Rangers have sparked a tit-for-tat ticket war with Celtic after announcing they will dramatically slash their rivals' allocation for all future games at Ibrox from 7,000 to just over 900.

Citing record season-ticket sales for the move following Steven Gerrard's box-office appointment as manager, the club revealed that all away supporters will now be situated in the corner between the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine stands.

Responding to the news the Parkhead club immediately followed suit by insisting they will 'be happy to reciprocate in terms of ticket allocation'.

Rangers have slashed Celtic's Ibrox allocation amid an increase in season ticket demands

It means the world-famous atmosphere at Scotland's biggest domestic fixture is in danger of being changed forever, with both clubs seemingly intent on blowing apart a reciprocal arrangement which has seen about 7,000 travelling fans attend derbies at both grounds.

Celtic fans have traditionally been given the full Broomloan end at Ibrox and, at the Rangers AGM in July 2016, chairman Dave King rejected a plea to cut that allocation.

Disagreeing with the notion that Light Blues fans are disadvantaged on their trips to Celtic Park, where their designated area of the ground includes a corner section, King blamed the anomaly on the different shapes of each stadium.

He declared at the time: 'In reality, and by agreement, both teams receive the same number of tickets for away games.'

However, a section of Rangers supporters continued to campaign for a change to this convention - and their wishes were officially granted yesterday.

Celtic's allocation has been cut from 7,000 to just over 900 for future games at Ibrox Stadium

A statement on Rangers' official club website read: 'Our supporters will always come first and as many of them as practically possible must be accommodated.

'That is why the Club has decided on an overall increase in the total number of season tickets available to our supporters to what will be a historical record.

'A further announcement on the final new ticket allocation will shortly be made available on the club's website.

'An unfortunate consequence of putting our supporters first is that this increased demand negatively impacts on the number of tickets which will be allocated to visiting teams.

'This means all visiting fans will now be situated in the corner between the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine Stands.

'We believe that this is the best possible outcome after considering the unprecedented levels of support from Rangers fans.'

Within hours of the Rangers board making their statement, Celtic responded with a message of their own, declaring: 'An unprecedented Double Treble and historic season for the club has led to a phenomenal level of demand from supporters to be part of Celtic.

Rangers have cited record season-ticket sales following Steven Gerrard's appointment as boss

'We are happy to reciprocate in terms of ticket allocation, something which will give us the opportunity to meet this huge demand to visit Celtic Park.'

Meanwhile, Rangers chairman King has called for Hampden powerbrokers to suspend SFA non-executive director Gary Hughes for comments he allegedly made about Rangers fans.

Hughes, part of the eight-strong SFA board, appeared to label Rangers supporters 'the great unwashed' in a magazine interview he gave back in 2006, the details of which re-emerged yesterday.

Asked to explain what he loved about Glasgow pubs, Hughes is reported to have told *The Publican* magazine: 'Glaswegians are passionate about sport - actually, I mean fitba'!

'The next best thing to being at Celtic Park (only the great unwashed venture South to Ibrox) is watching the game, pint of Tennents in hand along with some like-minded souls.'

The SFA confirmed they would be launching a probe into Hughes' comments but in a statement yesterday King said: 'Mr Hughes should be suspended pending the investigation. I also believe steps must be taken to ascertain whether any other SFA individuals were aware of what Mr Hughes said about Rangers supporters before he was appointed a non-executive director of the governing body in 2015.'