Celtic given ‘general behaviour’ message by police ahead of quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox
Celtic have been visited by Police Scotland in the build-up to Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox, with manager Martin O’Neill confirming that officers delivered what he described as a “general behaviour” reminder to the squad. The visit comes amid heightened sensitivity around Old Firm fixtures following crowd trouble at the corresponding meeting between the two clubs last season, and it sets the tone for a derby that will be played out under unusually strict security arrangements, including a total absence of away supporters inside the 50,000-capacity Ibrox stadium.
The news was first reported by Scottish outlets on Friday, with confirmation coming directly from O’Neill during his pre-match media duties. It quickly became one of the more talked-about storylines heading into the weekend’s Old Firm derby, adding an extra layer of intrigue to a fixture that already carries significant weight given the history between the sides and the punishments both clubs are currently serving as a result of previous disorder.
According to O’Neill, the meeting with police was brief but pointed. He explained that officers came in for what amounted to a short session with the players, lasting around 15 minutes, essentially to remind the squad about their conduct going into Sunday’s match. The Celtic boss welcomed the intervention, describing it as a timely reminder rather than an unwelcome intrusion, and suggested it was a sensible step given recent history between the clubs.
Pressed for further detail on exactly what was discussed, O’Neill indicated that the conversation centred on the players’ general conduct rather than anything specific, though he acknowledged that the meeting would likely not have taken place at all had it not been for incidents in recent fixtures between the two Glasgow clubs. That framing places the visit firmly in the context of the fallout from the sides’ last meeting at Ibrox, when scenes of disorder marred what should have been a celebratory night for Celtic.
The root of this weekend’s heightened security measures lies in the clubs’ last competitive meeting at Ibrox, a Scottish Cup quarter-final in March that went to penalties after 120 goalless minutes. Celtic won the shootout, but the celebrations were overshadowed by ugly scenes once the final whistle blew. Celtic supporters poured onto the pitch to mark the victory, which in turn triggered a retaliatory pitch invasion involving hundreds of Rangers fans. What followed was chaotic: missiles were thrown, including at least one lit flare, and police and stewards were left trying to form a barrier between the two sets of fans as tensions boiled over.
The disorder that night resulted in serious incidents beyond simple crowd encroachment. Reports at the time detailed a child being struck by a coin thrown into the crowd, and a police officer being hit on the head by a bottle. Footage that circulated afterwards showed further disturbing moments, including a female officer being knocked to the ground after being kicked from behind by a fan running toward the section holding away supporters, while separate video appeared to show an attempt to kick out at a Celtic player before he was pushed by another fan who had made it onto the pitch. Disorder was not confined to the pitch itself either, with officers, stewards and members of the public reportedly injured in chaotic scenes outside the stadium as well.
In the aftermath, police made a string of arrests, with nine fans detained within the first 24 hours and further arrests expected as the investigation continued. The scale and nature of the trouble prompted an independent review of the fixture by the Scottish Football Association, and it fed directly into a wider debate about how away allocations at Old Firm matches should be managed going forward, with senior police figures at the time describing large away contingents at these fixtures as inherently difficult to police safely
The fallout from the March pitch invasion has had lasting consequences for both clubs. As a direct result of the disorder, Celtic and Rangers were both ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup fixture behind closed doors, a significant punishment that strips both clubs of matchday revenue and denies supporters the chance to attend what would ordinarily be a marquee occasion. On top of that sporting sanction, the two clubs were also hit financially, with a joint compensation bill of £100,000 imposed, payable to whichever side is drawn as the away team in their respective next fixtures in that competition.
Beyond the specific sanctions tied to the March incident, the broader relationship between the two clubs over ticketing for Old Firm fixtures has also broken down. Rangers reportedly offered Celtic an allocation of just 300 tickets for Sunday’s cup tie, a figure the Parkhead club felt was inadequate, prompting them to ask the Scottish Professional Football League to step in and determine the allocation independently. The governing body’s response was unequivocal: no away supporters would be permitted at matches under its jurisdiction for the entirety of the 2026/27 season. That decision effectively ends any prospect of a negotiated away allocation for Old Firm fixtures in the league or League Cup this term, and it means Sunday’s quarter-final will be played out with a stadium at full capacity for home fans only, and not a single visiting supporter inside Ibrox.
Sunday’s trip to Ibrox will mark Celtic’s first return to the stadium since the scenes of disorder in March, adding further significance to the occasion. The sides have crossed paths since then, but on neutral or home Celtic territory rather than at Ibrox itself; Celtic hosted Rangers in a Scottish Premiership fixture in May and came away with a 3-1 win at Celtic Park. That result was part of a broader pattern of recent derby dominance for Celtic, who have won the last three meetings between the clubs since Rangers’ 3-1 victory at Celtic Park back in January, the most recent occasion on which Rangers came out on top in the fixture.
That run of derby form has coincided with a strong start to the domestic season for Celtic more broadly. Heading into the weekend, O’Neill’s side sit five points clear at the top of the Premiership after just six games, a healthy early cushion that adds context to how Celtic will approach Sunday’s cup tie: as favourites, both on current form and on recent head-to-head history against their fiercest rivals.
