Scottish clubs told to prepare for full houses once more as JRG sends tremendous fan return message

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland's top flight clubs were given a massive shot in the arm on Wednesday when they were advised to start planning for full capacity crowds as soon as the winter shut down is over. Record Sport understands the ‘prepare for full steam ahead’ message was sent out from Hampden’s sixth floor late on Wednesday afternoon following the First Minister’s latest Covid update to parliament.

Although fears remain that the government may still be planning to restrict mass gatherings until later this year, football’s Joint Response Group have now told clubs to expect ‘business as usual’ when the second half of the top flight campaign gets underway this month.

And, despite some initial uncertainty caused by the wording of Nicola Sturgeon’s online address, the football authorities are confident the return of bumper crowds should now begin when Celtic take on Hibs at Parkhead on Monday January 17 - followed by a packed midweek fixture card 24 hours later.

Hopes of Scotland’s Six Nations rugby opener against England on February 5 being played in front of a full house at Murrayfield are also sky high despite a plan to play the whole tournament in England to avoid crowd restrictions.Get all the latest Sports news sent straight to your Inbox every day by signing up to our newsletter.We cover every morsel of information regarding your favourite club in the form of articles, videos and podcasts.The newsletter will arrive every day at 12pm, giving you a round up of the best stories we've covered that in the last 24 hours.To sign up, simply enter your email address into the link here.And if you aren't already, make sure you join the conversation over on our Facebook groups and Record Sport Instagram.