Any team can win any game, but sustained success in football is all about money; how much you earn and how you spend it. Everything went wrong for Celtic last season and they currently trail Newco by four points, although there are reasons for optimism. Where the clubs sit structurally and financially will always be a greater determinant of long-term success. We are going to have a look this week at both clubs’ accounts, what indicators they reveal and how they are run differently.
For a season when Celtic were trophy-less, exited the Europa League, Scottish Cup and League Cup earlier than Newco, you would expect the clubs incomes in season 2020-21 to balance out for the first time. Other things being equal, Newco should have earned more, particularly through their extended run in Europe.
Instead, Newco undershot Celtic’s £60.781m turnover by a clear £13m. The difference was all in the commercial department. Celtic’s deals with Adidas and JB Sports brought merchandising sales to £22.609m. This figure excluded “other commercial activities”, which were noted along with multimedia income.
When announced, Newco made great play of their first kit and retail deal after parting company with Sport Direct. However, their total figure for sponsorship, advertising, commercial and retail was £9.278m, £13.331m less than Celtic’s. Not that this inhibited their spending, the apple never falls far from the tree.
If you recall, Newco ended up with Castore after asking bids for their kit contract online. This was an indication that winning attractive deals is not as simple as those who have never concluded a deal like this could imagine. Celtic’s commercial team landed Nike 8 years ago, then improved their deal with New Balance. The move to Adidas in 2020 was a commercial game changer (it also landed before the reality of what lay ahead was revealed).
They were able to demonstrate performance and fine-tune a route to market with JD Sports. As a consequence, despite shops being closed for much of the season, merchandising income rose by £7.6m. To achieve this, you need to attract and retain staff capable of performing on a level off the field that Kyogo would be pleased with on-field. At the top of the page I wrote “commercials are key”. It would be truer to say an ability to attract and retain high-performing professionals is key. You cannot do this if you are the football equivalent of an aggressive fantasist.
This is not the sexy part of football, but it probably determines where more trophies end up than differences in scouting resource. Corporate governance up next.
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Shocked by the news about Squire Danaher,someone who i conversed with over many years, may he Rest in Peace, sincere condolences to his family and friends.
SEAN THORNTON on 8TH NOVEMBER 2021 1:40 PM
Squire was the first person to reply to my first post on here many years ago.
Rest in peace YNWA☘🙏.
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I always had a wee smile when you two conversed,
god bless the squire.
RIP Squire Danaher
must be no more that 2 week ago that he and I were on the same discussion point. Very smart person and I always looked out for his posts.
Condolences to his family and friends and thanks for letting us know Timmy7; not an easy task for you
RIP Squire Danahar 😔
Thoughts and prayers to those he loved and knew
Squire Danaher, was one of the Gentleman of the Site.
No nonsense, no attention seeking no winding people up.
Obviously didn’t know him in person but still felt a sense of loss, when I heard of his passing.
May You Rest In Peace Squire, and may your sweet soul rest at God’s right hand.
Thank you all for your kinds words regarding the big man I’ll pass them on to his family.
Just been reading back over the weekend.
I can categorically confirm what ZIGGYDOC heard on BBC Radio Scotland at 6 o’clock on Saturday morning:
Rangers can extend their lead at the top of the table if they beat Ross County and Celtic don’t win at Dundee.
Only in Scotland
So sorry to read the news about Squire Danaher. May he Rest In Peace. My prayers and condolences to his family and to you An Tearman on the loss of your friend.🙏
Very saddened to read the terrible news about Squire Danaher. Spoke to him a couple of times on CQN over the years and he was always very civil.
RIP
Eddie Howe no more
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/19702425.eddie-howe-newcastle—ex-celtic-managerial-target-joins-saudi-rich-premier-league-club/
something for the amatuer accountants ……………
https://mobile.twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/1457609302584315909
TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 8TH NOVEMBER 2021 3:05 PM
Thanks for that confirmation. I needed it because I had thought, even in Scotland, that one was hard to believe.
