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Surely Celtic have gone out to gain such sponsorship with the 2 white Nike 'Swooshes' in the upper North Stand?
I wouldn't imagine Celtic simply doing this to put more emphasis on the new kit deal and upcoming release of the strips for the new season without some extra money changing hands? I would think that you are in a better position than anyone to know whether or not Celtic will comment on this and if it will bring in extra revenue along the way while renaming the North Stand the Nike Stand as it is currently the only stand without a name?
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Not maximising revenue certainly is one aspect that the Celtic board needs to improve on.
As many of the global posters on here have previously commented, Celtic has a huge fan base. Personally, I have watched Celtic matches in pubs/clubs in over 10 countries in 4 continents. The market for Celtic is there.
However, as anyone that attended the matches in the US last year will testify - Celtic did not aggressively market their product/brand.
Compare our efforts that to the (pre-Glazer) Man Utd omnipresent commercialisation. At the Seattle match, anything and everything with the Red Devil logo was available. For Celtic, all there was were a few jerseys for sale.
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Just wondered if Nike have perhaps got first dibs on stadium naming rights as part of the shirt deal?
Liked that Barca documentary last night, particularly when they were talking about the PPV money they could pull in if they managed to get Real in the semi-fianl of the Kings Cup. Laporta seems a great guy to have as president.
Paul67 - any ideas what the club plan to do with the old primary school on london road? Have we bought the land? I'd heard rumours of a new ticket office there.
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Surely we could command more than £2m per annum?!!
I would imagine that we could secure £50m for a 10 year deal or if we set our sights high £100m for 25 years.
This has to be the way forward, as you said this is "free money" which shouldn't be passed up.
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Re the ‘Sugar Daddy’ comment. Has anyone seen the article in The Herald this morning? Apparently there are other wealthy American team owners eyeing up opportunities in Europe.
Are we on any shopping lists?
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Sevillian,
The Nike swooshes on the seats will no doubt have been part of the £25m deal with the club. I can't see us getting any extra revenue from Nike for this above the deal already agreed. And the club won't have done it just for the sake of it
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Sevillian
The Nike logo’s are part of the previously announced Nike sponsorship. Naming a stand will bring in some money and should be looked at as part of a wider project, but on its own it will bring in little money as it would get no TV exposure.
OttoKaiser, the old school has been purchased by the club. They have big plans for the area between the stadium and London Rd – much bigger than a new ticket office.
You might be right jquinn67, though while still in the SPL we will not get much more than £2million. With England on the agenda a long term deal will not be considered, 5 years is a better option.
Timmy7, as I have been predicting lately, corporate raiders will move into every football club with a large income soon enough. Glazer has shown the way. None of these guys will be in the ‘sugar daddy’ mould. We should enjoy our final years of the club spending every penny it gets.
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Thanks for clearing that up regarding the swooshes and the deal
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The biggest flaw in the Current Plc board (apart from PR disasters; apathy towards fans; lack of understanding with regards to football progression) is that they are a collection of bankers (not the slang version), they have little concept of generating money other than those from traditional streams. The documentary regarding Barca really opens our eyes to a board that really want to achieve something,they outlined to everyone their business plan, looked at all sorts of revenue streams, sponsored games, the movement of high earners, frankness with interviewers, interaction with the fans - do our Board moonlight at Londons West End in Chitty Chitty bang bang. I believe honestly that the current board are far too conservative, they are waiting for a promised land that may never come about. European League may be the best way forward, i doubt however that we have the right people in place to achieve this, not a criticism per se but a realisation, based upon the lifespan of most of our Cheif Execs, this is a significant blind spot of the current plc.
Losing heart, Celtic will never reach their potential, wouldnt even come close - signing rumours hardly fill you with enthusiasm, i know they are all started by bored lazy sports writers (nearly wrote journalist - but that implies some intelligence, and desire for truth - so not like the scottish laptop loyal) but we have been down this road to many times. Even if we were to buy primarily from the SPHell, we dont seem to be going for exciting prospects, i dont honestly see anyone in the SPL that would get into our team (excluding TFOD), and i am not too excited about them presently.
God i hate mondays
Navarro
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whats the big plans for it Paul go on give us a clue.
interesting reading on profit to be made from the naming of the stadium at first i was against the idea as the fans will continue to call it parkhead or celtic park regardless of a new sponsor name
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"OttoKaiser, the old school has been purchased by the club. They have big plans for the area between the stadium and London Rd – much bigger than a new ticket office." What are we going to see here then? We already have a superstore and ticket office (which looks more like a portable toilet). Could we be seeing another restaurant, a Casino or a media office? Will this space be used to increase revenue or will there be multi-storey car parking facilities or something (would be a disaster - imagine 60,000 fans trying to get out onto London road from the one side street!)
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Few comments on the new post:
Naming rights no problem - We already have a choice: Parkhead or Celtic Park.
That school has the bain of Celtic's plans in the past, consequently if it is now available the proper signature version of the South Stand is a possibility. Big on presence, exec boxes, small on increased seating?
Paul67 - When were you last in Damascus?
A recent story seemed to denigrate the potential of the whole East End of Glasgow when it came down to property development. Any way congrats on jumping aboard the "GEAR MK2" bandwagon. All that is missing is the crowbar to get the 150 civil servants jobs out of Edinburgh.
Comments on yesterdays discussions, I really need to learn to type faster.
Tony - Surprise and delight?
Better communications is a given.
The DD rant is straight out of the Gerald Ratner school of business communications.
Specifics would be the club being ahead of the fans and the press.
Being pro-active rather than being reactive, setting the agenda and sticking to it.
Example would be Bellamy and Keane both sign, one fully paid up the other on a one year loan/trial.
Even if it came at the cost of losing a current big name at least it would show that the club is being imaginative.
It may fail but at least the club is trying. No more safety first, death by boredom.
The status quo after Seville has run its course, the chickens are back!
The playing side has to be first, i.e. results in the next 10 weeks.
The other issues you raise would be good starting point. Vision is the thing.
First you have to have one, then you have to sell it and then you have to deliver it.
Difficult when the press is out to get you but it would provide focus for the whole club.
Consequently needs doing badly.
Paul 67 - Financials
Don't know enough about accounts to challenge your figure of expenditure being £73mill.
I would describe it as £65mill expenditure, that is money going out the door and an £8mill charge against amortisation to reflect the run down in the value of the intangible assets / player contracts.
Given your income figure of £67mill that would mean that the cashflow for the club would be £2mill positive leading to the reduction in the borrowing figure that I have described previously.
Consequently that is a result in the world where cash is king and £3mill has to be paid out to shareholders as dividends.
I wish I could share your confidence when it comes to what would happen if the club was run for a profit, a reduction in expenditure to £50mill in a world where there has been little investment in the playing side for 3 years means that the reduction would have to come out of players wages. While we have been a bit flabby in this area we have not been 40-50% flabby.
Poorer squad = CL qualification in jeopardy / league becomes a dogfight.
No CL qualification = Income reduced by £8mill at least, board under pressure due to lack of ambition.
Board's lack of ambition = Fan resentment
Fan resentment = Season ticket sales fall.
No need for a season ticket = Pick and choose games, crowds and revenues fall.
Suddenly £50mill in income becomes a challenge.
The vast majority of the club's income is directly linked to the fans. Lose them and the game would be up.
With regards to Glazer, why is the senior debt limited to £260mill approx?
Why get involved with non traditional lenders if the business case is bullet-proof?
Look behind the numbers, what would be the value of a leading football brand and a fully equipped 70K seat stadium?
Rough guess £250mill+, do the maths. The whole deal is leveraged up into financial wonderland.
Everybody is covered except Glazer, even the rosiest view has him out on a limb for 2 years.
With regards to profitable football teams, the situation regarding DM and Rankers is interesting. He seems to have halved his wage bill, how this will affect the results is up for grabs. Admittedly they don't have much to lose, European humiliation is almost a given.
Looks if they have only 6 players now on Premiership money, £8K pw for local new recruits seems to be the going rate.
Seems to have given up trying to make them top table in Europe.
How this will go down with the support is the great unknown.
Finally the list of profitable top rank football teams can currently be written legibly on the back of a stamp.
Big ask to see how this will change with fan revolts.
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Arsenal received a reported £100m for 8 years of shirts sponsorship and 15 years of stadium rights, it showed the power of the dual agreement. Lets hope we took note with Nike.
However, celtic's trackside advertising always looks pretty poor, so I dont know how far a long we are with this idea.
Why do we have to stop at just the stadium, can we not sponsor the new training ground, celtic shops, perhaps even the back of the shirt. I know this overt commercialism may not appeal to all but we must investigate all avenues especially those that new technology will bring.
This is an issue where we can question the talent of the personnel at CP, if we dont have the marketing people with vision let's employ a top level marketing mind, I am sure they would pay for themselves.
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I agree that the plc could (and should) be doing much more to exploit untapped revenue streams.
But ultimately, our need to have the financial clout to match our ambition is dependent on getting out of the SPL and into a more high-profile league.
The break-up of the EPL's collective TV deal is, as far as I can see, our best opportunity to leave the SPL. But I was concerned to see The Times report a leaked Glazier business plan which had no mention of persuing go-alone media rights. I felt a little better after reading subsequent comments from the Glazier family, which claimed the leaked business plan was one of many drafts and no firm decisions had been taken.
Paul, I have two questions: Is the break-up of the EPL's collective TV rights as crucial as I believe? What is our next hope if it fails?
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As the board are full of lifelong Bankers perhaps they'll open a Celtic Bank. Or a travel agents, come on Paul some clues as to what the board are actually doing to help the club?
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As the board are full of lifelong Bankers perhaps they'll open a Celtic Bank. Or a travel agents, come on Paul some clues as to what the board are actually doing to help the club?
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agree but the brand association has to be right and parameters set to protect the ethos of what celtic is all about.
Tradition/quality are big USP's in 21st century marketing and brands combining heritage and blue chip standing are what we must attract. Pirelli, Ford, Guinness, AmEx, Philips, etc
There are other 'free money' streams out there that could add to the match day experience - how about a sponsored blimp (is that what they're called?) hovering over CP every home game, beaming bird's eye camera views across the airwaves and at the same time broadcasting their brand name in association with celtic?
The Pepperami give away at Aberdeen game was novel and fun. Every home game should invite a sponsor for a marketing lead and paid for give-away that benefits the fhans and the sponsor.
