Close menu

Celtic host Rangers in second game after Premiership split

Last updated on .From the section Scottish Premiershipcomments215

Scott Brown and Kieran Tierney celebrate Celtic's 3-2 victory at Ibrox in March
Celtic have won twice at Ibrox this season, with the other Old Firm league game a 0-0 draw at Celtic Park

The final Old Firm Premiership match of the season has been scheduled for 29 April at Celtic Park, during the second round of post-split fixtures.

Celtic need one more win to clinch a seventh successive title and go to Hibernian on the prior weekend.

There will be a midweek Edinburgh derby, with Hearts hosting Hibs on 9 May.

Kilmarnock and Hearts will both make a third visit to Rangers because of an imbalance in the system.

Rangers, who meet Celtic in a Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday, have already faced all five of their top-six rivals twice at home.

The Scottish top flight has split in two after 33 rounds of fixtures since season 2000-01.

Since crowd troubled marred a derby game in 1999 in which Rangers won at Celtic Park to secure the Scottish Premier League title, the final Old Firm league derby of any given season has tended to be deliberately scheduled to avoid a potential league-settling encounter.

However, such a scenario will play out if Celtic fail to win at Easter Road and Rangers or Aberdeen win their games on the same weekend.

In the bottom half of the table, last-placed Partick Thistle take on Ross County, currently one point better off, at Firhill on Friday 4 May.

Celtic end the season at home to Aberdeen, while Hibs host Rangers. The Dons, runners-up for the past three campaigns, and second-placed Rangers are currently locked on points, with Hibs just three behind.

If Kilmarnock make it six league wins in a row at Hamilton on Saturday, Steve Clarke's in-form side will go into the split four points behind Hibs.

A spokesman for the Scottish Professional Football League said: "We want to thank supporters for the patience they have shown during the compilation of the post-split fixture schedule.

"Working with the 12 clubs, Police Scotland and our broadcast partners to produce a set of fixtures that meets everyone's requirements can often be a complex and time-consuming process, but fans can now look forward to an exciting conclusion to the Ladbrokes Premiership campaign."

Scottish Premiership post-split fixtures

Saturday 21 April

Hibernian v Celtic

Kilmarnock v Aberdeen

Dundee v St Johnstone

Partick Thistle v Hamilton Accies

Ross County v Motherwell

Sunday 22 April

Rangers v Hearts

Friday 27 April

Aberdeen v Hearts

Saturday 28 April

Hibernian v Kilmarnock

Hamilton Accies v Ross County

Motherwell v Dundee

St Johnstone v Partick Thistle

Sunday 29 April

Celtic v Rangers

Friday 4 May

Partick Thistle v Ross County

Saturday 5 May

Aberdeen v Hibernian

Rangers v Kilmarnock

Dundee v Hamilton Accies

Motherwell v St Johnstone

Sunday 6 May

Hearts v Celtic

Tuesday 8 May

Aberdeen v Rangers

Hamilton Accies v St Johnstone

Partick Thistle v Motherwell

Ross County v Dundee

Wednesday 9 May

Celtic v Kilmarnock

Hearts v Hibernian

Saturday 12 May

Dundee v Partick Thistle

Motherwell v Hamilton Accies

St Johnstone v Ross County

Sunday 13 May

Celtic v Aberdeen

Hibernian v Rangers

Kilmarnock v Hearts

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

215 comments

  • Comment posted by psychedelicropcircle, at 17:19 11 Apr 2018

    Only in Scotland can we over rule a computer incase one set of fans are so upset by a defeat from their city rival. The real answer is to play the game behind closed doors if the computer had thrown up this fixture. Embarrassing that not upsetting the cavemen came first.

  • Comment posted by RunningClaw, at 18:00 11 Apr 2018

    Scottish Professional Football League corrupt to the core. Not Fit For Purpose.

  • Comment posted by marknum, at 18:46 11 Apr 2018

    So as a Hearts season ticket holder, I only get 18 home games and 20 games are away. We have Rangers away 3 times. We have no post split Saturday matches and our only two home matches are on 6th and 9th May - the latter of which is another midweek Edinburgh derby.

    The whole split system is a joke. It is aligned to suit certain teams and does not offer a fair outcome.

