Celtic and Rangers have been ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup ties behind closed doors after crowd trouble at their March quarter-final at Ibrox.
The Scottish FA punishment follows a chaotic Old Firm cup tie that ended 4-2 to Celtic on penalties after a goalless draw, with fans clashing on the pitch after the shoot-out and some supporters entering the playing surface.
The ruling means both clubs will lose home support for their next Scottish Cup match at their own ground, a significant sanction for fixtures that are usually among the most intense in the competition. It also raises the stakes for the rest of the season, because any further trouble at a Scottish Cup fixture through the end of the 2027/28 season will trigger a second stadium closure.
What happened at Ibrox?
The March quarter-final at Ibrox quickly moved beyond a standard cup tie. After Celtic's penalty shoot-out win, supporters from both clubs ended up on the pitch, with the disorder prompting an independent review led by Mark Blackbourne.
Blackbourne said the scenes narrowly avoided "crushing" and "life-threatening violence," calling the post-match pitch invasion by several hundred Celtic supporters "wholly inexcusable." He also said the Celtic Ultras were the first to enter the pitch in jubilation, while the Union Bears' movement toward the track and pitch was reactionary, confrontational and overtly threatening.
The review also noted that the clubs had already been through seasons of reduced away allocations, and at times no away fans at all. Just the previous weekend, Rangers and Celtic had around 2,500 away fans at their league match after an agreement to give roughly 5 per cent of stadium capacity to the visiting team. The Old Firm game at Ibrox referenced in the review was the first since 2018 in which Celtic were given the full Broomloan Stand.
Why the punishment matters
Closing a stadium for a Scottish Cup tie is a serious response, particularly for two clubs whose home atmospheres are central to the competition's biggest matches. The Scottish FA is clearly treating the Ibrox disorder as more than a one-off flare-up, and the added threat of another closure through the 2027/28 season is designed to prevent a repeat.
For Celtic and Rangers, the immediate effect is straightforward: their next home Scottish Cup fixtures will be played without supporters in the stands. The broader message is equally clear. Crowd trouble in one of Scottish football's most high-profile fixtures has now led to a sanction that could shape the cup for years if similar scenes happen again.
