Looking at going to a game down south at the start of next month. Celtic are at Hampden so that means despite being on the HCTS, there’s never any ‘luck’ in the secretive ballots. Liverpool are playing Aston Villa the day before the Glasgow Derby Premier Sports Cup semi-final and on the Tuesday Real Madrid are the visitors to Anfield. That’s some double header if you know how to buy Liverpool tickets.
Apparently there was a second ballot today for the Premier Sports League Cup Final at Hampden Park on Sunday 2 November against theRangers, now under new management.
Maybe some Celtic supporters applied for that job as it would have given them more of a chance of getting into the game, rather than relying on the Celtic Ticket Office ballots where there’s a very peculiar definition of fairness.
As for today’s ballot, did you get an email? Nope? Me neither.
There’s always someone on WhatsApp who breaks the news – ‘New ballot, check your emails’ and just when you’ve got over the disappointment of the first ballot, when you thought you had a decent chance (more fool you) because you’ve not had a ticket for Hampden from the HCTS ‘scamdal’ since the Inverness Caley Thistle Scottish Cup final* in June 2023 when Ange Postecoglou completed the treble, Jota scored and both left shortly afterwards.
You complain about this to your pal who then tells you that EVERYONE on the HCTS got a ticket for that game! Must have ruined their summer of some of those in the Celtic Ticket Office having to actually give tickets to those they like to deny, time after time. They do it because they can.
In all seriousness, it’s funny how some folk never miss a game. Do they have remarkable luck or is there something in the rules that say they’re guaranteed their seats regardless and to hell with everyone else? Celtic should do the honourable thing and send out a different type of email – making a world class confession saying ‘look you’re wasting your time and money, we know you’re faithful through and through and all that, but frankly, the harsh reality is the it’s never going to happen for you guys’.
So you check your emails again and of course there’s still nothing. You’d had a sneaky suspicion that some tickets were coming on the market because the fat-cat sales have been a few hundred lower than expected, a sign of the times that in more ways than one, eh Michael?
Then someone posts a graphic showing ‘at least a couple of thousand tickets remaining‘. Then you think of the Green Brigade and Bhoys Celtic not attending and all those season ticket holders who decided to withdraw from the HCTS after the Kairat fiasco that cost the club some £40m. You again Michael what are you like?
So you go back for a third time to check your emails, then you’re more annoyed at yourself for putting yourself through this turmoil time and time after each and every rigged ballot. It’t the hope that kills you.
You think back to the return to football stadiums after the COVID season, a happy time for the Celtic Ticket Office. They had an entire campaign where they gave no-one a ticket, just collected all our money. Not even their ‘favourites’ got to game (that bit must have been tough for the ticket office who just love to please certain supporters).
When we were allowed back, in small numbers at first so having paid for our season books, they’d give as many season ticket holder as possible one ticket each? Right? Well actually no. They decided on a 2/2 and 0/2 policy with tickets going to those who always seem to get tickets. ‘World class in everything they do’.
Or was that one on Dominic? But we’re not supposed to talk about what happened there! Or what you insisted we do. Maybe you remember that one? We certainly do. Helped get Michael his job…
*Unless we’re playing Inverness at Hampden.
