How many fans Middlesbrough are set to bring to Celtic revealed | OneFootball

Middlesbrough will be backed by a significant away following when they take on Celtic in Glasgow in their next pre-season friendly.

Middlesbrough continue their pre-season preparations with a trip to take on Celtic on Saturday.

The Teesside outfit had an eventful 2025/26 campaign, from Rob Edwards leaving for Wolves just months after joining, to ‘Spygate’ that dominated the headlines during the play-offs.

Ultimately, it was a season that ended in heartbreak for Boro, as they lost to Hull City in the play-off final due to a stoppage time Oli McBurnie goal.

Despite that, there were plenty of positives for fans to take following the performances under Kim Hellberg, and there will be optimism that after a full pre-season, and help in the transfer market, the Swede will have Boro in contention for promotion this season.

Middlesbrough set to take big following to Celtic Park

Boro have already had a behind-closed-doors game against Portuguese side Farense, which ended 2-2, and fans will get a first glimpse of the team in pre-season in Glasgow on Saturday.

In an update provided on the official site, Boro confirmed that 5,000 fans will be making the trip to Scotland, which is outstanding support for a friendly.

It’s actually the second time in as many years that Middlesbrough have played in the city, as around 8,000 went to Ibrox 12 months ago, when Boro played out an entertaining draw with Rangers.

This support will no doubt be appreciated by the Boro players, and with a significant chunk of Celtic fans staying away in protest at their board, the travelling fans are likely to be the ones making the noise.

Middlesbrough will welcome Celtic test ahead of the Championship season

This will be a good test for Middlesbrough against the Scottish champions, and it’s a great stadium for the fans to visit, and for the players to play in.

From a football perspective, it’s worth pointing out that Celtic’s season starts on August 3, so they should be ahead of Middlesbrough in terms of fitness.

Obviously, the result doesn’t matter, but Hellberg will want to see the players take on board what he is asking from them in terms of the patterns of play.

To his credit, Middlesbrough looked well-coached as soon as he arrived, but there’s no doubt that he will be able to implement more of his ideas in pre-season, and he will be working on different things that he could try to use in the season.

Therefore, it will be interesting to see how Boro set up, and whilst Celtic may be ahead in terms of fitness, Hellberg will expect his side to more than compete in terms of possession and the overall game.

Martin O’Neill’s side were hammered 4-1 by Sporting CP in the week, and there is a lot of anger from the fans at the lack of transfer activity once again.

Middlesbrough will also expect to be very active in the coming weeks, so the XI that starts against Lincoln on the opening day could be very different to the one that plays Celtic.

But, as outlined above, Saturday’s game isn’t about the result, but improving fitness, and it promises to be a good day out for the many Middlesbrough fans that are heading north of the border.