Really saddened to read of the news on Squire Danaher
Thoughts and Prayers to all his family and friends, including our CQN family who enjoyed his posts
May Perpetual Light Shine Upon You Squire Danaher
And May you Rest In Peace
🙏🙏🙏
YNWA
💚
Saint Stivs ( from that link you posted):
“@SwissRamble
Profits from player sales have made a big difference to #CelticFC bottom line. As a result, in the last nine years they have generated £112m profit from player trading, compared to just £8m in the same period for Rangers.”
8Million? They should get the MSSM to conduct any Ibrox transfers. Their figure would have been closer to 800 million .
I am an in-frequent poster yet could not let the passing of Squire Danaher go un-observed.
An extremely civil and knowledgeable gentleman. Requiescat in Pace.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 8TH NOVEMBER 2021 9:10 AM
Very sad news.
My condolences to all his family and friends
Rant incoming !!!
The interruption to the minutes silence on Saturday was not welcome
The Tennis Balls were an inconvenience or perhaps a creative way of making a point
First the minute’s silence – the people that could not control their emotions for one minute need to consider their love affair with Celtic I do not deny you the right to your opinion, but please do not display you view under the guise of supporting Celtic. If you think your disregard for the people that gave their lives (by saying gave their lives – it makes it sound like they had a choice) is in some way flaming the passion of celtic, you are an idiot
Yes you may not want to stand and be silent for one minute – you may have a very good reason for not wearing a poppy or you may have resentment against anyone who represents the military in the UK I respect your position
But by booing and singing during that one minute you do more damage to celtic than you do to any established uniform. Just stay at home for the day and do celtic a favour
On Tennis Gate – this one I get
Our Club have employed a man that has a poor record with his relationship with Celtic supporters
So I do ask – is this the best option for celtic
The Tennis Balls although an inconvenience, made the point
Unfortunately the idiots who made noise during the minute’s silence stole your thunder
More news will be given to the idiots than to the creatives who were making a good point
But the really sad news – I fear it’s the same gang
Hail Hail to all who love Celtic
67ECW
sorry to here the sad news rip Squire Danaher
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Swiss Ramble
@SwissRamble
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8h
#CelticFC operating loss (i.e. excluding player sales) improved from £24.5m to £20.7m in 2020/21, though this is still down from £5m profit 4 years ago. Although most clubs post operating losses, Celtic’s is second highest in Scotland, only surpassed by Rangers £23.5m deficit.
Swiss Ramble
@SwissRamble
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8h
#CelticFC revenue has fallen £41m from £102m peak three years ago to £61m, which is the lowest since £52m in 2016. The decline is due to a combination of COVID and failure to qualify for Champions League, which has driven decreases in match day £22m and broadcasting £23m.
Swiss Ramble
@SwissRamble
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8h
#CelticFC have enjoyed a substantial revenue advantage over their rivals Rangers in recent times, but the gap has narrowed over the last four years from £69m in 2018 to £13m in 2021 (Celtic £61m vs. Rangers £48m).
Swiss Ramble
@SwissRamble
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8h
Of course, the big two Glasgow clubs generate significantly more revenue than the rest of the Scottish Premiership. Even after the impact of COVID, #CelticFC £61m is still more than four times as much as Aberdeen £14m, followed by Hearts £12m, Hibernian £9m and Kilmarnock £5m.
Swiss Ramble
@SwissRamble
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8h
However, like others outside the Big Five leagues, #CelticFC are still faced by a major revenue challenge, e.g. their £70m revenue in 2019/20 was less than half the £130m required to be in the Top 30 European clubs, as shown by the Deloitte Money League global ranking.
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Sheffield United – £108m from tv. seriously.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDp4D0ZXMAUtWWF?format=jpg&name=900×900
RIP Squire Danaher
condolences to all his family and friends.
