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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Graeme Young

The reason Celtic and Rangers are both playing at 3pm this Saturday for the first time in years

Scottish football is no stranger to shock and awe, in fact the beautiful game we know and love has specialised the knack of leaving its followers open-mouthed.

Dossiers, court battles and open rebellion have raged this year but it's the return of a forgotten tradition of yesteryear that has really got tongues wagging.

Yes, that's right, both Celtic and Rangers will be kicking off at the same time on a Saturday afternoon for the first time in years.

The pair are no strangers to their Sunday double-headers due to their recent Europa League exploits but the time-honoured tradition appeared a thing of the past.

In fact, Rangers have only had 10 home games on Saturday in the previous two seasons due to their commitments on the continent as they get set to welcome Dundee United to Ibrox

It's also become such a rarity because of the pair's away fixtures are ordinarily selected by broadcasters and due to the 3pm embargo, recent months notwithstanding, it means both playing at the same time almost never happens outwith midweek cards.

But it will happen this weekend.

It's understood moving Celtic's trip to the Highlands to take on Ross County for the Sunday was a no-go at the time of Sky's fixture selection as they were still in Champions League qualifying contention.

The Hoops were scheduled to play their third round qualifier on Tuesday, September 15 but the defeat against Ferencvaros means they have now been able to reschedule their outstanding clash with St Mirren for next Wednesday.

Sky look unlikely to be caught short without their Scottish Premiership fix with the return of the Premier League and Liverpool vs Leeds headlining Saturday night's schedule.

The broadcaster are also welcoming the return of the England's top-flight this weekend with Leicester vs West Brom and Tottenham vs Everton selected for their Super Sunday double header.

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