Celtic’s Sydney windfall while Ibrox club’s recent liabilities top £16m

As Celtic completed their financially lucrative venture Down Under and took part in the historic Sydney Super Cup during this current World Cup break, the extent of the bill for theRangers pulling out of the competition arrived on the desk of Douglas Park and his comrade’s today. The organisers of the competition are looking for around £1.6 million in compensation due to the breach of contract perpetrated by the 10-year-old club.

Initially wanting a slice of the action, the board of directors over the way thought it would be a great way to make a quick buck to help offset the hemorrhaging of money from the Govan side. However, after it was announced, it was met with a vociferous backlash from their fans who understood fine well that they were merely going to be there as a supporting act for our boss, Ange Postecoglou on his dramatic return home.

Now it looks like they will be due another hefty bill to go along with the other multitude of litigation cases they are submerged in. According to the multiple Australian and UK media outlets including the Athletic, the organisers say they have lost major revenue due to the wrongful termination of the agreement.

It has been revealed promoters TEG Live Pty Ltd and Left Field Live Pty Ltd have filed the claim against the Light Blues in Australian Federal Court. They claim theRangers ‘wrongfully terminated’ an agreement that stipulated the club would play ‘friendly matches’ and that it was fan backlash on social media that drove the decision, not a squabble over the use of the trademark ‘Old Firm’ which occurred in March.

“The promoters claim they suffered loss and damage following the wrongful termination with Destination NSW reducing their core funding by £840,000 and loss of ticket sales as well as prices of marketing. The Daily Telegraph say £1.6m in compensation is being sought as a clause in the agreement outlined that theRangers should play unless a ‘force majeure event’ should occur such as governmental action, pandemic or severe weather.”

With Celtic set to benefit substantially from the trip to the land of Oz recently – with conservative reports having the final tally at anywhere between £4 to 5 million – it really is ‘A Tale of Two Kitties’ for the Glasgow club’s. As the January transfer window is fast approaching and Celtic set to have to deals in the place for it opening, the trip home for Ange and his Celtic team has left us all feeling that warm glow during this winter period.

The same can’t be said for the neighbours who have had to pay off their previous management team (£3.5m), pay compensation to QPR for their former employee to return (£1.5m) and have been hit was a claim from their former store partners Elite for £9.5m and all that since the break for the World Cup. That’s a grand total of £15,340,000 plus legal costs, and defending an action against them for £1.6m them Australia is hardly likely to be cheap.

Paul Gillespie

About Author

I'm a Garngad Bhoy through and through. My first ever Celtic game was a friendly against Italian side Parma at Celtic Park, in 2002. Currently a student of English Literature and Education at the University of Strathclyde for my sins. Favourite game would be a toss up between beating Manchester United with that Naka freekick, or the game against the Oldco when Hesselink scored in the dying seconds. I'm still convinced Cal Mac is wasted playing that far back.

3 Comments

    • I was about to post the same comment . It’s will be amazing how little will be said about this . Something we as fans , as it’s ultimately our money , must keep highlighting.