Celtic's Ireland defender Caitlin Hayes calls out Rangers for 'letting down' Scottish football

Ireland international Caitlin Hayes has expressed her annoyance that Celtic supporters were not allowed attend a Scottish Women's Premier League game against Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.

Tickets which had been sold to away supporters were cancelled prior to the match, which finished 1-1, as the club received intelligence that "groups of ‘risk’ supporters in a significant number had purchased tickets from the Celtic allocation". 

"Football without fans is nothing," Hayes wrote in a statement posted on social media.

"Today women's football in Scotland was let down. In a weekend where the Emirates was sold out and the growth of the game took an applause, the same could not be said 401 miles away. 

Football without fans is nothing. pic.twitter.com/kF6fef2XBx

"You simply can't advertise a fixture based upon the opportunity to see representation on a stage, with the false intent to grow the game, when the same opportunity isn't there for the opposition. 

"Take colours away and you're denying opportunity for young girls, in particular, to see what they can be, if they dream that dream. That dream isn't exclusive to the colours you wear but inclusive to all, just like the foundations women's football was built upon. 

"Whatever the circumstances may be, don't host if you can't accommodate, plan and fund, accordingly. It's the reputation of the game that gets damaged. A reputation we are ALL collectively building."

In a statement released by Rangers, it was said that the club had "called an urgent operational meeting between both clubs and Police Scotland, with Police Scotland indicating they would need to deploy a sizeable resource at short notice as opposed to it initially being a police-free fixture.

"Rangers is committed to