Celtic had to pay more for police at the first Old Firm game of this season even though there were 7200 fewer Rangers fans inside Parkhead.
Figures obtained by the Daily Record show that over the last three years, Celtic, Rangers, the SFA and
the SPFL have forked out £884,560.80 on police inside grounds at games between the teams.
That doesn’t include public money spent by Police Scotland on officers, horses, cordons and a helicopter on standby outside the grounds.
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Celtic and Rangers both cut the Old Firm ticket allocation for away fans from about 8000 to 800 at the start of this season.
But when the teams met at Celtic Park last September, the home club paid £57,760.80 for policing inside the ground, compared to £50,448 for a game in September 2016 when there were 8000 Rangers fans.
Over the last three years, Celtic have paid £329,656.80 in total for six Old Firm matches at Parkhead, while Rangers paid £308,443.20 for police for five games with their old rivals at Ibrox.
The Scottish Football Association spent £175, 596 on three games, the first being the Scottish Cup semi-final on April 17, 2016, when Rangers beat Celtic 5-4 on penalties.
While the SPFL had to fork out £70,864.80 on cops for the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden in October 2016.