Always thought the 'clappers' that C.Vigo had added big time to the atmosphere and an easy sponsored revenue stream.
Surely some sort of celtic supporters card free to season book holders and CSC members, with discounts at high street retailers, brewery/restaurant chains etc with % back to 'player fund'would generate cash and encourage us to buy through affiliated companies. Maybe this has been tried but I cant remember it if so.
Looking back at past season books we've not used the book to its potential. We've only ever really pushed initiatives like a free bottle of wine at Walfrid restaurant and discounts of match day programs etc. How about tear out coupons with discounts from sponsors?
With such following we have consumer power and its not being maximised but must stress that the drivers behind any initiatives must not be to encourage us to spend more but rather switch brand loyalties in products we would buy anyway.
CW
CW
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Malone19,
DD owns a large betting exchange, one of the biggest in the world, with it's head office in Dublin (it's called Betdaq). Following the British government's recent decisions and changes to betting/gambling laws and the provision for more casinos (including one SuperCasino) in Britain, DD has set his sights on owning such establishments on mainland Britain. He is in direct opposition to Rangers, via his Betdaq company, to have the first and only SuperCasino in Britain. I wonder if, perhaps, the big plans for this London Road area is to include, hotel, museum, SuperCasino... Would certainly make sense should we develop our stadia to a 5 star level and be operating within the EPL within a matter of years.
A casino and general leisure complex owned by Celtic, albeit via DD, would generate the kind of income that would certainly be welcomed.
Just a thought...
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I'd love to see the area around the stadium re-developed, I've heard whispers of pedestrianisation
along london road with the coming of the m/way extension, ETims also mentioned a possible new underground link.
I've always wondered if it might be possible to get a Travel Lodge/Premier Inn etc where the school is now - it'd be rammed for home games with the big irish support coming over. Wouldn't mind seeing a decent official Celtic bar as well (Turnstiles just disnae cut it), something along the lines of these sports bars they have in most city centres.
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I agree. I know many people are against betting and hate Casinoes, my answer to them is that you don't have to go. Perhaps it is not the most innocent and moral ways to bring in money but if people want to gamble it is up to them. The kind of money brought in by a big Casino would probably double the revnue (just my assumption). However I can see a difficulty in that supporters of the Rankers would not visit such an attraction as it would be affiliated to Celtic and therefore increase of ability to outmatch them on and off the field.
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The only thing that will bring about the changes that we wish to see is what we want to see i.e to be more successful on the park in Europe. If we have a team CONSISTENTLY capable of 2nd phase CL football only then will the G14 be interested in what money they can make by association with Celtic and our friendly worldwide unmatched following. Our conservative board probably didn´t feel so conservative when they welcomed Messrs Barnes, Dalglish and Mac Donald something that DD never mentioned last week!
MON parting shot was that we never built on the Seville UC final team. That was a missed opportunity. That can only have been made to the board. Something that at that time they couldn´t countenance due to their own previous ineptitude.
Until Celtic (and as an extension of that Scotland) as an SPL team can consistently qualify a team into the second phase of the CL then I fear that our plea of being a big club will always have a hollow ring to it and that we will appear as an arrogant club that thinks that it should be where we want it to be because of probable turnover?
I hope that WGS really does have a clean out. I mean with BBJ, Sutton, Beattie, Maloney, Fernandez, Mc Geadie, Camara, Juninho all having played up front for us this season AND BEING PAID FOR IT that´s 8 players in 2 strikers roles (sometimes one) and we after Riordan? paper talk I know but if you were Quinn talking about wages you´d feel like you had a point.
There is plenty of unused potential that can be used at CP. Lets hope that WGS can streamline the player staff at Parkhead and is given the time to do so and optimises the wage bill to standard of performance ratio because if he does that then the faithful who turn up at Parkhead these days can put down the calculators and burgers and start doing to a man what they are reknowned for!
Hail Hail
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Also, a Super Casino would have to be located in the city centre. It would probably have to be ran by a company owned by Celtic for various reasons. If DD owns a betting company he'd probably rather own it all to himself rather than put the revenue back into Celtic!
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A number of the previous posters are showing that they have in abdundance that the board lacks...imagination and inventiveness.
The board consitantly shows a lack of ambition in terms of finance or progress.Oh, they are good for the occassional soundbite but, as in life, it is actions that count and not words. By that measure they stand condemned.
So here is what is going to happen.......nothing.
There will some tinkering with the balance book and the SPL might get reorganised but that is all...nada. No EPL, no Euro- super league....bog all.
Get used to life in the SPL, bhoys.
I would like to thank NegAnon for sponsoring this post.
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celticwully, nice to see positive and imaginative suggestions.
Re the school, i believe it is listed and therefore regeneration will have to be within planning parameters.
brief note on amortisation/cash debate. I don't think anybody is actually worng here, just approaching from different angles. the cashflow statment is supposed to offer a link between profit and loss and balance Sheet. Really will need to follow up on the novice's guide. Hope 'novice' isn't condescending ;)
All we are saying, is sign someone now.
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I think McGeady, Juninho, Fernandez and probably even Maloney would all be considered attacking midfielders. I think the problem with Juninho was he was played in daft positions which did not suit his style of play. He simply isn't physical enough to play up front or fast enough for the wing.
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Malone19,
Looking at the bigger picture, beyond Rangers. If we are playing in the EPL, would Man City fans or Liverpool fans care if the casino or hotel or whatever was affiliated with Celtic? When we play AC Milan or Barcelona in the Champions League, will they care? I don't think they will. It wouldn't be attractions only for Celtic fans. If we're playing in the EPL and Europe and there is a leisure complex that include pubs, clubs, hotels, restaurants and a casino, being a little 'entertainment village', it would act as a fishing net for the thousands of pounds that away fans, chairmen, UEFA delegates will spend in this Celtic Leisure Village.
There is opportunity to make money if Celtic are wise enough and brave enough. Naming the stadium will take bravery.
Incidentally, on the Barca documentary, I can see why Henrik and other players are so impressed with the club; why Ronaldhino has no interest to play anywhere else. Barca seem to have similar traits to Celtic. Although, not sure we'd see Brian Quinn playing 'headers' with Bellamy in the Board Room...
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casino's, hotels etc absolutely but these initiatives take years of planning, commitment, investment etc.
We should be aiming for that level of long term revenue generation but blending that with a series of quick, tried and tested, simply administered initiatives to generate extra revenue NOW, and that means the type of activity I touched on before.
53,000 season books; 400,000 registered on official CFC website, millions around the world all with a common denometer of loving CFC. Imagine the collective buying power.
CW
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Champs, I cannot discuss the plans for the front of the stadium yet.
Madmitch, the story from a couple of months back advocating a move opened up a seem of information on what will be happening at CP in the coming years. This is not my plan this time, but it is what we are about to see.
TinneyBhoy, the super Casino idea is not happening at Celtic Park.
Good to hear some clear thinking Celticwully
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Madmitch - The fact that we already have a choice of two names for our stadium would probably work against us in the deal. What guarantees do we have anyway that the pundits would use the commercial name for the stadium ahead of Celtic Park and Parkhead? Surely the BBC could have a policy of not calling it e.g. Orange Mobile Stadium. This would surely result in a deal worth comparably less than that of other stadia as the sponsors would have a one in three chance of getting themselves mentioned in the media?
I am also a bit disapointed that it was never mentioned that the NIKE swooshes on the seating would be part of the shirt deal. The deal itself, I thought was fair for our current status, but I would have thought we could could have gotten additional cash for these 'enhancements'.
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TinneyBhoy
I am completely aware of this, a casino would make a great source of income and improve the clubs leisure facilities. The point I was trying to make is that on a domestic level, if we end up staying in the SPHell, a casino affiliated to Celtic would not be able to run at its full potential. A solid flow of cash would need to be achieved and I would rather it were the Rankers fans who were emptying their pockets into slot-machines than us.
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Malone19,
A SuperCasino does not have to be in a City Centre. If it goes to Rangers it will be based in Govan. All you need is to satisfy similar criteria to achieving a 5 star stadium (eg, transport links, hotels etc...).
DD could certainly build a SuperCasino through Betdaq in Edinburgh or Manchester, but he has a financial interest in Celtic. Combining Betdaq's reputation with Celtic and the Celtic Brand, this opens a whole new host of opportunities. It would certainly increase any profit if Betdaq were to go it alone. Even a Betdaq Casino on a Celtic owned complex will generate income for Celtic. I just hope the board are exploring every opportunity to raise revenue and are prepared to exploit every avenue.
Anyway, casinos, SuperCasinos - it's all hypothetical.
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Madmitch, have you considered getting malone 19 to help you with the typing he's got to be the fastest poster in cyberspace.
Couldnt agree more with your point on season ticket fall off, I believe the fear factor of not getting a season book is one of the main drivers for renewal. If apathy sets in the trickle will turn into a flood, we must maintain momentum. The intoduction of WGS could be viewed as a new dawn to energise both the team and the support. The board must seize the day!
Malone 19, your enthusiasim is an inspiration.
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Anon E Mouse
As far as I'm aware they would have to call it by its correct name legally.
TinneyBhoy
We are not at 5 star status and unless something dramatic is in the pipeline I cannot invisage us upgrading in the near future.
On a more imaginative note, wouldn't it be good to have London road revamped and the "tram" system that the have in Barcelona put in place. This could run up and down from several car parks and would at the same time generate a bit of income. Never going to happen IMO but do we still have friends in the council?
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cheers Paul and Blantyre Kev - I've always felt that our support is imaginitive and dynamic but been hamstrung but an unimaginitive (although proficient) board and it's up to us to try and shape our future.
The more concepts the better IMO and if the board are monitering this site as has been suggested then maybe they'll wake up to the fact that they have a massive think tank out there, desperate to help.
CW
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Been out of cyberspace circulation for a while and come back to see the fantastic numer of posts articles are attracting. keep it up Paul67 et al - always serves to remind me of how big a family we are at Celtic!
Re the super casino idea - have I missed something? I thought that the Government had agreed to allow only ONE supercasino in the country. If thatis indeed the case I think you will find it goes to either London or Blackpool!!
Good to be back!!!
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well hopefully you can soon i am looking forward to article on it ( will the building not be listed menaing it will cause problems knocking it down).
