Old Firm Fixtures: No Away Fans This Season

There will be no away supporters at any Old Firm fixtures in the Premiership or League Cup this season after the SPFL moved to lock Celtic and Rangers fans out of each other’s grounds.

The decision follows months of tension over allocations and comes in the wake of on-pitch clashes between rival fans after the Scottish Cup tie between the clubs in March, which prompted an independent review.

Rangers are due to host Celtic at Ibrox in the Premier Sports Cup on 13 September, with the sides meeting again at Parkhead in the league a week later. Both games will now be played without any away support, despite both clubs previously agreeing that five per cent of tickets would be made available to visiting fans for all SPFL fixtures.

That arrangement collapsed once the review landed and the risk assessments were revisited. Rangers, citing safety and security concerns around the cup tie at Ibrox, offered Celtic around 300 tickets instead of the usual allocation of roughly 2,500.

Celtic rejected the drastically reduced number. At that point, the SPFL stepped in.

After talks involving both clubs, the league, Police Scotland and other parties, the SPFL confirmed that away fans will be locked out of all Old Firm meetings in league and League Cup competition for the remainder of this season.

In a statement, the league described the move as a “temporary arrangement” designed to give Celtic, Rangers, the SPFL, Police Scotland and other stakeholders time to digest the findings of the Independent Review, act on its recommendations and properly plan future fixtures.

The SPFL said the call also offers “greater certainty” for supporters and matchday organisers, removing the recurring uncertainty that has surrounded Old Firm ticket allocations in recent seasons.

All parties, the league added, have committed to working “constructively” during this period, with safety and security explicitly set as the priority. The position could change if circumstances “materially” shift during the campaign.

Longer term, the SPFL confirmed that arrangements for Old Firm matches beyond the current season will be settled “well in advance” of the 2027/28 campaign.

For now, one of world football’s most febrile fixtures will be stripped of one of its defining elements: the sound and colour of a hostile away end.