Celtic published their preliminary results for the year to 30 June 2022 yesterday. After two years affected by the global crisis, results on and off the park are back on form.
Accounting standards require Celtic to compare results with the previous year, however, the crisis makes comparisons with years ending June 2020 and 2021 unhelpful for strategic trend spotting (clearly, all indicators were significantly improved on both years).
Where appropriate, we will compare to year ending June 2019, the last season with full attendances, which also saw Europa League participation.
Headline figures are eye catching. Income was £88.2m (2019: £83.41m), expenses were higher still at £91.7m (2019: £86.94m). That small trading loss was more than offset by the busiest 12 months transfer activity in recent memory.
The financial year encompassed three incredibly busy transfer windows (Jul 21, Aug 21, Jan 22, Jun 22). Odsonne Edouard and Kristoffer Ajer made up the bulk of the £29m income from player sales. Most of that figure goes straight to the bottom line.
Deals to sign Liel Abada, Carl Starfelt, Josip Juranovic, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Alexandro Bernabei, Cameron Carter-Vickers and our four Japanese players were all signed during the 12-month period. Jota’s permanent signature was publicly announced on 1 July this year, it is unclear if this deal was also included in the figures to 30 June, we will find out when the annual report is published.
Total spend on player registrations for the period was £38.4m. This clearly represents the bulk of the spend for two years. While it is astronomically high, it is not appropriate to compare to any one year.
Profit is right on Celtic’s trend: appropriately small at £6.1m, with cash at 30 June of £30.2m – which is net of bank borrowings.
Income from football and stadium operations softened by around 1% since the last fully open year, £42.782m (2019: £43.252m. Multimedia and other commercial is also down, £20.528m (2019: £22.082m), due to fewer games and less prize money in the Europa League.
These falls were more than offset by merchandising income of £24.925m, a 38% increase on the £18.076m earned in 2019. Every year at this time we track this figure, it is a key metric that Celtic can budget on to offset inherent risks in European prize money. Income here has almost doubled in six years, from £12.577m.
This increase alone bridges more than half the gap between Champions League and Europa League revenue. Compared to where we were six years ago, it is as though the commercial department are bringing in Champions League money every second year.
It is a key component in why Celtic can continue to trade normally without adverse results jeopardising the club. The partnership with Adidas and (subsequently) JD Sport has been enormously beneficial. Much of the reason why we were able to rebound so successfully from the failures in 2020-21 is down to the achievements of the commercial team.
Chief executive Michael Nicholson, in his first review of our annual figures, made two points worth bookmarking.
“UEFA announced… a new Champions League format post 2024…. There is an expectation that, once implemented, this would lead to increased media rights, which would in turn benefit all participating clubs”.
“UEFA introduced significant enhancements in financial governance by introducing new Financial Sustainability Regulations to replace the previous Financial Fair Play Regulations…. These are being introduced on a phased basis from summer 2022 and have the effect of introducing more rigorous spending controls and more definitive sanctions in order to create a sustainable future for the European Club environment.”
The European game changes both financially and competitively in 2024. Celtic have targeted this date for a while and want to be part of the story.
Uefa’s FFP spending controls and sanctions have been opaque since their inception, which has competitively hampered Celtic. What to do about it?
Michael Nicholson went on to say, “Celtic played a significant role at a strategic and technical level in the development of the new regulations, continuing to demonstrate our strategy of participating and contributing to the future of the game at the highest level.”
One of our old pals played the significant role at a strategic level in putting this right, while one of our current backroom team was an architect of the technical details. Despite the bevvy of trophies we’ve won in recent years, I believe Celtic suffered most in European football from the financial mismanagement of others. Some who bore the scars of this issue got to write the new rules, the consequences of which hit home elsewhere this summer. Perhaps some compensation.
Great results, well done to all.
335 Comments- Pages:
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BadaBing
Certainly assured he is enjoying life here,plenty of quotes there stop sky et al and bloated league speculation.
A relaxed man chatting to a media he knows and knows they can turn in a second.assured 😊
HH
Well, the manager is showing ambition and the Board are backing him. That’s as good as it gets for the moment.
After back to back UCL group campaigns Lenny wasn’t backed
After back to back UCL group campaigns Brendan wasn’t backed
I think this is just a back-to-front justification. When we are “relatively” successful we ascribe it to ambition or backing, and when we are unsuccessful, it must be because there was no backing. We cannot let facts get in the way of such a closed loop explanation. Facts like Lenny being backed in season 20/21 without League or Euro success. Or WGS being derided (as Ange was) as the cheap option but they are then successful so QED- a quick turnaround and it is because they were backed. Tony Mowbray got the benefit of Robbie Keane, who did well for us, but we still blew a league. John Barnes got backed too but we blew it.The one occasion where it is clear we had a Board that did not back a manager with a good trading eye was, in my opinion, Davie Hay’s tenure.
It is dead easy and very sellable to the support to say any failure is a failure of the Board and any sucess is despite them. My view is that, while the Board can help things along, it is the players and managers that earn our success and it is the same group who are responsible for our failures.
The Board then may have talked the talk but they certainly didn’t walk the walk and their UCL qualitying record is there for all to peruse.
Their CL qualifying record is ours. They cannot guarantee, Celtic will win 3 or 4 qualifying ties because, even if you are favourites in each of the individual ties, you can end up odds against being successful in ALL 3 or 4 ties. That is a statistical truism and it works out in reality. Celtic do not always qualify, neither do Copenhagen or Legia or Zagreb or Anderlecht. Better teams like Ajax have failed at the qualifying game and teams like Benfica, Porto and Sporting have often failed to even qualify from their league to be able to test themselves in CL qualifying. Failure is a risk that cannot be brought off.
