MARTIN O’NEILL believes when fans get back into stadiums, the current Ibrox regime should end their petty stance that’s seen Celtic fans locked out of Ibrox on Derby day.
During Celtic’s quadruple treble run, the team and our support had some memorable days skelping the home side and having a party on the terraces.
After Odsonne Edouard fired a ten man Celtic into the lead during one particular derby at Ibrox, the decision was taken shortly after to cut Celtic’s allocation from 8,000 to just 800.
It was done by the Ibrox board without consulting the Celtic hierarchy and when they were clear they were locking Celtic fans out, the Celtic board had no choice but to reciprocate.
A decision made at board room level that not many fans agree with to this day.
Martin O’Neill thinks the games are so special when you have a large contingent of the away support inside the stadium.
Given we’ve experienced training match football for over a year, it’s time to get back to real atmospheres and O’Neill wants to see the clubs come to that agreement.
Speaking to Graham Spiers on his Press Box podcast, the manager spoke about the derby with so much affection.
“When the crowds are in, when the aways fans fill up their particular end and when the place is absolutely electric there’s no question about that [it’s the best Derby in the world].
“I feel when the fans do come back, I’m hopeful along the way they can have their quota of fans back again
“When you went to Ibrox, you felt like you had some company with you, that you weren’t alone when you saw the Celtic fans, I’m quite sure Rangers felt exactly the same so
“You can use all sorts of adjectives about the games but they’re something so magical about them
“Of course, there’s an intensity that doesn’t exist anywhere else, the build up to the matches is like nothing else and the game itself is frenetic.”
Would you like to see this happen when fans return?
