Martin O’Neill wants Ibrox allocation available to Celtic under the rules

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The Celtic Star

·10 February 2026

Martin O’Neill wants Ibrox allocation available to Celtic under the rules

Martin O’Neill spoke to the mainstream media this afternoon at Lennoxtown ahead of the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park against Livingston tomorrow evening…

7th February 2026 Celtic Park, Scottish Cup Football, Celtic versus Dundee Celtic manager Martin O’Neill looks thoughtful. Photo David Young

A reminder that The Celtic Star, as one of the fan media groups not to have dropped out of the agreement with the club, has been banned by Celtic for absolutely no reason at all other than supporting the Celtic Fans Collective asking a number of questions of the club back in September 2025. The club informed The Celtic Star that they would be ‘reviewing’ their arrangement with the Celtic Fan Media but many months later and there has still been no contact.

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Celtic interim Chairman Brian Wilson looks on during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on February 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Last week interim Chairman Brian Wilson claimed in an overview with Celtic TV that he would be reaching out to fan groups this week but so far there has been no contact with The Celtic Star nor any of the other participating outlets.

Here’s everything that Martin O’Neill had to say ahead of the Celtic v Livingston match tomorrow night. Its the third meeting of the season and over the three games there will have been FIVE different managers in the dugout – two from the visitors and three from Celtic – Brendan, Nancy and now MON…

New signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Celtic is paraded in front of the fans ahead of kick off at Celtic Park. Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, on 07 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock

Q: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came in with the team for the first time this morning. How is he looking?

Martin O’Neill: “He’s doing fine, really fine. He trained yesterday and today, so he’s looking pretty good.

Q: Is there any chance he could take any part tomorrow?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, we’ll have a look at that later on today. I haven’t picked a squad yet, but yeah, there’s a possibility.”

Kieran Tierney of Celtic is seen during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on February 01, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: In terms of team news, everyone okay apart from the longer term guys?

Martin O’Neill: “Yeah, exactly. Kieran Tierney, as you know, came off with a suspected concussion, there was a blow on his nose. But he’s okay, he’s alright. I think he wants to be available.

Q: Can I just get your reaction, of course, to the Scottish Cup draw on the weekend as well? What was your reaction when you found out that you were going to be playing your rivals Rangers, twice within the space of the week?

Neil Lennon. Auchinleck Talbot v Celtic, Scottish Cup 4th Round, Rugby Park. Sunday 18 January 2026. Photo Vagelis Georgariou ( The Celtic Star)

Martin O’Neill: “Well, I kind of guessed it there. I told the lads that it was theRangers away or Dunfermline with Lenny. Well, obviously a tough fixture for us and that’s four games in about ten days, but it is what it is.

Q: Can you say how much you’re looking forward to this period now? Eight games in the next four and a half weeks, a pretty big one. And the results could define your season?

Martin O’Neill: “Oh, of course it is, yeah, absolutely. It feels as if we’ve been playing midweek other than the postponement of the Aberdeen game. I feel as if we’ve been playing midweek since I arrived back the second time around.”

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill. Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Celtic Park, Glasgow, 07 February. Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock/IMAGO

Q: Talking about those four away games in a row, to (the)Rangers, Europe, Aberdeen and another (the)Rangers game. How ready do you feel the squad are?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, we haven’t even got there. We’ve got the big game tomorrow night, we have to try and stay in contention. Quite a few fixtures are big for us. Two of those matches anyway are because we’ve qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League, so that’s good news in one aspect. But as to winning the final, I suppose people will say, well, why stay in it? But to me, well, I think I said this to you last week, I didn’t really want the exertions of the game in Feyenoord and the big effort in Bologna to go to waste. So we’ve beaten Utrecht and let’s get on with it.”

Celtic players walk off the pitch triumphant after the final whistle. Celtic won the match 3-2. theRangers v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Ibrox, 11 March 2018. Photo: Stuart Wallace Shutterstock /IMAGO

Q: Can I just ask you about theRangers cup game at Ibrox, the rules for away allocation, 20% for Scottish Cup. Do you know what the club’s stance is? Would you be looking for one of the whole stands?

