Celtic granted permission for around 9,000 fans for Midtjylland game

The club had been pushing for around double that number

Published 16th Jul 2021
Last updated 16th Jul 2021

Celtic have been granted permission by Glasgow City Council to host around 9,000 supporters to their Champions League qualifier against Midtjylland.

The Parkhead side were in talks with the local authority ahead of the country moving into Level 0 from Monday.

That mandates a maximum of 2,000 seated supporters - however clubs can apply for larger numbers.

It is understood they were hoping to welcome closer to 20,000 fans - and have been left disappointed by the outcome.

A Celtic statement said: "Following today’s meeting with the local Safety Advisory Group, we have been informed that around 9,000 supporters will be permitted access to Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg match against FC Midtjylland at Celtic Park.

"Clearly, we have worked tirelessly in this area, we had pushed for many more fans to be given access and of course we are disappointed that more supporters will not be able to attend.

"However, we really look forward to welcoming our fans for the match on Tuesday, as we do on Saturday when we meet Preston North End.

"We can assure our supporters we will be doing all we can to work closely with the relevant authorities and welcome our fans back in even greater numbers in the coming weeks".

Aberdeen City Council have given permission for Aberdeen to admit 5,665 supporters for their Europa League Conference qualifier against BK Hacken on Thursday.

Aberdeen had initially hoped to have 8,200 fans in for their first few matches of the season but expressed confidence earlier this week that they would be allowed 5,665 under one-metre social-distancing rules, following talks with council officials.

Dons supporters will need to provide proof of a negative lateral flow test to gain entry to Thursday's Europa Conference League clash against BK Hacken.

Chairman Dave Cormack said: "This is a major step in the right direction and we're grateful to the local authority for working closely with us to get to this stage.

"Ideally, we wanted to be able to accommodate all our season ticket members. However, 5,665 represents 73 per cent of the 7,800 season tickets sold to date.

"Based on our previous percentages of season ticket members take-up (55 per cent to 60 per cent) and the fact that some have indicated that they are not ready to attend games just yet, we believe we'll be able to accommodate all who want to attend.''