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Also meant to say that I do agree that our Board does need to be more imaginative in freeing up and discovering new revenue streams though.
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Malone19 - Based on what? I'm sure there is nothing illegal in someone referring to 'Celtic Park' as 'Parkhead' or even 'Celtic's stadium'.
I don't know the law myself, but I think it would be ludicrous to outlaw calling something by anything other than its official name.
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Guys - Supercasino or casino? forget it. It ain't happening.
I do like the idea of "themed" games. Certain baseball games throughout the season in the states are nominated as "Badge day" or "Hat day", where everyone in the arena gets a badge/hat/frisbee/bun supplied by a sponsor. A bit of fun, good PR and advertising all rolled into one.
We derided Fergus for his attempts at "americanising" the half-time entertainment (and perhaps quite rightly - remember the Gary Glitter lookalike) but it becoming more and more apparent that this sort of model is what we need to look at to maximise revenue streams.
Perhaps that Budweiser commercial is a lot more accurate than we think......
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so the nike swoosh on the stand is it like the one at old trafford then ?
a glazer type character is hopefully not looking at buying celtic 505 increase on season tickets in 5 year aint for me
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Boltonbhoy
You're probably right, but the laws as far as I know will be relaxed and some sort of casino would probably be an option.
Paul
It looks like your right again on the signing front, there doesn't seem to be much (media) action and Friday looks like a probable date if players have already being signed. Not that we'll hear anything till the last minute of course. BTW Business student looking for summer voluntary placement next year (CP would be favorable if anyone has any contacts).
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/4087282.stm
So they are going to boycott, eh....
ps sorry for the longish URL!
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Anon E Mouse
I don't know the law either but I would think that there would be some perimiters that the media would have to consider when refering to a stadia which is named by a sponsor. Does anyone with a legal background have any knowledge on this?
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georgiebhoy - you can make bi URLs wee at www.tinyurl.com
Here's one I did for yours:
http://tinyurl.com/8jafg
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Sorry to go completely off-thread. First time contributor, long time reader. My concern is that we being linked with a player of the quality, age and price of Kevin Phillips. Although I haven't seen much of him since his Sunderland days, my guess is that he unlikely to improve the team in the short-term and, at 31, he doesn't have a medium-term. Any enthusiasm for Phillips? Also surprised that there is so much negative response from fans regarding Riordan. He is a wonderful talent, and refreshingly direct. I think he could also play on the left side of a midfield four, replacing the fading Thompson, and adding pace, imagination and goals from midfield. Thoughts?
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Hi Paul and all...
Good to see Monday productivity is high in our respective workplaces...
Re; new revenue streams I think the stadium is the least imaginative of them all....and I also think it will be put on hold until the EPL plan comes to fruition or not. Iron Bru in the SPL IBM in the EPL...
Paul may be you could set up a new thread with generating new ideas to raise revenue:
One of the largest untapped opportunities (IMO) I believe is the resale of season tickets...ie how the club can make money out of the seats that sit empty each weekend as people have changed their mind at the last minute...
The stumbling block; The only way to change this is to use a mobile/ e-ticket turnstile facility...a little bit too imaginative for the PLC me thinks...
The other idea I had was that the Celtic shop could use better design in the shop and get fans excited about the product (and not just milk the cash cow)....now where could you find such designs I wonder?.....
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All that has been said today on this website, and for many months, states the obvious. The Celtic board are lacking imagination.
Because of European game congestion, Celtic will not be touring the States this summer. Since I go to the States quite often with work, I can see the impact that football - or soccer as they call it - is having in America. Media exposure is everything over there. How you go about that exposure can be very lucrative. Now Celtic have 2 problems. Firstly no tour this year, so reduced media exposure. Secondly, Santos of Brazil are currently marketing their strip. It looks uncannily like the hoops, with more advertising. Now you might think that people can tell the difference. Well they might in Europe, but these are Americans we're talking about.
To break into the American market, you have to be smart. Here's an idea that could be considered. If any of you have watched American Chopper on the Discovery channel you maybe aware that the Tuetels built a theme bike for the New york Jets - who also play in green and white. Bike shows in America are for more mainstream than Europe. Some of the biggest shows - like Daytona - can attract up to 400,000 people. This can help to establish the brand.
However, I think the board need to far more proactive in the future contracts of any player. Signing players who are past their best on long term, huge salaries cannot continue. you can blame MON for a lot of this, but the boeard are supposed to be the final arbitures. Also allowing a player to have a get out clause in his contract that allows him to be sold for free!! Who allowed that?
A lot of people talk about us moving to the EPL, and having a huge increase in TV revenue. This would be great. But, the truth is, it hasn't happened, and there is no signs of this changing in the near future.
As someone earleir said, the west of Scotland, is not West London. So, Celtic have 2 ways to improve their finances: 1. Get the players contracts at a more realistic cost - dare I say get value for money.
2. Improve the marketing. Wether this means adopting a corporate name for Celtic Park, or selling more strips. Whatever it takes.
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What do others think of this theory that having too many season ticket holders can be detrimental to revenue.
The argument is that most season ticket holders spend less than fans who go to one-off games or just a few games per season.Say for example a family comes over from Ireland or down south for a match-they tend to spend a load in the shop plus programmes etc all in addition to paying more for the seat.
A club like Celtic will still sell out for most matches even if the season book membership was reduced by say,10,000.
Maybe the answer is to keep the existing members but expand the capacity to take in thousands of non-season book holders.
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Navarro, Tom64
Are you familiar with one of the largest land development/regeneration programmes taking place in Glasgow? Namely the massive development of the Clydeside. This was derelict land owned by Clydeport Authority. It is realising millions in potential through this redevelopment. The man in charge at the time? PL. As I have previously stated, underestimate him at your peril. Celtic are very lucky to have a man of his ability and vision at the helm. He is also a die hard Celtic fan man and bhoy. Watch this space!
BlantyreKev,
Why do we need to sign someone now? To pay him £20K a week for sunbathing? Patience bhoys!
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Paul,
Are Celtic's plans linked to the Clyde Gateway project ?
I read a bit about this a while back and if it goes ahead the area surrounding Parkhead will be transformed.
The obvious change will be the M74 extension(treehuggers permitting).However the Indoor sports arena , massive other public sector investment, links down to the River etc may now mean that instead of CP dominating the area it may nestle amongst some stunning buildings and associated housing that would never have been dreamed of 5 years ago.
Think London Docklands or Manchester City Centre (is it called the village ?).
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celticwully - while we've got a very vocal minority who'd rather sing IRA songs than Celtic songs, then sponsors we would like to have such as Guiness won't touch us with a barge-pole!
With regards to ways of raising the club's profile through other sports....anybody know what happened to the much-heralded "Celtic Racing Club"?
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What about some sort of merchandise tie-in with the Boston Celtics - I think there is a big Irish connection with Boston already. Something along the lines of us stocking the basketball tops and they stocking our "soccer" strips. A link-up with one of the big american soccer league teams would be good (feeder team) where we can get their players experience in our league/training and perhaps and we can farm out some of the youngsters over there.
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I still can't believe that we haven't cashed in properly on our world wide support.
Areas like Boston/New York and Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane are hot beds for Celtic minded people, who given the right circumstances would spend money on merchandise.
The obvious answer in the states would be a hook up with the Boston Celtics to sell merchandise.
Perhaps in Melbourne a similar deal could be struck with Collingwood... the president of whom Eddie McGuire is a huge Celtic fan.
Now that the new Hyundai A-League is starting in oz, and their is a lot of public interest their, I reckon Celtic could make a lot of money by touring Australia next summer (their winter), maybe with a money spinning match against the Socceroos as the climax of the tour. Think how many jerseys Celtic could sell via the Nike shops in Oz if they were going to be playing there?!!
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As far as the front of the stand is concerned, surely nothing will happen to that until an announcement is made on what the future of the club is.
For example, if we are going to be playing in the SPL longer term i.e. beyond 5 years, then it makes little sense on expanding the seating capacity, but there may be a bit of tarting up for UEFA holding a final there.
However, if there is going to be a European League / Premiership place for Celtic then it would make financial sense to increase the capacity of the Main Stand, turning it into a bowl.
Casino's are a non starter at Parkhead. As I said previously, if you are out on a night out in Glasgow city centre and fancy a flutter, then you would walk to one of the city centre casinos rather than get a bus / taxi to either Parkhead or Govan.
A previous blogger also came up with a good idea for sponsoring the training complex (when it is built). Does the Nike / Carling deal cover sponsorship at all levels for the club or is it just the first team / reserves? If not then the successful youths could also be an advertising opportunity.
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greta minds OttoKaiser, great minds ;)
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OttoKaiser
I was going to mention this earlier. But would this not cut off the potential market size to (Boston) Celtics fans?
It used to be that the US had an inferior national team and league, I don't really know much of the MLS league but I'd imagine it is better than the SPL and the national team is now well ahead of Scotland in the national rankings. My point here, is if we could bring in some of the young American talent and if they fitted into our game then this could only be good for our football club on the field and off. Would be good if we could loan Adu for a year; Celtic are a "family" club and if he could get a feel for the British game and gain some vital experience again this would be advantageous to both club and player.
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Very positive posting today. Hate to be negative but I'm not sure the Australian market is all that lucrative. As a previous resident I can say that soccer is still a minority sport. Rugby is very much the winter sport in Sydney and Aussie rules in Melbourne. Cricket is everything in the summer. Add to this the strength of tennis and swimming and despite many attempts over many years the soccer league remains the playground of ethnic Europeans. Basketball is growing more quickly.
Walk into Molly Malone's in Brisbane or Scruffy Murphy's in Sydney to catch the 'Tic games, or any games for that matter, and you really feel like you're in Glasgow.
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I doubt sponsorship of a training facility would generate much income, little press coverage apart from possibly the opening of the centre would occur thus driving down the levels of income available.
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malone19 - right enough, hadn't really thought of it that way. I think it would be good to get some sort of foothold in that market though, and I would see the Celtics as the natural option. There's also North America to look at which has a huge celtic supporter base - it's mostly hockey there though, right? (that and South Park taking the michael).
I think these markets would be more viable options for us than the asian markets which Man Utd and Real have seemingly already sewn up.
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Re The Barca Documentary last night, i found it so refreshing, when one of the directors complained that the manager had asked for a new player on Tuesday, and it took until Sunday to go out and sign the player. Being a Celtic supporter, and having a board that can take months, as in the Viduka deal, i found this so refreshing.