Martin O’Neill: “No, I don’t know what the club’s stance is, but if you take me out of the club at this minute, I want all the tickets that we can get, the allocation that’s available to us under the rules, and I assume that would be forthcoming.”

Martin O’Neill. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: You’ve been involved in so many of these games over the years, how big an influence can those away fans make when you go to really tough places like that?

Martin O’Neill: “I thought that the fixture lost a little bit in the sense that the full allocation was not given, for whatever reason. I don’t know historically what it was, I’ve got kind of an idea of it. But I think that that did lose a little bit, it’s one of the great fixtures in European football, if not the world, and I thought it lost there. But at least there’s some fans coming back now, and that’s a bit of a difference. But to get the full allocation, as we did, you know, going to Ibrox and getting the side to the left full of Celtics fans, it’s always gratifying.”

Q: Are you hoping that this could be the beginning of the two clubs coming together and getting back to what it used to be?

Martin O’Neill: “I think it would be lovely. I’ve talked to a lot of people down south in my time living down there, and they think exactly the same. It would be fantastic to get back to that. Still people who have not been to this particular fixture still want to go and see it. But it would be fantastic if the full allocation was given back to both clubs.”

Celtic players celebrate their team’s second goal scored by Scott Sinclair during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on December 31, 2016. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Q: There’s a lot of talk about the scheduling. Can that work as a positive as well?

Martin O’Neill: “Well, I think that, for instance, whatever the draw happens to be, that’s fine. My own view is that I thought the Aberdeen fixture was stuck in there very, very quickly. I can understand the SPFL saying that they want to get x number of weeks. What they don’t want to do is they don’t want to have some postponements going into the split. I think that was the reason for it. But that, I think, was something that could have been considered, really, at the end of it all, because it did mean an awful lot of away travelling. For fans, obviously, it’s going to be difficult to afford those particular fixtures. But in terms of what happened with Stuttgart, in terms of what happened with the Scottish Cup, that’s the nature of it all.”

Henrik Larsson scores in Seville, Celtic Glasgow. Photo Imago/Colorsport

Q: How do you manage the mental side of that kind of schedule, thinking back to the Seville run?

Martin O’Neill: “It’s genuinely difficult to remember exactly what it was. We were obviously involved in the big race with Rangers for the title as well, trying to keep an eye on that, trying to come back from European matches. It’s a really good point. I’m not sure how I felt at that particular time, way back 20-odd years ago. I have some idea of what I feel about now.”

Q: Your thoughts on Livingston, with Marvin Bartley now in charge as well?

Martin O’Neill: “Yes, absolutely. He’s stepped in there. I just think it’s a difficult game for us anyway. It’s not just a matter of saying it, it is absolutely. I thought we showed plenty of character to fight back there on Saturday evening. It was really great. I don’t think we’re capable of taking anybody lightly. If we do it, we shouldn’t be doing it. We’re not good enough to treat people like that.”

Daizen Maeda. Celtic v theRangers. Premier Sports Cup, semi final at Hampden. 2 November 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Q: Is this a sort of game where your extra attacking options come in handy?

Martin O’Neill: “Yes, exactly. We had rested Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels. I wondered whether that was completely wise or not. We got through. It’s just the number of games and the games that you’re talking about. It is a matter of, there will be some sort of rotation. I think it’s a tall order to ask if you are talking about in the next week or two, four games in ten days. I think that’s difficult for everyone.”

Q: Is it your hope that if you were to progress in Europe, that the SPFL would maybe consider flexibility?

Martin O’Neill: “I thought that if we could get through, that it would help Scottish football. I thought that we could extend the season until August! I remember Dundee doing us a favour, playing on a Friday night deal for the SPL way back. That was in 2003. They scored a goal later on in proceedings, which I think became really, really important in the league title deciding game.

Q: Will you be watching Hearts vs Hibs tonight?

Martin O’Neill: “Of course, yeah.”

Q: Any thoughts?

Martin O’Neill: “We’ll have to try and do that for ourselves tomorrow night. I’ll be watching, of course.”

Junior Adamu of Celtic Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Gas Scottish Cup, Fifth Round, Football, Celtic Park, 07 February 2026. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock

Watch Martin O’Neill’s media conference below…

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