Safe standing comes to Scottish football. Standing was a part of our game for over a century (and still is in the semi-professional divisions), but the Taylor Report changed the game fundamentally, as grounds were made all-seater in the 1990s. This phenomenon was not restricted to the UK, Uefa (to some extent) enforced the trend on the rest of the Continent.
Then things changed in Germany. New stadiums had railed seating, which allowed spectators to stand during games. This allowed more people to fit into the same space. The grounds still had to be converted to conventional seating for Uefa games, but the phenomenon of safe standing proved, well, safe.
In fact, it is a lot safer than the de facto situation in many UK grounds, where away fans stand in areas which are clearly unsafe for standing crowds.
I understand why Celtic have situated the safe standing area where they have lower-tier corner of North and Lisbon Lions stands, but for me it should be North Stand upper. If you’re going to have a standing section, don’t just site it where one has emerged organically, put it where it best suits the stadium, can have most impact on atmosphere and has room to grow. Make no mistake, demand will outstrip supply for the standing area, and soon enough we’ll be wondering how we grow it.
The stadium can be further-portioned off. At the moment the family area is squashed between the new standing area and away fans – this section also has nowhere to grow. If you want more families, ensure each passing decade the stadium has more targeted family areas.
There should also be greater price differentiation for tickets. The pack-em-in reality of standing areas fits the profile of a cheaper ticket, which fits the reality of the North Stand upper’s isolation from amenities like lounges. Fill the North upper full of cheap, standing tickets, extend facilities like lounges – and charge accordingly, or family facilities, to lower tiers.
You want to stand in a busy area, move about and keep warm – pay less. You want to keep warm in a lounge – pay more. You want to take penalties against Ms Hoopy, go to the family area. Just bring a child, please.
30 years from now, few will want to watch football in a stadium like Celtic Park. This happened to football in the 70s and 80s. It became stuck in the infrastructure of what was then regarded by many as a decrepit bygone era. Many football fans just stopped going. I can see history repeating itself.
Cater for the future or your local shopping mall/multiplex will. In future, everyone will want access to a warm lounge before and after the game, and at halftime. Try planning a leisure activity in northern Europe for the 21st century and come up with any other conclusion.
Ticket machines should be at the perimeter of the stadium footprint. Once inside, you should have fan zones with bars, restaurants, cafes, play areas, shops – mostly undercover. You should never be more than 5 minutes away from being able to spend money. Or spend a penny – with paper towels available all afternoon.
I’m usually in the environs of Celtic Park close to 3 hours on a match day. The opportunities for engagement are enormous, but we’re miles away for thousands of us in the ‘reasonably priced’ seats.
None of this is meant as a criticism. We have a magnificent 20th century stadium, I was one of thousands who paid to build it. All of the above wish-list would cost millions we just don’t have – this is the reality. But we need to have a vision of what our future requirement looks like.
I still miss the old Celtic Park, the new stadium cannot touch if for atmosphere, but what we expect when we go to the football is different now, and will be different again in the future. The first thing I’d do if we broke free of Scottish football is call in the bulldozers and start again.
Season ticket prices remain same as last season, confounding conspiracy theorists four-year fantasy. This caused brief spates of cognitive dissonance before a fresh wave of conspiracies washed the pain away.
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Well Thats Me…Trolled By MWD…Crossed Swords( Not in a Sexual Way ) With my OLD friend Negannon…Im Happy Hope Youre Happy To… On and On..
COYBIG..Night..Bless..
BGX
I take it you are a real man.
As opposed to Celtic supporters who whine and bitch about being cheated by the football authorities ably assisted by our own custodians.
AnCeltic supporter supports the team and ethos of the club Walfrid founded.
Our custodians seem to do neither.
Is it any wonder people air genuine concerns?
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD on 5TH MAY 2016 12:44 AM
NATKNOW
PL in his office.
Let me see.
I reckon Albert Finney as Scrooge would cover that scenario:)
Scrooge counting his pennies into the Biscuit-tin.
Humbug!
Yeah…can see it all now.
HH
——————————————————-
Sounds like a typical beancounter. Well, the ones I know..
Natknow
Yeah….a beancounter.
But one straight out of Kafka novel filmed by David Lynch:)
Come to think of it….id watch that:)
HH
Fan a Tic…Got Me in One..Very Perceptive of you.m
THE GREEN MAN SAYS SACK THE BOARD on 5TH MAY 2016 12:50 AM
Natknow
Yeah….a beancounter.
But one straight out of Kafka novel filmed by David Lynch:)
Come to think of it….id watch that:)
HH
—————————————————————-
Nah. In Kafka the players would never get signed due to administrative issues and if Lynch filmed it all we’d hear from the fans is weird repetitive wailing.
Hang on a minute…
Night all.
Stay happy..
Goodnight Celts
Just say no to the PLC.
Things will change quickly.
We are the power.
