The SPFL have moved the League Cup semi-final between Hearts and Celtic to Murrayfield after a rethink.

Originally the two last four ties in the tournament were scheduled to take place at Hampden on Sunday October 28, with Rangers and Aberdeen kicking off at 12pm and Hearts taking on Celtic at 7.45pm in a bid to ease fixture conflict.

But those plans were met with widespread criticism, with Hearts and Aberdeen voicing strong opposition against the plans.

The disapproval eventually forced the SPFL to enter talks about moving one of the matches to an alternative venue on Tuesday.

ADVERT

Those discussions have now resulted in a rejig of the schedule for the day.

Hearts v Celtic is now to be the early kick-off on Sunday October 28 at 1.30pm, with the match to be played at the home of Scottish rugby.

Rangers v Aberdeen remains at Hampden but has been switched to a later time of 4.30pm on the same day to accommodate.

Celtic hit out at the SPFL for not holding a ballot over the decision on which match would move venue, describing the board’s call as “irrational” and “discriminatory”.

ADVERT

Hearts, meanwhile, have shared their delight at the news.

A statement from the club read: “The club is pleased that the concerns of all involved have been listened to and the new kick-off time is great news for all supporters, young and old.

“Hearts would like to thank everyone involved over the last week for their willingness to consider alternatives.”

Initially, the two ties were scheduled for October 27 and 28 but tournament organisers were forced into as Rangers and Celtic are in Europa League action on the Thursday before the semi-finals.

After a meeting with all four teams, the SPFL announced the decision to play both matches at the stadium on the same day was due to a contractual obligation with operators Hampden Park Limited.

Aberdeen and Hearts both issued statements criticising the decision, stating that kick-off times would stop their supporters from attending the game.

Hearts manager and director of football Craig Levein said the decision was “the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in football”, “just madness”, “doesn’t compute”, “defies any sort of logic” and is “farcical”.

ADVERT

Scotrail revealed they had not been consulted over the decision after fans pointed out that the first train from Aberdeen to Glasgow on game day did not arrive until 15 minutes after kick-off.

They said the scheduling posed them logistical problems but that they would try to adapt their services to help cover demand.

On Monday, the Scottish Police Federation’s general secretary Calum Steele described the scheduling as “idiotic”.

“Even if there was nothing else on that date, the police service is going to be run ragged,” Steele said.

“The most important thing to say is that in advance of the decision being announced, no discussions took place between the service and ourselves. The conversations that will follow will be tough indeed.

“From a police service of over 17,000 officers, having two football matches on the same day is not something that’s beyond our means but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good idea to make it happen.

“The one word that describes it best is just simply idiotic.”

Those calls have now been heard, with the SPFL ripping up their original plan.