Why does it take us forever to do ANYTHING?!
Watching the Barca board in action, a board full of young men with fresh ideas, and men in touch with today's modern era of the game, it made our lot look even more like a bunch of dinosaurs.
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jquinn67, OttoKaiser With regards to merchandise tie-in with the Boston Celtics I remember hearing that that we had looked at a tie in but Boston Celtics were not keen on sharing the `diaspora’ market the Celtic.
Given the strength of the college sports in USA would it be worth looking at college like Notre Dame for links?
Seanbhoy I agree with you on the value of PL..
There is certainly a need potential demand for facilities at CP both before and after games for the ordinary fan, the main problem would be to make it something that is used 52 weeks a year 7 days a year.
Has anyone heard if we could be linked with the Iron Bru works which are I believe being moved to Cumbernauld?
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Mind you, I suppose it would be better to segment and target one section of the US market in such a that it is more efficient to merchandise and market. I don't know who the Celtics main rivals are but I would still be wary of alienating the CSC who supported these rivals as I'm sure the Celtic support in the US is widely dispersed (which of course is another stumbling block). I've always been of the belief that a nationwide sollution would be the best option. Americas cable TV I'm sure could host a Celtic channel (possibly PPV - although I don't know if the Americans are used to paying for extra channels). And an American based Celtic website pushing Celtic merchandise on delivery would hopefully bring in bags of extra revenue.
Any thoughts?
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Agree fully on the Barca documentary. They looked as if they were really enjoying turning the club around despite the pressure. It may have been clever editing but even negotiations with agents and players seemed relaxed and friendly.
I did hear the phrase "standard package" mentioned a few times with regards contracts - in this repect I think teams like Barca are in a unique position where they don't necessarily have to fork out massive wages/bonuses to attract or retain players, whereas we would (saviola/requelme/basturk) and even then it's not enough for them.
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Welcome Edvaldson. Phillips sounds to me like mischief making. Agree, Riordan would be an excellent signing.
TommyTwists 1.40, you are correct. Companies with an Irish heritage will not associate themselves with Celtic while there are IRA associations, even tenuous ones.
Ardoch, the Barca documentary was excellent. Even though these guys were clearing doing a great job, what did you think about the grief some of their fans were giving them? Physical assault on the street, hate mail and protest songs at games against the board.
In the midst of newspaper headlines screaming “Barca Disaster” the fans do not see the business problems with the bank for example. The same problems exist at Celtic.
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Notice a few comments on us finding new players in the States. However, there are our wonderful imigration rules to consider. You can get anyone who claims to be a player from Europe, and virtually sign him then and there. If you wish to sign an American, he must be a fully recognised international. That's one of the reasons, depite being so high in the FIFA rankings, you see very few American players in Europe
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Sadly you cannot blame anyone for not wishing to play in the SPL. Of course to us, they should be honoured, grateful even, to play for Celtic, and i am sure many of them would be, but the standard here is shocking.
The Barca board just gave the impresson of being so much more professional, and open to discussion of expansion of the Barca brand, than our lot.
If we had had the balls, we would have brought Adam Crozier on to the board, but i suspect his forward thinking would have been alien, and appeared threatening, to most of the old codgers in the Celtic boardroom.
Ho hum, onwards and upwards.
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Why no-one has ever thought of this before, I really don't know...
If we need to utilise the stadium more often, then I propose we start a topless womens team. Now before all you feminists start getting all upity. I propose that, to conceal the players' modesty, the sposor is painted over the breasts as well as on the rear of the hotpants.
The potential TV deal revenues are huge...
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TommyTwists 1.40 & Paul
you're right on the Guinness link but I wasn't referring to clubs with Irish heritage just a celebrated long established tradition of quality full stop. Don't feel that a new cutting edge tech company fits with our story.
They would have a press friendly feel good story - ie Celtic was the natural choice for them through a bond with our own celebrated history.
Don't want to stray off thread but re the PIRA songs - barely audible at CP bar OF games; away games yes, an issue. Even the 'additions' to the W. Maley song have turned into mumbles at best. Interesting to see what happens in the 'new jungle'...
CW
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celticwully
The bhoys and ghirls of the 'new jungle' are very aware of their responsibilities that they need to be seen to apply the policy set by Celtic.
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Utilising the stadium...... What about midweek Celebrity Board Bashing, live on worldwide PPV Celtic TV?
The board start off on the touchline at the Lisbon Lions end and have to run the length of the field, staying in their specially painted lane. Anti-board punters in the north stand (who won the right to be there on premium rate text message lottery) have giant inflatable pendulum balls tied to the roof that they launch at the advancing board. Points could be awarded as follows:
Knocking Brian Quinn over 10 pts, Eric Riley 8 points, Peter Lawwell 6 points etc.
(Bonus points for knocking over more than one lane.)
Pro-Board punters have blow-darts that they fire from the Main stand in an attempt to burst said inflatable pendulum balls.
Prizes such as a free half bottle of wine with every ninth guest you bring to the Walfrid restaurant for most points or successfully getting your man over the line.
It all hinges on being able to get that guy who commentated on It's a knock out to do the voice over..... And here comes the Chief Executive!!!
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BlantyreKev - Lets keep it to serious suggestions please!
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Just a note on the singing. IMO the sectarian singing at CP has gone down to probably the lowest it ever will. I a aware this is not the case at away games however that is a different matter. What does worry me is that since the sectarian singing levels have gone down so has all noise levels within CP. I don't know whether this was caused by some poor and boring displays of football but this didn't make a difference in the past. I fear that the Celtic support are scared to sing - I cannot remember the last time I heard 'The Fields of Athenrye' at Parkhead. Have the media successfully led some Celtic supporters to believe that songs such as these are sectarian and have no place in football?
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Hey Fargo,
He could be a star or indeed it could all go flat.
Time will tell I suppose.
Are you mischief making with your last post?
Paul seems to think so ;-p
BankieBhoy,
Laughed out loud at you asking if Varga's Shampoo was in fact Tim O'Tay.
Tickled my fancy anyway.
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regarding the five star status, did we not spend 500K doing up the dressing rooms at CP so we would get a five star rating last year?
on making extra money.....................
why cant we have a few bar around the outside of the park?
or even have a membership scheme for the bars inside the ground?
I know we have bars and lounges inside but you have to spend £1,500 on a season ticket to use them.
I would rather give celtic £2.00 a pint on match days than the pubs around CP.
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BlantyreKev....you've taken that too far!!!
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I'll get my coat.........
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Just a wee reminder, for anyone who had forgotten. Put the June 24, 2005 in your diary (that is a week on Friday). The draw for the 1st and 2nd qualifying rounds of the CL takes place
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good idea Kev but is Mr Quinn not currently appearing in 'its a whitewash' high court, london.
I dont know if stuart hall is doing the voice over
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About buying Celtic shares, excuse my ignorance but how, where and when can you buy them?
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About buying Celtic shares, excuse my ignorance but how, where and when can you buy them?
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Gerry - I think the club are setting up some sort of scheme where you can have a pint in the north stand before and after the game (possibly half-time as well), not sure the exact cost of membership, somewhere around the £70 I think. They sent an email about it earlier on in the year.
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ottokaiser.... thanks for that, never got a e-mail from them :-(
£70.... is that for a season?
hope the 1st pint is free:-)
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The Barca program last night opened my eyes to how a football team should be run....
La Porta and his friends all pay for the right to be on the board and want to stay there so they intend to do well...
At the start of the show Barca were £100m in debt and they went on a cost saving initiative to save money and bring in more money. This is the way celtic need to operate...
Also the board members had to be seen doing things in the public eye infront of tv cameras as this is seen as the norm in spain... Anyway my point is that its the catalonians that own Barca not some Irish Guy with all the money in the world(hmm seems like a sugar daddy to me) and he dont want to spend his money on a SPL team...
The sooner we realise that it was actually DD and the board members that are not doing there jobs right(DD owns club so not really his job) the better i think...
Someone further up mentioned 400,000 people being registred on the CFC website Now if everyone of those people could afford £100 thats £40m to buy the club outright(figures quoted from this site) then we start operating in a way that Barca do i mean there board members pay for the right to be on the board to the tune of £1m each per season. If the celtic board were to do this i think they would be a little more responsive to the fans when they call for signings just after losing a uefa cup final instead of ignoring us and signing Stephen Pearson for £350k . U see i get upset when i realise that DD is Richer than his wildest imagination and he will probably make a shitload more this year and the next and the next but he just wont invest a few million pound in playing staff.....
Look across the city and u have the Champs looking for more players(shite ones as per) and even signing someone on a freebee(again shite) then u look at the players we have been linked with and to be honest it dont really fill me with the hope that i really want for GS and co in their first season i mean Kevin Phillips, Darren Huckerby, Paul Konchesky are not the standard of players i want to see a CP i want people who will last more than 2 years before they start to look old and shit....
All i can say is SACK THE BOARD cause they have not got the balls to turn to DD and say can we have a few of your millions this season to buy some players and they aint done it in the past 3 years they have let us get into a bad state again and i truely think that MON left due to the inept boardroom decisions(mostly for his wife though)
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dialup, when was Fargo's last post?
westim
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celticbhoy - apologies, didn't mean for my comment to come across the way it did; was just a bit worried about policing the section as would love to see it blossom into a whole curva type idea and get moved in myself as I'm a big CATB etc fan and make lots of noise, often to the annoyance of those around me (eh?) but know what will happen if merry plough boy starts cranking up. Pasta la vista 'new jungle'.
All the best in making it work - it's been embarrassingly dead since Villareal, (even before in all honesty) but around 1,200 seats? From acorns oaks grow I hope.
Blantyrekev - i'm distracted from my work by CQN/Newsnow enough without such nonsense (good craic though!)
CW
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BlantyreKev's suggestion aside..why do Celtic not have a women's team (is there one?). The club are promoting the training sessions for kids as mixed but do not seem to be carrying it onto it's natural conclusion.
The standard of the women's game has improved dramatically and the club could be missing an oppurtunity in this regard.
Not sure what this has to do with finance but I thought I would make the point anyway (if only out of embarrassment following the a certain posting).
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Ideas and issues flowing thick and fast.