KevJ
The rebels have won:)
HH
Had a Brighton season ticket holder in taxi earlier, was telling me that Kayal was their POTY, said he’s been by far the best player in side, always liked him too, unlucky with injuries so probably needed a change of club.
I was asking him about good old Jimmy Melia, great character from the early 80’s with his white shoes and the dolly bird hanging off his arm.
Was going to say
Yippee
Five in a row
New lucrative shirt sponsorship deal
Season ticket prices frozen
But then I realised we were a club in crisis so will log off again to find a darkened room to nurse my depression.
Oh and Paul67 is a paid stooge and propagandist for the board. Imagine the cheek of the man starting his own blog, financing it’s expansion all at his own expense and asking for no help from its readers, he should be ashamed that he puts his own thoughts on his own blog instead of writing an anti board, anti Celtic diatribe which tallys with their media driven campaign to denigrate all things Celtic.
As for Sydneytim you are an ass of the highest order, a few years back you bandied accusations of criminality by Peter Lawell about now you accuse the guy who founded this site of corruption. Simple manners are beyond you never mind intelligent debate.
Will log off now before I write what I really wanted to and get barred indefinitely.
OWEN on 5TH MAY 2016 1:17 AM
Well , Owen.
Seriously can`t disagree with any of that .
I support Celtic from the Board to the office cat.
Including the supporters who require re-education. :-)
Paul . A star who has provided this Celtic lifeline . Particularly for us expats.
SydTim.
Great bloke with whom I share your disagreements .
Great bloke nevertheless.
I do not see much comment about the appropriateness of our shirt sponsor, Dafabet.
I speak as someone who has gambled, rather than from a puritanical perspective. But can we not do better than alcohol or betting sponsors? Im not sure Brother Walfrid would have approved of the recent trajectory of the club”s commercial department.
These betting companies are total leeches on the poor. They now try to legitimise and promote betting on every aspect of every game, on fruit machines, roulette, cards, flies up walls by attempting to persuade us, falsely, that everyone else is doing it. Look at some of the ads on T.V.- the “what’s a tenner?” or “it matters more” bullshit. They show smiling couples enjoying a carefree drink and a bet flin their showhouse apartment and/or a few mates all having a laugh at the latest corner count. The reality is terribly different, as we should well know.
If we are truly more than a club. If we have a Celtic family ethos, we should eschew the filthy lucre of such companies.They are not the be all and end all. There are certain clubs, like Sunderland and ourselves, who are being bought on the cheap by these companies. They will suck out far more from the supporters than they donate to the club for sponsorship .
DEXTER
The issue has been widely commented upon.
Additionally,they referenced the OF in their official announcement.
Chancers. Lost my custom right away.
Bmcuwp,
Did you break the blog?
DHARMA BAM
Think so. I posted that earlier when I was on a smoke break.
Just finished. Long shift,that.
“Our revenge will be the laughter of our children”
5th May 1981 Bobby Sands RIP
35 years gone
RIP Bobby Sands
Never forgotten
HH
UTLR
Good Morning Timland.
Kevj…..great news pal,nice to know you’ll be
keeping us honest all the way tae 10iar and
beyond.
Good luck tae all the weans sitting exams today.
I’ll be using my vote against the authoritarian,fascist,
SNP,if the polls are right I’ll be in the minority,worrying
day’s.
Have a great day cqn.
Just nipped on heading to work
KevJ delighted for you and the family, a wee bit of peace of mind keep fighting the good fight….
A big Hail Hail fae ML5
Good morning friends from a damp, drizzly, grey EK.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
you at YORK next week for racing.tesco for MESSIGiS this morning and need to know if we need extra bacon n eggs. BGX and GINO frae dunde ken urnae comin.
Good morning subjects
Thought I would let you know the pesky scottish water minions have closed London Rd from Springfield rd to celtic park with work continuing until the end of the football season
Damn disgrace if you ask me… but I’m just the top banana at celtic football club so what do I know.? Apart from who our new manager will be, his budget / staff and issues from the living wage to resolution 12 – only the cost of a heated driveway.
Have a lovely feast of the good Lords ascension into heaven and absolutely no sweary words today .
Glorious sunny morning down here in Yorkshire. Trip to York and Leeds then back up fot voting and Mass…..everyone enjoy the day.
Re Resolution 12, you may be interested in Barcabhoy’s conversation on Twitter. As Auldheid has pointed out he is close to Celtic’s board and may well have an insight on this.
winning captains
can you copy n paste for all of us who don’t twitter or twatter.
Fav uncle
here you go…
https://twitter.com/Barcabhoy1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Just checked in. Good morning, Celts.
Glad to hear that KevJ got good result from Hairmyres. Brilliant that advances in medical science means that you now get the results of checks for cancer on the day of examination. Gone be the days of the interminal wait for results of biopsies etc. So well done NHS too
Winning Captains Thanks for links to Barcabhoy’s twitter account. Explains some of the intricacies surrounding pursuit of Res12. HH
Kev J
Judging by earlier posts, you have had some good news. I am genuinely pleased to hear that.
