The strange thing about the recent Glasgow Derbies between Celtic and Rangers is that there are no travelling fans allowed to attend this historic fixture.
We all know the reason for that so I won’t bore you with the details but let’s just say that if Brendan Rodgers didn’t sub on Odsonne Edouard back in 2018 then we would probably still have the whole Broomloan Stand to enjoy on these Ibrox days.
However, it is what it is and both Celtic and Rangers needed to face this season knowing that going to their biggest rivals without the away support was the task ahead of them.
And yesterday was no different. But the pleasing thing that Brendan Rodgers will take from yesterday’s 3-3 draw was that his players were not fazed by the occasion.
What Rangers fans did ‘en masse’ at Ibrox yesterday
In fact, it was what Rodgers’ players did that Pat Nevin noticed had a ‘strange’ effect on the Ibrox crowd as Celtic ran riot in the first half.
Nevin said [Football Daily], “The only time you ever get anything like it is when you travel away to the big European games you go to the San Siro or somewhere like that and the way teams score a goal and there is kind of moment of silence.
“Well, it’s kind of like that. But the other thing that was weird that happened today, when Celtic were 2-0 up and Rangers were playing very poorly, the Rangers fans on masse turned on their team.
“And it was a very, very strange situation where all the fans were then under more pressure than everyone else. It was an odd, odd situation.”
The silence from the Ibrox crowd when Matt O’Riley buried that penalty really was something. I mean, you could literally hear a pin drop.
But you do have to wonder, had Celtic had fans in the stadium yesterday, would that have made a material difference to the outcome of the game when we went 2-0 up?
Unfortunately, we will never know. But at least from next season onwards what we do know is that some fans will be allowed into both grounds for this fixture.
And that will be welcomed. Even though the atmosphere is still great at Celtic Park, the fixture is not the same as it is when both sets of fans are in attendance. And that is something we will all get to enjoy from next season.