Celtic’s season ticket sell out shows we are the biggest club in the country, and once again asks the question: Is it viable to increase the capacity?
We’ve often been accused of being a support ‘tired of winning’ which is quite frankly laughable, and we now have full proof to debunk that theory, not that we needed it in the first place. We are now 25 years into this century and you’d struggle to find another club to have won the number of trophies that Celtic have in the first quarter of the 21st century.
That was further highlighted yesterday as Celtic announced that season tickets for the upcoming 2025/26 season had been completely sold out, including all the fat-cat seats with free pies and maybe the occasional prawn sandwich.
So that’s around 52,000 folk signing up for another ‘tedious’ campaign, especially in today’s financial climate is a sign that we are undoubtedly the best and biggest club in the country, on the park and off.
It also once again raises that burning question, is it viable option to increase the capacity of Paradise? Now I’m no accountant but Celtic are currently writing a cheque for tax on profits of around £10m a year and had the work got underway three years ago we’d have spent £30m on the new stadium upgrades focused on the main stand.
Every domestic home game after all is a sell out, and with around eight to ten thousand supporters on the waiting list for a season ticket, that demand would be met if we increased the capacity by at least ten thousand. Indeed the waiting list is closed so new supporters can’t even join such is the demand with the vast majority of current season ticket holders renewing annually.
For me seven thousand extra seats would be perfect, sixty thousand has a nice ring to it wouldn’t you agree? It would also satisfy the demand of those who have been waiting years for their chance of a guaranteed seat.
In the meantime the club really do need to look at introducing a viable Ticker Exchange scheme – like for instance the one that works successfully at Hearts – so that when season ticket holders can’t make a game for whatever reason, another supporter will get the chance to attend a game at Paradise with every available seat taken to support the Bhoys. Surely that makes perfect sense too?
On extending the capacity of Celtic Park, Michael Nicholson a few years ago explained that due to the cost involved it’s a non starter, but aren’t the financial benefits and the prestige of having a much bigger stadium worth that investment. Wait ten years and the money we’re paying in tax could have paid for the work. So why wait?
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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Home domestic games may officially be sell-outs, but there are often several thousand empty seats, unless it’s the biggest of games.
You can’t gauge how appropriate/necessary/profitable increasing the capacity would be without first introducing a proper ticket exchange scheme, as you mention.
There should be no talk of increased capacities until then
What we at Celtic don’t have is forward thinking Directors of Majority Shareholders,New Stand,Hotel and Museum are well overdue and would pay for it self, could a multi billionaire not lend Celtic the money to be payed back each year from the extra tickets sold ?,is this not what someone in control at Celtic should be doing?
Yet another blogger with big ideas and an indirect kick at the board.
Celtic will always pay corporation tax and lots of it that is the reality of running a successful business. You can only write off a percentage of profits to various items.
If it was so easy to extend or rebuild the main stand my belief is it would have been done by now.
Perhaps the question should be asked at the AGM
Why cant it be done? Is it money? Is it the structure below? Is it the ground conditions?
Straight forward questions that will be answered.
On the ticket exchange scheme it is something that should be progressed without a doubt
I wonder if Michael Nicholson would have sanctioned the re build of Celtic Park as Ferguson did .
Why would he? He isnt the major shareholder which Fergus was and Fergus was a businessman with a 5 year plan which was brilliant.
However Feegus got slated for making a profit when he sold his shares. That is how narrow minded Celtic supporters can be. The man delivered everything he said he would and still got slated.
There should be a statue of him outside and a stand named after him.
He did not get slaughtered for making a profit ! And by the way without the Celtic fans buying into the share scheme it would not have happened. But yes god bless the bonnet for his foresight.