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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Graeme Young

Celtic's trip to Ross County and Aberdeen against Kilmarnock receive all-clear as Government rubber-stamp fan return

Scottish football has received a timely boost after the Government approved fans returning to Scottish football for the first time since March.

Supporters will be in attendance for Saturday's fixtures between Ross County and Celtic and Aberdeen and Kilmarnock at Pittodrie.

Scottish football chiefs held a Zoom call with government officials to push ahead with trials to get a limited number of punters back into top-flight games.

The Premiership matches have been selected for small-scale testing with a maximum of 300 fans permitted.

St Mirren v Hibs will not be part of the pilot after Covid-19 restrictions applying to Glasgow were extended to Renfrewshire. Rangers v Dundee United was also considered but suffered the same fate last week.

The top flight of football is looking to follow the Pro-14 rugby fixture pilot between Edinburgh and Glasgow that let the first Scottish fans into a stadium since the coronavirus pandemic called time on sporting events across the globe.

The home clubs will also be required to submit a debrief to the league after the games to help other clubs prepare for the return of fans.

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “We are pleased to have received confirmation of pilot events at two Scottish Premiership fixtures on 12 September and I would like to thank the respective home clubs – and indeed all 12 Premiership clubs – for the comprehensive Return to Supporting plans.

“We look forward to building on the successful all-sport supporter pilot at BT Murrayfield and I know that clubs take the responsibility for the safe return of supporters seriously.

“This is another significant step forward for Scottish football and I reiterate the importance of fans to our national game.

“The JRG will continue to liaise with all clubs, and especially the home clubs, in the coming week to ensure all protocols and guidance are adhered to and that fans can look forward to a phased return to supporting their respective teams.”

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