Blantyre Kev - The school is listed? I think it stood in the way of a post Lisbon reconstruction of CP. Wasn't sure why. The plans had run into council problems with extending the Jungle over Janefield Street and the way south was blocked by the school. What about dismantling and rebuilding the facade? Could be a useful building in the right place.
PL / Clydeport / Glasgow Harbour? - If he was involved I think he was doing the perspiration side of things, the inspiration for this is at least 20 years old. The Evening Times had a splash in 89/90 complete with artists impressions and why Glasgow had never had it so good! All for nothing as it was put on the back burner when the Lawson housing boom imploded. If he was involved with Braehead, well that’s another story. However the main thing is that he has experience in this area. Huge plus if handled correctly.
CP Redevelopment - Haven't plans for this been put to the council? Any plans would need to major on the changes needed to bring it up to 5 star status: bigger dressing rooms, media facilities and an undercover entrance for the team buses. Any full scale enhancement to match the North Stand would mean 12-15,000 extra seats. The need to ration season tickets would mean that this is not a runner?
However a big imposing facade would help everyone including Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG) who want to put the area on the map with a bang. Consequently a tall imposing edifice, signature roof arch and plenty of space for exec / fan facilities and office space to rent? Better shop / ticket office would be a must.
New road layout - Junction and road going east outside the (old / ex?) Springfield Vaults is a bottleneck for the whole area. Given that there is a new link road planned to join the M8/M80 junction and the M74 extension, running north - south just west of CP the time would be right to re-model the whole area so that the dual carriageway part of London RD in the east connects directly with the new road.
That would allow the pedestrianisation of 400m of London Road dividing CP from the planned indoor athletics arena. Consequently any pubs / bars / howfs / family friendly sports bars would get a double dunt: 30 Celtic home games and all the events at the new complex. Issue is should the club go it on its own to build these facilities or do a joint venture with the Indoor Arena.
I would humbly suggest that tenants for these facilities should be vetted, a Brewsters with that stupid bear much in attendance would be an invitation for trouble.
Train / tram connection - There is a disused train tunnel running the length of London Road from CP to Bridgeton station. The council / SPTE are desperate to get building given the amount of investment planned for Edinburgh: trams and airport rail link. Long term project but CP / the Forge / Arena / Park and Ride @ M74 / buses already busy in the area mean that the traffic is there. Shorter term project is a railway station on the QS Low Level - Airdrie just north of the Forge.
I'm now off to mug up on "The bluffers guide to football tactics". Specifically Riordan's place in a ManU style 4-3-3 formation. Bellamy on the right / BBJ on rollerskates through the middle.
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Westim,
Saturday night/Sunday morning. GMT.
Paul,
Is there any way you could tweak the site to include DATE as well as time posted?
TIA dialupcelt
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Sorry to go off topic but I think I've just read the worst excuse for a rumour
"my brother plays golf with David Murray"
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beaker19 - do your lab rats know you're missing?!! Get real and read Paul's previous threads about DD.
Paul - are we to assume that the club are planning to build some sort of matchday entertainment facility incorporating bars/bookmakers/food outlets in front of the main stand. I remember a social club being discussed for behind the Celtic End. I'm sure the club would love to take even more Euros from the 5 thousand season-ticket holders from "across the sea" on matchdays. Not to mention all the other bhoys & ghirls travelling on match days.
Big spoon here....would the official supporters clubs try and stop this going ahead as they would miss out on matchday income?!!
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Anon_E_Mouse - they tried that trick with a hairdressers in Paisley, unfortunatley it closed down recently and my barnet is getting out of control as a result.
Good idea on having Hartson on rollerskates for next season Madmitch.
Paul67 - any idea what PL was referring to in the interview about training facilities when he mentioned that one would be a "world class option"?
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Afternoon all
On the excellent idea of a sponsored Training Facility, I have heard from a few sources that this is already ongoing and to quote Peter Lawwell
"One option is to do something with what we've got at Barrowfield and the second is to go to a new site. A THIRD option has just been put to us. The second option will take quite a bit of investment."
My taking on this is that the third option will allow the 'new build' option to go ahead with less investment. Sponsorship? Can you elaborate on this Paul?
It may be just wishful thinking but there seems to be more to it.
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TTTT dont get u man elaborate slightly...
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Beaker,
Who is linking the Club with these players? Those with the interests of our club at heart? Aye right! Don't get worked up about rumours. Also PL was not on board when a lot of the "fringe" players were signed on long term lucrative deals. Get behind the club.
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yeah to true sean but at the same point i was using it as a basis to start from cause its the same every year i rate phillips but not huckerby but again i dont really want to see any of them here playing for us...
All is quite on the celtic front as it allways is and thats what i am getting at i would love to see more reaction from the board about player signings and thats what i was getting at about DD he is the majority shareholder after all and he aint really putting his money were his mouth is if u take last season into consideration we got 3 players 1 of which did not work out(juni) Camara was ok not world class but not really bad then we got bellemy excellent player but we still aint signed him and we had first refusal from what i understand.
We played in the CL last season and we were never expected to beat Barca or Milan but we should have got 3rd place and went into the uefa cup the same for the year before when we should have beat Bayern at home and lyon away but again we failed to capitalise on our gains across europe.
What i mean is DD is not interested in losing a few million to gain higher status in europe whilst acroos the city DM has allways tried because he knows thats were its at for celtic and rangers at the moment. How much of his own money do u think DM has put into rangers and then look at DD and ask the same question and u will probably find it was only his intial investment and subsequent share issues and thats it NO ODD million or 2 for a player NOTHING......
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Beaker
Last season has gone. Forget about it and let's look forward. As for your comments about Murray and his spending on Rangers......you are having a laugh are you not?
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Paul
I disagree with you on Kevin Phillips. Whilst he's not the long term answer (is there such a thing nowadays)he is a highly experienced player who would would score a barrowload of goals in the SPL. He's also a good guy with a tremendous work ethic (those personal qualities remind you of anyone?).
I noticed one or two comments to the effect that he was kept out of the side by Camara. Not true - he had some injuries but when available for selection he was generally partnered with Crouch.
I said this time last year that we should sign Novo on the basis that he would score goals for us and take away a goalscorer for the huns. I think we could face the same scenario with Phillips if we don't move sharpish.
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Malone19, your bank is the best place to go to buy shares. You need to open a dealing account first. All free, though you need to apply for the account in the first place.
Dialupcelt
I agree, not having the date beside the time in annoying, especially when I am not posting every day. Blogger does not have this facility at the moment, though.
Tommy Twists
Officially I am saying nothing about the proposals. However, if you scroll up and read madmitch….
OttoKaiser, the “world class option” for training facilities is buying Murray Park off the liquidator :-) No idea, sorry.
The Bald Ego, I have no reliable information on the training options.
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Training facilities, reading between the lines and then making a lot of it up! Here goes -
One issue is training facilities, unknown is there a need for a Reserves ground
Upgrade Barrowfield - Cheapish option.
New players clubhouse / pavilion = Changing / health / fitness facilities.
Keep the training set up away from CP, all player facilities should be in the one place.
Pitches = 2 or 3 full-size grass plus 2 Astroturf, some already exist?
Upgrade the CSSC next door as part of the package.
Indoor training facilities would be the expensive part
Lennoxtown / brand new location - Expensive
Out of the way, a kind of Murray Park "lite".
Good excuse to slip 600 houses through the planning system?
Bargaining ploy, not a runner IMHO.
Out of the box thinking - Imaginative, consequently I suggest the following:
Through in our lot with Scot Enterprise Glasgow (SEG) and the Indoor Arena/Council.
Current plans have a full size international standard indoor athletics track, huge building.
Also included are a further two sports halls and attendant fitness / training facilities.
Don't know how big these halls are but they should allow indoor training.
Current thinking points to a Scandinavian style full size indoor pitch on these matters.
Consequently it is either in the plans or we add some money to make it possible.
All that would be required would be the outdoor pitches and some Celtic specific facilities.
Advantages to SEG and Glasgow council are very visible facilities in the "new" East End.
Big pot of money to get involved with: SEG / Scot Executive / Lottery / EU / Sponsors ...
Potential small (2000+ seats) athletics stadium available for reserve / U19 games.
Not in the original plans but would be a godsend for the politicians.
Is the trail to Airdrie worth it?
If done properly it would work for everyone.
Celtic:
Access to tremendous facilities / indoor training pitch
Any specifically Celtic bits could be added to the new South Stand just across the road.
Alternatively Celtic pay for some space in the development, nothing huge as we rent what we can't use full time..
Add on a Celtic themed sports centre similar in size and style to the David Lloyd template.
Bars / hotels / leisure facilities can be added on and not be seen as totally partisan.
Barrowfield available for housing. Belvedere Hospital is already being lined up.
Could be a wash = Stake money comes from selling Barrowfield?
I'm thinking £3-5mill over 5 years.
Finally it fits in with the "world class" comment from PL.
Council / SEG:
Quality tenant for some facilities
Access to high profile sports sponsor.
CP gets renamed, Bolton style not Southampton style, the indoor arena could get a carryover deal.
Social inclusion plus building on an East End success story.
Premier facility: "good enough for CL team then good enough for me."
Bit of life about the place as the hard work starts getting the business park up and running.
Please note this is my best guess at the situation. The availability of the Barrs plant next door to CP just adds complications.
Consequently any thoughts anybody?
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Beaker19 - Pitiful attempt at humour on my part...."beaker" - "lab" - "rats". Apologies! (Did you ever see the Muppets, BTW?!)
With all this talk of Celtic being at the heart of an east end regeneration project and reaping the benefits of the development; I hope that nobody is trying to imply that the council is full of Tims....
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Celtic must make themselves and the brand more desirable to potential investors as a first step.
I believe we should be making our assets - 'the players', do more to increase our profile.
A concentrated and sustained release of positive news items involving the club and players would be one way of creating non-football coverage from the media, think major charity initatives, team endorsments of products, Health campaigns, there is no end to opportunities for getting Celtic in the news and people talking without giving the 'sports writers' ANY ammunition against us as it would all be 'good news'.
The effect of all this good news is potential sponsors/investors would see Celtic as a high profile company with excellent media coverage not just in football but in the wider commercial market place.
The opportunities are there, they just need to be exploited!
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Somewhat off the thread, but a gringo I know claims that the Louden Tavern is to be demolished as part of a subway development that will include a station named "Celtic Walk" where this den currently stands. Has anyone else heard about this or is my little gringo friend in need of some medical attention?
