Martin O’Neill Says Celtic Should Reject Ibrox’s 300 Tickets — And He’s Absolutely Right

Martin O’Neill says Celtic should reject Ibrox’s insulting allocation of just 300 tickets — and Celtic should go even further.

Hand them back.

Then make it abundantly clear that Celtic are finished participating in this pathetic ticketing circus.

O’Neill nailed it when he said: “We might as well not get any.”

He then delivered the line Celtic should turn into policy: if they are offering only 300, he would “rather say no – and we’ll give them ONE.”

Exactly.

Three hundred tickets inside a stadium holding more than 50,000 people is not a meaningful away allocation. It is a token gesture.

Celtic should have enough institutional self-respect to tell the Ibrox club to keep them.

Martin O’Neill is right – Celtic did not start this

Something continually gets lost whenever this poisonous saga is discussed.

Celtic did not start it.

In May 2018, the Ibrox club unilaterally ripped apart the traditional arrangement which had allowed around 7,000 Celtic supporters into Ibrox.

Celtic’s allocation was slashed to approximately 800.

Celtic subsequently responded in kind, but importantly said it was “not a development we welcome” and criticised the original decision being taken without discussion.

That distinction matters enormously.

Even Brendan Rodgers later summed it up perfectly when discussing the continuing allocation problems: “It’s not a Celtic-Rangers thing, this is a Rangers thing.”

Celtic have spent far too long being dragged into somebody else’s toxic cycle of petty decisions, retaliation and manufactured controversy.

Enough.

Celtic should completely disengage from this nonsense

Celtic are not half of anything.

They are Celtic Football Club.

A huge institution with their own history, identity, worldwide support, European pedigree and ambitions.

They do not need the Ibrox club to make them relevant.

Yet Scottish football continually attempts to bind the two clubs together as though one cannot exist without the other.

Celtic should reject that mentality completely.

When the Ibrox club creates another ticket controversy, Celtic should not be obliged to join the dance.

When they offer 300 scraps, Celtic should not gratefully accept them simply to maintain the appearance of an away allocation.

Tell them to keep them.

If meaningful, safe and properly reciprocal allocations cannot be agreed, walk away from the entire charade.

O’Neill is right that the fixture is unquestionably better with substantial travelling supports. Thousands of away fans produce an atmosphere that 300 people tucked into a corner simply cannot recreate.

However, Celtic should not accept humiliation in the name of atmosphere.

This club is bigger than that.

The answer cannot forever be Celtic reacting to whatever the latest decision from Ibrox happens to be.

Stop reacting.

Stop being dragged into their disputes.

Stop accepting the lazy suggestion that every problem involving the Ibrox club automatically becomes a problem belonging equally to Celtic.

They started the allocation destruction in 2018. The historical record is perfectly clear about that.

Now we are being offered 300 tickets.

Reject them.

Celtic should stand alone, protect their own supporters and make their own decisions without constantly being tied to the Ibrox club.

We are Celtic.

We do not need them.

Key Takeaways

• Martin O’Neill believes Celtic may as well reject an allocation of only 300 tickets.
• The Ibrox club initiated the dramatic reduction in Celtic’s traditional away allocation in 2018.
• Celtic publicly opposed that original decision before reciprocating.
• Celtic should refuse token allocations rather than legitimise an increasingly ridiculous situation.
• Celtic must stop allowing themselves to be automatically tied to every controversy involving the Ibrox club.
• Celtic are a major institution in their own right and do not need that relationship to define them.