Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers claims Rangers are at fault over Old Firm lockout

Brendan Rodgers has defended Celtic’s stance in the Old Firm ticket fiasco — and insists Rangers are entirely to blame for the whole affair.

It was announced this week that the tit-for-tat between both clubs will continue with a ban on away fans for the first two Old Firm matches of the new season.

After a truce was called in March, Celtic have expressed concerns over Rangers’ ability to carry out infrastructure and safety work before the teams meet at Ibrox on January 2.

The Parkhead side have therefore opted against giving Rangers fans any tickets for the first clash at Parkhead on September 1.

The SPFL announced on Friday that a deal has been struck to facilitate away fans for the remaining two derbies of the season after the fixture in January.

But Rodgers came out swinging, pointing out that it was Rangers who initially chose to reduce the number of away fans in 2018 — and who are now having major construction issues at Ibrox.

Asked if there was any chance of Celtic acting in good faith that Rangers would have their house in order by January, he gave the idea short shrift. ‘Well, no,’ he said. ‘I think the board have made a really, really good decision in terms of the club’s job is to protect the support.

‘So, I think Celtic have played their part in what they were asked to do. Again, I go back, nothing of this was Celtic’s issue. Nothing.

‘When you go back to when this all started (in 2018), it’s nothing to do with Celtic.

‘Celtic gets dragged into this here as being a Celtic-Rangers thing. It’s not a Celtic-Rangers thing. This is a Rangers thing.

‘So, Celtic, when even they’re asked to have this agreement to make the stadium safe and everything else, we plough money into that, we do the works, which started months ago.

‘That, like I said, on both parties, it hasn’t been agreed. So, it’s not complicated. It hasn’t been done. So, good faith, whatever way you want to put it, there’s still an agreement for both, right.

‘So, it’s not done. It’s not good faith. If we allow Rangers supporters in, then we get to January and our own supporters can’t get in, it’s not good faith.

‘So, I think that the agreement hasn’t been upheld. So, Celtic, rightly, have to defend their supporters and the club.

‘And sadly the Rangers supporters miss out on this game and Celtic in the return game. But let’s hope that, after that, we can then find a way to get the supporters in.’

The SPFL confirmed in a statement that the final two Old Firm matches of the season will see a return to an away allocation of around five per cent, subject to safety requirements being met at both Ibrox and Celtic Park.

Keen to see the return of away fans, Rodgers added: ‘I’m clearly disappointed for both sets of supporters, because it’s been a long time now since we had a decent allocation for both clubs.

‘So, I think the statement was that it was for the next two games. So, fingers crossed that, after that, we see in the final couple of games that we can get the supporters back in.’