When the Green Brigade released a statement earlier this week saying that they would not be attending the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against theRangers at Hampden on Sunday 2 November they made a reference to the number of corporate tickets that Celtic are selling.
The Green Brigade stated: “In a further demonstration of a detachment from fans, fairness and transparency, Celtic FC has sold an undisclosed amount of standard tickets as Hospitality Packages for this match. Priced between £150-£300 (excluding VAT), this legalised ticket touting exposes the Club’s desire to exploit supporter demand and sow unnecessary division between fans.”
Green Brigade update re League Cup Semi-Final pic.twitter.com/1VAUKhlF5E
— North Curve Celtic (@NCCeltic) October 15, 2025
I then mentioned this in an article on The Celtic Star yesterday titled – Current HCTS rules allow Celtic PLC to shaft scheme members.
The Green Brigade quote exact ticket prices for these hospitality packages and state that the number of packages sold are ‘undisclosed’. Hampden’s capacity is fixed and in matches where both clubs are given 50% spilt – which will be the case in the upcoming semi-final against theRangers and also back in May at the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen – Celtic will receive around 25k tickets (with a small reduction this time due to the SPFL 500 ticket ‘fine’).
How Celtic allocate these tickets is shrouded in secrecy and it is fair to say that the system leaves thousands of supporters frustrated especially when they continually fail to receive an email from the club after another secret ballot is drawn.
You have to be a season ticket holder who has signed up to the HCTS to be in the ballot. Celtic has around 50-55k season ticket holders at most. The Celtic half of Hampden gives us around 25k tickets (fun fact is that the traditional (the)Rangers end at Hampden is slightly bigger than the Celtic end with a few more rows of seats. No-one has ever explained why that is the case).
Not every season ticket holder is on the HCTS, and Celtic don’t tell us the numbers who have actually joined. Perhaps they should. Let’s say it’s 40,000 – that would mean over the course of the Scottish Cup Final and the Premier Sports Cup semi-final everyone could easily have been given one ticket each. Fair, reasonable, transparent and rewarding each and every supporter on the HCTS who pay the club regardless, and remember the club also get the added advantage of having these supporters sign up for the European matches.
But Celtic don’t do that do they?
The ballots are conducted in secret, unlike the draw for the Paradise Windfall which is very public, done on the pitch at Celtic Park. Who actually knows how the ticket office ballot is done, what criteria is used and if indeed there are any priority groups, or favoured names – you know, the supporters who are always incredibly lucky?
I mentioned yesterday that after having a read through the Terms and Conditions relating to the HCTS there is no indication at all about the number of tickets that will be allocated to supporters for matches at Hampden when the allocation is split equally with an opponent. Nor is there any clarify at all about how the draw is going to be made.
Another subject that’s often discussed is increasing the capacity of Celtic Park by redeveloping the main stand. If that happened there would be a large increase in corporate facilities and seats, this would of course mean that the number of corporate tickets for Hampden would increase, thus reducing the number of tickets available to ordinary supporters, unless the capacity of Hampden was increased. Be careful what you wish for on that one folks.
This structure and the secrecy surrounding the Celtic Ticket Office balloting, I believe should be challenged ahead of season ticket renewals and frankly as a member of the HCTS, I or any other HCTS member should be able to ask for an explanation, given we are agreeing to provide Celtic with financial guarantees for the year ahead regarding purchasing tickets for cup matches at Celtic Park.
Yesterday I had received a message from Celtic SLO John Paul Taylor who had read my article on The Celtic Star and wanted to provide some clarity and in the absence of that speculation festers, so it’s clearly no bad thing that JP was able to provide some insight on the corporate ticket issue which I am happy to share with Celtic supporters today.
“Story isn’t accurate David, the Club do sell Corporate Packages which they have done since 1995, the number hasn’t changed in recent seasons and hasn’t increased for the forthcoming Semi Final,” Celtic FC SLO John Paul Taylor told The Celtic Star.