SAINT STIVS on 8TH NOVEMBER 2021 3:37 PM
something for the amatuer accountants ……………
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I am a fan of the number crunching stuff, so, decided to do my own not-on-a -spreadsheet comparison between CFC PLC and theRIFC, for the year to 30/6/21.
CFC £millions
Ticketing 22
Merchandise voucher -3
for ST Holder
Commercial Sponsors 13
Retail & E-Commerce 15
Media 11
Other 3
TOTAL TURNOVER 61
Wages Costs 49
Other Costs 24
TOTAL COSTS 73
Loss For Year -12m
theRIFC
Gate & Hospitality 18
Sponsor & Adverts 5
Broadcasting 7
Commercial & Retail 5
UEFA Prize Money 11
Other 1
TOTAL TURNOVER 47
Wages Costs 47
Other Costs 27
TOTAL COSTS 74
Loss for Year -27m
Both clubs report income slightly differently but they blew 100% of their revenue on wages, just to stop 10IAR. They could have sold a couple in January and still cantered to the title, so bad were we. Fair play to Peter Lawwell, he kept everything except the stuff on the pitch in reasonable shape during the pandemic.
Condolences to the family and friends of Squire Danaher, may he rest in peace.
Sorry to see that Squire Danaher has passed away.
Always came across as a decent person on here.
His presence will be missed.
RIP Squire D.
Just logged on to offer my condolences to friends and family of Squire Danaher
May he Rest in peace
So Neil Lennon dug in for the money he was due in the lucrative contract he was given ! just like anyone else in football would do. I’d imagine Neil Lennon thought he was better than John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan, and why ever would he not.
Of course like all Celtic supporters he should have resigned instantly and left his money with Peter, Ian, Brian and the crew..
That’s not how football contracts work ‘they’ wouldn’t terminate his contract, because that would have cost more money and they were clueless what to do, or who to appoint in his place. Another one for the Celtic boardroom including the barriers on Celtic way no point in angst about Neil Lennon’s hush money.
Rant incoming !!!
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a top rant
many proper points in there
i dont agree with minutes silences at football games in general for non-football people, and for football people it should usually be a minutes applause though i can see why a silence might be more appropriate for some folk
but if there is going to be one, and you dont want to observe it, then stay at the pie stall, i’ve done it many times over the years for many different silences
or if you really think you need to make a point then make a banner with a slogan on it or something like that
but singing/booing/whistling and just generally making deliberate noise during it is the last thing i would do
not because it embarrasses the club
but i wouldnt want to embarrass myself like that
i was at easter road last week and when the minutes silence was on for walter smith. some of the supporters in all parts of the stadium should just wheesht for a minute, but a few of them around me were just that pished they wouldnt have been capable of wheeshting.
i agree with all of the points about the poppy pish, and also folk saying that walter smith was a hun etc etc
but ffs, if we dont respect the reason for the silence
and we cant respect our club
then at least try respect yourself as an individual
RIP squire
seems like only a week ago I was reading a post from Squire Danaher, a shock to hear of his passing. RIP
Saint Stivs. 2.48pm.
Aye and was still asked the ?..
Ru a hun..
Ye. God Bless the Squire.
☘☘☘🙏
RIP Squire Danaher
God bless you and keep you by his side.
KEEP THE FAITH
RIP Squire Danaher ,sincere condolences to his friends and family/
RIP Squire Danaher
Did i just see Howe going to Newcastle????
FFs sake i did……….a match made in heaven!!
R.I.P SQUIRE.
Very sad news
RIP Squire Danaher .
Condolences to hi family friends and loved ones.
TT
A genuine shock to read of Squire Danaher’s passing on here this morning
Condolences to family and friends
RIP Squire
The quickest way to increase our revenue significantly is European football. Sevco raising more money than us through European football for a couple of seasons now is something we need to address.
Yes part of it is down to luck of the draw but it’s something we should be looking to centre in on – that means recruitment to ensure strong squads before we play qualifiers.
While our focus on player trading is clear, if we put the same effort into European football instead of treating it as an uncontrollable bonus, we’d be much better off.