Ange Postecoglou was shown off by Celtic yesterday as the club heralded in a new era with Dominic McKay was also fielding questions as incoming Celtic CEO. With questions from media and fan media varying about signings, strategy, modernising and knowing what Celtic is about, there was a pertinent question addressed to McKay, which will give supporters great hope that they will return to Paradise within weeks.
Speaking at the media conference, McKay confirmed that talks had been underway with the Scottish Government to ensure that a safe return to Paradise can be allowed and the response was extremely encouraging.
“They are ongoing discussions. There are two data points. One is the Euros. The success of getting 12,500 into Hampden has been fantastic.
“Ange and I were fortunate to be down at Wembley for the Scotland game when there was 22,500. It was fantastic to have a crowd back in. We’ve really missed crowds in the stadium.
“The second data point is the direction of travel with the government. The first minister’s announcement last week that the restrictions are due to be lifted, in terms of social distancing on the 19th of July and then again August 8th is massively helpful.
“So the conversation this morning with the government was to say ‘okay, Celtic Football Club, this wonderful stadium, is ready to host crowds as soon as we possibly can.’
“So I suspect by the time we get to our European fixtures we’ll have a good size crowd back in.
“And then when we get into our new season we should have every reason to get even larger crowds back in.
“I don’t want to say a number because it’s not for me to indicate a number.
“But the data points give huge confidence that we’re going to be able to get supporters back in.
“It feels like if we keep doing sensible measures we’ll get supporters back in ever greater numbers shortly.
“Whatever it takes, I suspect the Celtic support, the Scottish football support, will go a long with to get back into to watch the club they love.
“It’s so important for the players, as well as the finance, and the coaches to have that atmosphere again. We’ve all missed it. The quicker that can happen again the better. Having full stadiums is really the lifeblood of our sport.
“The quicker we can get back to that, in a controlled way, the better for the whole sport.”
This is an encouraging update from the new CEO and hopefully we will start to see the club welcoming supporters back next month. FC Midtjylland arrive at Celtic Park on July 20th and hopefully we will see at least 20,000 fans in attendance for the game. Earlier, McKay said that the season ticket renewals had gone down well with many likely renewing after hearing the pair speak.
Dom McKay tells Celtic fan media that season ticket renewals are off the scale and well ahead of his expectations. pic.twitter.com/oAVkkT6Xa8
— The Celtic Star Editor (@CelticStarMag) June 25, 2021
