Celtic FC

Rangers frustration as offer to reverse Ibrox fixture ‘rebuffed’ – full list of SPFL amendments including ‘unusual’ Sunday slot

Published

4 months ago

September 5, 2024

Glasgow road closures impact on SPFL schedule

Rangers have expressed frustration after one of their fixtures was moved to an 8pm kick-off on a Sunday.

The William Hill Premiership match against St Johnstone due to be played on Sunday, October 6, has been pushed back to the later time due to the Great Scottish Run taking place in Glasgow on the same day.

Road closures around the southside of the city mean that Ibrox will be unable to safely and efficiently host 45,000 spectators for a traditional afternoon kick-off.

Rangers had been willing to reverse the fixture to McDiarmid Park in order to maintain an earlier kick-off, but those advances were turned down.

A club statement read: “Rangers put forward a number of alternative options including an earlier kick-off and a fixture reversal, but all were rebuffed by the other stakeholders involved.

“Playing on the Saturday is not feasible given our match with Lyon takes place on the Thursday evening, while the Monday evening is also not possible with that falling in the international window.

“The club is fully cognisant of the inconvenience this will cause to many of our supporters, and we share in your frustration at this situation.

“We will continue to engage with stakeholders including public transport providers and Glasgow City Council, and update supporters on access plans and routes closer to the match taking place.”

The match, which has been selected for live coverage on Premier Sports, is among several fixtures to be given new dates and times by the SPFL.

A total of 13 matches have been moved to Sundays following publication of the fixture lists for UEFA group stage competitions, while broadcast selections have been made for the weekends of September 28/29 and October 5/6.

Sky Sports will show Rangers v Hibs on Sunday, September 29 and Ross County v Celtic on Sunday October 6. Both games will kick off at 12 noon.

Premier Sports will have live coverage of St Johnstone v Celtic on Saturday September 28, kick-off 5.45pm, and the aforementioned Rangers v St Johnstone fixture.

SPFL Chief Operating Officer Calum Beattie: “I would like to place on record my thanks to the two clubs and all other stakeholders for their assistance throughout this process to enable the Rangers v St Johnstone match to take place on its scheduled weekend.

“The congested nature of the fixture list, compounded by the additional UEFA matchdays this season, is not without its challenges. We appreciate this is an unusual fixture slot for an SPFL match but our options were very limited.

“We are pleased to announce that Premier Sports will cover the match on the Sunday evening, ensuring that any supporters who are not able to attend on a Sunday evening will be able to watch the match live on Premier Sports. Travel information for supporters will be released by Rangers and St Johnstone ahead of the match.”