St Johnstone chief in Celtic and Rangers ticket confession as McDiarmid Park takeover back on the table

Chief executive Fran Smith says St Johnstone could be ready to open the McDiarmid Park gates for more Celtic and Rangers fans next season.

Saints infuriated supporters by handing their East Stand to Rangers for a Scottish Cup tie in January of last year. And Smith has admitted that Celtic or Rangers getting three stands again IS a possibility from 2024/25. Visiting fans from the Glasgow giants will stay in two stands behind the goals plus a section of the Geoff Brown Stand for the rest of this Premiership campaign.

Smith hopes Saints punters turn out in force to fill their seats against Gers a week on Sunday then for Celtic in April.
But he admits more Old Firm footfall could be used to give Simo Valakari’s spending power a boost if there’s an unsatisfactory turnout from Perth on those days. Smith explained: “Our current policy is our fans will be in the East Stand - and that will remain through to the end of the season.

“We’ve Rangers in a couple of weeks and Celtic again later in the season. Hopefully there will be another game against Rangers in the top six after that.

“We were always going to review this at the end of the season. We’ll discuss it as a board and discuss it with fans’ groups again. There are a few options.

“Economically, if we’re not going to fill the East Stand, why wouldn’t we think about maximising income? You’re probably talking about being £75k better off for one game, which is a player.

“Of course, the rest of the board might not agree with me. That’s the important thing. One option is giving St Johnstone fans the Geoff Brown Stand and the Ormond.

“We’d make £35k more doing it that way. There’s the possibility of season tickets with and without Old Firm games.

“I’ve got to think