Since signing from Yokohama F. Marinos in the J-League and then going on to sign four players from Japan too, Ange Postecoglou and Celtic have been widely tipped to go on a tour of the country at some point in an attempt to raise the club’s profile even more in Asia. Rumours have been circulating that Ange and the team will be set for a pre-seaso”n tour next summer, but the boss insists he knows nothing about it thus far.
Speaking to The Celtic Star back in March, when we first raised the possibility of Celtic touring Japan, the Celtic manager told us: “It would be great, but I don’t think we’ve got the time. Look, it’s something I’m pushing for as well because I know the interest in Japan will be phenomenal.
“That’s one place we’ve definitely got hordes of new supporters for sure, not because of me, but because of the likes of Kyogo, Reo, Daizen and Yosuke.
“It’s an opportunity for this football club to continue to grow and, you know, spread the love.”
Now though in the week when stories emerged from Japan about Celtic marketing officials visiting the country on a couple of occasions to work on a pre-season tour ahead of the 2023/24 season, Ange has admitted that he’s in the dark about the proposed tour.
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Speaking via Scottish Sun, the Greek-Aussie said: ““It’s kind of followed me around hasn’t it? Australia, Japan, Greece will be next! That’s not something that’s on my radar at all. I haven’t had any discussions and I wouldn’t be aware of any discussions. Our planning at this stage is for what we’re going to do in November because it’s important for us. Next pre-season, we haven’t discussed yet.”
It is quite a bit of a surprise that Ange doesn’t know anything surrounding the issue, however he is not a marketing expert after all, he is a football one. If there is plans in the background for such an event then Michael Nicholson and others will be attending to them. After all, it is under his remit as CEO of the football club.
All in all it is a good idea which would allow the Japanese fans to embrace their national hero’s and our club. Celtic need to be raising interest in the brand and growing the business in a variety of ways and in diverse markets. The US is another that the Bhoys should be looking to take advantage of with the great Irish connection and background in places like New York and Boston.
We must fight for every possible financial advantage we can get in this game as we are outside of the big five leagues and the TV market pool is non-existent for us. With marketing tours such as this, it would be prudent of Celtic to entertain the idea of more of these on a regular basis – providing our Champions League fate is already sealed of course.
With another tour in Australia to come at the Sydney Super Cup, the exposure it will give this football club will be enormous. It’s such a big market place in Asia and we must capitalise on the the potential profits to be made and also the swelling of support for our club. Manchester United and Real Madrid are massive all over the world and we must try and emulate that in our own way. We are unique and we should want to share that with the world.
Paul Gillespie
