The SPFL’s Hampden decisions tend to be ridiculous, but this latest one should infuriate Rangers supporters.
There was a lot to enjoy about Rangers’ 4-0 hammering of Ayr United. The terrific display and brace of young Glenn Middleton. The continued renaissance of Andy Halliday. Or even just the return of the likes of Wes Foderingham and Graham Dorrans.
Yet, when Rangers fans checked the news earlier on, they should’ve noticed a decision the SPFL has made that should infuriate them.
The heads of Scottish football have made the decision to play the two Betfred Cup semi-finals in the one day. This is in response to the question about scheduling given both Old Firm sides are in Europe.
Rangers vs Aberdeen will take place at 12pm before Celtic face Hearts at 7:45pm on October 28th.
The initial problem was the fact that both Old Firm sides were in Europe on the Thursday before the cup semis. That would’ve left a two-day gap for either one of them before their semi-final.
The SPFL have since gotten around the table and have come up with what? Playing both games on the same day – a careless and quite simply dangerous route to go down.
A crazy and dangerous decision
Why on earth would Rangers supporters want to take their kids around areas that will be plagued by opposition fans? Rangers vs Aberdeen will be on first. Whoever wins and ends up going through to the final is irrelevant. The fact is, are both club’s supporters going to be home and in their living rooms by the time Celtic and Hearts pitch up around Rutherglen and Mount Florida?
Absolutely not, and neither should they have to. Instead, it’s going to be a huge safety risk having four opposition sets of supporters in the same areas.
Assuming all clubs get a 50-50 split on tickets, it could kick off between all four of them. This isn’t just a Celtic and Rangers issue, there’s bad blood between all four with each other.
Hampden Park on a Betfred Cup semi-final day should be a terrific family-day out for those wishing to go. Instead, who’s going to want to take their kids around areas filled with opposition supporters?
It’ll take a lot of fun out of the day and potentially turn the place into a warzone. All the SPFL have left to do is build a trench for each set of supporters to bunk in around Hampden.
The only other alternative was to use Murrayfield for one of the matches. How on earth this wasn’t chosen over the potentially dangerous scenario made is anyone’s guess. That’s just Scottish football for you however.
