Martin O’Neill admits he now fears no away allocations will be permitted at Celtic v Rangers matches following the disgraceful scenes at Ibrox on Sunday.
And the Irishman is saddened by the incidents because he believes the atmosphere during their Scottish Cup quarter-final victory over their arch rivals was the best he had experienced for a very long time.
Despite managing just a single shot on target across 120 minutes, the Hoops secured a place in the last four with a Hampden showdown against St Mirren after winning the penalty shootout thanks to January signing Tomas Cvancara.
But what happened next was shocking, as supporters from both teams flooded onto the pitch, overshadowing their hard-earned triumph. A member of Celtic’s coaching staff was attacked while stewards on duty were also assaulted. Police Scotland have already made nine arrests as the investigation into how the chaos unfolded continues.
A full allocation of Celtic supporters — matching 7,500 — were given tickets in the Broomloan Stand for the first time since 2018 in an Old Firm clash, with Rangers agreeing to the increased allocation on the understanding that Celtic would return the gesture if the sides were to meet at Parkhead in a cup tie in the future.
But O’Neill believes the astonishing scenes after the final whistle on Sunday could bring those hopes to an end. Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I thought the noise on Sunday, and the Sunday before where we only had two and a half thousand people there (at Ibrox) was not something I’ve heard in a long time, maybe (since) Celtic played Liverpool away back in 2003 have I heard a noise emanating from a stadium like that.
“So there is something magical about it and I am obviously quite saddened by the events. It’s a shame because I think the things that I was hoping would happen which hadn’t happened for a long time won’t happen again with the full (away) allocations at Ibrox and Celtic Park perhaps being taken away.
“There is obviously going to be a lot of tonight and froing here about what happened. It’s not for me to go into proper analysis about it but I’m not pushing it to the side.
“It really was amazing on both Sundays and to replicate it at Celtic Park with a full crowd of Rangers fans, I think something will be lost from the Old Firm fixture if that atmosphere throughout the game is anything to go by.”
Amid the mayhem, a couple of Celtic pitch invaders from the Broomloan Stand managed to take selfies with the Celtic boss as he went over to acknowledge the travelling support.
“It shows you what an old man is actually thinking about when you have got some 15 year old lads asking you for a selfie at Ibrox. My usual thing is to acknowledge the away fans for a few seconds and then getting back in again. A couple of lads asked for a selfie and I was thinking ‘this is crazy, and old man getting a selfie is just ridiculous’.”
Celtic remain five points behind Premiership leaders Hearts and will be hoping to reduce that gap when they host Motherwell on Saturday. But O’Neill is fully aware of the challenge that Jens Berthel Askou’s impressive Steelmen will present, despite their surprise defeat to Dundee last weekend.
He said: “Myself, Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham went up to Dundee to see them last Saturday. They are a really fine side playing lovely football, there is no question about it.
“This will be difficult for us. I’ll find out the situation tomorrow about our own particular injuries but regardless of who plays for us, it will be really difficult.”