The big new issue in Scottish football is, of course, the potential for a final day ramification of the title outcome. Celtic, of course, will be playing at Parkhead against Hearts. Rangers will travel to Falkirk. Hearts, obviously, travel to the East End of Glasgow. So consequently, no one quite knows precisely how the final ramifications are going to be organised. The league could be sewn up after two or three matches, we do not know. Or it could indeed go down to the last couple. It is a very close title race.
Authorities scrambling for solutions
But Police Scotland, the SFA, the SPFL, and pretty much everyone’s cat, wife, daughter, mother and sister are trying to figure out how this is all going to be played out. There are talks of stadium beam backs. Then there’s talks of police escorts. There are talks of helicopter Sundays. The problem for this one is that there are no definitive plans.
A logistical nightmare unfolding
We are talking about a pretty badly run country as it is, and indeed city, to say the least. Consequently, having these authorities try to manage and make sure that this all runs smoothly, and no matter what outcome happens, that it all takes place peacefully and amicably, is pretty much impossible. No matter what, this is set up for an absolute shambles.
George Square factor and fan movement
There is, of course, the George Square angle in Glasgow, albeit this year, of course, George Square is completely under renovation and closed off. It will not be available for any kind of mad rammy. But at the same time, there has to be some kind of outlet for the winning fans, which could of course be Hearts. Hearts will have a very small presence at Celtic Park (800), so that one will not be a huge crowd, even although they could be going there to win the title.
Trophy plans and chaos potential
It is an absolute maelstrom of chaos. Rangers, of course, travel to Falkirk, and it has been said that if Rangers do win the title, the trophy would just simply be presented to James Tavernier at the Falkirk stadium before then being brought back to Ibrox. There would be no quote unquote trophy presentation per se. Nothing big would be set up, and this would apply regardless of who wins the league.
It is all very much up in the air. It is very chaotic and shows how hard and unique the situation actually is to manage and run. This has never happened before in Scottish football, certainly not for the last half century, where three teams have gone into the split, neck and neck, give or take, and strongly in contention to win the title. This leaves a huge headache to the authorities, to the police, who have never had to manage this before in the modern world.
Uniqueness causing a mess
This is a unique and difficult one, and for once Ibrox Noise does actually sympathise with all of the governing bodies in trying to manage this. They will be hoping that one of the clubs wraps this up early and resolves it, rather than it all coming down to a chaotic final day. That could be quite the mess, to say the least.
Of course, Rangers fans naturally want our club to win, and the other two clubs want their club to win. It is going to be an absolute shambles. This will never, ever work out well. It is Glasgow, it is Scotland, and of course, it is also Edinburgh in there too. When did this kind of final day ramification ever run smoothly with two clubs, never mind three?