  • Comment posted by David Smith, at 17:14 11 Apr 2018

    A total mess. Only solution is to get rid of the split

  • Comment posted by Andy, at 17:12 11 Apr 2018

    Rangers have this season had 3 homes against Hearts and 1 'away' game against Hearts at a neutral venue thus avoiding any trips to Tynecastle. We are told that Tynecastle has become a fortress. Maybe one day Rangers will find this out!

  • Comment posted by ecosse1950, at 17:22 11 Apr 2018

    another Doncaster mess,each team deserves the same number of home games,scottish clubs need revenue

  • Comment posted by Les, at 16:43 11 Apr 2018

    I'm a Kilmarnock fan and we seem to get the raw end of the split every year...why are we the only club to play both Celtic and Rangers away Hibs have them both at home!!! All five teams have already been to Rangers twice so to keep it even ie. one away one at home Hibs should go to Ibrox and Rangers should come to Rugby Park

  • Comment posted by Levein, at 19:10 11 Apr 2018

    I’m a Hearts fan but I hope Hibs smash Celtic and these morons end up with the exact scenario they were trying to avoid.Surely there must be some sort of refund for Ross County fans who have ended up with only 18 home games for 2 seasons in a row!What a shambles.....

  • Comment posted by Michael, at 16:48 11 Apr 2018

    regarding the split ties none of hearts games are taken place on any saturday most of the top six games are scheduled for daft times why is this? easy answer the fans who actually go to the games are treated as second class idiots and the tv companies have to have their rights adhered to. keep going and you will chase the real fans away and i am not just annoyed for the hearts fans but all fans

  • Comment posted by Wee Brian, at 18:40 11 Apr 2018

    @40: Ironic to see a Liverpool fan talking about football violence after the behaviour of their fans before the recent home game against Man City

  • Comment posted by SiberianT, at 18:38 11 Apr 2018

    I can see the Hibs v Celtic match being a draw and the Premiership decider match still being at Celtic Park in a "Glasgow Derby". Well done to all concerned for wasting our time over this issue.....

  • Comment posted by rossyboy1903, at 18:51 11 Apr 2018

    to me, given that we've got big(ish) clubs like dundee utd/st mirren/inverness in the championship why not change to a 14 team top league and play all teams twice, split in half then play all the teams in your half twice again. gives you 38 games a season and no chance of fixture imbalance

  • Comment posted by The Ice Man, at 17:27 11 Apr 2018

    Shameful decision to deny Celtic supporters a home match to win league. Sums up utter incompetence and lack of any concern for fans by the SPFL. Hopefully Hibs beat Celtic and the SPFL get their nightmare Glasgow derby where Celtic win the league.

  • Comment posted by justawake, at 17:08 11 Apr 2018

    Second year in a row Ross County have two more away games than home games. Are SPFL going to reimburse RCFC season ticket holders ? Especially as three games were due to be home out of 5 opponents.

  • Comment posted by Jon Mackenzie, at 18:13 11 Apr 2018

    Why are so many people referencing the Old Firm? It no longer exists because one of the teams is in the hands of liquidators. That's a fact and it is to the BBC's shame in particular that they choose to ignore facts.

  • Comment posted by U16814494, at 18:39 11 Apr 2018

    At least 'Pub League' has legitimate entrant to UCL not like Pseudo EPL with 1 champion and 4 also ran's, cringeworthy!!!

  • Comment posted by Finkelstein, at 20:27 11 Apr 2018

    A complete mess so get rid of the stupid split.

    Celtic will regard it as a shameful decision to deny their fans a home game to see them win the league.

    SPFL are a complete joke and this confirms their complete disregard for Scottish football fans.

  • Comment posted by watson320, at 17:45 11 Apr 2018

    The only fair way is to let the computer pick fixtures at random.

    Trouble makers should be told that any pitch-invaders or hooligan behaviour will result in an automatic 1 month in prison or more depending on the crime.

    Why should the many have to suffer the actions of the few morons living in the past.

  • Comment posted by Doods1875, at 20:48 11 Apr 2018

    #72 Pamplemousse

    "Irrelevant league, irrelevant country, irrelevant players".

    But relevant enough for you to take the time to crawl out from underneath your stone and comment?

    Oxygen thief.

  • Comment posted by U16814494, at 18:34 11 Apr 2018

    Top league of 20 teams..problem solved... 38 games 19(h) + 19(a), top teams 2nd eleven in bottom tier + more Summer games. SPFL/SFA not fit for purpose.

Top Stories

Around Scottish sport