Kilmarnock move derby with Ayr to February in Rugby Park crowd bid

Kilmrnock will host the Ayrshire derby on a new date in February, the clubs have confirmed. (Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The New Year derby, scheduled for Sunday, January 2, would have expected to fill Rugby Park’s stands in normal circumstances but Scottish Government restrictions on large events limited the attendance to 500.

Killie’s joint appeal with the Honest Men to the SPFL has been accepted and the game will now be played in February – by which point both the managerless clubs would expect to have new coaches in place – with the hope fans will be permitted to attend in greater numbers once again.

A joint statement confirmed a new date of Wednesday February 9 at 7.45pm and added: “We thank the SPFL and Police Scotland for accommodating this request.

"All tickets sold to date will be honoured for the new date while fresh ticket sales will be kept on hold until at least 14 days before the fixture date.”

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