Rangers have been directly impacted by new Scottish Government Covid-19 restrictions that will see outdoor football matches played in front of crowds of no more than 500 people as of Boxing Day.
The situation directly impacts Rangers’ upcoming Boxing Day fixture against St Mirren which was originally set to be in front of 50,000 supporters.
The new restrictions, as outlined by journalist Peter Adam Smith, come into effect on Boxing Day and are initially set to last three weeks, taking us to January 16th.
These consider namely; limits on public events (100 indoor seated, 200 indoor standing, 500 outdoor) with Edinburgh Hogmanay also cancelled.
The government are also reinforcing the “Stay at home as much as possible” message as the country is hit by a Covid-19 Omicron wave and health services brace for impact amid the vaccine roll-out.
Rangers fans – frustrated by the situation and missing out on watching their heroes in action – are lamenting the fact supporters will be locked out for the Boxing Day visit of St Mirren.
Rangers facing reduced crowds v Aberdeen and Celtic under new restrictions
The news also means that the Ibrox side’s visit to Pittodrie to face Aberdeen on the 29th December and Celtic Park to face Celtic on the 2nd January is currently scheduled to be played in front of reduced crowds.
This has resulted in the news being taken very badly outside of Ibrox, with Rangers’ trips to these two grounds amongst the hardest of the campaign resulting in a view the Gers stand to benefit.
Scottish football is also preparing for a three-week winter break after the final round of fixtures on the weekend Rangers play Celtic.
With no promise that the Covid-19 situation will improve over that period – or see a return of crowds in January – what difference does it make cutting this half of the campaign short?
As things stand, it’s difficult see these rules change until the spring so would the plan be to kick it up the park again later in the month if we can’t get the safe return of fans?
Whatever the case, the situation continues to go one way and until the country gets a handle on the Omicron wave we can expect more Rangers and Scottish football frustration in the weeks ahead.
Meanwhile, a Rangers youth coach has been lauding an ex-Man United youngster for his “ruthless” displays with the B team.