Rangers & Celtic warned large-scale away allocations 'not workable'

Police Scotland's Greater Glasgow Chief Superintendent Emma Croft <i>(Image: Sky Sports)</i>
Police Scotland's Greater Glasgow Chief Superintendent Emma Croft (Image: Sky Sports)
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Rangers and Celtic have been warned that large-scale away allocations for derby matches are "not workable" after the wild scenes following Sunday's Scottish Cup tie at Ibrox.

Greater Glasgow Division Chief Superintendent Emma Croft has stated having increased away allocations at matches between the Glasgow rivals may mean a return to smaller visiting supporter numbers.

For league matches between the clubs, there is a five per cent away allocation agreement in the style of the UEFA system for European matches, which translates to around 2,000 to 2,500 supporters backing the visiting side.

However, at Ibrox on Sunday, Celtic were backed by closer to 7,500 as they received the entirety of the Broomloan Stand due to Scottish Cup ticketing rules, with the away club entitled to up to 20 per cent of briefs.

However, Police Scotland chief superintendent Croft has warned the ugly scenes at full tiem with supporters clashing on the pitch with objects and flares thown, is lilely to see a return to lesser away allocations.


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On Sky Sports, Croft said: "I would say it plays into and leads the conversation moving forward and probably puts us in a position where we cannot have what happened yesterday.

"So our starting position is that, that number of away fans is not workable currently. I think behaviours of fans set football back and put the spotlight wrongly on Scottish football. I can see why general fans would feel disgruntled by that."

Croft added: "A policing enquiry team has been established today to investigate all incidents pertaining to the quarter final fixture and I would appeal to any member of the public who has information which may assist those enquiries to contact Police Scotland as soon as possible.

"I want to give my assurance that our investigation will be very thorough, and further arrests will be made in due course. For those involved in this kind of disorder, the message is simple: it is not a question of if, but when we will identify and come looking for you.”

Anyone with information should call 101 or can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Information can also be sent directly to the investigation team using the Major Incident Public Portal. 

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