Celtic and Rangers' infamous rivalry has taken an interesting turn in recent years, with the Glasgow clubs wrapped in a battle over ticket allocations for their annual meetings in the Scottish Premier League.
In the late 2010s, it had become standard for both clubs to offer minimal ticket allocations to the visitors when hosting the Old Firm game, with only 700 Rangers fans admitted into Celtic Park, and the same vice versa.
It was in August of 2021 that Rangers first withdrew their away allocation for the Glasgow derby all together, after Celtic refused to guarantee that 700 of their fans would be allowed to travel to Celtic Park in the return fixture, due to the ongoing COVID-19 protocols at the time.
The pair have since been at loggerheads off the pitch, with away fan allocations up for debate each of the four times per season they meet in the Scottish Premier League.
Celtic fans are yet again set to be locked out of Ibrox when they face Rangers for the first time this season next Sunday and, during their game at home against St Johnstone, a section of their fans unfurled a banner in protest against the decision to withhold their ticket allocation yet again.
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Celtic fans protest against Old Firm ticket allocation
The fanatic group of Celtic fans known as the Green Brigade raised banners which protested against their impending absence from Ibrox, and also threw a dig at Rangers for their financial difficulties of the early 2010s.
The banner read:
They killed their club
They're killing the derby
Bring back old allocations
🚨 BREAKING! Green Brigade aim Rangers banner blast as Celtic fans accuse Ibrox club of 'killing allocation'
📎 https://t.co/YCQQ89cw8Z pic.twitter.com/qng7jTZnrQ— Football Scotland ⚽️🏴 (@Football_Scot) August 26, 2023
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In reality, the lack of tickets for Celtic is down to the club's refusal to accept the 700 seat allocation from Rangers, with the Hoops raising safety fears for the location of their section in the corner between the Broomloan and Govan Stands, as per reports in the Daily Record.
Ultimately, the action on the pitch was to prove similarly disappointing for Celtic fans on Saturday afternoon, as their side could only manage a 0-0 draw against St Johnstone in Glasgow.
St Johnstone had lost their first two games of the season against Hearts and Ross County, leaving Celtic fans frustrated with their team's inability to break down their defence.
They will go into next weekend's derby just one point ahead of Rangers in the table. Kick-off at Ibrox on Sunday September 3rd is at 12pm.
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