“The fixture is everything with the fans.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and Rangers head coach Barry Ferguson are delighted away fans are to return for next month’s Old Firm game, live on Sky Sports.
There have been no visiting fans at Old Firm fixtures since 2023, with the clubs unable to agree on ticketing arrangements.
Celtic host Rangers in the Scottish Premiership on March 16 with the sides to meet again at Ibrox after the top-six split, with the clubs agreeing to allocate “four per cent of saleable capacity” at each stadium to visiting fans.
The deal was brokered by the Scottish Professional Football League about 12 months ago but the lockout of away fans continued for the first fixtures this season after Celtic felt Rangers had not met safety work requirements by the agreed time.
“Everyone welcomes it because the game is a wonderful spectacle, but it’s everything with the supporters in there, so to have both back is great news for the fixture, for the players and ultimately for the supporters because that’s who we play for,” Rodgers said.
“Football, as we know, is about the rivalry and there’s arguably no greater rivalry than Celtic vs Rangers in world football.
“There’s many great derbies of course, but this one being the exceptional one. I think it’s just good to have both sets of supporters
Asked if he would like a return to the much larger allocations he experienced when he was a Rangers player, Ferguson replied: “At this moment in time, I’m just happy that the fans are back. In time, we’ll wait and see, but at least it’s a start.
“It’ll be good that the fans will be at Celtic Park. I’ve always said it’s something that the fixtures missed. In an ideal situation, it would be great if there was more.
“But the way it is, the way it’s happened, the number of tickets we’re getting, I’m just glad that away supporters are allowed back.”
Earlier, Rangers had announced in a statement: “Rangers supporters will be able to attend our match with Celtic on 16 March, with the two clubs agreeing for a reciprocal percentage of tickets to be allocated to away fans.
“Approximately four per cent of saleable capacity at both stadiums will be given to the visiting club, with everyone at Rangers looking forward to having the backing of our supporters in the East End of Glasgow in just over a fortnight’s time.
“The arrangement will then be repeated for the Old Firm derby at Ibrox following the split.”
Celtic said: “We can confirm that, following the previous SPFL determination from last year and with necessary requirements being addressed, away supporters will be present at the next two Glasgow derby matches this season at Celtic Park and Ibrox.”
In 2018, Rangers tore up the long-standing convention that saw about 7,500 fans travel across the city on derby days and reduced that figure to around 10 per cent of that total. Inevitably, Celtic followed suit.
The situation developed that neither club accepted tickets for each other’s grounds for safety reasons.
Celtic then refused Rangers’ request for tickets for the December 30 game in 2023, with the SPFL at that stage unable to enforce vague regulations over away allocations.