ibrox between the Ranger and Celtic will all be played with no away supporters in attendance.

After the latest Ibrox club offering Celtic a measly 300 ticket allocation for the upcoming Premier Sports Cup quarter final tie at Ibrox, Celtic rejected that answer took the matter to the SPFL, who handle both the League Cup and Scottish Premiership games.

And they decided that in the absence of any agreement that a blanket ban on away briefs will be introduced for the upcoming campaign to include all Glasgow derby matches in their two competitions.

An SPFL statement, released on Friday,  explained the reasoning behind the decision: “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. Arrangements for matches between the clubs beyond the current season will be considered well in advance of the 2027/28 season.”

The away ban has been attributed to the recent unruly scenes witnessed at Ibrox last March in the aftermath of the dramatic Scottish cup quarter final tie that saw Celtic win on penalty kicks.

Enraged by the Celtic supporters jubilant celebrations with the victorious players on the Ibrox pitch, the balaclava wearing Ibrox thugs, many carrying weapons,  invaded the field, and angrily made a beeline for the Celtic supporters at the opposite end, assaulting stewards and police officers, as well as a member of Celtic’s coaching staff on the way to launching a scathing and premeditated attack on the celebrating Celtic supporters.

Pyrotechnics were even fired into the Celtic stand by the thuggish Ibrox ultras, who were then to everyone’s astonishment escorted off the pitch by the police.

Remarkably, both sides were punished for the actions of the home support, with the punishment of playing their next Scottish Cup home tie behind closed doors being imposed on both clubs. Many of the issues discussed in the recent independent reported were related to the home club’s planning for and handling of such a high profile match and clearly they came up short in so many ways.

Yet Celtic quite remarkably has been punished in exactly the same manner by the Scottish FA despite Celtic raising concerns with the latest Ibrox club and Police Scotland ahead of the match.  Here’s a summary of an excellent response to SFA punishment by Jim McGinley, a Celtic supporter.

“The detailed SFA punishment and the reasons for it, completely ignores three things. 

First is the findings of the SFA commissioned report into the incident itself. 

Second is the fact that Celtic (a) provided specific recommendations to Rangers FC prior to a meeting of the clubs and specifically pointed out that safety and stewarding arrangements were not up to standard and needed improving and (b) those recommendations and comments were ignored and Celtic were de facto excluded from subsequent meetings with the police. 

Thirdly, the independent investigation is aware of points one and two above, specifically comments on them, and stresses that the primary responsibility for crowd and pitch safety lies with the home club. 

The report also differentiates between the type and class of behaviour exhibited by the two sets of fans, making it plain that one was threatening and indeed violent whilst the other was not. 

In these circumstances, treating both clubs the same way is hardly the correct act of a supposedly judicial body, demonstrates a complete inability to administer a reasoned judicial process, and results in a completely unjust and frankly unlawful result.”

Hard to argue with any of that. It’s currently unclear whether Celtic intend to appeal the Scottish FA’s punishment or not but they certainly should.

The events at Ibrox in back March has undoubtedly been a major factor in the decision to deny away supporters the chance of watching their side in action on Glasgow Derby day this season. Time after time Celtic players, supporters and staff members have been attacked, assaulted and abused at Ibrox – with zero punishment dished out by the authorities.

So it has to be said, much like the past allocation ticket reductions and lock outs, the fault lies solely at the door of one club, and one club only and it’s certainly NOT Celtic.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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