Perhaps numbers vary because the tickets reserved for corporate packages don’t always sell out but the demand for them is higher for cup matches against theRangers at Hampden? When there are unsold corporate packages the tickets then are released in another ballot to supporters unlucky in the first round of balloting.
So given this is an update from JP, that point is acknowledged and I am happy to clarify by putting it on the record.
However the remaining issues still need to be addressed. Back in 2021 when supporters were being allowed back into the stadium initially in low numbers the Celtic Ticket Office were at it again.
I wrote about this on The Celtic Star at the time talking about supporters giving an entire year’s season ticket money to Celtic without any prospect of seeing a game only to be treaded so badly in these ballots. The two games had many season ticket holders receiving tickets for both matches while thousands of others received none. The last thing you’re going to get from the Celtic Ticket Office is fairness or transparency but again they are free to contact me to put the record straight.
If you have 50k season ticket holders and are allowed to admit say 30k fans over two matches then how do you not see that balloting to allow 30k different supporters to attend is just, fair and reasonable? And those who were 2/2 back in 2021 I reckon will have been ‘lucky’ in the most recent ballot, and the one before and the one before that.
The HCTS is a great idea if it’s operated clearly, fairly and openly. As before I will be happy to clarify any points that JP, anyone at the ticket office or anyone else at the club wishes to explain.
And just so you know, just like back in 2021 I got zero tickets from the two ballots in 2025. Was it something I said?
Celtic in the 1980s ☘️☘️☘️ pic.twitter.com/LYYhnLQZU2
— Willie Collow (@CollowWillie) October 15, 2025
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Been happening since I was a younster even when Celtic Season books were 20,000 but we still took up our tickets for finals and semis Celtic have sponsor as well as as supporters that have to be looked after corporate tickets then players get there quota for family and friends id say squad players 10each staff it goes on then season book and there’s none left with Celtic 60 thousand season books are in a final say stmirren 5,000 season books and it’s still split 50 50 sort that out of i forgot the Scottish football blazier thats never put anything into football but have a slush place in hampden only upgraded so they could have there sfa plush floor in hampden for there reception I wonder how many used it for personal stuff like parties weddings hampden is a normal supporters nightmare shape like a dish supporters to far from pitch noise goes up into the sky instead of to the pitch so aptmoshere poor no matter how load you shoot there is no hampden roar a myth Spanish use club stadiums we have to great stadiums in Glasgow Meadowbank in Edinburgh Easter road tynecastle Aberdeen are building a new stadium it could and should have done it the Spanish way we are not world leaders in football but its down to SFA and there lush place in hampden where most of the money was sold how come the don’t open it to public and if they done it the Spanish FA way no way would clubs allow them to hold there private parties and wedding reception for personal family use these members don’t even run a club that makes a profit they bring a puppet in to blame when things go wrong and they take the praise when thing go right best hotels business class travel for scottish away games all that money lost cause they are not asked for list of spending it could have went to grass roots which caused parents a fortune in ground fees renting a pitch Sfa should be paying that bill should be donating strips to youth clubs not just elite schools how many our top professional come from these schools
I have to call out this bullshit regarding corporate packages at Hampden.
I know for a FACT that Celtic were selling corporate tickets at last season’s cup final against Aberdeen where the purchasers were housed behind the goals at near enough pitch level because I know 2 season book holders at Celtic Park who sit in the row in front of me bought them for £150 each and I have the photographic proof to back that up.
Also,to reinforce the argument that they are upgrading terracing tickets to hospitality packages,I refer you to the comment that any unsold corporate tickets are sold in subsequent ballots ast normal prices, I received a ticket for the Celtic end in the 2nd ballot and it was a better view than from their seats.
I had to give it away as I cannot attend games on my own and John Paul Taylor has told me that Celtic have no interest in pairing fans who want to go to games together, so that all or none of them get tickets because there isn’t any extra cash as an incentive to do so.
The HCTS is just another facet of the Celtic PLC which is way short of being world class !