Rangers, by contrast, have found life tougher under new manager Derek McInnes, who has faced some criticism from his own supporters over the team’s start to the campaign. That contrast in early-season fortunes between the two clubs adds an extra sporting dimension to a fixture that was already guaranteed to be a highly charged occasion given the security backdrop and the history between the two dressing rooms.
Beyond the specifics of the police visit, O’Neill has also had to prepare his players and address supporters for the unusual experience of playing an Old Firm fixture without any away fans present. He admitted that it will feel strange not having Celtic’s own supporters inside the ground for such a high-profile occasion, but struck a largely positive tone about the fixture itself, saying he was approaching it with a mixture of nerves and excitement given the magnitude of the game.
Asked specifically how the lack of away fans might shape the atmosphere and affect his team’s approach, O’Neill suggested that fixtures of this magnitude tend to generate their own intensity regardless of the composition of the crowd, essentially arguing that the occasion and the quality of both teams would ensure a compelling contest even without a travelling support to bounce off. He did acknowledge, however, that having no away fans present would traditionally have offered a psychological edge to the home side, and reflected that the absence of that travelling backing removes what he called a small measure of comfort teams have historically drawn from playing without visiting supporters in the stadium.
Sunday’s derby is far from the first occasion on which Police Scotland has felt compelled to issue public warnings or take extra precautions ahead of a Rangers versus Celtic fixture. Matches between the two clubs have a long history of requiring significant police resourcing given both the scale of the crowds involved and the intensity of the rivalry. Previous warnings issued by match commanders ahead of Old Firm fixtures have urged supporters on both sides to behave responsibly, pointing out that while the vast majority of fans attending these games do so without incident, a small minority have in the past engaged in disorder, offensive behaviour and vandalism around matchdays. Senior officers have historically stressed that increased police presence in and around Glasgow on Old Firm weekends is aimed at ensuring supporters can travel to and from matches safely, while making clear that anyone intent on causing trouble, engaging in anti-social behaviour or committing hate crimes can expect to be arrested.
That history of proactive policing makes this week’s direct visit to the Celtic squad notable in its own right. Rather than a general public warning aimed at supporters, as has often been the pattern around past fixtures, this intervention was targeted specifically at the players themselves, delivered in person inside the club’s training environment. That distinction has not gone unnoticed, and it reflects just how seriously the events of the March quarter-final are still being treated by the authorities more than six months on.
## What It Means Heading Into Sunday
With so much context feeding into this weekend’s quarter-final, tensions around Sunday’s fixture look set to remain elevated even before a ball is kicked. The combination of a closed-doors punishment hanging over both clubs’ next home Scottish Cup tie, a six-figure compensation bill already imposed, the total absence of away fans for Old Firm matches this season, and now a direct police visit to Celtic’s squad, all point to a footballing and security environment still very much shaped by the fallout from March’s scenes at Ibrox.
For O’Neill, the challenge will be to ensure his players channel the occasion into their performance rather than being unsettled by the unusual build-up. His own comments suggest a manager relatively relaxed about the situation, framing the police visit as a sensible and welcome step rather than a source of added pressure, while also expressing genuine enthusiasm for what remains one of the biggest fixtures in Scottish football regardless of the surrounding circumstances.
For the authorities, Sunday’s game will serve as an important test of whether the measures put in place since March, including the removal of away fans from Old Firm fixtures entirely, are sufficient to prevent any repeat of the disorder that marred the sides’ last visit to Ibrox. With Celtic sitting top of the table and in red-hot derby form against a Rangers side still finding its feet under a new manager, the football itself promises to be compelling. But with so much attention already focused on conduct, security and the shadow of March’s events, Sunday’s quarter-final looks set to be remembered as much for what happens around the pitch as for what happens on it.
Beyond this weekend, the arrangements now in place raise broader questions about the future of Old Firm fixtures in Scottish football. The SPFL’s decision to bar away fans entirely from league and League Cup meetings between the two clubs for the whole of the 2026/27 season represents one of the most significant interventions in the fixture’s modern history, and it remains to be seen whether that approach will be revisited once the immediate fallout from March has settled. Much may depend on how Sunday’s game, and any matches that follow it this season, pass off in terms of crowd behaviour and security.
For now, though, the focus remains squarely on Sunday’s quarter-final itself. Celtic travel to Ibrox as league leaders and holders of a strong recent record in the fixture, but they do so under the shadow of a police visit that underlines just how seriously the events of March continue to be treated by the authorities. Rangers, meanwhile, will be looking to use home advantage, and a raucous full house of their own supporters unaccompanied by any away contingent, to arrest their difficult start to the season and register a first win over their fiercest rivals since January. Whatever the outcome, Sunday’s fixture arrives as one of the most heavily scrutinised Old Firm derbies in recent memory, shaped as much by off-field events as by anything that has happened on the pitch so far this season.
