Hearts should be celebrated for away ticket reduction - Celtic and Rangers derbies have benefitted from it

There was an understandably celebratory reaction from the SPFL over their competitions last season attracting a record five million supporters.

No wonder. It was a new high for the decade that the governing body – as currently configured – has been in existence presiding over four league divisions and a cup tournament. As they forever do, in setting out crowd figures, the SPFL trumpeted that Scotland has the highest – by far – per capita league attendances in Europe. The total of 21.3 attendees per 1,000 people across the four divisions 65 per cent higher than the Nertherlands, second place on this particular chart with 12.9 attendees per 1,000 people. The SPFL never care to drill down any further into these statistics. For the simple reason that a very different picture would emerge. Close on 50 per cent of the five million tickets purchased for Scottish football games last season were bought by supporters of Celtic and Rangers. A fact that also places our national sport out on its own across Europe. No other set-up across the continent is so reliant on only two clubs for half of their active fans.

In this context, Hearts’ decision to react to growing demand for season tickets from their own supporters by cutting the Tynecastle allocation for all visiting teams with the exception of Hibs should be proclaimed as a good news story. Not least because as a result of the move, it is expected Hearts will be able to nudge up their season ticket base by in the region of 1,000 in the Roseburn Stand where away supporters are accommodated. In turn guaranteeing revenue from around 16,000 seats in their 20,000 capacity arena. Instead, though, the focus on this development has centred around the reduction of the allocations for Celtic and Rangers in the ground’s away end from 1,250 to 650…this latter total not so far removed from the number of tickets Hearts are given for their trips to the Glasgow citadels. In contrast to the reciprocal agreement they have with Hibs that ensures they are given the entire South Stand at Easter Road in return for the whole of the 3,400 capacity Roseburn Stand.

Frankly, the more punters that can be attracted to matches in Scotland that do not follow the big two, the healthier it is for the long-term wellbeing of the game in this country. Ah, but what about the crackle produced by back-and-forth between opposing fans has been a typical response to the erosion of sizeable away supports. To many, a special ingredient in the raw passions that have supplied Scottish football with its special flavour. Well, especially when Celtic and Rangers come calling, the fabled hostility generated within an almost claustrophobically-configured Tynecastle has overwhelmingly been the product of the frothing from the home denizens.

Celtic away fans inside Tynecastle Park for a Premiership match against last season. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

It feels overplayed as how much of an edge threatens to be lost as a result of the diminution in visiting supports. Or, more accurately, the visiting supports of Celtic and Rangers, frankly. All such debates inevitably wind their way back to this pair. Truth be told, fears that we are witnessing a blunting of Scottish football’s tribal edginess is wrapped up in away fans this year having disappeared from these titans’ top flight tussles. The one such fixture in the country that has a global(ish) appeal. Again, though, the genesis of this issue, as it has morphed, is the two clubs prioritising their own supporters, over which there might want to be acceptance rather than grumbling. To recap, back in 2018, to meet growing demand, Rangers elected to sell season tickets for the 8,000-capacity Broomloan Stand they had previously given over to Celtic for their derby league visits. This reduced the away allocation to a small corner at this end of the ground wherein 850 fans could be accommodated, Celtic following suit with the number they offered for their home league derbies.

The architecture of Ibrox - home fans essentially looking down on this small section - resulted in the safety of Celtic fans housed there being compromised. Over recent years there were a series of incidents of supporters in the area being struck by missiles. It resulted in last season Celtic requesting that their allocation be bolstered to create a buffer to prevent further such problems, which Rangers said was not possible. As a consequence, Celtic made plain they would decline tickets for such encounters, with the expectation Rangers would do likewise.

It has been contended that the past two such occasions played out with only home fans has witnessed a dilution in the febrile atmosphere. It seems that only a precious few of us in attendance consider there has been a plus to the European-style ambiance that has ensued. In terms of Celtic Park at least, an element of the sectarian poison appeared drained from the stands for the past such confrontation contested on this basis. Is it so radical to contest that this might be a better way ahead for a fixture with such unwanted bigoted bile as its horrible baggage? On this basis, it is worth pondering the intensity of supporter engagement in the two recent Premiership encounters between the pair that did not feature any away fans. Can those in attendance at these games genuinely claim this was so removed from the two cup confrontations at Hampden towards the end of last season where there was a 50-50 supporter split? When it comes to away allocations, let’s not be blinded to possibility that less can be more.