Ulster Rangers duo Steven Davis and Jordan Jones played out Northern Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Austria in front of a crowd 600 fans at Windsor Park.
The Ibrox pair were powerless to resist as Northern Ireland fell to the UEFA Nations League defeat but it was a sign of progress in the stands as 600 fans were allowed in.
This is significantly in contrast to the situation in Scotland and the rest of the UK were fans are currently locked out of football stadiums.
The situation is so perilous that there has been talk of financial Armageddon as the Scottish football authorities try to secure a government bail-out.
Rangers fans have been locked out of Ibrox stadium since March, with the last game played in front of a full house in Scotland taking place in Govan.
The Gers fell to a 3-1 Europa League round of 16 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in front of 50,000 people at a packed Ibrox Stadium.
Whilst the phased return of Scottish supporters was to be stepped up in early October this has since been pushed back due to a spike in coronavirus cases in the country [BBC Scotland].
Rangers fans are facing up to the very real prospect that they face a lock-out until the Spring but events such as those at Windsor Park are a step in the right direction for British sport.
Rangers may also be forced to play all of their Europa League away games in front of crowds of up to 30% stadium capacity whilst bluenoses will be locked out of Ibrox.
Europa League group D opponents Lech Poznan have already announced their plans to sell 10,000 tickets for the match with Rangers in Poland in December.