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Hi All
When the indoor arena was first mooted was there not a Celtic connection to validate its part in the regen of the East End?
I read PL comments on the 3rd World Class possibility and figured a tie in with the proposed arena.
Selling off Barrowfield and using the return for involvement in the arena seems feasable.
Whewre would the CSC go tho?
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Loudon Tavern tale:
Falls down at the first hurdle, or at least the E-Tims version does.
Subway / underground station built over the LT. I don't think so. However if the adjacent Duke Street station was to be extended as part of the "Crossrail" or some such similar project then the foundations of the pub would be, literally, a bit shaky.
Celtic Walk station looks like an SPTE in-joke regarding the proposed station north of the Forge shopping centre. On the cards for ages but there are big plans for the line to Airdrie.
Brisk 10 minute walk from platform to CP. Hopefully there will be some cover to the shops at least.
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Madmitch
My money would be on the cheap option....(as always)
Interesting posts btw...
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The Louden talk has been going on for a while now. I just hope there will be a raffle to see who gets to drive the JCB!
The cheap option i agree too. That should be on our shirts really, not Carling, but Cheap.
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madmitch,excellent posts on the East End regeneration project.Is this a subject close to your heart or was that off the top of your head?
I know what some people are saying about Celic taking the cheap option but I would really like us to take up the "world class" option.It would be a fanastic selling point when showing prospective signings where they would be plying their trade.Take them to the training ground then to Parkhead.How could they refuse to sign?
I went to Dusseldorf as a young footballer and the whole area around Fortunas' stadium was very like what you are suggesting.The facilities would still be superior to what we have at the moment and this was 15 years ago.We need to catch up and even improve upon the facilities that others take for granted.
By the way,does anyone know who the three Polish players are that Celtic have been linked with today?I was guessing Boruc,Burkhardt and one other.I'd appreciate if someone could shed some light on it for me,as they seem like more realistic possibilities than the EPL has beens/never weres that the media keep linking us with.
on that same theme,isn't it good to see the players the media are linking us with signing for other teams?O'brien and Robert so far,how many before the end? To those worried by the lack of signings thus far just remember the old saying,"no news is good news".I certainly hope that is the case.
dialupcelt,glad I managed to tickle your fancy from such a distance.Don't know of another living person who laughs at any of my jokes!!
I'm eagerly awaiting the player unveilings to see how much you really know,although I personally believe you have your finger on the pulse.You are now officially more of a mystery to me than the great Fargo. :0)
BankieBhoy
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Merhaba, dialupcelt,
Contrary to the fact that my vulpine amigo, likes to refer to you, as........"that Classy Broad"... I much prefer the to use the much more becoming appellation,
"Your Lladyship!"
Yes,I am delighted that you have exhibited the uncommon discernment, to elucidate the plethora of adumbrations, in my last effort.
Your Lladyship, you are, indeed, a true "rara avis"in this particular aviary.
I tip my Chapeau to thee.
As you so acutely posited, Prognostications are always dangerous.
Notwithstanding( "Say what!" Vito wonders..."Where did that word come from...How about 'Notwithsitting, for a change....Oh well! English, she is a crazy language...... I'll never get the 'hang' of it.......wait a minute ...what did I just say??..")
Be quiet, Vito! Can't you keep out of it for a minute.
Now where was I? Oh! Yes!
You and I are obviously on the same spot on the Dial, Your Lladyship.
Vindication only awaits the Passage of Time!
"Who said that,Boss?" Vito being in and obstreperous mood.
I just did.......... Say Sayonara, Vito, babe.
"Sayonara, Vito , babe.!!"
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph!!!
Fargo,
Shoo Shuggie ower the Dyke.
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With all the talking here about making extra money for the board/club, I cannot believe no one has posted about the "latest news". I say latest but I'm afraid it's the same old song same old biscuit tin routine. According to the Daily Mail (whom I tend to believe) we have offered Newcastle 1.5m for Bellamy for a one year loan. Is this the reason why O'Neill was "really really excited"? More loan deals and no money spent on quality players. I hope to hell I'm proved wrong big time here but the signs so far are not particularly encouraging.
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Has anyone considered that the 3rd option would be to share Murray Park? I hope not and know certain people will be completely against it but could this be the 3rd possibility?
Don't fancy Phillips but a trade for Hartson and a bit of cash towards more players would be OK.
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Fascinating news on the East End generation. Well done to Cabbage on those investments mate!
I hope indeed the board have the vision to place Celtic at the heart of this and to have strategically bought some land which will be valuable in the near future. Perhaps I'll eat my hat - but I somehow doubt it.
On Paul's original point - it is a source of complete amazement to me that the board hadn't contemplated selling the naming rights. Perhaps they don't want to do too well too soon.
Of course they could always join another league and sell their viewing rights exclusively over their own internet station?
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So Fargo and Miss Dialupcelt are in cahoots.
So we are going to sign:- Parker, Bridge and Rustu along with a couple of low key Germans, a Dutchman and almost forgot, Hartley and Riordan.
Hope it's all true...
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Keep the ideas coming fbicfc, some excellent thinking there.
Rumoid, unless there is an additional income stream in building the expensive option, I would hope the go for the cheap option.
Smooth talker as ever Fargo. Dialup mistakenly believes I doubted you.
NAAS, if they get Bellamy on a 1 year loan they will have done very well.
I am off to watch Michael Jackson get his not guilty verdict.
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Much much earlier in this thread John H raised a point about the high proportion of season ticket sales being detremental to matchday income generation.
Well there was an interesting report on Radio 5 today about season book sales post Glazer (the predicted boycott hasnt materialised - sales are up!). The upshot of the report was that the maximum no. of books available at Old Trafford is 45,000 out of 67/68000 capacity and it's a similar picture at Highbury.
A note in one of Celtic's annual reports a few years back stated that Man U generated something like £15 per matchday spectator v £2.50 at Paradise.
Both these clubs and perhaps others realise that a mix of core support and casual support generates better returns. It's about achieving a balance. Celtic certainly miss out on income cos the casual supporter is very much in the minority.
That said it all comes back to the league we play in. Can the board afford to risk scaling back season tickets? Well taking the season just gone, with the dire football that was mostly on offer, I suspect a great no. of us would have been that much more picky in the games we attended if we hadnt the opportunity/imperative to buy our books.
I know its been said many times before but its worthy re-stating, the 5 or 10 year waiting list for a book is a myth, I'm proof of that myself and Ive never yet met anyone whose had to wait more than a couple of months.
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malone19,I believe that PL said that the 3rd option was a world class one.No disrespect but although Murray Park is far superior to Barrowfield,it is by no means world class.From what I've seen on here tonight,the most likely scenario would be some kind of tie-in with the new National Arena,but with aspects exclusively Celtic.We shall see.
shammy,I like your list but I don't think Parker should be on it.I think the suggestion is that the players are from the Bundesliga but not German.If I could choose a Dutchman who wouldn't bludgeon the wage bill it would be Denny Landzaat at AZ Alkmaar.He has everything you would want in a midfielder and hopefully wouldn't cost a fortune either.
BankieBhoy
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Magister,Paul67.
"Now Barabbas was a Robber....."
Never fails. Does it, Pablo,mon ami?
As the esteemed Mr. Bumble, so aptly intoned "The Law is an Ass...."
Doctora Detroit.
As you, my esteemed colleague......
Unsurprised!!!!
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There can't be many players left that haven't been mentioned in connection with Celtic since the season ended whether by ourselves or the laptop loyal.
I would love the "star" signing to be just that, a player that we all think is a player, that the press haven't mentioned yet, can't critisise and that makes headlines not just in Scotland but down south as well. I know its along shot but why not. We are clearing the decks by the looks of it and must be clearing down the wages bill significantly even if Lenny and Jackie re-sign they will also represent savings. We are now coming up to the launch of the new kit and the best sales pitch we can make would best be supported by big name players (Bellemy/Keane/Malbranqe for instance). Everybody gets a lift and the publicity/photos of the new signings in the new kit outside the newly named Nike Stadium would send the strips flying out the door.
As for the season ticket spend per head I take it that is based on Stadium sales (poor quality food/programmes). If alcohol was available (and not after stumping up £70 just to get in)together with some decent grub (steak sandwiches as served to the dear seats) then maybe the spend might go up, but you would need to attract 10,000 new punters every fortnight to Parkhead to begin to match Man U and their income, and I don't think we can manage that much as we have a huge fan base.
Income raising idea - free (sort off) programmes to everybody who turns up at a game. Increase the ticket price by a £1 to cover printing costs, advertising revenue goes up as the distribution is guaranteed at around 60,000 which must pay more than the current level (Paul - less than 20,000 I would think), distribution would be simpler, handed out by turnstile attendants, no commission to pay to sellers. Would still need stats/facts/quiz/manager chat and the like. Nothing particularly collectible about most programmes except probably old firm games (where we win) and European nights.
Keep up the good work Paul, should be able to break the 1,000 comments mark once we have something factual and juicy to get our teeth into.
Gerry
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Guys great debate as usual, I havent posted for months but have been reading the site to try to keep me sane.
I know that this site is read by at least one board member so all constructive comments will be most welcome and may just provide a spark that will set off a real growth in revenue.
I feel that there must be enormous potential for marketing our 'joint' identity with Nike to our benefit, as long as they dont mind us re-branding their swoosh as their 'Tic'.
We could have joint branding on all sorts of merchandise with our beloved crest and the Nike swoosh with the strap line of 'The tic'. I know I would buy a T shirt with that on it and I am confident that lots of others would too.
What do you think Paul 67?
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Adverts on the big screens with the slogan "c'mon the Tic" instead of "Just do it" could bring in a bit of humour and income before games and at half time.
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Anon E mouse
Bankie Bhoy
Rumoid
Thanks for the comments.
Naming rights - point about CP or Parkhead is that there is no uniformity at the moment within the support regarding what the stadium's proper title is. Consequently adding a sponsor's name to it will not break any unwritten rules. Main issue is not what we call it but how it is handled by the media. Bolton are onto a winner, they play at the Reebok nowhere else, The Southampton example is unfortunate as its working title is St Mary's, FP don't get a look in. And if you have to look up FP, well that proves it. Consequently it has to be the Nike Stadium or something similar, which is part of the Nike Sports City along with the Bowl and the Arena.
