Martin O’Neill has confirmed that Rangers will receive their standard allocation for the upcoming Premiership derby at Celtic Park, making clear that the disorder following Sunday’s Scottish Cup tie will not be used as grounds to deny them their usual number of tickets.
Celtic had been given the full Broomloan Stand for the cup clash, with 7,500 supporters making the trip to Ibrox for the first time since 2018. The scenes that followed the penalty shootout, with fans from both ends invading the pitch and violence breaking out, have effectively ended any realistic prospect of allocations of that size being repeated in the near future.
O’Neill said he found himself caught up in the chaos on the pitch as the celebrations spilled over, and watched as Rangers supporters came from the other end in response. He was measured in his reaction, acknowledging that the SFA inquiry is the appropriate response, but said the element he finds most dispiriting is the likely loss of the full away allocation going forward. He had hoped those arrangements could continue and believes the sport is poorer for losing that kind of atmosphere, but accepted that the scenes have made it almost inevitable that full allocations will disappear again.
When asked directly whether Rangers could be excluded from attending the final derby of the season at Celtic Park following the split, O’Neill was unequivocal. He said Rangers are entitled to their allocation and that nobody is arguing otherwise. It is a league match, and that allocation stands.