Celtic will NOT budge over Rangers ticket stance as champions dig in with SPFL on standby

Celtic are set to stand their ground in the Old Firm away ticket war and refuse Rangers fans entry into Parkhead for the festive derby showdown.

Record Sport understands Hoops chiefs are expecting Ibrox bosses to push for an allocation for the December 30 clash and could take their case to the SPFL. The row could be raised at today’s Gers AGM but Celtic have no intention of softening their stance after they refused to take tickets for the encounter at Ibrox earlier in the season.

It is understood Hoops officials demanded certain guarantees over fan safety after flashpoints on previous clashes – with at least one supporter arrested following the January match for throwing a bottle. But the Parkhead board insisted those promises – which included erecting nets around the away enclosure – were not met and the decision was taken to knock back the offered allocation of around 750 briefs.

Rangers have received a similar amount of seats at Celtic Park in the past but the Hoops are not going to budge and let Gers fans in until the Ibrox issue is resolved. The Light Blues wrote to the SPFL back in August to lodge their disapproval of Celtic’s plans but the league chiefs couldn’t not step in as the decision had yet to be made official at that stage.

But Gers could be forced to go back to the beaks again with the question likely to be raised at today’s Ibrox AGM. Rangers chief exec James Bisgrove admitted at the end of last season there was a ‘long way to go’ to sort out the ongoing dispute over allocations, with both clubs sticking to the guns.

Celtic want a long term return to the full away supports in both grounds – with the Hoops historically getting the entire Broomloan Stand in Govan with Gers getting a similar section at