Celtic told 'stuff the 700 tickets - it's 10,000 or nothing' as Rangers blamed for 'away fans nonsense'

John Hartson has urged Celtic to refuse the allocation of 700 tickets offered for away fans at the upcoming Old Firm fixture against Rangers at Ibrox.

Visiting fans were locked out of each of the derbies earlier this season with covid-related stadium restrictions cited as the cause for reducing attendances.

Away fans at the fixture has become a thorny subject in recent years. Celtic fans were previously housed in the Broomloan Road stand at Ibrox however Rangers cut their allocation in 2018 and moved their rivals fans into the smaller north-west corner usually used for visiting supporters.

Celtic responded with a similarly reduced away allocation for Old Firm games at Celtic Park before this season’s home fans only policy was applied to the first matches between the sides at each ground this season.

According to reports, Celtic “are in possession of a small number of tickets” for the match on April 3 with 700 briefs said to have been handed across the city in the expectation that Rangers would receive a reciprocal allocation for the fourth and final league encounter at Parkhead, which will take place after the Premiership splits next month.

However, former Celtic striker Hartson has called on the club to refuse their Ibrox allocation, saying they should hold out for 10,000-plus as he blamed Rangers for the ongoing situation.

"I would say stuff the 700 tickets,” Hartson posted on Twitter. “It should be 10,000 fans plus or nothing. If your one of the 700 I would think of the other Celtic fans who are missing out. We all know who started this lack of away fans nonsense.”

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