Celtic’s ticket allocation for the away trip to Tynecastle Park later this month has been dramatically slashed by Hearts. The decision comes in the wake of the Scottish government’s announcement that recent restrictions on large-scale outdoor events will be eased from January 17 and full houses would once again be permitted.

Hearts usually accommodate Celtic fans by giving them the Roseburn Stand, which holds of over 3,500 spectators. But as reported by the Daily Record, they will only offer 1289 tickets to the away side for the Hoops’ visit to the capital on January 26.

Celtic’s match in August against the Edinburgh side was watched by 4500 local supporters, with season-ticket holders given priority and no away fans. And despite Anthony Ralston’s late goal, Hearts won 2-1 on that occasion.

The game will be Celtic’s second league fixture after returning from the rescheduled winter break. Over the festive period, there was a 500-person limit on matchday attendances, due to a surge in Covid cases.

Celtic looking forward to having fans back at Parkhead

Celtic’s only fixture that was impacted by 500-supporter cap came at McDiarmid Park, which saw Israeli duo Liel Abada and Nir Bitton ease the Hoops to a 3-1 victory over St Johnstone.

As expected, Celtic were keen to show their satisfaction in being able to welcome fans back into Paradise. As reported by Football Scotland, a club statement ready:

“Celtic Football Club is pleased that having reached the end of current restrictions, supporters will be able to return to matches in Scotland from Monday and we look forward in particular to Monday’s match against Hibernian at Celtic Park.

“Our supporters are everything and we can’t wait to welcome you back to Paradise.”

Interesting, this will be the first time that Celtic supporters will be at Tynecastle Park in over two years. The last time was in December 2019, when the Bhoys walked out with a 2-0 win.

The early winter break has served its purpose, and all clubs will now be able to host full crowds when competitive action resumes on January 17. That means when Hibernian travel to Parkhead, both home and away fans will be able to attend as usual.

Therefore, it’s likely that a full house will be at Parkhead to hopefully witness the Hoops register another win over Hibernian. We all know what happened at Hampden Park the last time the two sides met.

This article was originally posted here