Northern Ireland

Celtic fans feel 'betrayed' over Windsor Park shut-out

Linfield beat San Marino side La Fiorita in a Champions League qualifier to get the chance to play Glasgow giants Celtic in a money-spinning tie at Windsor Park next Friday. Picture by Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press
Linfield beat San Marino side La Fiorita in a Champions League qualifier to get the chance to play Glasgow giants Celtic in a money-spinning tie at Windsor Park next Friday. Picture by Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press Linfield beat San Marino side La Fiorita in a Champions League qualifier to get the chance to play Glasgow giants Celtic in a money-spinning tie at Windsor Park next Friday. Picture by Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

CELTIC fans said last night they felt betrayed by the club after it was confirmed there will be no 'away' tickets for the Champions League qualifier against Linfield at Windsor Park next week.

All 1,800 tickets, on sale from today, are due to go to Linfield supporters, with the club set to make around £1m from the eagerly-awaited clash in prize money, gate receipts, television revenue, advertising and merchandising.

The match was initially scheduled to take place on July 11 or 12 but was moved to Friday July 14 due to security fears.

Celtic also turned down an offer of 3,000 tickets for away fans, causing "uproar" among some of their huge Belfast fan base.

Most of the tickets will be distributed through Linfield season ticket holders and local fan clubs, with the remainder going on sale through Ticketmaster.

Seamy Darragh, who runs the Dicey Reilly's Celtic Supporters Club, said they met with Linfield to attempt to reach some compromise for Celtic fans but it was "too late to change the security arrangements"

"Windsor Park is probably one of the easiest and safest grounds to get fans in and out of given there's access at both ends of Boucher Road," he said.

"This wasn't Linfield's fault - they offered Celtic 3,000 tickets but were turned down.

"I don't think the club considered the loyalty of their local fan base. There are 1,000 season ticket holders in Belfast alone, we take up to 150 people over every week - people who save and spend their money following the club.

"It's very disappointing not just for us but the fans in Scotland and England who travel all around the world to away games but are being denied the chance to watch their team in Belfast."

Celtic fan John Harland also said supporters felt badly let down.

"I have two season tickets and travel to Glasgow every week. I feel let down by the club for not being given the chance to support them in Belfast,", he said.

"I feel the club is more worried about their reputation and not how the fans feel. We go all over the world but not Belfast - how come?"

A spokesman for Linfield said: "The club has been working with the relevant authorities and with Celtic Football Club to make provisional arrangements for this game. No tickets will be made available to away fans for this fixture.

"We appreciate the continued cooperation from supporters as we put plans in place for the second qualifying round. We will also announce arrangements soon for supporters wishing to travel to the away tie in Glasgow."

The match will take place on Friday July 14 at Windsor Park with a 5pm kick off, with the second leg of the tie expected to take place in Glasgow on July 19.