Tom English says the SPFL have questions to answer over the fact that Rangers will face Celtic with no away fans at Parkhead once again.
The BBC Sport writer reacted on Twitter on 19 December after the Light Blues released a statement branding the situation “grossly unfair”, as he shed doubt on the league’s supposed corporate governance review.
There will be no Rangers supporters at the 30 December Old Firm derby despite the league’s sub-committee siding with the club on the decision that it was “unreasonable” for Celtic to allow zero away fans, after the Bhoys simply failed to provide sufficient evidence for the committee to settle on how many.
English wrote in response to the Gers’ statement on the ticketing stand-off: “Questions for the SPFL to answer here. When did ‘unreasonable’ become acceptable?
“And how’s the corporate governance review coming along?”
SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan had announced the “independent review” in the summer after the league had to apologise to Rangers over the cinch sponsorship row [STV, 14 July].
Unfit for purpose
Put simply if the sub-committee can make a decision to back Rangers’ stance only for the outcome to go the opposite way based on Celtic failing to co-operate then the exercise was a complete waste of time.
The chorus of voices advocating for a return of away fans in Old Firm derbies at Ibrox and Parkhead continue to fall on deaf ears thanks to squabbling at the executive level.
It benefits nobody for the situation to continue in this way so it is a positive step for the Rangers hierarchy to be pushing to bring travelling support back into the game.
But if the SPFL can support that stance and yet do nothing to see it realised then their supposed authority means very little, and if the governance review is actually happening it doesn’t appear to be having much of a positive effect if the Gers have been left on the wrong end of another important decision for such a daft reason.
The atmosphere at one of the biggest derbies in world football suffers without fans of one club in attendance, and finger-pointing over who started it long ago wore thin, but despite willingness from Ibrox it appears to be no closer to a resolution.
The league authorities are supposed to step up to manage situations like this but the SPFL have been shown to be entirely toothless here.
