Kilmarnock have issued a statement condemning the damage done to a number of seats at Rigby Park with a threat of reducing the number of tickets issued to Celtic fans for future fixtures.
After a day of media attention on the subject the club stated that they would ‘explore all options to fulfil this goal and maximise the number of Kilmarnock fans cheering the team on at all home matches.’
Led by media favourite Kris Boyd, the man who knows every detail about every problem and every division at Celtic, Kilmarnock have highlighted the damage caused to seats largely as a result of Celtic’s last minute goal to seal three points.
There is certainly a growing anti-social element among the Celtic support that needs identified and dealt with by the club but the prospect of a ticket cut from Kilmarnock is unlikely.
With both stands behind the goals filled by visiting supporters that amounts to around 7,000 fans paying £27 for full price tickets. Motherwell are the next club to visit Rugby Park with their fans paying £22 and likely to take up no more than 1,000 tickets.
Responding to Sunday’s events, last night Kilmarnock stated:
Under SPFL Rule H40, Celtic FC will be required to pay for the damage caused to Rugby Park.
Over the course of the day, initial investigations have begun and we will be seeking meetings with Police Scotland and G4S.
Kilmarnock FC is a family club and as a board we continue to work hard to ensure Rugby Park is a safe and welcoming environment for families to enjoy watching football.
We will work with a number of parties, including our leading supporters’ groups, to explore all options to fulfil this goal and maximise the number of Kilmarnock fans cheering the team on at all home matches
Celtic will pay for the damage without question, the ground would have been visited before the match with the conditions of the stadium assessed.
As they share their grief and regret over Sunday’s events there is the small consolation of more than £150,000 coming their way from the Celtic support on top of the repair bill to think over before they decided on whether to cut Celtic’s ticket allocation.
Sunday’s match was watched by 11.916 fans, earlier this month for a home match with Hearts that was also televised 5,552 fans turned up to watch.