CELTIC SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO WIN THE LEAGUE AT IBROX IT’S TIME FOR THE SPFL TO GROW UP
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
As I write this, I await the official announcement of Celtic’s post-split fixtures.
However, thanks to the frankly embarrassing levels of stage-managed interference from the authorities we can already take a good guess as to where and when Celtic will win the league.
We know it won’t be a home game. We only have two of those left and Sky wants one for the day the trophy is presented. We also know it won’t be at Ibrox.
In a departure from every other televised professional football league in the world, having the two biggest clubs in the country play against each other in a title decider is, somehow, considered a bad thing in Scotland and every step should be taken to prevent it.
A Celtic v Rangers Title Decider Should be a No-Brainer for Sponsors and TV
And we wonder why so many in England and elsewhere call it a Mickey Mouse league...
I don’t know if even the WWE would have the sheer gall to try and manage pre-determined outcomes with such brazen openness.
The excuses given by the authorities are the need to prevent public disorder.
The reality is though, we are talking about two teams whose fans have a history of hatred spanning more than a century, even if one of the clubs is only now approaching its teenage years.
You could line up two sets of chimps in Celtic and Rangers strips, get them to knock a ball around, and some halfwit in the ground would find a reason to start a fight.
Public disorder is, sadly inevitable, when Celtic play against a team called Rangers.
However, we shouldn’t allow the minority, and it is a tiny minority on both sides who would ever allow things to actually escalate to physical violence, to dictate when a team gets to enjoy winning the league.
They may be a new club, but the fanbase is the same. For more than 100 years, Celtic and the previous Rangers faced each other in numerous title deciders.
That’s what happens when you have two teams who, for most of their combined histories, have dominated the league. It’s an inevitable part of football.
I watched Inter Milan win the league against AC Milan on TV last season. Was there trouble? Probably, I honestly don’t know. What I do know though is that the spectacle inside the stadium was a great advert for Italian football.
Scottish football’s image is already at an all-time low. Why are we handicapping ourselves further by denying fans the box office event of a title showdown on Glasgow Derby Day?
If people can’t behave themselves, then that’s where the police need to do their jobs.
It is not the place of the SPFL to decide if a fixture shouldn’t happen on public safety grounds. If people choose to engage in violence, then that is what we are supposed to have police for.
Certainly, Police Scotland didn’t have any trouble mobilizing to harass The Green Brigade and other Celtic fans on their way to the last derby.
It’s time for Scottish Football to grow up. No more interference from the SPFL. Set the fixture dates at the start of the season and that’s that.
If it means Celtic win the League against Rangers, or vice-versa, then so be it.
That is football. That is what we pay to watch.