CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW
Following the challenges and disappointments of the year to June 2021, but with Celtic Park finally back as it should be – full of our supporters – everyone at the Club wanted to reward our supporters’ commitment and loyalty with entertaining and winning football. This year ended 30 June 2022 began with our Manager, Ange Postecoglou, taking on the existing squad and developing it, while introducing his attacking, high intensity style of football. The immediate priority in the 2021 summer transfer window, therefore, was to support the Manager, and the Club committed investment in players the Manager believed would contribute to our success.
In UEFA competitions, we prepared for our UEFA Champions League qualifier against FC Midtjylland with a squad in transition and lost the tie. Having overcome AZ Alkmaar, we qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Europa League, where we faced Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Real Betis and Ferencvaros TC. This was high quality opposition and, having finished third in the group, we qualified for the knock out play-offs of the newly constituted UEFA Europa Conference League, ultimately exiting the tournament to Bodo Glimt FC.
Domestically, despite losing three of our first six cinch Premiership matches, our supporters continued to believe in and support what our Manager was looking to achieve. Early success in the Premier Sports Cup fed confidence and everyone connected with the Club was delighted to see Callum McGregor lift his first trophy as Celtic captain. Following the last of the league defeats, in September 2021, we embarked upon on a remarkable 32 match unbeaten run until the end of the season; an outstanding achievement and one that led to us regaining the cinch Premiership title.
The scale of that achievement should not be underestimated, and we thank and congratulate the Manager, the Captain and all of the players and staff for a fantastic season of entertaining and winning football.
Season 2021/22 also saw us build on the success of last season for our Women’s team, with the team securing a domestic cup double for the first time in the Club’s history. This was an excellent achievement and demonstrated real progress for Manager Fran Alonso, Captain Kelly Clark and all of the players and staff of the Women’s team. Our strategy is to continue to develop and invest in the Women’s team and we are pleased that this commitment has been matched by the SPFL by incorporating the women’s game into the league governing body in order to continue to develop the game in Scotland.
Celtic FC B entered the Scottish Football Lowland League as a guest team for the first time in season 2021/22. We finished third in the 34-match programme in what was a highly competitive environment. Following the success of this initiative, we were pleased to be accepted as a guest team for season 2022/23, during which Celtic FC B will also compete in the UEFA Youth League. Having aligned the B Team directly under the First Team Manager, and having appointed Stephen McManus and Darren O’Dea as our B Team coaches, we wish them and the players the best of luck for the season ahead. We see Celtic FC B as a vitally important development pathway opportunity, which directly aligns with our youth development strategy.
During the year, we continued to review and develop the technical functions supporting our football operations, making appointments in Recruitment, Medical, Sports Science and our Academy, as well as investing in the Training Centre at Lennoxtown. We are continuing to work on further infrastructure developments, in addition to the recent stadium banners update, including the development of a new viewing platform for our disabled supporters and a new match day bar for season ticket holders, with a view to improving the match day experience for our supporters. Continuous improvement remains a key part of the Club’s strategy.
We are delighted to continue to work with our sponsors, including adidas, Dafabet and Magners, and we thank them and all of our partners for their continued support. Our retail and multimedia businesses continue to perform strongly and our match day attendances, including season ticket sales, and other stadium businesses all performed above expectations in the year. We are, however, mindful of the current economic headwinds. We continue to monitor the situation and factor the economic environment into key decisions.
As we look forward into the future of European football, the second half of the financial year saw UEFA confirm a number of significant developments with respect to the format of the European game and key governance matters.
Firstly, in May 2022, UEFA announced that it had approved a new Champions League format post 2024, involving an expansion to 36 teams, a shift away from the traditional group stage format to a single league phase and an increase to eight matches from six in the initial phase. Similarly, under the proposals the Europa League and Conference League would also be expanded to accommodate 36 teams, with eight matches and six matches respectively in the initial phase. There is an expectation that, once implemented, this would lead to increased media rights, which would in turn benefit all participating clubs, and we would see this as a positive development for European football as a whole.
Secondly, UEFA introduced significant enhancements in financial governance by introducing new Financial Sustainability Regulations to replace the previous Financial Fair Play Regulations. These are being introduced on a phased basis from summer 2022 and have the effect of introducing more rigorous spending controls and more definitive sanctions in order to create a sustainable future for the European Club environment. Celtic played a significant role at a strategic and technical level in the development of the new regulations, continuing to demonstrate our strategy of participating and contributing to the future of the game at the highest level.
As we look to the season ahead with confidence, I would like to thank all of our colleagues for the huge part that they played in the Club’s success last season. Having started the season under Covid-19 restrictions and facing into a number of challenges, our colleagues helped to create the environment in which our teams delivered that success. We will continue to work across all aspects of the Club to build on the achievements of last season and to take our Club forward. Finally, on behalf of everyone at Celtic, we thank our supporters, who got behind our Manager and the team from day one and whose contribution is crucial when it comes to our Club’s success.
Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive
