A safe weekend for all

A safe weekend for all

Everyone at Celtic is looking ahead to an exciting weekend where we aim to do all we can to bring our fans success again.

It has been an eventful season and we welcome Heart of Midlothian to an occasion where both sets of players will be doing all they can to lift the Premiership title.

We understand the level of excitement from fans and, as ever, our priority will be to ensure that all our fans to have a safe experience right across the weekend.

In these circumstances, we want to be very clear that only those supporters with valid season tickets and match tickets should visit Celtic Park. We are expecting a sell-out, 60,000 capacity crowd at the stadium and it is hugely important from a safety perspective that people without tickets do not come to the area.

The difficulties which are caused by an added volume of people can be hugely problematic for our supporters with tickets and our smooth Matchday operation.

In addition, we must ask those supporters WITH tickets to ensure they arrive at the stadium as early as possible. Again, the late arrival of supporters is problematic in terms of achieving a smooth entry to the stadium.

We fully respect the challenge that faces us on Saturday and we know we are facing a Hearts team that has led the way for some time. In order for us to be successful, we will need to be at our very best.

However, if we are fortunate enough to be successful on Saturday, we would ask our supporters to be mindful of the challenges which have been faced by Glasgow City Centre previously.

Celtic has met in recent weeks with Glasgow City Council. We understand that the pressure placed on the city on such occasions is immense. We know there have been instances in the past which have proved difficult for the local community in terms of movement, obstructions and impact on emergency services.

Glasgow City Council has committed to working together with football clubs on facilitating potential celebrations which would be meaningful to fans and less impactful on communities.

Until these options can be delivered, we need to play our role in trying to relieve some of the pressures. We are aware of some of the issues which have arisen, many of which have led to serious safety concerns.

Importantly, this Sunday, May 17, Glasgow will also host the Cancer Research 10k Race for Life, a charity event which requires significant planning and support from the city.