As the hype builds up on Celtic’s trip to Rangers this weekend, there is a genuine sense of excitement surrounding the upcoming Glasgow Derby.
The race for the Scottish Premiership title is so tight that it could come down to more than just points this season.
Celtic’s 3-0 win over Livingston puts our goal difference one better than Rangers at +51, but with the Ibrox club having a game in hand, that could all change come the 10th of April when they go to visit Dundee.
The tight margins are what’s making the next derby so exciting however the lack of away fans is something that will detract from that.
With Celtic refusing their Ibrox allocation due to safety reasons, Brendan Rodgers needs to take his side to Govan without the backing of the Hoops support.
But this farcical situation now looks to be a thing of the past after both clubs agreed to let a percentage of fans in for the games from next season.
It was widely reported that Celtic would receive 2500 tickets and Rangers 3000 based on a 5% share of both grounds capacity. But Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph has cast doubts on those figures.
Celtic ‘not’ being given 2500 Ibrox tickets
Whilst Joseph welcomed the move by both clubs to end the ticket allocation stalemate, the Sky Sports man believes that the numbers being reported are not accurate.
Joseph said [The Scottish Football Show], “There was a lot of loose wording there, it was around 5% but my understanding is that they’re not going to be giving 3000 tickets to Rangers and 2500 to Celtic.
“I think it will be the exact same number for both sets of fans even though there is a 10,000 difference in the capacity of the stadiums.
“I think it’s a real step in the right direction. Hopefully, they will see it through because like I said, the wording is quite loose.
“They’ll need to agree on an exact figure for the away fans. They’ll need to be reassured that the safety measures are in place for both sets of away fans in both stadiums, which are built so differently in different parts of Glasgow.
“It’s quite an operation.”
So whether Celtic will receive more tickets than first thought still remains a mystery. And the way that Joseph is talking here it seems doubtful that if it’s not the high end of the allocation, it is still unclear whether or not 2500 tickets figure is accurate as well.
Hopefully, more details will emerge once this game is out the way at the end of this week because the Celtic fans will be desperate to know if they can follow their club to one of the toughest away venues in the league next season.