I allow some of the constantly negative posters to irritate me but your posts, although obviously and strongly felt, somehow manage to retain a flavour of humour. Also, even through your own worrying times, you still managed to savage `The Bored`! I liked that.
Incidentally, in the main,I neither agree nor disagree with the many negative posters but I don`t see the need for it ( other than getting it off one`s chest) as Scotland has a plethora of outlets only too keen to be negative about our team.
In the Jungle ,The Mighty Jungle!
JJ
Just catching up after my Night Shift
Kev/J -Great news for you and the family so you can keep on keeping on here on CQN!!
An Teach Solais- I agree that Kev/J getting results immediately is great,as do many others, however many others do not get the same level of service, the NHS is still very much a postcode lottery in many ways sadly.
HH
Dexter
“Im not sure Brother Walfrid would have approved of the recent trajectory of the club”s commercial department. ”
I’m not sure his response would have been to distance himself very far at all e.g.
“John H McLaughlin Wine and spirit merchant John McLaughlin was elected onto the first ever Celtic board at the first meeting of the newly formed limited liability company on June 17th 1897.
He would serve on the board until his death in August 1909 during which time he was Chairman. ”
and
“John Glass
Celtic Director: 1897-1906
Former President of the club for eleven years.
Glass, John – Kerrydale Street
John Glass is commonly regarded as the man that did more than anyone else to turn Brother Walfrid’s dream into a reality. No less an authority on Celtic than Willie Maley credits Glass as being the man to whom Celtic FC owes its very existence. Brother Walfrid founded the club but John Glass established it.
John Glass gave the players who came over a stable job in a developing and progressing club in a fast changing market, something that the original Hibs were unwilling to deal with. John Glass observed the workings of professionalism in England in 1885 and correctly assumed that Scotland would follow. Hibs were sticking their heads in the sand, trying to preserve (sh)amateurism and keeping their Catholics only policy. Celtic were realistic and instead of both clubs floundering under dogma, Celtic modernised and adapted. Hibs didn’t.
The patronage in name and financially by men like John Glass enabled Celtic to hold its own against the establishment clubs of whom had treated the other “Scottish-Irish” clubs poorly and with much disdain. So John Glass’ involvement beyond the founding and romanticism under Brother Walfrid were a vital component for the club’s existence.
One contentious point on John Glass are the events surrounding the club stopping paying money to the Poor Children’s Dinner Table. This must be taken in light of the then circumstances, against which that the club were in debt for which John Glass stated once clear then the club would be “only too willing to do whatever it could to assist the charities mentioned”. Black mark though in that at the same meeting as this was said, £100 was approved for the treasurer. For a club that was founded to help charities, the club was beginning to go back on its roots. In fairness, the size of the club meant it could not just pay all its income to charities in the face of increasing competition and professionalism, whilst the growth in the organisation of fans meant a lot of charity work in time was also done by them. Administration and operational staff at the club could not be expected to be paid a pittance to manage and handle the scale of the growing club. The whole issue is not simply a black and white matter as some paint it.”
All John Glass quotes lifted from Celtic Wiki.
We have been critiquing Celtic Boards as money grabbing bassas since very close to our founding
Getting tore into Celtic’s Boards
Aff into work now
SFTB
I was unaware of the information you have given but I was not in the least surprised that the Good Old Days were a bit different than the perception of many 0:-)
JJ
I have never met KevJ but nice to hear you have good news. I always enjoy your posts and the ‘aff oot’ ending.
Interesting-but-short piece on Russia mafia infiltrating clubs for criminal activities http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36203418 – makes you wonder if a new club with financial fund-raising problems may be ripe for a front man to provide loans from unknown sources
Interested to note the point in Celtic’s early development when the football became more important than the charitable purpose the club was originally established to provide for.
What’s equally interesting is the absence of credit given to the current ‘plc regime’ for the development of the club’s charitable work.
In the past 5 years this activity, now wrapped up in the Celtic FC Foundation, has grown from around £500K each year to over £1.5Million, all of which focussed on issues impacted by ill health, inequality, learning exclusion and poverty.
That’s a lot of activity.
Hat tipped to Tony Hamilton and his team.
Long post re facilities at Celtic Park in moderation since last night ………. possibly because of long cut and paste section taken from the Celtic website. No more interesting than my usual drivel anyway.
Greenpinata on 4th May 2016 5:49 pm
More than likely
HH
Missed few comments but seems kevjungle has got good news, great to hear. There’s a standing section waiting for you next season kev
Emeraldbee, very sorry to hear about your young cousin , very sad and his love of the hoops should sometimes teach the rest of us to stop nit picking about our club so much. He will no doubt be there next season watching over your family and our club. God bless him.
Kev Jungle
YNWA mate…