500 Capacity Imposed On Scottish Premiership

It’s a decidedly less festive period for Scottish football fans, with the news today that all sports events in Scotland will be restricted to just 500 spectators for up to three weeks, beginning on Boxing Day.

These restrictions will have a sizeable impact, particularly on the traditional New Year derby fixtures in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee.

And many Scottish Premiership clubs are also struggling to field teams due to self-isolation rules, including St Mirren, who are due to face Celtic on Wednesday evening.

The Paisley club have requested that the match be postponed and their Boxing Day clash against Rangers.

Other clubs, including Celtic, are pushing for the January winter break to be brought forward, hoping that crowds will be allowed once more after the three week restriction period.

One club that may not back that plan is Rangers – if the New Year Old Firm clash were delayed, they would potentially be without three key players for any rearranged fixture due to AFCON.

And with the Glasgow sides occupying the top two spots in the Scottish Premiership table, the next Old Firm match could significantly impact where the league title ends up come May.

Rangers are a top price of 11/20 at Unibet to defend their title under new boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst while Celtic and Ange Postecoglou are 6/4 also at Unibet to wrestle the title back from their fierce rivals.