A safe weekend for all | OneFootball

Everyone at Celtic is looking ahead to an exciting weekend where we aim to do all we can to bring our fans success again.

It has been an eventful season and we welcome Heart of Midlothian to an occasion where both sets of players will be doing all they can to lift the Premiership title.    

We understand the level of excitement from fans and, as ever, our priority will be to ensure that all our fans to have a safe experience right across the weekend.

In these circumstances, we want to be very clear that only those supporters with valid season tickets and match tickets should visit Celtic Park. We are expecting a sell-out, 60,000 capacity crowd at the stadium and it is hugely important from a safety perspective that people without tickets do not come to the area.

The difficulties which are caused by an added volume of people can be hugely problematic for our supporters with tickets and our smooth Matchday operation.

In addition, we must ask those supporters WITH tickets to ensure they arrive at the stadium as early as possible. Again, the late arrival of supporters is problematic in terms of achieving a smooth entry to the stadium.

We fully respect the challenge that faces us on Saturday and we know we are facing a Hearts team that has led the way for some time. In order for us to be successful, we will need to be at our very best.

However, if we are fortunate enough to be successful on Saturday, we would ask our supporters to be mindful of the challenges which have been faced by Glasgow City Centre previously.  

Celtic has met in recent weeks with Glasgow City Council. We understand that the pressure placed on the city on such occasions is immense. We know there have been instances in the past which have proved difficult for the local community in terms of movement, obstructions and impact on emergency services.

Glasgow City Council has committed to working together with football clubs on facilitating potential celebrations which would be meaningful to fans and less impactful on communities.    

Until these options can be delivered, we need to play our role in trying to relieve some of the pressures. We are aware of some of the issues which have arisen, many of which have led to serious safety concerns.

Importantly, this Sunday, May 17, Glasgow will also host the Cancer Research 10k Race for Life, a charity event which requires significant planning and support from the city.  

If successful on Saturday, we would absolutely want our fans to enjoy their own celebrations, but given these events and the wider logistics, we would therefore discourage supporters from attending gatherings in the city centre this weekend, where there is no safety management in place and which have such a high impact on the city. The pressure which is placed on the city and its services clearly will be enormous and we want to do all we can to support the city.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill knows how difficult Saturday will be and he will be doing all he can to deliver for our fans, but he echoed this call for our supporters to be safe and understanding of these concerns.

Martin O'Neill said: “It goes without saying that, if we are successful, we will all be looking forward to enjoying it but it’s also important that we do so safely and responsibly. We want all our fans to be safe and ensure that we are mindful of others and our wider community.

“Our fans have such a great reputation for positively supporting the team and if we do achieve what we want at the weekend, we want that positive support to shine through again.

“Whatever the outcome on Saturday, everyone at the club thanks our fans for their wonderful continuing support."

Upcoming Fixtures

Celtic Vs. Heart of Midlothian - Sat, May 5th 2026, 11:30 Match Information | Buy Tickets