Over the past weekend as news of the enforced shutdown of Scottish football was announced and digested, @Celticrumours asked a question of the Celtic support. It certainly struck a chord, though at the time I thought Scottish football – rather naively I accept – was some way off a critical stage.

This was the proposal from @CelticRumours on Twitter.

“I know what your instant reaction to this is but put that to one side for a moment. Is there a case for Celtic putting up £10m for short term loans to support the other 41 clubs in the Scottish leagues during this current crisis? Max loan £250k with agreed repayments etc.”

https://twitter.com/celticrumours/status/1238968605942972416

Has that time come already? Is there a role to play whereby Celtic, perhaps in conjunction with SFA and SPFL could assist some of the clubs with financial assistance via a loan system?

From a financial perspective Celtic are on a far stronger footing than any other Scottish club, we more than anyone are in a position to help. Is it worth considering putting rivalries aside and looking at how we as a club can help Scottish football?

Looking around the football landscape this morning it is clear help is required far more urgently than many of us would have predicted. Moves have already been made as the financial fallout of the coronavirus shutdown starts to impact football. The football authorities both in Scotland and in England are making payments to assist clubs right now.

With a shutdown only coming into place on 13 March it’s welcoming to see. Clubs in Scotland rely heavily on income from gate receipts – to the tune of 43 % – and the loss of ticket money and the revenue associated with the match-day is hitting hard and early.

With this in mind, Scottish FA president Rod Petrie has announced the Scottish football authorities are to share £1.5m of funding among clubs to help assist with the financial effects of the coronavirus enforced shutdown. The payments are and advance on money that was due to de divvied up at the end of the year from award payments of Club Licensing and Club Academy award payments.

Petrie had this to say to the Media on the payments being distributed, as reported by Edinburgh News.

“Given the financial uncertainty faced by clubs, we have looked at areas of distribution where we can accelerate and pay now, rather than wait to pay on the usual distribution dates,” said Scottish FA president Rod Petrie.

“The combined amount forward funded in this way is approximately £1.5m, which we believe will be of great support to clubs who face uncertainty and, worse still, a significant loss of revenue as a result of the impact of coronavirus in Scotland.”

Moves to support clubs have also been announced down south, with The English Football league who deal with the three leagues below the English Premier league announcing short-term relief to the tune of £50m to assist cash flow issues for clubs hit by the Coronavirus. This one is all the more interesting as it’s reported not only will it involve the release of award payments ahead of schedule but will also come with the offer of an interest free loan facility.

Under the terms of the relief fund, Championship clubs will receive their remaining £800,000 award payment from the Premier League on Thursday. In addition, they will be able to apply for a £584,000 interest-free loan. For League One clubs the figures are £250,000 and £183,000, and for League Two sides they are £164,000 and £120,000.

And on the Scottish FA website, in the Coronavirus – Joint Response Group Update for 18 March, there are a number of measures open to to clubs as a result of the various announcements that have been made by the Governments in London and Edinburgh this week.

It is clear that Scottish football needs all the help it can get. We have real uncertainty as to when football will start again. Will it be a new season, will we get the current season completed even behind closed doors, how do clubs survive in the interim?

No-one knows in the current state of flux but what is apparent is the financial impact is already being felt. Even amongst the biggest clubs if Hearts announcement last night is anything to go by.

Ann Budge announced yesterday-as we covered on The Celtic Star-that Hearts players and staff have been asked to take a 50% wage cut with the club having to take measures due to the coronavirus outbreak. Anyone who refuses will be offered termination of their contract.

Budge had this to say on the tough financial decisions being taken at Tynecastle:

“The Scottish FA has now suspended football for the foreseeable future and, whilst there is no specified end date to this, it is most likely that the game will not resume until July/early August at the earliest,” Budge said in a statement.

“This reduction in income is not sustainable without taking immediate action to cut staff costs and overheads.

“As such, I need to act swiftly and take steps now to ensure that we, as a Club, can weather this storm while trying to ensure we are ready to resume operations as and when we move into calmer waters and football restarts.”

For this situation to have already hit one of Scotland’s most prominent football clubs is a massive concern, you’d full expect other Scottish Premiership sides to now mirror this approach.

We are already seeing the impact in the words of warning coming from clubs outside our top league. Championship side Partick Thistle have already joined League One leaders Raith Rovers in appealing to fans for donations to get through the coronavirus crisis. Supporters of the Jags have set up a fundraising target to raise £20,000, while Rovers are aiming for £25,000.

Thistle cited the reasons for this as a “potentially significant loss of income” due to the suspension of the season and SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster has already warned of “dire financial consequences” for clubs.

Partick Thistle, are bottom of Championship with nine games remaining, say they have a “strong financial base” but face “uncertainty” with no income from matches for the foreseeable future.

Further down the pyramid we also have League Two club Elgin City saying it could go out of business by the end of May without financial support and Cowdenbeath say they cannot sell season tickets for next season until what happens to the current campaign becomes clearer.

Down south and outside their top leagues, National league side, Barnet announced on Tuesday that all non-playing staff had been placed on notice of redundancy “emergency measures to preserve the club” amid the pandemic. This is something you could easily envisage happening in Scotland.

So the proposal from Celtic Rumours something now worth considering?

Do Celtic have a moral responsibility from a position of relative financial strength to now contact the SPFL and the SFA and at least offer to be a part of the financial solution, with so many Scottish clubs facing such dreadful financial difficulties?

Or do we have to approach this in an entirely independent and business – like manner and allow the financial fallout to simply take its course?

It may be this debate is worth having now. The Scottish football landscape may look very different in a few weeks’ time.

Niall J

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