Ex-Rangers star says Old Firm away ticket allocation was cut ‘because Celtic kept winning’

The topic of assigning away tickets for what many regard to be the UK’s fiercest derby has long been divisive, and a former ‘Gers star has stated that Celtic is to blame.

The days of nearly 7,000 Celtic supporters showing up at Ibrox are long gone. Indeed, there haven’t been any away supporters at any of the recent matches.

Depending on who you question, different people will have different explanations for why the allocations were reduced exponentially. While the official explanation was that the stand was required to expand the area for season ticket holders, Celtic supporters would argue that their overwhelming dominance in 2018 pushed Rangers to reduce their tickets.

A former player has now come out to support the argument that the allocation cut that has sapped the derby’s enormous energy is, in fact, the result of Celtic’s supremacy.

Josh Windass entered an era dominated by Glasgow’s green side when he moved from Accrington Stanley to Rangers in 2016.

During Windass’ tenure in Scotland, the Bhoys won five straight league crowns, stretching their record-tying nine-game winning streak. The striker attributes the allocation cut to this dominance.

“Now that they’ve stopped the away crowds, it’s not good,” Windass observed during the Manchester City vs. Chelsea broadcast on PitchSide. They probably did it because the Celtics continued winning, the Rangers reduced the allotment, and the Celtics reduced it even further. It it is the world’s most intense derby.”

The allocation controversy began in the 2018 season, when Rangers’ opponents defeated them virtually every time. The ‘Gers won the first meeting, but Celtic won the next games, including a stunning 3-2 comeback with 10 men and a 5-0 thrashing.

Following this, the amount of away tickets available was cut in half, and both clubs experienced a worsening of the situation as they started to worry about the safety of the less than 1000 away group.

Due to the long history of safety concerns raised by too many derby incidents to count, it was decided that no away fans would be let into the stadium. Concerns about fan safety have already destroyed the aspirations of the 700 Celtic supporters who were expected to cheer on their women’s team during their match at Ibrox in the SWPL.

As Windass mentioned, the tie wouldn’t be the same without the support of both sets of supporters, so let’s hope that this ongoing problem is resolved quickly.

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