Scottish football's governing body has finally drawn a line in the sand. Celtic and Rangers have both been ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup fixtures behind closed doors, with each club also required to pay £100,000 to their opponents in that tie — a landmark punishment that signals a meaningful shift in how the SFA intends to handle crowd disorder going forward.

The sanctions stem from events in March of last season, when a Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox ended with supporters from both ends spilling on to the pitch following Celtic's penalty shootout victory. Fireworks and missiles were thrown, police officers were injured, and a number of arrests were made on the night and in the days that followed. It was, by any honest measure, deeply ugly — the kind of scenes that embarrass the game well beyond Scotland's borders.

An independent review led by Mark Blackbourne, published last month, concluded that the incidents had come within a very small margin of becoming a violent mass confrontation. That is a chilling assessment, and it gave the SFA the justification it needed to act with a firmness that, frankly, has been missing for too long. Both clubs were charged under disciplinary rule 37, which covers unacceptable conduct at matches, and both gave evidence to the independent judicial panel before these sanctions were handed down.

The Consequences and What Comes Next

The closed-doors ban is expected to bite when Celtic and Rangers enter this season's Scottish Cup at the fourth-round stage, which falls in the middle of January. Neither club will be welcoming fans through the turnstiles for that home tie — a significant financial and reputational blow for both.

There is also a suspended element hanging over them. Should either club's supporters engage in further unacceptable conduct at a Scottish Cup match, a second home fixture could be played without fans in attendance. It is a warning shot, and one that both sets of directors would be wise to take seriously.

The independent review was not gentle on the SFA itself, criticising the governing body for failing to take a sufficiently tough approach to crowd disorder in the past. In recent seasons, the response to incidents involving pyrotechnics and similar conduct had largely amounted to fines and occasionally reduced away allocations — meaningful, perhaps, but clearly not deterrent enough given what unfolded at Ibrox. The panel's findings have, in effect, given the SFA both the mandate and the cover to raise the stakes considerably.

A Message to the Whole Game

Whether or not you believe closed-doors punishments are the right tool — and there is a reasonable argument that the overwhelming majority of supporters who behave perfectly well are the ones who suffer most — there is no denying that the old approach had stopped working. The scenes last March were not an isolated flare going off in a corner; they were widespread disorder that put people at genuine risk.

For the SFA, the hope will be that this sends a clear and unambiguous message: unacceptable conduct at Old Firm fixtures, or at any Scottish Cup match, will carry real consequences. Fines get absorbed. Closed grounds hurt clubs where they feel it — in the atmosphere, in the gate receipts, and in the public perception of an institution.

Scottish football has enormous potential, and the Old Firm rivalry is one of the most intense and compelling in world football. It deserves better than this. These sanctions, uncomfortable as they are, might just be the jolt the game north of the border needs.

Frequently asked

Why have Celtic and Rangers been ordered to play behind closed doors?
Both clubs were sanctioned by the Scottish FA after serious fan disorder during their Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox last March. Supporters from both clubs invaded the pitch, fireworks and missiles were thrown, and police officers were injured. An independent review found the incident came very close to becoming a violent mass confrontation.
When will the behind-closed-doors punishment come into effect?
The sanctions are expected to apply when Celtic and Rangers enter the Scottish Cup at the fourth-round stage, which is scheduled for the middle of January 2025.
Can Celtic or Rangers face further punishment if there is more disorder?
Yes. Both clubs face a suspended additional sanction — a second home Scottish Cup match behind closed doors — if either side's supporters are found to have engaged in unacceptable conduct at a future Scottish Cup fixture.