It should be the exception when Celtic fail to qualify for the UCL not the norm, if we have a good managment, coaching and backroom structure that is backed by the Board Celtic will quality for the UCL more often than not.
Why? We have no god given right. There are a lot of ambitious teams and clubs in our bracket. You said Brendan was ambitious and was backed early on but he failed to qualify against AEK Athens (with Barkas in goal) in only his second season.
How do we know we have a good coaching team and backroom structure. If you just base it on when we do well in Europe then our manager rankings would read
1-WGS
2-NFL
3-MON
4- BR & AP
I doubt we would get many Celtic fans who’d agree with this.
We are better than Fulham and Bournemouth, I know a Bournemouth supporter, he thinks Ryan Christie is great, Ryan wouldn’t get back in our first team.
I believe we are better than Bournemouth too but Ryan Christie didn’t think so and they were able to buy him from us. Just as Brentford got Ajer and Southampton got Forster, Van Dijk, and Armstrong from us and Leeds are tempting our youth away from us. All of those, including Christie were wanted by their coaches at CP.
Bournemouth just spent more than our transfer record on 2 players according to Transfermarkt- and have a squad valued at £158 million while we are valued at £97m, so not everyone agrees with us
P67 @ IT Security Central
You might have to take a look at your site security.
I seem to have a doppelganger.
Not good.
I wonder who would want to put in the effort and why?
Oh God.
Damn- I just thought he was beginning to make sense
Only Calmac is getting used from the start tonight. Taylor and Ralston on bench
‘F*ck there’s two of them’.
@ IT Security Central
I am MADMITCJ
SFTB @ Back the Board
You write a lot but you are fast and loose with facts.
BR — CL fail was his third season.
Basic stuff.
P67 — Any thoughts / ideas on this?
Has my log-in been hacked?
What next?
Check the IP addresses?
Aw naw……no a double nugget oan an aw noo?
will ye look at the muscles in jinkys legs, what a tough wee man
PictureThis Scotland
@74frankfurt
·
12h
Jimmy Johnstone – 23 caps for Scotland, 4 goals. Debut in October 1964 against Wales in the Home Championships. Last match v Spain at Hampden in 1974.
https://twitter.com/74frankfurt/status/1572465540194525184/photo/1
MADMITCH
I am MADMITCH 2
MADMITCH 3 and 4 are ready and waiting at their keyboard.
SFTB,
Thank you for your reply on the last article.
I hope I did not give the impression that any merchandise boycott by the GB and the Celtic trust had anything to do with Ange.
As you know I feel Ange is a breath of fresh air and I am totally on the journey
The rationale for the boycott of merchandise was quite illuminating.
This was June 2021. Not too long ago. In light of our finances being published I thought it was a very pertinent question to ask.
It seems you and I don’t know the answer. Did any boycott just fizzle out or is it still in place.?
The figures show merchandise is crucial to our clubs health as is European football.
In summary: Merchandise is essential and our marketing has improved. Our brand is of course linked to merchandise and I would expect aggressive promotion of both.
European football and exposure is crucial. We must complete on two fronts and never prioritise domestic games over European ones.
Cheers and HH.
As BF said. Good game, good game
Here’s one to occupy the mind before the game:
I’ve just noticed Joe Craig as an answer from SCULLYBHOY but could you name another 7 players that begin with Craig or end in Craig that played for the CELTIC?
Madmitch
If you see recent posters below the comments box, you’ll notice 2 x versions of yourself.
One in CAPS and one in Proper Case.
MadMitch has been gremlinised.
Craig question from 7.23 make that 8 or more.
APOLOGIES.
the ultimate attention seeking would be to pretend you have been hacked and its not you demonstrating the personality disorder.
Craig Whyte ?
Good
Bhoyjoebelfast
Craig Gordon, Jim Craig, Bobby Craig, Tully Craig ( also played for Rangers) , Craig Bellamy, Billy Craig ( obscure Mid-50s player) , Craig Beattie.
Jimbo
No-one will get this:
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/15/13/1a/15131a9d0455141464c77f398c819292.jpg
And the answer is not in the link.
https://i.etsystatic.com/17515258/r/il/099cfc/2356280557/il_570xN.2356280557_qxuq.jpg
MADMIT H 3, I’m out of here – for now
Joe
Obvious one Jim the dentist
Cairney
Jim Craig’s nickname is ‘Cairney’. Why? It stems from a school drama on TV based in Glasgow (called “That Man Craig“) where the lead character was played by “John Cairney” and that’s been it for him ever since. Even Jock Stein used it.
Bhoyjoebelfast.
I gather you want another. Craig Burley. Don’t think there was a Craig Mad Mitch though.
Jimbo
Watch that Jimbo 67 – he is a computer!
MM
Correct- it was his 3rd season failure.
2nd season was where we lost our 3 home games in the Group and 5 games altogether. However we did move up from 4th to 3rd in the Group on the strength of one win in 6 games.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/15/13/1a/15131a9d0455141464c77f398c819292.jpg
Well Joe?
Craig Gordon
Craig Beattie
Craig Bellamy
BTW Celtic Wiki lists 7 Celts with the surname Craig
Norman Bates,always inspires a tune
Talking Heads Psycho Killer
https://youtu.be/eauZzwt8Ci8
HH
For those of you whose partners are not watching Eastenders the Scotland game is on ITV4
Come on Scotland
HH .
Chloe Craig plays for our Women’s team