Celtic will host Hearts at home in the final game of this season, and the SFA Chief Operating Officer explains why this is the case.
The post-split fixtures dropped on Tuesday afternoon, and the usual noise followed. With a three-way title race still alive, every detail is being picked apart.
Traditionally, the side leading the league heading into the split gets the advantage of a home fixture on the final day. That has not happened this time.
Instead, Celtic, currently sitting third, will host Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday, May 16. Rangers, just ahead of them, will travel to face Falkirk.
That decision has not gone unnoticed.
SFA Chief Operating Officer Calum Beattie has already stepped in to explain how it landed that way. He said (SPFL website):
“Celtic have been given a home match on the final day of the season, partly because they have three home matches post-split and Hearts and Rangers only have two.
“In recent seasons, we have been able to have the club at the top of the table entering into the split at home on the final day.
“However, that has not been possible on this occasion due to the number of competing constraints and the most exciting title race in years making each fixture round very unpredictable.
“We have a fantastic final day to look forward to with Celtic and Hearts facing off at Celtic Park, Rangers travelling to a Falkirk side that have been one of the success stories of the season and a potential battle for European spots at Easter Road.”
There are layers to it beyond just the title race.
Falkirk’s schedule has played a part, with the club set to finish the season with 20 home games and 18 away. The balancing act across the league rarely lands perfectly, and this year is no different.
Beattie laid that out clearly.
“Clubs are scheduled to play 16 or 17 home games in the 33 fixture rounds before the split. We then try to ensure all clubs finish up having played 19 games at home and 19 away.
“However, this is not always possible to achieve—in fact, since the split was introduced in 2000/01, we have had a 20/18 scenario around 50 per cent of the time.
“This season, Falkirk will play 20 home games in the top-six, and Livingston will play 18 home games in the bottom-six.
“All clubs will play a minimum of two, and a maximum of three, home fixtures after the split. We try to ensure clubs finish the season home/away or away/home over fixture rounds 37 and 38 and that is the case again this season.”
It does not make it any less unusual.
If anything, it underlines how tight and messy this run-in is shaping up to be. Celtic, Rangers and Hearts are all still in it, and the fixture list reflects just how difficult it has been to square everything off.
For Celtic, it means one thing. If the title is still alive going into that final afternoon, it will be decided in front of their own support.
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