- Rangers and Celtic are in a stand off over Old Firm away allocation
- Stephen McGowan fears away days may never be the same
- Ally McCoist also voiced his concerns on the decision
Away games, and more specifically the Old Firm, may never be the same again after the latest Rangers/Celtic dispute.
Celtic is trying to ban Rangers fans, specifically Union Bears members, from getting into Celtic Park on May 10th.
The game is shaping up to be pivotal in the title race, and Celtic want to ensure the Gers have no fans to cheer their team on.
The row started after fans from both teams entered the pitch following Celtic’s penalty shootout win at Ibrox on March 8th.
The SPFL board is expected to meet this week to discuss whether to uphold Celtic’s refusal to give Rangers tickets.
Speaking on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast, football writer Stephen McGowan fears away days could never be the same again.
Rangers and Celtic are not budging.
McGowan said, “You fear for away allocations as we know them at the moment, I think they’ll do well to survive us.
“The SFA is having an independent inquiry at the moment, where they will try to pin exactly where responsibility should be attributed for what happened on 8 March.
“They will make their findings known probably in the summer, the problem is they’ve got a game at Parkhead to get to before then on 10 May.
“Celtic think, as they’ve shown – they banned the Green Brigade for five months – it should be collective punishment.
“Rangers take the view it should be more of an individual thing.
“Rangers say no, they can’t lay down the law to us on who we can sell tickets to. It’s the eternal story of football in Glasgow.
“It’s two bitter rivals who will not yield to one another.”
If Celtic can turn around and just downright refuse to give Rangers their away allocation, what sort of precedent does that set for the rest of the SPFL?
Ally McCoist gave his say on the dispute.
Rangers legend Ally McCoist has also had his say on the matter, slamming Celtic for their decision.
Speaking on TalkSport, McCoist sarcastically stated, “I think Celtic are absolutely correct in this.”
Referring to Celtic’s idea to block the whole 2200 allocated slot.
“I think they should actually tell Rangers the names of the fans they’d like to invite to the game.
“Would Celtic rather do that, and say we want so-and-so and so-and-so, I mean, it’s just embarrassing?”
The legendary striker labelled Celtic’s decision a ‘disgrace’ and a ‘shambles.’
Read Rangers analysis
In my opinion, Celtic’s decision to refuse Rangers their right to tickets could be the end of away days as we know them in Scotland.
It sets a precedent that Scottish clubs can ban clubs if they don’t want them to come, and nothing will be done.
For the biggest Old Firm of the season, which could affect the title race, Gers fans must be allowed in the building.
For football in Glasgow, it’s another toxic dispute that has fuelled the fierce rivalry between the teams.
