On the day that the Scottish Premiership fixtures are announced there’s always some conjecture as to the schedule and Rangers fans have raised a suspicious Old Firm eyebrow.
Whilst Celtic have certainly drawn the short straw as far as opening day games go – Rangers host Livingston at Ibrox at 13:30 on July 31st whilst Celtic travel to Hearts at 20:00 the same day – Ibrox supporters have been questioning an SPFL decision from last season.
This year’s first Old Firm game of the season is set to take place at Ibrox Stadium on 28/08/21 – the fourth game of the campaign – whereas last year the Parkhead reverse wasn’t staged until the 17th of October.
The random fixture generator – which everyone on some level accepts isn’t random due to television scheduling and managing supporters in cities with two clubs – put the last Old Firm opener as the 11th game on the calendar in 19/20 as Celtic chased 10IAR.
So why is there a difference of almost two months between these fixtures kicking off in similar Covid-19 uncertainty?
This was after public appeals by then Celtic manager Neil Lennon amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with many feeling that last year’s showpiece Scottish football event was deliberately placed here for a number of reasons.
These range from attempting to get Scotland’s showpiece event in front of fans to trying to give the home team an advantage in the fixture.
“Should the first Old Firm game be pushed back? I think that’s what everyone would want,” said Lennon [Scottish Sun].
“Everyone associated with the game would want that and the clubs would want that.
“I’m sure it would suit the TV companies as well.”
It all backfired on the Parkhead club anyway with the match staged after an international break and Celtic being decimated with injuries and Covid before Rangers defeated them 2-0.
But that hasn’t stopped Rangers fans raising a suspicious Old Firm eyebrow as they point out the glaring inconsistency from head office at Hampden:
https://twitter.com/AllyBongo52/status/1404714970638598146
https://twitter.com/beaford_j/status/1404745266276806657
https://twitter.com/DarrynHouston/status/1404746806567870467
https://twitter.com/AMcD72x/status/1404718326681673728
https://twitter.com/suddy72/status/1404718089393086464
https://twitter.com/PapacSassy/status/1404717143015440387
https://twitter.com/joshsmith1872/status/1404716881089605638
https://twitter.com/andyh1872/status/1404716795513159681
Rangers will be hoping to have fans back in the ground for the clash at the end of August as supporters face up to the possibility of severely reduced capacity amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ibrox SLO Greg Marshall has been responding to fans who claim the only thing they care about seeing come the season opener is the return of the support.
