Hearts blame forged tickets for Celtic fans being locked out of title party at Tynecastle

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Ann Budge has sympathised with Celtic fans who were locked out of Saturday’s Tynecastle title party. But the Tynecastle chief executive said the blame for the incident lay with fellow supporters of the Parkhead club who tricked their way into the Roseburn Stand with forged tickets.

Celtic fans were left dismayed when they were turned away from the ground for their own safety because the stand was full. They later claimed their individual seats lay empty during the match Ronny Deila’s side won 3-1 to effectively clinch five-in-a-row.

Celtic's 3-1 victory at Hearts on Saturday effectively clinched their fifth successive title

Hearts immediately launched an investigation and it’s understood visiting fans using tickets for previous Hearts v Celtic games – some doctored with Saturday’ s date – were able to find their way into the match.

While some specific seats did lie empty, fans entering with forgeries meant the stand was at capacity, meaning those arriving late to Tynecastle with genuine tickets were turned away ‘in the interests of the safety of the fans in the ground’.

Citing a previous alleged incident involving forgeries amongst visiting Celtic fans, Budge promised Hearts are working out how to counter the problem should it arise again in future.

Colin Kazim Richards celebrates with team-mates after handing Celtic a deserved first-half lead

She said: “I very much sympathise with those that had a genuine ticket. I can understand exactly how they feel and why they should feel aggrieved.

“But, equally, we could not let more people into the stadium for safety reasons. We had filled the capacity.

“We’ve had emails about it and we had a meeting on Monday afternoon to talk about how many people were involved and how did it happen. We’ve almost finished the investigation and I’ve undertaken to go back to (Celtic) to explain what happened, and why it happened.

‘But it was forged tickets, I’m afraid. I’ve seen the tickets and they’re very difficult to identify. We will have to work out what we’re going to do about it. I think in the last Celtic game we had a touch of it as well.’

Substitute Patrick Roberts celebrates after restoring Celtic's lead  with a second-half strike

Budge, meanwhile, revealed she will be cheering on city rivals Hibs in the Premiership play-offs tonight.

Alan Stubbs’ outfit face a tricky tie against on-form Raith Rovers in this evening’s quarter final first leg at Starks Park. Should the Easter Road side prevail over the two legs, Falkirk lie in wait in the semi finals for the right to face two matches against the 11th placed side in the Premiership.

Budge would love the Edinburgh derby to be back on the top flight fixture list next season. But she insists the return of Hibs to the Premiership would benefit the whole of Scottish football.

‘I would very much like to see Hibs come back up. I don’t mind saying it,’ said Budge.

Leigh Griffiths celebrates as Celtic close in on the Scottish title with a 3-1 victory over Hearts

‘I think it would be good for the city of Edinburgh and for Hearts to have Hibs back in the Premiership. The interest levels in the city would increase as well. You can’t beat the derbies.

‘So I would welcome them being back up. But I also think it would be good for Scottish football generally.

‘What’s happened with Rangers (being liquidated in 2012 and starting in the bottom tier) has impacted on a lot of clubs, not least Celtic. So I’d be all for Hibs coming back up and improving competition levels in the league.’