AWAY ticket allocations for Old Firm matches at Ibrox and Parkhead are to be slashed from next season.
Rangers announced yesterday afternoon that they had sold more than 40,000 season tickets ahead of the new campaign and Steven Gerrard’s arrival in the coming days.
As a result of the demand from the Light Blue legions, the decision has been taken to house all visiting fans in the corner between the Sandy Jardine Stand and Broomloan Stand at Ibrox.
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Celtic supporters have traditionally been seated behind the goal on derby day but there has been growing unrest amongst their Rangers counterparts at that long-standing arrangement.
Rangers have now decided to significantly cut the number of tickets that will be given to Celtic and those fans will now occupy the same area of the ground as every other travelling crowd in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
A Rangers statement read: “We have already received an enormous number of requests in advance of the close of the renewal date and we have had to consider carefully how best to accommodate these supporters in light of the record renewals.
“Our supporters will always come first and as many of them as practically possible must be accommodated. That is why the club has decided on an overall increase in the total number of season tickets available to our supporters to what will be an historical record. A further announcement on the final new ticket allocation will shortly be made available on the club’s website.
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“An unfortunate consequence of putting our supporters first is that this increased demand negatively impacts on the number of tickets which will be allocated to visiting teams. This means all visiting fans will now be situated in the corner between the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine Stands. We believe that this is the best possible outcome after considering the unprecedented levels of support from Rangers fans.”
Rangers had previously been reluctant to cut Celtic’s allocation for Old Firm fixtures and managing director Stewart Robertson cited the likelihood of fewer tickets at Parkhead as a potential consequence at the AGM in November.
In response to Rangers’ statement, Celtic provided an update of their own to supporters and confirmed that they too would be providing more seats to home fans as Brendan Rodgers’ side look to win an eighth successive Premiership title.
A statement read: “An unprecedented double treble and historic season for the club has led to a phenomenal level of demand from supporters to be part of Celtic.
“We are happy to reciprocate in terms of ticket allocation, something which will give us the opportunity to meet this huge demand to visit Celtic Park.”
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