James Bisgrove has confirmed Rangers expect to be granted an allocation of tickets for the second Old Firm clash of the season – even if Celtic refuse to take briefs for the upcoming Ibrox fixture.
Rangers have offered their title rivals around 700 tickets for the match next month as Brendan Rodgers prepares for his derby return in Glasgow.
Reports in recent weeks confirmed that Celtic could turn down the chance to have their fans in attendance at Ibrox amid ongoing concerns over the limited allocation and safety and access arrangements.
Herald and Times Sport revealed that Rangers would demand that their supporters are given tickets for the Parkhead showdown in December and chief executive Bisgrove is standing firm in the ongoing Old Firm row.
Bisgrove said: “Our belief, as a club, and certainly mine as the chief executive coming into Rangers is that away fans add so much to football – the colour, the vibrancy – no matter the game.
“Then you look at the Old Firm fixture and having away fans there is a positive in terms of the stadium atmosphere and also the spectacle worldwide.
“We have had discussions to see, based on the number of season tickets we have sold, what we could make available to Celtic and that is the 700, 750 number that we have made available for the last four, five years.
“I believe the respective security teams have met and there have been reassurances made by the Rangers security staff in terms of extra stewarding, extra policing. That is a conversation we need to have with Celtic in terms of what they want to do.
“Going back to the start of my answer, we believe that away fans should be at football matches.
"So, yes, we would want Rangers fans to be at Parkhead in December, absolutely.
“I think we will just be consistent in our communication and our stance on that. I am not sure one has to necessarily impact the other.
"We just need to see where the next conversations go in terms of the meetings with the different stakeholders.
“But, again, I will reinforce that our desire is that we have Rangers supporters at away games, whether that is at Celtic, in Europe or domestically in Scotland.”
