Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has called for a minimum percentage of away supporters to be enshrined in league rules as he prepares to take his team to what will be an even more hostile atmosphere inside Tynecastle.
Celtic will have 576 fans in attendance for Sunday’s game against Hearts with the home club keen to get more of their own supporters inside the ground following rising demand for tickets in recent years.
The allocation is less than half of what Celtic received in their previous visit and a continuation of a trend.
Rodgers was used to seeing the Roseburn Stand half full of Celtic supporters in his first spell in charge, which included his first domestic game as manager and the game where his side clinched his first title. But previously Celtic fans occupied the whole of the stand behind the goal.
The likes of Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian previously took bigger supports to Glasgow too but they have long been restricted to less than two per cent of Celtic Park and Ibrox in allocations measured in hundreds.
The Tynecastle allocation has continued debate over away allocations which has been most starkly felt when Celtic face Rangers in recent seasons.
The tradition of handing about 7,500 tickets to the away team was abandoned by Rangers and fears over the safety of an away following in the hundreds have meant the fixture has been home fans only in recent matches.
The likes of Aberdeen, St Mirren and Kilmarnock have also cut the allocations for Celtic and Rangers fans in recent seasons.
The issue will likely be revisited ahead of Celtic’s New Year derby with Rangers likely to be rebuffed in their request for tickets after the Hoops won at Ibrox earlier this season with no fans present.
Scottish Professional Football League rules are currently vague, stating that a home club must provide tickets for a “reasonable number of visiting supporters…. as may be agreed in advance with the visiting club”. The SPFL board will determine the number if no agreement is reached but that situation has never occurred.
Rodgers accepted Hearts’ right to cut the allocation but he hopes the rules can be made clearer for everyone’s benefit, echoing similar calls from his Hearts counterpart Steven Naismith.
“Every club has got every right at this moment in time, to issue what they want to give to away supporters,” the Celtic manager said.
“Until there is something standardised, Hearts are more than willing to do that.
“Of course as a Celtic manager I love to see more supporters in there of course because they come from all over the place to follow their team.
“But hopefully we can standardise a certain percentage for away supporters and that allows all the supporters of all the teams to be able to go and watch their teams.
“Around some of the grounds, in my first time here and even now…the idea is, of course, if there is more away allocation it allows the ground to be filled, and obviously to give money and resources to the away team, then of course we would like to be able to do that.
“But I also understand it from a football perspective why maybe you wouldn’t want so many away supporters in.
“But hopefully the federation can standardise a number and then we all know where we stand.”
Rodgers backed his team to handle the atmosphere.
“Any team playing away, it’s always nice to have a fairly large group of your supporters there to give you that backing but if they are not there, then we can’t use that as an excuse,” he said.
“We have shown already with no supporters that we can get big results. We will be very much together and the 500-odd supporters that will be there, hopefully we can give them a good day.”
Fiorentina 2-2 Napoli: Kvaratskhelia keeps visitors' slim European hopes alive
Dethroned Italian champions Napoli's hopes of playing European football next season are hanging by a thread after they played out a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina in Serie A on Friday.
Napoli took the lead in the eighth minute through defender Amir Rrahmani, who nodded home a corner by Matteo Politano.
Cristiano Biraghi levelled for Fiorentina in the 40th minute from a free-kick, before M'Bala Nzola put the hosts in front two minutes later when he fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia responded with another stunning free-kick early in the second half to rescue a point for his team.
Eighth-placed Fiorentina, on 54 points and with a game in hand, are five points behind Lazio in seventh.
They can still earn a Europa League spot either by leapfrogging the Rome side or by winning the Europa Conference League final in which they face Greece's Olympiakos on May 29.
Ninth-placed Napoli, on 52 points, still have a slim chance of making the Europa Conference League playoffs.
Data Debrief
Fiorentina left-back Biraghi has now scored six goals from direct free-kicks since the start of 2021-22, which is behind only James Ward-Prowse (seven) - now of West Ham and formerly of Southampton - as the most across Europe's top five leagues in that period.
Kvaratskhelia also levelled via a direct free-kick, making this the first Serie A match in which both teams scored via that route since Fiorentina against Lazio in April 2018 (Jordan Veretout and Luis Alberto in that case).
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Marc Skinner signs Manchester United Women contract extension
Marc Skinner has signed a one-year contract extension as Manchester United Women head coach with the option of a further 12 months.
The 41-year-old guided United to their first major silverware last weekend with victory over Tottenham in the Women's FA Cup final.
United are fifth in the Women's Super League with one game to go - a massive drop on last term's runners-up finish - but Skinner will stay on.
"It's an honour to extend my stay at Manchester United," Skinner, who was appointed in 2021, told United's official website after the news was confirmed on Friday.
"I've always felt at home here, with our excellent players, staff, and fans.
"Being able to secure the team's first major trophy at Wembley was a real career highlight for me and another sign of our continued growth, on and off the field."
United conclude their campaign on Saturday against Chelsea, who lead Manchester City on goal difference entering the final day.
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