- SPFL final day fixtures see Hearts away to Celtic, Rangers travel to Falkirk, sparking fan debate.
- Historical precedent favors home fixtures for league leaders, but 2026 split schedule breaks tradition.
- Rangers remain in title hunt, needing key results at Tynecastle and Celtic Park before season finale.
The SPFL announced the post-split fixtures for the current season earlier this week.
But the main source of confusion has come around the final day of action.
Current league leaders Hearts will visit third-placed Celtic on the final day, whilst Rangers, sandwiched between the pair in second, will also be away to Falkirk.
SPFL fixture decision sparks fan backlash
Hearts supporter and radio personality Ewen Cameron took to his social media page to voice his confusion over this decision.
“I’ve got issues with the SFA, I’ve got issues with the referees, the list is endless and then today, they prove why fans across Scottish football don’t believe they know what they’re doing,” ranted the STV Radio Football Show presenter.
“Hearts away to Celtic Park on the final day of the season, I mean seriously.
“More often than not that the team that’s at the top of the table going into the split fixtures gets the final game at home.
“Let’s just assume for a second Hearts are still in the title race going to Celtic Park and a Hearts win or a Hearts draw wins us the league.
“With few fans in that corner of the stadium and with a restricted view, that’s the reward that we’re getting. Celtic and Rangers have dominated this league for 40 years.
“We should be playing our final game of the season at home. The SPFL, you’re a joke. Always have been, always will be.”
Now, this could be initially perceived as a conspiracy theory laden rant from an unhappy supporter who has not gotten his way.
But the evidence tells a different story.
Breaking the pattern
Over the past 16 Scottish top flight seasons, the team topping the table at the post-split fixture announcement have been at home 15 times.
On 13 of those occasions, that team has been Celtic.
The only occasion in recent years where a team not top of the table ahead of the final push have been away from home was in 2013, where Celtic culminated their season away to Dundee United.
The SPFL’s chief operating officer, Calum Beattie revealed the reasoning behind the decision.
“Celtic have been given a home match on the final day of the season, partly because they have three home matches post-split and Hearts and Rangers only have two,” he explained.
“In recent seasons we have been able to have the club at the top of the table entering into the split at home on the final day.
“However, that has not been possible on this occasion due to the number of competing constraints and the most exciting title race in years making each fixture round very unpredictable.
“We have a fantastic final day to look forward to with Celtic and Hearts facing off at Celtic Park, Rangers travelling to a Falkirk side that have been one of the success stories of the season and a potential battle for European spots at Easter Road.”
Read Rangers analysis
Rangers will be hoping to be in an advantageous position ahead of their final day tie away to Falkirk.
Danny Rohl’s side currently trail Hearts by a point and are two ahead of Celtic.
They still have to visit both Tynecastle and Celtic Park ahead of the season’s end.
Should they take the lead ahead of the final day, the result in Glasgow’s East End will be irrelevant and a win would see Rangers win the title for the first time since 2021.
Rangers last won the title away from home with a routing 5-1 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
This seen Walter Smith win the title on his final match as Rangers manager.
Smith had also won the title away from home, two years prior against Dundee United at Tannadice.
On both occasions, however, Rangers had entered the split in second place behind Celtic.
Smith’s assistant on both of those days also chimed in with comments of his own.
“You couldn’t get a bet on them [Celtic] having a home fixture for their final game of the season,” joked Ally McCoist on TalkSport.
“They are running the thing up here, aren’t they? That’s why. They are absolutely running it.
“They have got four of the last six at home, and we have got four of six away – you couldn’t make it up.”
While frustration from supporters is understandable given the historical precedent, the reality is that fixture scheduling at this stage is rarely straightforward.
This season’s title race, arguably the most competitive in recent memory, only adds further complexity to those decisions.
However, with Celtic once again perceived as being favoured, the conspiracy theories will no doubt rumble on.
