ALLY McCoist faces four Champions League qualifiers and three away games out of four in the SPL in his first month as manager of Rangers.
The Clydesdale Bank Premier League fixtures were announced yesterday and, as usual, the defending champions will start at home, which will mean the league flag being unfurled at Ibrox before they take on Hearts. But Rangers’ decision to exercise their right to opt out of one fixture in the season to play a friendly means they will be at home to Chelsea on August 6 and therefore face three consecutive league trips to St Johnstone, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Motherwell. A home game against Kilmarnock, postponed for the Chelsea game, will be rearranged for a later date.
With two rounds of Champions League qualifiers to deal with in July and August McCoist faces a testing start to his career in the dug-out.
Celtic will start their campaign with consecutive away games at Hibernian and Aberdeen, having opted out of their first home game against Dunfermline on July 30 in order to play in the Dublin Super Cup that weekend. Celtic will have played three league games before their first Europa League qualifying tie on August 18.
The first Old Firm game will be at Ibrox on Saturday September 17, although that almost certainly will be moved to Sunday 18. If Rangers and Celtic have qualified for the Champions League and Europa League group stages they will both play European ties in the midweek before the first derby.
The second derby will go ahead at Parkhead on the evening of Wednesday, December 28, after the SPL acted on police and political pressure not to have a Ne’er Day derby, which tends to cause a spike in violence and domestic abuse.
“Following the setting up of the Scottish Government’s Joint Action Group, there was a real pressure to reschedule Old Firm derbies away from weekends and bank holidays,” SPL secretary Iain Blair explained yesterday as he highlighted the role of the Joint Action Group on football behaviour.
“We felt it was important for us to respond positively to the JAG process. Following consultation with the police, government and other members of the JAG, we have agreed to schedule the second Old Firm match to a date that reduces the challenges associated with such games being played on bank holidays.”
Blair said he was happy with the completed fixture list, which for the fourth year was compiled with the assistance of a Canadian computer company which also produces the fixtures for the French league and the MLS. “It’s fair to say there is no such thing as a perfect fixture list,” said Blair. “But our aim is to compile the best and most balanced schedule across all clubs and I feel we have been able to improve on a number of areas from last season.”
So far only Rangers, Celtic and Hibs – who will play Sunderland on the second weekend of the league season – have taken up the SPL’s controversial offer to request that one game in their season be postponed in order to play in a friendly or tournament.
Some fixtures have been moved to Sundays because of clubs’ Europa League commitments on Thursday evenings, while the Hibs-Aberdeen game has been moved back 24 hours to Sunday September 11 at the request of the police. Several more will be moved to Sundays for live television coverage when Sky Sport and ESPN have decided which fixtures they want to show.
There will be games on Christmas Eve after the SPL decided it would be preferable to use that date rather than a midweek in November or January. Boxing Day was ruled out because there is a full midweek card on December 28. Because the season is starting earlier, there will be only one midweek card outwith the festive period.
Blair highlighted the fact that the four Old Firm games had been kept away from dates either side of Scotland’s Euro 2012 qualifiers. “A big issue in the past has been the scheduling of the Old Firm derby and hopefully our colleagues along the corridor [the SFA] will appreciate that none fall either side of Scotland matches,” he added.
The SPL season will finish on the weekend of May 12/13, with the Scottish Cup final on May 19.
UPDATE Fixture list gives the new Rangers manager a tricky start to title defence
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