Celtic to receive largest Ibrox ticket allocation in eight years for Scottish Cup clash with Rangers

An agreement has reportedly been reached between the clubs and the Scottish FA that will see Cetlic fans take over the full Broomloan Stand for the first time since March 2018.

The clubs currently give up around 2,000-2,500 away tickets for derby matches in the Scottish Premiership after a near two-year lockout of away supporters due to safety concerns was ended last season.

However, SFA rules permit away clubs to request up to 20 per cent of the home stadium capacity for Scottish Cup ties, entitling Celtic to make a claim for 10,000 briefs.

Failure to reach an agreement would have resulted in the matter being referred to the SFA compliance officer.

However, a comprimise has been reached that will see a return of the large away support that was commonplace at Ibrox before the tit-for-tat reduction in allocations, on the understanding that Rangers will receive a similar allocation for any future Scottish Cup tie at Celtic Park.

The March 8 cup tie takes place seven days after Celtic visit Ibrox on league duty, but the smaller 2,000-2,500 allocation will remain in place for that fixture.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill admitted recently that he was hoping for a bumper ticket allocation.

He said: “Just being a Celtic supporter, I would want all the tickets we can get – the allocation that's available to us under the rules.

"I assume that would be forthcoming. I thought that the Old Firm fixture lost a little bit in the sense that the full allocation was not given, for whatever reason.

"I don't know historically what it was. I've got kind of an idea, but it doesn't really matter. That did lose a little bit of one of the great fixtures in European football, if not the world.

"But at least there's some fans coming back and it makes a bit of a difference. To get the full allocation as we did, going to Ibrox and having the side to the left full of Celtic fans, was always gratifying."