Old Firm Rivalry to Exclude Away Fans This Season
The fiercest rivalry in Scottish football will play out this season without one of its defining elements: the away support.
The SPFL has confirmed that no away fans will be allowed at any Old Firm fixtures between Celtic and Rangers in this season’s Premiership and League Cup, a striking escalation in efforts to control one of the most volatile fixtures in the British game.
Rangers are due to host Celtic at Ibrox in the Premier Sports Cup on 13 September, before the sides meet again at Parkhead in the league a week later. Both games will go ahead with home fans only.
From 5% Allocation to Total Lockout
This is not how it was supposed to look. Both clubs had previously agreed that away fans would receive a five per cent allocation at league fixtures – roughly a return to a more traditional presence in the away end after years of tension and reduced numbers.
That plan did not survive the spring.
On-pitch clashes between rival supporters after the Scottish Cup tie in March forced a deeper examination of the security and safety arrangements around the derby. An independent review followed, and with it, fresh pressure on the clubs and the league to rethink how this fixture is managed.
When it came to the first Old Firm of the season at Ibrox, Rangers proposed offering 300 tickets to Celtic – a fraction of the roughly 2,500 that a five per cent split would have delivered. The club said the reduced number reflected its assessment of the risks around the game.
Celtic rejected the offer. At that point, the SPFL stepped in.
SPFL Steps In, Doors Close
With no agreement between the clubs, league officials convened talks involving Celtic, Rangers, Police Scotland and other stakeholders. The outcome was blunt: no away fans at any Old Firm fixtures in SPFL competitions this season.
In a statement, the SPFL described the move as a “temporary arrangement” designed to give both clubs and the authorities time to digest the findings of the Independent Review and to “take forward the necessary actions” before revisiting how the derby is staged.
The league also stressed that the decision offers “greater certainty” for supporters and those involved in matchday planning, removing the late, often chaotic ticket wrangles that have dogged the fixture in recent seasons.
Safety and security, the statement underlined, remain the priority. The position will stay under review if circumstances change during the campaign.
A Derby Stripped of Its Split Crowd
The Old Firm without an away end is not new, but it is still jarring.
The sight and sound of a packed, hostile corner – green in Govan, blue in the East End – has long been part of the theatre. The songs, the banners, the goading across the divide: all of it has shaped the atmosphere and, at times, the tempo of the game itself.
Now, for at least one more season, those moments vanish. Home crowds will dominate, unchallenged inside the stadium. The edge will remain, because it always does with these two, but the visual and vocal balance of the fixture has tilted again.
Eyes Already on the Next Era
The SPFL has made it clear that this is not a permanent settlement. Arrangements for matches between the clubs beyond the current season will be considered “well in advance” of the 2027/28 campaign, signalling a long runway for change and negotiation.
Between now and then, Celtic, Rangers, the league and Police Scotland must decide what kind of Old Firm they want – and what level of risk they are prepared to accept – when the away end finally reopens.