Regarding issues in the East End this started when I looked at a site listing all the large football stadiums, CP got a good write up but the surroundings got slated big time. I thought the comments were a bit superficial, focusing on the devastation to the south but not mentioning the rather improbable retail oasis to the north: the Forge, the two retail parks and the market. Not Oxford Street but still something.
Consequently started to look out for news and plans for the Parkhead area, the new City Plan provides a lot of the detail while some of the transport issues have been on the go for a while. The main thing is the new arena could be big for everybody if it is handled well. This must be the world class facilities mentioned by PL. The point in its favour is that it is not the big spend option, that is the greenfield site option. Even upgrading Barrowfields has a cost and it also has a much bigger opportunity cost as to use it means that we can't flog it for housing.
One hint on all of this came from DM, he mentioned in an ET article puffing up his casino idea that the council had asked Rankers if they had any plans for the land surrounding the stadium to see if the public sector could help out and that Celtic had received a similar offer. Consequently the recent comments by PL fit into this scenario plus the fact that the club seem to have been using spare money to buy up land in the Parkhead area.
The only issue are the people involved, a board who really want to look a gift horse in the mouth, the council who want to get things moving at almost any price and SEG who have the whole area to redevelop. Consequently plenty of potential for twatting about and taking the huff.
Regarding signings, I do not have an issue with trying for a loan deal for CB as long as the money saved is used elsewhere. A net spend of £10mill in the next 10 weeks shows me that the board is serious, anything less and we are back to the board at its penny pinching worst. Sorry to be black and white on this but after the shambles of the post Seville hiatus leadership is required and if that means putting someone's hand in DD's pocket then it has to be done.
Finally good to see Fargo back on the go. Still one for the ladies, he always seems to strike up a conversation with the female of the species.
Also given their predilection to talk in riddles only they understand could there maybe be a connection between Fargo and Doctora Detroit? Mr and Mrs Bam fae Dalmarnock anyone? With dialupcelt as the third party?
One thing is for sure anyone approaching Fargo's house and seeing a figure in a rocking chair at the window?
Phone the police.
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I'm liking all of the ideas at generating money here. It might be that the board have already thought of these (and it may not) but the sad fact remains that they're not too public about this type of venture.
Even if they have a great idea which they can't pursue due to planning permission (or ANY reason), it'd be good PR to go public with it anyway.
At least, at the moment, Celtic are saying that they have a few options. If they go with the cheap option then we've at least been sold a story about their "world class" ambitions.
I'd love to hear an official stance/comment from the board with regard to naming the stadium.
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Gerryb67 makes a good point about the advantages of a real star player being brought in. The media coverage, shirt sales and generally positive publicity would reduce the real costs of buying a star player. If the player was from a country with a profitable market this would open doors even further for the Celtic brand.
Perhaps this is being too ambitious but if we are to move into the EPL or a European league then we will need top quality players on board.
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Can anyone shed some light on the land facing the main stand?
The positioning of Celtic Park is unforntunate and is down to history. But a lot can be done to improve this area and regenerate te area at low cost. How many people want a drink before the game? Thought so. I know the walk from the Welcome Inn is a killer. A hotel as well, many of our Irish friends would love to come over and stay in the 'Celtic Hotel' for the weekend. Going further lets add a car park, 2 pounds a head from 10,000 fans every game.
If this area can be regenerated then the feasability of such ideas increases vastly. Did the Casino plans fall apart all together.
As foe Parker and bridge, would take both of them in a second. Half expected the first signing to fly(drive?) in on Friday. That will get the ball rolling. I hope we can stamp our ambition early on, it will not help talks with Saviola if we say that we have signed Paul Hartley and Derek Riordan!
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Madmitch
I think you are sweet,but I just love Fargo.
Only Fargo does it for me.
He is a great entertainer,love his wild patter.
Sorry Madmitch, you are nice enough, but...........
Hail!
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Gerryb67, thanks for your support. Your free programme idea is interesting. How about changing it to a free programme to anyone who arrives 30 minutes before kick-off? If the food facilities were upgraded (North Upper is awful, don’t know about the rest of the place), I would spend more money if I was in on time.
Tim A Loy, Nike will be working all angles to sell merchandise, your ideas are worth a punt.
Excellent research again Madmitch. Keep it up.
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I was watching with great interest the documentary about Barcelona, it was fascinating to see some of the pro-active approaches by young dynamic business-men that were elected!
All of the above points have some great potential! When you arrive at Celtic Park the whole set up seems unorganized and surely the board must realise that thousands of pounds are being lost every week. The board, in my opinion, have showed great discipline and control, now it is a time for good vision and great planning to build an economically viable business strategy plying there trade in a global market place full of new opportunities.
Flowers by Irene: good points, The CSC in Barrowfield is outdated, and having recently used the facilities at Barrowfield I am quite amazed and how primitive they are.
Madmitch: great to hear some of your insights, can you pick up on True-Tim’s question of the status of the land facing the main stand, having a small Celtic village to buy a few drinks before and after the game would be fantastic. It would ease my conscience to have a few bevies if I knew that my beloved club would be receiving the profits.
I was fairly disappointed when speaking about the training facilities in the media, the first aspect that was discussed was initial cost. I was excited to hear that TB was sent down to Chelsea recently to analyse Chelsea’s new training facility in progress. I just hope our board can match some of their ambition.
Paul, have you thought about a small committee to consolidate these thoughts and present to the board. I am sure they would provide feedback if this was coordinated properly?
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Got to say that ever since the non-Negative "Anonymous" brigade left, the standard of debate has just soared. Some great points, including the ones I don't agree with.
A couple of things have got me thinking in the last couple of days: 1. That great Barcelona documentary. 2. The drip-feed of announcements from Rangers about players leaving.
It's a garage sale over there. First Shota, Zura, Djordic etc. Now we're on to Kyrgiakos, who may or may not have dodgy knees, depending on whether he stays at Ibrox or not (or if he joins big daft Marvin's cult of "everything is possible"... except the ability to control or pass a ball). And now, tonight, they're making noises about a Turkish team wanting Buffel.
The connection with Barcelona? Well, Barca's money man pointed out to the board that winning the Spanish league in season 2003-04 would have sent them over-budget and cost them an extra 9million euros in extra bonuses. The guy was actually relieved they lost their second-last game of the season. Meanwhile, here in Scotland the "prize" for winning the league is an extra two-and-six in official prize money (young yins - ask yer dads about two and six, tanners and farthings!) plus one less Champions League qualifying round (ie, less cash). But Rangers will have agreed hefty bonuses for their squad winning the SPL, probably assuming they had no chance of actually doing it. Now, all of a sudden, they can't chuck players out of the door quick enough. Has the league win pushed them way over budget? Rangers may come to rue Scott McDonald.
Back to Barca, and two other things I noted were:
1. The sense of purpose, even a type of religious zeal, about the board. Boy, were they committed. They lived and breathed the club. Oh for such commitment from some of our crew.
2. The Barca president's excitement about the prospect of a Euro league and pay-per-view receipts. This came just after we'd turfed them out of the UEFA Cup. We've since had another chance to impress the Barca board, and our fans were also magnificent in Milan. We are winning influential fans in high places. No wonder the Deportivo chief wasn't chuffed - his team won't be invited to the party.
In summation, lessons to learn from Barca; now let's massacre Rangers in the big signings league and the SPL.
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Evening all or should i say morning?
Have to agree with Johnbhoy the standard has rocketted since the Anonymous crowd gone.
Interesting debate about the mythical THIRD option regarding the training ground proposal.
I dont think it simply boils down to what the most expensive/cheapest option is, rather more to do with VFM. i.e. How much more will Celtic benefit from the added investment? If it means say triple the investment for slightly better facilities, then i'd forgoe the 'world class' status and go with whatever gives the best Value For Money. Just a simple Economists opinion though.(with my head ruling my heart for once)
Here's hoping Transfer News with a bit more substance to them pick up soon. I'l be waiting for either CQN or celticfc.net to publish a signing before i believe any of it. Slán Goodnight.
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Looks like all have been worrying too much about playing on the moon with the Nike swoosh projected on Mars, and fists full of hundred pound notes, throwing them onto the park everytime some overpaid prima dona touches a ball.
Ooops, looks like Jackie's gravity boots have broke, he's floating awa!!
That sucks. I'm afa, afa sad.
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Paul
What % of shirt sales actually goes to Celtic rather than Nike? Also, do you know the terms of the sponsorship deal? Does the extra money available boil down to how the team perform or how much merchandise is sold?
Looking at the propert side of things, there seems to be large patches of wasteland around Parkhead e.g. behind the supporters club. Is this land owned by Celtic? If not would it not be benificial to attempt to purchase it for development?
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Malone 19, our umbro deal was a bum deal compared to others stuck across europe.
Can anyone confirm my understanding: we were receiving around 45% of replica sales sold only via official celtic channels (superstores, CFC shops and on-line). The rankers deal with Diadora gave them around 60% of all sales across all retail outlets.
I have also heard that the celtic top in 2003 was the second or third best selling in europe, after brazil and perhaps man U (can that be right even figuring in Seville effect?). However, rankers made more money than us via replica sales. Can that honesty be the case?
Now we are at least expected to double revenue at a min of £5m are in our lucrative Nike environment. I am not sure of how this is structured. Are we guaranteed our % (not sure what that % is) on all sales? Is the % higher than the umbro deal?
How do we figure in Nikeland's across the world and can we flex retail muscle as one of their primetime stable? Will we be stocked alongside Man U, Juve, Barca, Arsenal, Brazil? If so then presence in the world's prime sports emporiums in a fellowship with the world's foremost football clubs/brands is a celtic marketeers dream and personally would bring great satisfaction at the respect attributed through such an honoured, yet deserved, association.
I am sure Paul posted comment on this, going to check it out and get another beer.
CW
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I see Jackie Mac is quoted in today's Scotsman as saying he's off to Wolves if he passess the medical.
Don't think his gravity boots have slipped, think he's added more weight to them.
I hope WGS has a contingency plan. At least it looks like Lennon is signing on for another year...
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It is getting to the point that CQN takes so much time to go through that i am printing out the comments and reading them when time permits.
Some excellent comments and very good ideas!
I hope that the board members do read it although they need to be a bit thick skinned to do so, given the abuse directed towards them and unfairly in my view.
