Celtic and Rangers ultras should be 'banned' from final Old Firm - Ex-SPFL CEO
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VISIT THE CELTIC MATCH HUB MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES SPFL need to show ‘proper leadership’ in Celtic and Rangers disputeAberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – agrees that Rangers fans should be in attendance for the final Old Firm of the season.Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness states that ultras groups are the “root of the problem” of bad behaviour at games.PositionClubPoints 1stHearts732ndCeltic703rdRangers69The top of the Scottish Premiership table, as it stands.He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I don’t blame Celtic for that. It’s the Union Bears and it’s also the Green Brigade.
That’s the root of the problem. “It isn’t Rangers fans in general or Celtic fans in general, and I think it’s perfectly fair to have a smaller group of Rangers fans who are vetted and not wearing Spider-Man outfits and masks and all the rest of it.
There’s got to be a way through this and common sense would say both clubs can try and root out these elements and let them go elsewhere on match day.“I have a bit of sympathy for what’s trying to be done there, but the trouble is if one club does it the other one will say no, and we get back into the usual tit for tat, which has been going on since I’ve been in the game 25 years ago and it’s quite pathetic. “It needs proper leadership, and of course we haven’t got that in Scotland.”Celtic prepared for Arne Engels bidSources have told Football Insider that Arne Engels is open to leaving Celtic this summer, and Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund have entered the race for his signature.Engels was the subject of multiple bids from Nottingham Forest during the January transfer window, where the Hoops could have earned up to £25million for the midfielder.The 22-year-old is Celtic’s most expensive ever purchase after joining from Augsburg for £11m in 2024.With Borussia Dortmund set to qualify for next season’s Champions League, and with Celtic not guaranteed European football, it could be tough to keep the Belgian in Glasgow.