George Overhill

Wed 16 February 2022 16:10, UK

Rangers are to blame for the argument over a lack of away fans in the Old Firm derby as Celtic only responded in kind, says John Hartson.

Gers managing director Stewart Robertson today confirmed away fans would return for the final two clashes this season (Sky Sports) but only to the reduced level seen over the past couple of seasons, following capacity home crowds due to Covid-19 this year.

Former Hoops striker Hartson is not impressed by this and has called on Robertson to bring about a return to the 7,000 plus away contingents seen in the past.

Speaking on Go Radio, via Football Scotland, the former Welsh international said: “This is not Celtic. They only reacted to what Rangers did.

“If Rangers are going to be that shallow and stop away fans, why wouldn’t Celtic follow suit?

“If they hadn’t have done that they’d have continued with both sets of fans in either ground.

“Rangers started this. They decided it, and Mr Robertson this afternoon had the chance to put it right.

“He didn’t put it right. He only wants 500 or 600 fans back in.

“I think it makes the game a better spectacle when there is away fans there. But it has to come from both parties and I’m fed up of people saying ‘Celtic need to step up here’.

“Hold on a minute. No, they didn’t do this in the first place, it was Rangers who decided this no away fans.

“That’s taking my Celtic hat off. I’m just speaking normal and honestly about exactly what happened here.”

Biased but fair?

The former West Ham and Wimbledon forward spent five years at Parkhead and is obviously going to have an allegiance to the other side of Glasgow.

But it was Gers’ decision to increase the home season tickets in 2018 that sparked the back and forth between the Old Firm rivals over away allocations.

While there are of course benefits in terms of greater home support and more Light Blues fans getting to watch games inside the stadium, the reciprocal treatment at Celtic Park inversely affects the team.

The 3-0 loss earlier this month may have been partly down to the high-intensity atmosphere provided by a full crowd supporting the home side.

Increasingly the position has been reached by many that restricting away fans takes away from the unique atmosphere of an Old Firm derby so it would be a popular move among neutrals to reverse course.

But Robertson claimed on The Athletic podcast last month that the “vast majority” of Rangers fans are happy with the way it is, and that it would be too difficult to go against the new season ticket holders’ rights.

So with Celtic no-doubt waiting to respond to a Rangers move, if the man who would make it holds that view it may not be soon in coming.

In other Rangers news, a former administrator at the club has blamed fans for the 2012 collapse of a deal that would have kept them in the SPFL.