GLASGOW DERBY TICKETS: THERE IS NO DEBATE TO BE HAD
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
I’ve seen a lot of back on forth on social media over the last 24 hours or so as it has, eventually, dawned on the denizens of Ibrox that there is no justifiable reason to deny Celtic the full allocation of over 10,000 tickets for the next month’s Scottish Cup Quarter Final, the second of two Glasgow Derby showdowns in as many weeks.
It is a fundamental rule of the competition that away teams are entitled to demand up to 20% allocation. Ibrox, Glasgow’s 3rd largest stadium, has a capacity of just over 50,000.
There is no Excuse for Not Giving Celtic 20% of Glasgow Derby Tickets
I expect excuses to be trotted out by Police Scotland and the usual Sevconian sycophants in the Scottish Press as to why this fundamental rule cannot be enforced. Expect the usual buzzwords of “safety”, “policing costs”, “crowd management” et al to be rolled out and parroted to the max. Celtic must ignore this irrelevant background noise and other attempts at obfuscation.
Unfortunately though, in keeping with another recurring trend, I expect our spineless CEO to offer nothing in terms of resistance to this. As usual, it will fall upon the fans ourselves to demand that the rules of the competition are properly enforced.
Such was the case in 2012, when it was only through the efforts of fans from all across Scottish football that the rules were, at least partially, enforced and the new Rangers had to start life in the lower leagues.
Truth be told, they were lucky to even be granted the privilege of restarting in the 4th tier. Most new clubs have to start at the very base of the football pyramid.
Getting back to the present day: If Rangers, Police Scotland or any other concerned party in a position of authority believes that the safety of 10,000 Celtic fans cannot be guaranteed at Ibrox, then the answer is simple: Switch the tie to Celtic Park.
If Rangers cannot keep the bloodlust of the fascist hate mobs that populate some, but certainly not all, of the Ibrox crowd, under control, then that isn’t Celtic’s problem. If you can’t run your stadium properly and maintain crowd safety, then the game must be moved to somewhere that can.
As for Police Scotland, well, if they focused on their actual job, which is to maintain law and order rather than going out of their way to intimidate antagonize and in some cases arbitrarily detain football fans (because this certainly isn’t just a Celtic problem), then I think they too would have a far easier task than they are trying to suggest they will face next month.
Of course, Celtic fans too have our part to play by ensuring we conduct ourselves accordingly and follow any reasonable and legal requests made of us by both security staff and the police.
Emphasis here though must go on the words “reasonable” and “legal”. Video evidence, along with numerous eyewitness accounts suggests that, in recent times, the conduct of both Celtic’s own security staff and Police Scotland towards certain sections of the Celtic support has been neither reasonable, nor legal.
I hope and I expect that Celtic fans will go to Ibrox and do what they do best: back the team and peacefully wind up the opposition fanbase at every opportunity. That, after all, is what football should be about. This may not be the same Rangers that I grew up watching Celtic battle every season, but for most fans the rivalry remains as intense as ever.
Rather than hide behind red tape, or logistical excuses, I hope that both clubs and the authorities will see this cup quarter final as an opportunity. It’s a golden chance to make the strongest case possible for why both clubs need to return to the old ways of giving visiting supporters their full allocation for these derby games.
Probably the one thing I hate most about modern football (apart from the corrupting influence of extreme, late-stage capitalism obviously) is the sterility of it all. Rangers fans don’t like us, and we don’t like them. But one thing we can all agree on, is that the spectacle of a Glasgow Derby is at its best when both teams have a substantial and vocal support in the stadium to cheer on their respective teams.
The prospect of 10,000 Celtic fans going to Ibrox, or indeed a similar number of Rangers fans coming to Celtic Park in the future isn’t something we should look to water down or hide from. We should embrace it. I just hope those in charge have the courage and the self-discipline to do so properly.