Celtic boss fears nightmare punishment after Rangers chaos as police investigate | Football | Sport

Martin O’Neill says he now worries no away ticket allocations will be allowed at Celtic v Rangers fixtures following the appalling scenes at Ibrox on Sunday. And the Irishman is disheartened by the incidents because he believes the atmosphere during their Scottish Cup quarter-final triumph over their bitter rivals was the finest he had witnessed for a considerable period.

Despite managing just a solitary shot on target across 120 minutes, the Hoops arranged a last-four meeting with St Mirren at Hampden after prevailing in a penalty shootout courtesy of January acquisition Tomas Cvancara. But what swiftly ensued was shocking, as supporters from both clubs flooded onto the pitch, casting a shadow over their hard-fought triumph. A member of Celtic’s backroom team was assaulted whilst stewards on duty were also attacked.

Police Scotland have already made nine arrests as the investigation into how the mayhem was allowed to unfold continues.

A complete allocation of Celtic supporters – totalling 7,500 – were granted tickets in the Broomloan Stand for the first occasion since 2018 in an Old Firm clash, with Rangers consenting to the rise in tickets on the understanding that Celtic would return the favour should the sides meet at Parkhead in a cup tie in the future. However, O’Neill believes the extraordinary scenes following the final whistle on Sunday will dash those hopes.

Speaking on talkSPORT, he stated: “I thought the noise on Sunday, and the Sunday before where we only had two and a half thousand people there (at Ibrox) was not something I’ve heard in a long time, maybe (since) Celtic played Liverpool away back in 2003 have I heard a noise emanating from a stadium like that.

“So there is something magical about it and I am obviously quite saddened by the events. It’s a shame because I think the things that I was hoping would happen which hadn’t happened for a long time won’t happen again with the full (away) allocations at Ibrox and Celtic Park perhaps being taken away.

“There is obviously going to be a lot of tonight and froing here about what happened. It’s not for me to go into proper analysis about it but I’m not pushing it to the side.

“It really was amazing on both Sundays and to replicate it at Celtic Park with a full crowd of Rangers fans, I think something will be lost from the Old Firm fixture if that atmosphere throughout the game is anything to go by.”

Amidst the chaos, a pair of Celtic pitch invaders from the Broomloan Stand managed to capture selfies with the Celtic boss as he approached to acknowledge the travelling supporters.

“It shows you what an old man is actually thinking about when you have got some 15 year old lads asking you for a selfie at Ibrox. My usual thing is to acknowledge the away fans for a few seconds and then getting back in again. A couple of lads asked for a selfie and I was thinking ‘this is crazy, and old man getting a selfie is just ridiculous’.”

Celtic find themselves five points adrift of Premiership pacesetters Hearts and will be looking to close that deficit when they welcome Motherwell on Saturday. Yet O’Neil is acutely aware of the threat posed by Jens Berthel Askou’s Steelmen, notwithstanding their surprising loss to Dundee last weekend.

He said: “Myself, Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham went up to Dundee to see them last Saturday. They are a really fine side playing lovely football, there is no question about it.

“This will be difficult for us. I’ll find out the situation tomorrow about our own particular injuries but regardless of who plays for us, it will be really difficult.”