Celtic given permission for 'safe standing' at Celtic Park

The so-called "rail seats" used at many German stadiums -- with railings in front of and behind spectators -- will allow 2,600 fans to stand.

Other leading Scottish clubs may now be tempted to follow Celtic, who had the full backing of Glasgow City Council.

"Celtic has worked tirelessly on this issue and we are delighted that this permission has finally been granted," chief executive Peter Lawwell said on the club's website (www.celticfc.net)

"Across football globally, the reality is that some supporters are choosing to stand at matches. This is something we must accept and manage and also understand the positive effect which these areas have on atmosphere at matches".

The new system is expected to be introduced for domestic league and cup matches from the 2016-17 season. For UEFA games, the rails will be converted into seats.

All-seater stadiums were introduced to the top divisions in England and Scotland following the Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 in which 96 Liverpool supporters died.

But despite a campaign supported by many fans in England, the Premier League said it had no plans to copy Celtic.

"It remains the league's position that stadiums should be all-seat, in line with government policy, and we will not be encouraging the Government to change the law," a spokesman said.

"The police, safety officers and licensing authorities remain clear and have consistently informed us that crowd management has improved as a result of all-seater stadiums being in place in the top two divisions in this country."