It appears as though the infamous Celtic v Rangers fan lockout may soon come to an end, with the 'Gers finally making an overdue move to facilitate the return of rival fans to Ibrox.
A long-running dispute between the two clubs dates back to 2021 and has seen away fans unable to attend Old Firm games ever since.
The dispute began when Rangers withdrew Celtic's meagre away allocation of 700 tickets for the derby at Ibrox, alleging that their rivals had refused to guarantee that they would offer the same at Celtic Park.
After years of wrangling, a deal was finally agreed which would see up to 2,500 away fans return for each Old Firm game this season. However, the deal was contingent on improvements in safety for away fans at both venues.
Just weeks before the first derby of the season, Celtic announced last week that away fans would not be in attendance at Celtic Park on September 1. Reports suggested the sudden withdrawal of any away allocation was due to a lack of assurances from Rangers that the agreed safety measures would be in place at Ibrox for the first return fixture of the season.
After a back-and-forth - and a pointed callout from Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers - it now appears as though Rangers have seen common sense.
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Rangers finally make major move to end Celtic fan lockout
Though the first two derbies of the Scottish Premiership season are now destined to take place without away fans, there is hope that rival supporters could once again be in attendance for the second pair of games later in the season.
The chances of that happening have been significantly improved this week, with planning permission at Ibrox seemingly pointing the way to a permanent solution.
After the reports of sorely lacking safety measures at Rangers' home stadium, an application has been lodged to Glasgow City Council to install safety netting between home and away fans for "high-risk fixtures".
Brendan Rodgers had last week called out Rangers for their role in the lockout, accusing Celtic's cross-city rivals of being the instigators of the situation.
The Celtic manager said:
The club's [Celtic's] job is to protect the support and if there's not the guarantee that come the second fixture [Celtic fans will be admitted] then I think it's only logical that you wouldn't reciprocate.
Celtic have played their part in what they were asked to do. Nothing of this was Celtic's issue, nothing. When you go back to when all this was started it's nothing to do with Celtic.
Celtic gets dragged into this here as being a Celtic-Rangers thing. It's not a Celtic-Rangers thing, this is a Rangers thing.
It seems as though Brendan Rodgers' comments, and the outcry from fans at large, has forced Rangers' hand.
Celtic face Rangers in the first Old Firm of the season on Sunday September 1 at Celtic Park.
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