{"id":415819,"date":"2026-04-24T21:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/415819\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T21:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:08:07","slug":"rangers-unhappy-about-celtic-requirement-to-exclude-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/415819\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers unhappy about Celtic requirement to exclude Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rangers have complained to league officials after being told they will get no tickets for the crucial derby at Celtic Park unless they exclude the Union Bears ultras group.<\/p>\n

Rangers rejected Celtic’s conditions for handing over tickets for the 10 May encounter, which could have a major say in the William Hill Premiership title race.<\/p>\n

Celtic reacted with “surprise and disappointment” that Rangers did not agree to the stipulations.<\/p>\n

The move comes after a number of supporters invaded the pitch from the area housing the Union Bears after Celtic’s Scottish Cup win at Ibrox<\/a> on 8 March.<\/p>\n

\"Rangers<\/p>\n

A Celtic player and member of staff were allegedly assaulted as Rangers fans charged towards the Broomloan Stand after visiting fans spilled on to the pitch to celebrate.<\/p>\n

A Rangers statement read: “Celtic informed us that they will not provide any tickets for the forthcoming game to our supporters unless we agree not to allocate tickets to members of the Union Bears.<\/p>\n

“We have firmly rejected those conditions and have referred the matter to the SPFL board.<\/p>\n

“Rangers is fully committed to safety at football matches, and we have been clear in condemning the actions of certain individuals on 8 March. We have been attempting to work with Celtic to mitigate any security concerns for the upcoming match.<\/p>\n

“At a crucial stage of the season, the removal of away supporters from one of the defining fixtures of the competition would introduce a clear and material sporting imbalance. It would also set a precedent with potentially significant consequences for the league in future seasons.<\/p>\n

“This game is an opportunity for Scottish football to demonstrate that it can respond constructively to recent events. It should be a showcase occasion and a chance to rebuild confidence in how matches of this nature are managed.<\/p>\n

“We ask the SPFL board to uphold the integrity of the competition, enforce the rules and ensure that the agreement in place between both clubs is honoured.”<\/p>\n

\"Celtic's<\/p>\n

A statement from Celtic read: “To be clear, we are ready and willing to make the full allocation as normal available to Rangers, subject to a condition regarding distribution to a particular section.<\/p>\n

“Celtic\u2019s priority will always be the safety of those attending Celtic Park, and following a detailed risk assessment with regards to the forthcoming match, the club has made a reasonable request of Rangers that tickets are not distributed to a section of supporters which very recently and identifiably engaged in serious violence and disorder involving Celtic supporters, staff, police and stewards.<\/p>\n

“To our surprise and disappointment Rangers have not agreed to this request.<\/p>\n

“Celtic are ready to engage further with the SPFL and Rangers on this matter.”<\/p>\n

An SPFL spokesperson said: “The SPFL board will now appoint a sub-committee to consider Rangers\u2019 request for a determination under SPFL Rule I27.”<\/p>\n

That rule dictates that clubs must make provision for a “reasonable number” of visiting fans and allows the SPFL board to determine the number of tickets.<\/p>\n

\n

Listen to the RT\u00c9 Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Arsenal v Lyon in the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Sunday from 3pm on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rangers have complained to league officials after being told they will get no tickets for the crucial derby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-415819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}