Celtic have yet to receive a respectable away ticket allocation at Ibrox since 2018. Going on from then, only up to 700 Hoops’ supporters at a time have ever made it into the Govan ground for a Glasgow Derby.
For fans, this is hugely disappointing and at least in the first Glasgow Derby of the 2023/24 campaign, there will be none of the Celtic faithful inside Ibrox. Despite this, Gers’ CEO James Bisgrove has confirmed he wants supporters of his club at Celtic Park for the clash on December 30th. He said (Daily Record): “Our belief, as a club, and certainly mine as the chief executive coming into Rangers is that away fans add so much to football – the colour, the vibrancy – no matter the game. Then you look at the Old Firm fixture and having away fans there is a positive in terms of the stadium atmosphere and also the spectacle worldwide. So, yes, we would want Rangers fans to be at Parkhead in December, absolutely.”
The hypocrisy here from Bisgrove is almost laughable. He has claimed that having away fans in grounds is ‘only positive’ and that they add ‘so much to football’ although he and his club have only ever allowed Celtic 700 tickets for matches at Ibrox over the past five years.
During this time, teams like Liverpool, Brondby and most recently Newcastle have got much greater allocations.
Bisgrove wants Gers’ supporters inside Parkhead for the annual New Year derby yet it remains to be seen whether or not he will get his wish.
Celtic have already taken a rightly strong stance on this issue so far in 2023/24. If the Ibrox club are to be allowed any fans at the home of the champions, one imagines they would have to give the Broomloan Stand back to the Hoops first.
