Rangers will host Celtic in the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup after Sunday's draw, with the match scheduled for the weekend of 12 September 2026, but neither club nor the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has yet confirmed how many tickets Celtic supporters will receive for the trip to Ibrox.
The pairing was one of several confirmed in the last-eight draw, in which Rangers were paired with Celtic after beating St Mirren, with Stenhousemuir, Kilmarnock and Ross County also learning their quarter-final opponents. The fixture is expected to be the standout tie of the round and is likely to be selected for live broadcast, a decision that will also fix its exact date and kick-off time.
How many tickets must Rangers actually give Celtic?
Under a strict reading of the SPFL's League Cup regulations, Rangers are obliged to provide Celtic with only 50 tickets in total. Annex 2 of the competition rulebook, covering admission arrangements for visiting clubs, sets out the minimum requirement in black and white.
"11.1 The Home Club shall forward to the Visiting Club 'without charge' tickets, in the numbers set out below, so that they will be in the hands of the Visiting Club on or before the fifth day before the Match (unless under circumstances which render this impracticable) - 10 for Directors' Box, 40 for the Stand."
The only other relevant clause up to and including the quarter-final stage concerns access for personnel rather than fans.
"11.2 No Official or Player of the Visiting Club shall be entitled to enter the Home Club's Ground without a ticket."
Taken literally, this would leave Rangers free to admit only a token number of Celtic supporters, though in practice clubs tend not to apply the rule so narrowly.
What allocation are fans actually likely to get?
Custom and practice generally see clubs follow the framework used for league fixtures instead, which requires the home side to make a "reasonable number" of tickets available to the away club, a figure ordinarily agreed between the two sides or, failing agreement 14 days beforehand, set by the SPFL board. In recent Premiership derbies this reasonable number has settled at roughly five per cent of stadium capacity, which has typically meant around 2,500 away fans inside the ground.
That arrangement itself followed a period of dispute: the SPFL recommended a five per cent away allocation for Rangers ahead of the 10 May 2026 derby but stopped short of mandating Celtic to reciprocate, reflecting how unsettled the issue remains even at league level. According to a report from a national broadcaster's sport desk, there will be no increase on that standard allocation for the September quarter-final, in contrast to the roughly 8,000 Celtic supporters who filled the Broomloan Stand for the sides' most recent cup meeting.
What happened the last time these two sides met in a cup tie?
Rangers and Celtic last faced each other in a cup competition on 8 March 2026, when Celtic won a Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox on penalties to reach the semi-finals. Celtic had been given the entire Broomloan Stand for that fixture, in line with Scottish Cup rules permitting a larger away allocation than in league matches, and a national broadcaster's report noted it was the first time since 2018 that an away support had received a full allocation at Ibrox.
The match was marred by serious disorder after the final whistle, with spectators from both sets of fans encroaching onto the pitch. An independent inquiry into the incident concluded that only narrow margins prevented far worse violence.
"A violent mass confrontation" was only narrowly avoided.
Fireworks were thrown and multiple arrests were made that day. A consultant, Mark Blackbourne, was subsequently appointed to lead the Scottish FA's formal review into the disorder, as detailed in coverage of the investigation launched after 13 arrests were confirmed. Both clubs were later charged by the governing body, with Celtic and Rangers facing Scottish FA disciplinary charges over the unrest, and disciplinary hearings into the incident were held on 13 August 2026. Rangers have said they have no plans to restore historic full Old Firm allocations and that their operational plan for future fixtures has been "materially enhanced" in response to the risks identified by the review.
Given the scale of that disorder, the prospect of either club again hosting 7,500 or more away supporters appears remote for the foreseeable future.
What happens next?
Supporters are expected to learn within a day or two of the draw which quarter-final ties have been selected for live television coverage, a decision that will confirm the exact date and kick-off time for Rangers against Celtic. Both clubs and the SPFL have said it is too early to comment on ticketing arrangements, given the draw was only completed on Sunday, 16 August 2026, and further negotiation between the clubs is likely before allocation numbers are finalised.
In the meantime, Rangers' own supporter guidance for their home Premier Sports Cup fixture against St Mirren on 14 August 2026 shows the club already operating controlled turnstile entry and e-ticket, QR-code-based access at Ibrox, an approach likely to continue for any high-profile fixture against Celtic. Rangers' next scheduled home league fixture beyond that is against St Mirren on 22 August 2026, before attention turns fully to the September derby and the allocation decision that will determine how many Celtic supporters make the trip across the city.
