Celtic and Rangers hit with stadium bans after ugly scenes in Old Firm clash

Celtic and Rangers have both been ordered to play their next home matches in the Scottish Cup behind closed doors after last season's Old Firm quarter-final was overshadowed by fan trouble.

The two clubs could yet face a second home match without fans if there is another incident where either side's supporters engage in "unacceptable conduct" in a Scottish Cup fixture.

The punishment will likely hit when both sides enter this season's Scottish Cup at the fourth-round stage, which is scheduled for the middle of January. Celtic and Rangers will both have to pay £100,000 to the team they are drawn against in that fixture.

It all stems from the unsavoury scenes that were seen in last year's clash at Ibrox, which Celtic won 4-2 on penalties. It was after the final whistle that both sets of fans ran onto the pitch. A total of 43 arrests have now been made in connection with the event.

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The incident in March marked the first time at Ibrox in seven years that Celtic were given the full Broomloan Stand, meaning there were around 7,500 away fans at the game. That figure came about due to Scottish Cup rules on ticket allocations, which promote more away fans at games.

In recent years the away following has been minimised. There was an Old Firm league clash the week prior which had just 2,500 away fans after an agreement between clubs to give around five per cent of stadium capacity to away teams for the fixture. Prior to that the travelling section has seen fans in the hundreds, not the thousands, and sometimes there were none.

An independent review was published last month and concluded that incident was within a "very small margin" of becoming a violent mass confrontation. The report, led by Mark Blackbourne, also criticised the Scottish FA for not taking a tougher approach to crowd disorder.

The report called out fans group from Celtic and Rangers and stated: "The proximity of these groups to the playing surface materially increased the likelihood of a mass incursion and contributed to the rapid escalation of disorder.

"The post-match pitch invasion by several hundred Celtic supporters was wholly inexcusable. It provoked an immediate hostile response from sections of the home support, who forced past stewards and police to reach the pitch."

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