EX-CELT QUERIES SEVCO DECISION

FORMER Celtic striker Simon Donnelly isn’t convinced the decision to slash the Hoops’ ticket allocation at Ibrox will make much of a difference on the pitch.

The ex-Scotland international recalled playing in Govan in 1994 – on an afternoon when the club’s former chairman, David Murray, BANNED all visiting fans.

Sevco have announced they are planning to savagely cut the champions’ quota from 7,000 to 900 or 800 in order to accommodate their season ticket holders.

The double treble winners then responded in kind and said they could do the same for away fans at Parkhead.

Donnelly admitted the fact there were no Celtic supporters inside the ground 24 years ago acted as extra motivation for the to achieve a good result – and they did just that with a stunning John Collins set-piece that gave them the lead until Alexei Mikhailichenko’s leveller 11 minutes from time.

The ex-Queen’s Park frontman, signed for the Hoops by Liam Brady, earned the free-kick after being fouled by Richard Gough.

He said: “I am not sure what these measures regarding the tickets will actually achieve. Reducing the number of Celtic and Rangers fans who watch the derby match will dilute it as a spectacle.

“Derby matches are for the supporters. It is about the passion, the excitement, the bragging rights, you name it.

“It is the biggest match on the Scottish football calendar and the one that both sets of fans look out for every season.

“Having 800 Celtic fans at Ibrox and a similar number (of travelling fans) at Celtic Park is not ideal for both sets of supporters, is it?

“I remember running out at Ibrox towards the Broomloan Stand where 7,500 Celtic fans would normally be.

“The Broomloan Stand is usually a sea of green and white, but it was blue and white as far as the eye could see.

“I didn’t find it intimidating or hostile. There was even a comedy moment when the Celtic players looked up and saw a plane flying overhead with a banner proudly proclaiming ‘Hail, Hail! The Celts Are Here’.

“That gave us all a laugh.”

Donnelly added: “We are now at a moment in time when Brendan Rodgers are the best team in the country by a considerable distance.

“Rangers, somehow, have to find a way of stopping Celtic on the park just as we did (with Rangers) in 1998 to stop 10-in-a-row.

“I’m just not sure that Rangers reducing the number of Celtic supporters from going to Ibrox is the answer.”