Celtic boss Martin O'Neill hits back in Rangers ticket row

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill claimed the club would be better off taking no tickets for Ibrox than the 300 that Rangers have offered for the upcoming Premier Sports Cup quarter-final.

Rangers slashed the away allocation on the same day that both clubs were ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup tie behind closed doors following the trouble at last season’s Ibrox quarter-final.

That game saw a brief return of the tradition of about 8,000 Celtic fans occupying the full Broomloan Stand, which ended in 2018 when Rangers cut that to about 10 per cent of that total.

Celtic followed suit and there were then no away fans at the derby for several years before a deal was agreed for an allocation of about 2,500 starting last season.

When asked about the latest decision, O’Neill said: “We might as well not get any, if that’s the case.

“Just looking at it from a personal viewpoint, it’s one of the great fixtures. Even if the teams are not of the standard of, let’s say, Paris St Germain or Real Madrid, it is still a fantastic fixture.

“And you honestly don’t realise how big it is in European games and in the world. People talk about it as a great game. And the best atmosphere is when the away fans have their allocation.

“That’s been my point the whole way. I thought from a distance, watching games when it was away, that it lost something.

“I remember I came to one of the games here with Celtic and Rangers, and Rangers scored a goal and it was complete silence. So that’s not what you’re looking for. It’s still a crowd participation game.

“It’s a shame because it’s a phenomenal fixture. The league game, where we were 2-0 down, I have not known noise like it at Ibrox for a long time. It was phenomenal. And just to be participating in that game gives you goosebumps.

“So that’s a shame. But very obviously, if they’re going to give us 300 tickets, I would rather say no. And we’ll give them one!”

Rangers declared on Friday that the smaller allocation would allow “greater individual ticket-holder accountability, stronger ingress controls, enhanced segregation and additional safeguards appropriate to the risk identified for this fixture”.

They also pointed to further pitch invasions from Celtic fans following the March 8 encounter and claimed Celtic’s response to recent proposals “did not address our concerns around accountability and deterrence”.

“Rangers has not seen the clear acknowledgement, condemnation or deterrent messaging we believe should follow events of that seriousness from Celtic,” a statement added.

Celtic are still considering their response to the offer of 300 tickets.

There are no rules or guidance on away tickets specified in the Scottish League Cup rules but the SPFL rules state a “reasonable number” should be offered to visiting clubs for league matches.