Scottish Government: 2,000 fans allowed for Celtic v Preston game.

The other week at the fan media Q&A, Dominic ‘Dom’ McKay said that he was having daily meetings with the government on getting fans back to the ground, with the progress being made described as ‘good’.

However, unlike Murrayfield and Hampden having 16,000 and 12,000 fans for recent respective events, Celtic Park, for now, is restricted to 2,000 supporters.

If you can’t be bothered checking what the club said on their website about it, here’s the details :

We’re delighted to announce the Club has been given permission for 2,000 supporters to attend our pre-season friendly match against Preston North End at Celtic Park on Saturday, July 17. This is the maximum number of supporters we are allowed to welcome back to Paradise presently.

We are using this as our own preparatory event, under COVID-19 protocols, which will allow us to use and assess all areas of the stadium. Ticket allocation has been split among Season Ticket holders and Club contractual obligations.

All Season Ticket Holders who registered their My Celtic Matchday application up until 5pm on Wednesday were included in the ballot, the process of which is now underway.

As the friendly match is a preparatory event, it is independent of future ballots for upcoming competitive fixtures - although any supporters who are successful for this match will be ineligible for any ballot for our match against West Ham on July 24, therefore giving other supporters the opportunity to attend.

Supporters who have been successful in the ballot will be informed via email as soon as possible – we ask that you check your junk or spam folders in case this is missed. Match tickets will be sent in a subsequent email, which must be printed at home. Entry to the stadium will only be possible with the physical print at home ticket.

Your allocated seat, entry time and stadium entry point will be included on your print at home ticket. Please note, the seat allocated to you may be different to your regular Season Ticket seat.

We ask that you familiarise yourself with our new protocols for reduced capacity matches at Celtic Park – full details of which can be found on the Celtic website here.

Should we have a mobile number for you, we’ll also send you a text message reminder on the morning of the match with relevant reduced capacity attendance information.

Please visit our Returning Fans FAQs and Preston Ballot FAQs for everything you need to know about reduced capacity matches at Celtic Park, including protocols within the stadium, the ballot process, travel advice and much more.

It’s been too long since we had you at Celtic Park and we cannot wait to have you back! Celtic continues to work tirelessly to ensure we get as many Season Ticket holders back to Celtic Park as quickly as we can.

If you were unsuccessful in this ticket ballot, the Preston North End match is live on the Pass To Paradise for all Season Ticket holders.

Fans can also follow the action here on Celticfc.com via our interactive Match Centre which starts 90 minutes before kick-off.

The TJDS opinion is, to quote Neil ‘No responsibility taken’ Lennon, BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED.

The logic involved with Nippy and Leitchers is quite baffling, but still, it’s a start.

Here’s hoping we see the figures growing, rather than going backwards once more.