Celtic have confirmed they will not offer Rangers any away tickets for this season’s final Old Firm derby next month.
In a latest egregious attempt to secure a sporting advantage, Celtic have confirmed they are not willing to provide tickets for away supporters at the match on May 10 – going back on a gentlemen’s agreement between the clubs regarding away fans made before the season.
Celtic, due to this agreement, have had away fans in Ibrox twice this year in the Premiership, as well as once in the Scottish Cup.
That cup match caused the recent outburst from the Hoops.
Celtic fans rushed onto the field following their side’s penalty shoot-out victory following a goalless draw.
Sections of those on the park then ran over to the Rangers support on both sides of the park as well as the halfway line to goad their rivals.
Rangers, in turn, responded by also entering the field of play, with fans clashing on the park amid the struggling police who were attempting to restore order.
Celtic present double standard
Despite banning their own ultras section for months but still allowing them into Ibrox for the away clash, Celtic are refusing to allow Rangers’ ultra group, The Union Bears, into their stadium.
This once again shows the complete double standard emanating from the East End.
Their own ultras stormed the turnstiles to gain access without entry, attacked stewards, broke seats and vandalised the Broomloan Road stand with the most abhorrent graffiti mocking those who lost their lives in the Ibrox disaster.
Yet, they will be present for the final derby.
But Celtic refuse to allow a section of Rangers supporters, while allowing those who behaved in that manner entry?
It shows desperation and discrimination.
The desperation of Celtic
The desperation comes from the fact that a Rangers victory would all-but-end Celtic’s own title hopes.
They are looking to gain any advantage they can, under any guise they can.
Let’s not forget, this is the same team who could not extend the league campaign in 2008 due to a pre-scheduled post-season tour of Japan.
One they are still yet to depart on almost two decades later.
Celtic’s framing of this as a narrowly targeted “safety” measure simply doesn’t withstand scrutiny.
If the principle is that any identifiable group linked to disorder should be excluded, then that standard must be applied consistently.
It plainly has not been.
Instead, what we are seeing is selective enforcement dressed up as risk management.
The language of “reasonable request” and “detailed risk assessment” is carefully chosen, but it obscures a far more uncomfortable reality: one club is attempting to unilaterally rewrite the terms of an agreement at the most vital juncture of the title-race.
A rewrite at a stage when it is too late for Rangers to respond in kind.
That matters. Not just for this fixture, but for the credibility of the competition itself.
The Old Firm derby is not merely another league match; it is the defining spectacle of Scottish football.
Its integrity relies on competitive balance, on atmosphere, and on the presence of both supports at both grounds in equal amounts.
Strip one element away, especially through last-minute conditions, and you diminish the contest as a whole.
Read Rangers analysis
Rangers are right to escalate this to the SPFL.
The governing body now faces a significant test of its authority.
The outcome will set a precedent that extends well beyond May 10.
If Celtic’s position is upheld, it effectively opens the door for clubs to impose conditional participation on away supports based on their own demands.
Today it is one ultra group; tomorrow it could be the whole support if a fixture is crucial.
The slope is obvious, and it is steep.
Scottish football has spent years attempting to reintroduce away allocations to this fixture after a period of one-sided atmospheres.
That progress now risks being undone in a single decision driven as much by circumstance as by principle.
Make no mistake, timing is everything.
This is not happening in August, or in a dead rubber.
It is unfolding at a point where the title race hangs in the balance.
Removing a travelling support from such a fixture is not a neutral act; it carries sporting consequence.
Celtic will argue they are prioritising safety.
Rangers will argue that the rules, and the agreement, must be upheld.
The SPFL must now decide which principle takes precedence.
And in doing so, they will define not just the conditions of one Old Firm derby, but the full future of the fixture moving forward.