New ideas and thinking from the supporters, as is happening here maybe more positive than accusing the board of being too old and unimaginative.
Fbicfc point about "a concentrated and sustained release of positive news items involving the club and players" being a good example of this.
Perhaps the board could do worse than look on here to find people suitable to help with improving the PR, communication strategies and general image of the club where reaching out to the support is concerned.
Following on from Fbicfc.... surely there are a huge amounts of merchandise that are not sellable anymore each time a new kit is designed & released. Perhaps if this was distributed to childrens homes in areas where we could benefit from growing our fan base, such as USA, Asia & other parts of the world we would be doing something positive whilst improving our image and growing the Celtic brand in a way that we can all relate to.
It would be good to get some indication from the board abourd sponsoring the stadium naming rights, Peter Lawwel said on TV that they would not consider this idea unless the fans would accept it.
Surely since then it has been evident that we would accept this. The board could make it public knowledge that we would consider the possibility and invite interested parties to make enquiries.
Only then will we find out what the value of sponsoring the stadium truly is.
Tony, Latvia
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Just a point on extra match day revenue and casual ticket sales. CP is very rarely full due to the large number of Restricted view tickets in the North Stand Upper which nobody wants unless we play Rangers or top European Teams. Hundreds of £23 tickets go unwanted every home game.
In this day and age and the stand is not that old why have these massive poles anyway.
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I more concerned about the way the McNamara situation was handled rather than the fact of him leaving.
According to the Scotsman he was only offered a 1 year deal but this was increased yesterday ot 2 years but only after Jackie had agreed in principle to join Wolves.
If as GS was quoted it is important to keep McNamara (don't wholly agree no one is exempt from blame for blowing the league) why was a strong offer not made in the first place.
Not an encouraging start to our transfer dealings.
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Galabhoy – the supports had to be put in place in the north stand to support the roof. This is due to the close proximity of the cemetery behind the north stand; it’s the only way that the roof could be supported.
Re the upgrade of the training facilities – we should take as stated the best value for money option – Murray park is an albatross round their necks no doubt about it - £2m running costs per season – that means they need a hell of a lot of players to be produced and sold to make it feasible. Read somewhere that Murray is giving it a few years and if no returns then a major re think will take place.
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It is obvious to everyone that other revenue streams must be found.
The supporters will soon be at saturation point, how many more DVDs,books, new strips will we buy.
Celtic could do worse than set up academies in up and coming countries like Slovenia and the Baltic area.
Property is still relatively cheap and a good investment.The fact that these parts of the world are now producing quality players gets a foot in the door.
Closer to home I think the club will keep any develpoments to the areas around the stadium,captive audience can't escape.
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Malone19, details have not been released on how Celtic earn the extra money from Nike, though I assume a move to England will feature as well as hitting a sales level.
Before targets kick into place Celtic will only earn additional money on kit they sell through their own outlets. Kit sold through sports shops will derive no additional income to Celtic,
Celticwully, you are right about the Umbro deal, though Rangers also had production costs to pay which Celtic did not. Rangers subsequently moved away from this type of deal which suggests it did not work out for them.
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we obvoiusly need to urge everyone to buy their tops at an official celtic store or online. I already have mine reserved in the Celtic store.
It wont cost the supporters anymore and it will put money back into the club, the sort of panacea we'v been looking for- only on a much smaller scale of course.
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Lost Rambling, i think you would be surprised and horrified at the price of property in the Baltics.
Good ideas though but cheaper places than the Baltic states with bigger populations too.
Tiony, Latvia
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Some comments on some ongoing issues: Take 2
North Stand / Restricted view = Fergus inspired cost save, upmarket banana / boomerang trusses would have cost £1-2mill approx extra and possibly reduced the capacity as the supports would have had a greater overhang at the rear. The most recent part of Murrayfield shows this solution in action.
Land south of London Road / Facing Celtic Park = Owned by the public sector in one form or another. SEG has been very active trying to bring together ownership under one umbrella so that a comprehensive redevelopment plan can be worked up. Most of the buildings have been demolished while the wire products factory on Springfield Road has been talked about regarding a council/SEG sponsored relocation.
Training Ground = From the tone of some of the posts negotiations are proving tricky. The main point is that how much money will Celtic need to put up to join the party across the road? How much is budgeted to upgrade the existing facility, what is the going rate for Barrowfield as residential building land and how much of all this are the club willing to part with to get onboard?
Youth team running costs = Interesting
Figures for MP = £2mill per annum.
Has been broken down as £1.5mill on financing/fixed costs and £0.5mill running costs.
Figures for Celtic = £1.5mill total costs with minimal investment on the facilities.
I think some of these figures have been published on here previously.
Main issue is are they correct and what do they include?
All players outside the first team squad?
Support services? Health and education?
Is it apples for apples?
Sorry for the questions, but it is an interesting subject and the big picture is hard to find. The main thing is that MP has turned into a bit of a white elephant for DM/Rankers. Pride before a fall?
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This Jackie Mac situation shows this board up for what they are: AMATUERS.
They chance their arm with a one year deal then run back when they realise Jackie has other options and should not be taken for granted.
It is a disgrace that our Celtic captain should be treated like this.
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LOUDEN TAVERN - I recieved this email a week before it appeard in Etims....
My mate is an architect for the GCC. He has told me that the original plans for the Clockwork Orange extension include a new rail/underground station to be built at the Duke st. station. This area of the town had already been earmarked for 'regeneration' immediately after the recent Haghill revamp.
The excellent new is, that the station would be built on the site of the Louden Tavern AND the Bristol bar. ON TOP OF THEM! i.e. They would be demolished !
The plans are called 'Celtic Walk' which my mate assumes would be the name of the station. He said that there are 3 sets of electric walkways in the designs. Which he said would be the longest in the uk, longer than anything at Heathrow. One goes to the Forge shopping centre and the other two are to and froms to Celtic Park.
The name of the station is to encourage Rail and underground travel to CP on matchdays to reduce road congestion.
He couldn't find dates as the whole underground project has not been fully scheduled.
More boringly, plans for Partick station will have two underground lines on different loops, with the new one going out as far as clydebank.
Cessnock will be closed as part of the new plans with an old never completed station being opened somewhere too.
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I wouldn't lay all the blame of the McNamara situation entirely with the board. It would have been WGS who would have suggested the length of contract I imagine. MON wouldn't have signed up any out of contract players incase the new man didn't want them. I'm sure the job of the board is to find money to run the club and provide the manager with funds to build a squad - not to pick the team a'la Sir Robert Kelly.
I agree that the situation has been poorly managed though.
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d'oh - apart fae Hartson!
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Demographic time bomb.
Younger fans being priced out of going to games.
Games becoming the preserve of post 30 singles and guys with families.
Need to have a rising scale of ticket prices to get the young 'uns back through the turnstiles.
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I am actually pleased to see the back of "Wee Jackie". He was posted missing in the old firm games at Ibrox this year and his weaknesses were ruthlessly exploited by Barca in the CL game at Parkhead.No more than an honest plodder in my book.His departure for Wolves along with Valgaeren going will surely force the manager to apply the drastic surgery so long needed at the back.Our defence has been responsible for so many lapses over the last few seasons that I have come to expect last minute disasters almost as a matter of course.
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I don't think it would be wise to blame anyone other than our former captain for his departure.
The reason he has given to the press for his decision to move is more security for his family, i.e., guaranteed two years inflated footballer’s salary as opposed to the one on offer from the hoops. Does Mr McNamara not see that if he continues to perform at his current standard then WGS will undoubtedly extend his contract by another year?
Over the last couple of years we have been handsomely paying two other former captains to sit on the bench when the are unable to perform top the required standard. This is not to become a trend.
Boyd should have left a year earlier. Lambert too. We cannot allow McNamara to exploit the club in the same way.
Let’s get off the back of the manager and the board- who have after all a greater interest in the future of the club than the elderly players who seek to boost their pension funds.
Enjoy the Coca Cola League Jackie- you'll miss the win bonuses
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Our former captain McNamara was a fantastic and loyal servant to the club, I am saddened to see him go like this as I think he still has a good few years left in his engine. I only wish it was one of those 2 statues in the centre of defence that was going.
The time is right for a fresh approach at the way our club is being run!!!
Getting back to our board, why doesn't Celtic find young dynamic representatives who will thrive at taking the club forward? At the moment we have a man that can't even use a mobile phone.
We can't even get the existing broadcasting boards working correctly, never mind push for electronic advertising boards.
I am all for a fresh approach to the way the club is being run, the existing ones are slowly and I mean slowly moving along with the times and this is not good our club. I am not directly pointing the blame to our esteemed chairman; I think he has done a great job. I think fresh faces along with fresh ideas are needed to take the club forward.
Am I right in saying the fans as well as the shareholders vote for the presidency at clubs like Barcelona and if so why don’t we adopt this? The fans can get their point across by voting every 3-5 years who should take OUR club forward.
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If I can just make a couple of comments on previous postings...
12:45 Malone19 - Trams in Barcelona? Did I miss something when I was over there? I don't recall any Trams, just the Subway. Although, if SPT does extend the Subway out to Parkhead, all the better, I'd say.
1:54 TimOTay - Why bother spending cash upgrading CP to the UEFA 5 Star Venue list? Certainly not in the hope of hosting a European Final - it'll never happen. Mainly because it's the SFA who have to put forward a stadium to UEFA as a venue for a Final, and as long as they have that overpriced monstrosity at Mount Florida hanging round their necks as a Millstone, they won't put either CP or CGS (which has been a 5 star venue for donkeys, I gather?), or, for that matter, Anywhere else in Scotland [the only other suitable venue being Murrayfield] forward.
With regards to Jackie going down to the Midlands, I'm more hacked off that once again, we're losing players from a too small squad, and the prospects of anyone whatsoever coming in are to be found soley in the imaginations of the fourth estate. Yes, negotiations can't be conducted through the Press, but when was the last time we brought someone in early? Preseason starts in a couple of weeks, surely we should be bringing in new players so they have time to bed in before the serious stuff starts with Champions League Qualifiers?
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matt the Bhoy
There are what I guess you would call modern trams running along one of the main roads which leads off a motorway into Barcelona. It is a completely automated system where you pay at roadside boths and put your ticket into a slot in the barrier to get on. There were as far as I can remember no drivers.
