After playing the starring role in Ange’s homecoming tour to Sydney last year, it seems Celtic are now set to offer the same to Celtic’s Japanese playing contingent – with respected journalist Dan Orlowitz letting it be known The Hoops heading on a pre-season trip to Japan as a ‘done deal’.
‘My understanding is that Celtic is a done deal (as long reported by various outlets) and Man City is also set.
Not a fan of the same clubs coming year after year, but the PSG tour did bonkers numbers last year so it wouldn’t be surprising if they wanted a second go.’
My understanding is that Celtic is a done deal (as long reported by various outlets) and Man City is also set.
Not a fan of the same clubs coming year after year, but the PSG tour did bonkers numbers last year so it wouldn’t be surprising if they wanted a second go. https://t.co/Xuehniv1WF
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) February 14, 2023
Manchester City, PSG and Bayern Munich have all been named as the sides Celtic could face up to, with Orlowitz suggesting the end of July to beginning of August as dates that would suit the Japanese football calendar
‘The J1 has no games between 17 July and 4 August, so I’d expect the majority of the action to be around then.’
Yet Orlowitz isn’t certain if Celtic will play the English champions or indeed if Celtic’s visit will be for a tournament set-up as we had in Sydney, or for a series of friendlies.
‘I don’t know if this is going to be a tournament (probably not) or an unconnected series of friendlies (most likely). I believe all of these tours will have different promoters involved, and too early to say whether the UEFA clubs will play each other.’
The middle of July may also work out well for Celtic with the Scottish Premiership campaign not due to kick off until the beginning of August, perhaps allowing such a trip to be included in Celtic’s pre-season plans, rather than the mid-season approach taken this season as competitive football stopped for the World Cup in Qatar.
The Sydney Super Cup didn’t come with much on-field success for Celtic, but off the pitch Celtic reportedly earned as much from that trip as they did for winning the Scottish Premiership title and these figures helped Celtic PLC report astonishingly impressive interim results for the first half of the season last Friday afternoon.
And with the Hoops looking to take advantage of having five Japanese players currently involved with the first team squad, there will certainly be much interest in the Celts visit to Japan, no doubt leading to a very lucrative tour of Kyogo and Maeda’s homeland, whatever the format.
So far Celtic have yet to confirm any of this news, but perhaps that will now soon follow, with so much now in the public domain.
And when that comes, we’ll no doubt get more detail on prospective opponents, with Japanese options likely to include Ange Postecoglou’s former club Yokohama F Marinos or Kyogo’s former side Vissel Kobe.
Such a trip will no doubt swell the Parkhead coffers but it will also allow the club to develop its brand in a country where Celtic are big news these days with so many Japanese talents heading to Scotland – and more importantly being very successful indeed.
This should be a series of fixtures in the pre-season calendar which will whet the appetite for both the supporters and the Celtic squad.
Ange Postecoglou was asked about adding some dates in Japan to the trip to Australia by The Celtic Star a year ago, after a win against St Mirren at Celtic Park. The Celtic manager said that there wasn’t time for that to happen in November, when Celtic were at that point set to take part in the Sydney Super Cup, but it was on the agenda for the near future and that now looks like happening in the summer.
Later Ange Postecoglou added: “I know how big the Japanese market is as well. That’s not me driving it, that’s Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay and the others in the commercial and management team.
“But we have to buy in to it as a football department, we have to acknowledge it helps us in the long run. Everything we can do commercially to make this club stronger, the more revenue we will generate.”
The revenue that Celtic made from the trip to Australia and what will be earned this summer will be re-invested into the football department as Ange Postecoglou looks to establish Celtic as a Champions League quality side.
Niall J
🇯🇵🍀 | Bhoys in Japan
Celtic are planning on visiting Japan at the end of the season along with PSG, Bayern Munich & Manchester City.
The club currently have six Japanese players on the books in Kyogo, Maeda, Hatate, Iwata, Kobayashi & Ideguchi.
[Sponichi 🇯🇵] pic.twitter.com/6m1CBsynQh
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) February 14, 2023
