Scottish football didn’t escape the havoc wreaked across the country by Storm Eowyn, with Celtic’s home match against Dundee plunged into doubt after their stadium suffered structural damage.
Ibrox was also damaged as Scotland was battered by gales of up to 100mph, and it remains to be seen if Rangers’ Europa League clash with Union Saint-Gilloise next Thursday will be affected.
The Parkhead club confirmed in a statement that tomorrow’s Premiership match may not be able to go ahead. But they insisted no decision would be taken until they were able to assess the full extent of the damage.
A red weather warning was in place throughout this afternoon. Eventually downgraded to amber at 5pm, it is expected to last into the morning.
A Celtic statement read: ‘Unfortunately today’s severe weather conditions have caused some damage at Celtic Park. Our stadium and safety staff are currently unable to fully assess the extent of the damage due to the ongoing extreme conditions.
‘In light of this and in order that we communicate fully and openly with our fans, in the interests of supporter safety, we are unable to confirm at this stage whether the match tomorrow between Celtic and Dundee will be able to proceed.
Damage to Celtic Park has put in doubt their Premiership match at home to Dundee
Celtic say they will not be able to assess the full extent of the damage until the morning
The roof of the Bill Struth Main Stand at Ibrox was another victim of the gale-force winds
‘Of course, we will be doing all we can to ensure that it does. A full assessment and decision will be made as early as possible tomorrow morning and we will update our supporters as soon as we can. We thank our supporters sincerely for their understanding.’
While Celtic said they were doing everything they could to ensure the game went ahead, they were keen to stress that the safety of supporters remained of paramount importance.
The club were also conscious of travel implications, with much of the public transport network around the country coming to a standstill and not scheduled to resume until lunchtime at the earliest.
Across the city at Ibrox, parts of the roof in the corner of the Bill Struth main stand were damaged by gale-force winds.
Rangers are playing away from home on Sunday, against Dundee United at Tannadice, but it remains to be seen if the damage will have any effect on next week’s crucial European match.
Elsewhere, Arbroath’s League One game against Kelty Hearts has been postponed due to the main stand at their Gayfield ground suffering ‘considerable damage’ during the storm.
It was the first Saturday fixture in the SPFL to be called off, with the club insisting that going ahead with the game would have been a risk to players and fans alike.
Greenock Morton’s Cappielow was one of several grounds damaged by Storm Eowyn
Morton also suffered substantial damage to the roof of their Cowshed enclosure at Cappielow Park. The Championship club have an away game at Queen’s Park tomorrow, with their next home game not until February 15.
It remains to be seen how many more sporting fixtures may yet follow the Arbroath match in being called off.
Glasgow Warriors had already switched their United Rugby Championship clash with Connacht at Scotstoun from tonight to Sunday because of the severe weather.
Over 100,000 homes were left without power in Scotland, and people urged to stay indoors, as the storm set off on a destructive path across the country. Many homes and buildings suffered serious damage.
Ayrshire and the West seemed to bear the brunt in Scotland as Storm Eowyn blew in off the Irish sea in the early hours of the morning.
