Credit: Imago

Mark Smith

Sat 25 April 2026 10:40, UK

Celtic are not hosting Rangers for another two weeks, but ticket drama is once again clouding over what is a huge Old Firm showdown.

It has been years of drama surrounding the fixtures, with away fans completely banned before a breakthrough was made in the past year.

Of course, that all exploded in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals back in March.

Celtic won on penalties at Ibrox after a 0-0 draw, but fans entered the field of play in their thousands at full-time, with violence also escalating.

In return, Celtic have now moved to ban the Union Bears, often seen in face masks, from Parkhead on 10 May, a move that has been rejected by Rangers and handed to the SPFL.

Rangers fans told possible rejection rules

With a huge Scottish Premiership title race now down to its final five games, the SPFL simply can’t allow goalposts to be moved with fan allocations.

Danny Rohl will be desperate for the backing of away fans again, especially with Hearts at Tynecastle the week before, too, with Rangers given the hard route to the title if they want it.

Chris Sutton did share a possible solution, simply saying that anybody with a face mask or balaclava simply can’t be allowed entry.

“It’s all kicking off re whether the Union Bears should be let in at Celtic Park or not,” he wrote.

“But a general point, as a rule, any fan who attends a match in a balaclava or mask (over the age of 5) should not be allowed into any stadium.

“These people are there for no good.”

Rangers fight back once again

This is simply unacceptable, and within reason, you can’t just pick and choose which fans can turn up to Parkhead, regardless of past developments.

Celtic are once again shifting the boundaries, whereas Rangers were happy to accommodate thousands of away fans in the Broomloan Stand during that Scottish Cup clash.

But once again, they’re trying to make sure that doesn’t happen for the Bears.

Realistically, Martin O’Neill and Celtic are playing atrociously right now in the Scottish Premiership and are looking for any way to gain an advantage.

With Hearts and Rangers at home during these split fixtures, that should be enough, but they can’t rely on their squad to go out and do their job.

That’s completely different at Ibrox, with Rohl having his squad absolutely flying at exactly the right time.

Fair enough if fans cause trouble at the game or create damage, they are shown the exit, but let’s not start trying to move the goalposts now.

It’s time for common sense.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.