Hibs plan to fill empty Easter Road seats for Celtic visit

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·31 mars 2026

Hibs plan to fill empty Easter Road seats for Celtic visit

Hibernian chief executive Dan Barnett has revealed he has opened discussions over the possibility of increasing the number of tickets allocated to Celtic supporters for matches at Easter Road…

The Edinburgh club made the decision in March 2024 to scale back away allocations, pointing to growing demand among home fans and concerns raised by shareholders regarding the conduct of visiting supporters.

Celtic’s share was first reduced from occupying the entire South Stand – previously holding close to 4,000 fans – to just under 3,000 tickets. That figure was later cut again to fewer than 1,500 seats amid continued claims of strong home support demand.

Vidéos OneFootball

However, Barnett has now indicated that circumstances may have shifted, with the club actively considering whether a larger allocation could be reinstated.

Easter Road. Sunday 30 November 2025. Hibs v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

It is not yet clear whether Celtic will visit Easter Road in one of their post-split fixtures, as scheduling complexities continue to present challenges for the SPFL. However the likelihood is that Celtic’s two away matches will be at Easter Road and Fir Park against Hibs and Motherwell respectively.

Like Celtic, Hibernian are set to host three of their final five matches, though fixture balancing could yet see changes involving the league’s top sides.

In recent seasons – particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic – several Scottish Premiership clubs have moved to reduce away sections for Celtic supporters.

Celtic Fans Collective Protest at Easter Road. Sunday 30 November 2025. Hibs v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Hibernian followed a wider trend, with Hearts previously cutting the Roseburn Stand allocation significantly.

Elsewhere, clubs such as St Mirren and Kilmarnock have reduced visiting support to a single stand, while Motherwell and Livingston remain among the few to still allocate full sections of their grounds when hosting the league’s biggest teams.

St Johnstone in the season before last, were under new American owners. For the first visit to Celtic due to fans wishes the allocation of Celtic fans remained at the two small stands behind each goal – Celtic won 6-0 and the large stand opposite the Main stand where directors sit was largely empty.

By Celtic’s second visit Celtic had been given a much larger allocation, occupying the three stands with the Saints supporters all in the Main stand. The result certainly didn’t benefit Celtic as we lost 1-0. St. Johnstone collected the three points and around £150k in extra ticker revenue, by filling all their empty seats.

Hibs could fill all these empty seats at Easter Road, for Celtic’s likely post split visit. Photo taken on Sunday 30 November 2025. Hibs v Celtic, Scottish Premiership.

Speaking via Hibs Observer, Barnett said: “We’ve raised it with the fans forum [increased away section for the two Glasgow clubs]. We’ve been very open and honest about what we want to do in principle, versus what the impact is from a revenue perspective.

“We’re working with the fans to make that decision together in terms of the position we adopt and whether it’s worth doing it that way. It equates to around between £150,000 and £200,000 a year if our fans do not take up the allocation that’s not allocated to the offer.

“We’ve also made the decision to freeze season ticket prices for next season, which could have been an incremental revenue driver for us, but we feel strongly that we want to keep football accessible for everybody, and we want to reward that loyalty.

“So far, it’s paying off. We broke our records for season tickets last year, and we’re tracking well ahead of that for this season.”

Maximising ticket revenue has got to be a priority for Scottish Premiership clubs, given the comparatively low revenues that they receive from broadcast deals. From the other side of that point, Sky Sports and Premier Sports both might be more inclined to push up their valuations of the product if it’s easier on the eye and full stadiums with better atmospheres ticks boxes that empty seats can never do.

Celtic fans at McDiarmid Park

The two Celtic results at McDiarmid Park last season disproves the argument that more visiting supporters disadvantages the him side in Scottish Premiership contests.

St Johnstone look like returning to the top division next season so with Livingston looking doomed it’s like for like in having an away ground where Celtic supporters will be able to attend in larger numbers.

A bums on seats policy should be something that the SPFL looks at encouraging across the fixture-list from next season. Ultimately the decisions lie with the home clubs themselves Celtic for those wondering are included in this. A few seasons back Aberdeen asked for a larger away allocation for a league match at Celtic Park and their request was rejected.

Conor Spence

Post your own thoughts in the comments section below…

Quick Tip – Add thecelticstar.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!

Click to join Celtic Pools