Hugh Keevins: Power to the People

Why did so many Celtic season ticket holders suddenly remember on Saturday morning where they'd left them and returned to their home ground to watch the game against Hearts ?

Why was one caller to Superscoreboard on Saturday night able to bear witness to the fact that he thunder had returned to Celtic Park along with the man who first coined the phrase, Neil Lennon ?

From where I'm sitting there is only one possible explanation, and my opinion is non-negotiable.

The Celtic fans have developed a renewed interest in their team ever since the Scottish Cup semi-final draw paired them with Rangers at Hampden on April 17.

The usual suspects will rush to social media and denounce the very idea as the work of an unprincipled hack, but the evidence to support the claim is overwhelming, and there is, incidentally, absolutely nothing wrong with one half of the Old Firm getting behind their team in a supportive manner as a derby match looms.

It's happened for the last 128 years and it's good to be reminded of a rivalry which has lost none of its intensity through old age.

The upcoming game with Rangers has focused the minds of a support who have suffered from the kind of complacency created by Rangers' absence from the top flight of Scottish football that has led to a drop in attendances at Celtic Park.

Until Saturday.

Now anecdotal evidence has been provided on Superscoreboard of fans buying tickets for Scottish Cup matches they had no intention of attending so that they could be assured of first option on a brief for the game against Rangers.

So much for not caring about the Ibrox club. So much for the endless debate on the minutiae of Great Britain's taxation laws as discussed ad nauseum.

When push got to shove in the form of pairing the two teams at the penultimate stage of the cup all that mattered was getting a ticket and being there.

Scottish football would be great if we all allowed ourselves to enjoy it and could extricate ourselves from the clutches of those who want to hold everyone down against their will because of their agenda-driven pre-occupation with matters that can't be solved outwith courtrooms.

The story of Rangers return to the same league as Celtic has been mired in malice.

No-one can argue that Rangers' problems were self inflicted and caused them reputational damage. No-one can deny there will be many more days in court while the club's new board of directors attempt to sort out the mess they've been left to clean up.

Those who want to endlessly rake over the past are very welcome to continue doing so. Knock yourselves out.

But the rest of us are determined to get on with the game and crowds at Celtic Park and Ibrox will now show that is the will of the people.

There were almost fifty thousand people at Celtic Park to see the defeat of Hearts.

There will be almost fifty thousand people at Ibrox tomorrow night to see Rangers win the Championship title by beating Dumbarton and reaching journey's end as they complete the trek from the lowest division to the major league.

When Celtic and Rangers are in direct competition with each other for the league title next season the game in general will reap the benefit on the back of increased attendances at all grounds.

If you don't want to watch Rangers' away matches on the basis that this club or that club did nothing to prevent the Ibrox side from being forcibly relocated among the lower orders then exercise your right to freedom and don't bother travelling.

But plenty of Rangers fans will just want to get on with the game. As Gordon Strachan would say, "Trust me."

Down South, only Arsenal and Manchester United had bigger crowds at the weekend than the attendance at Celtic Park, and what will be the attendance at Ibrox tomorrow.

So far as Superscoreboard was concerned, Saturday was magnificent.

Celtic's game with Hearts was the best in the Premiership this season.

The end to Rangers' draw with Raith Rovers fired the imagination.

Wall to wall drama from the east end of Glasgow to the East Neuk of Fife. The way it used to be. The way it will be again. The way we should all want it to be from now on after a four year stay in a fantasy world.

People are important. Mark Warburton and Ronny Deila are allowed to be circumspect and sound slightly boring when they refuse to get as excited and carried away as the rest of us about results. That's the managerial prerogative.

But the people who pay to get in, who fund two businesses, are entitled to give full vent to their feelings and count the days until they can measure each others progress, or lack of it, by playing each other

Power to those people, and the malcontents can busy themselves however they like in the meantime.

Nobody cares about them because we're too busy watching the fitba thanks very much.