Would it matter if the Old Firm was over?

dd972

Remember how these matches were the 'centre of the universe' especially in the Glasgow and Norn Iron environs ?

If you said to someone a few years back there'd be no Old Firm matches for 4 years they'd have thought you'd gone mad.

I read a good article on the games soon after the McCoist / Lennon spat that said Strathclyde Police were sick of these matches in terms of allocated manpower, anti social behavior,drink related incidents and the cost of policing them.

I think another factor in Rangers demise is that the SFA were in no mood to kow tow to them after the way Rangers had lorded over Scottish Football for years and how they did so financially.

I don't think Celtic were being facetious when they said they'd cope whatever happened and they're being proved right.

NIMAN

Well its working ok for now, but its early yet.

We have heard of teams in Scotland struggling financially, and missing a couple of visits from Rangers fans is surely hurting their incomes.

Also, have you seen the attendances at Celtic games this season. There was a time only a couple of years ago you couldn't get a ticket, now the stadium is full of empty spaces. The fans are not as bothered now imho because they know they are going to win the league no matter what. Celtic have been dung in the SPL this season so far yet they are walking the league. If they put their mind to it they could have been champions by now.

This season the absence of Rangers will be filled financially by their progress in the CL, which is bringing in so much money. It will probably tide them over for a couple of seasons, but I do genuinely think that an SPL missing Rangers will weaken the league in the long term.

Would it matter if there was never an Old Firm again? I would say yes, but once they are reunited again it would be great to see them dislike each other simply due to them being city rivals, and without all the sectarian stuff, but that ain't going to happen.

T-K-O

Celtic will not cope. The SPL along with Celtic has declined in recent years. With no Rangers to push Celtic they will find it difficult to attract players and sell tickets.

CSF

T-K-O wrote: »

Celtic will not cope. The SPL along with Celtic has declined in recent years. With no Rangers to push Celtic they will find it difficult to attract players and sell tickets.

It depends how they continue to get on in the Champions League. If they overachieve again next year they could start to build a platform where it may no longer even be considered underachieving.

NIMAN

I would say Celtic are praying for a European Super League that they could play in without Rangers. That would be their ideal outcome.

T-K-O

CSF wrote: »

It depends how they continue to get on in the Champions League. If they overachieve again next year they could start to build a platform where it may no longer even be considered underachieving.

No offence but that is a fantasy. It doesn't matte what they do in the CL this year. Hooper will be sold. Im sure they will loose another few to the EPL.

Celtic will not get any established player to play in league with St Mirren, Dundee etc. A league that they will win by 25/30 points.

They will nurture talent for the bigger leagues and sign a few guys on the way out. The likes of Keane, Sutton

It's a horrible situation for such a big club

T-K-O

NIMAN wrote: »

I would say Celtic are praying for a European Super League that they could play in without Rangers. That would be their ideal outcome.

That is the only way the club will improve.


Currently the standard is miles behind the O'Neill era. To get back to that level would be some achievement,

CSF

T-K-O wrote: »

No offence but that is a fantasy. It doesn't matte what they do in the CL this year. Hooper will be sold. Im sure they will loose another few to the EPL.

Celtic will not get any established player to play in league with St Mirren, Dundee etc. A league that they will win by 25/30 points.

They will nurture talent for the bigger leagues and sign a few guys on the way out. The likes of Keane, Sutton

It's a horrible situation for such a big club

I really really don't like Celtic. But financially the benefits from 2 knockout stage spells weighed against the relative tiny amount required to actually win the SPL to qualify will mean prosperity until someone (most likely Rangers) take them out of their SPL comfort zone.

T-K-O

CSF wrote: »

I really really don't like Celtic. But financially the benefits from 2 knockout stage spells weighed against the relative tiny amount required to actually win the SPL to qualify will mean prosperity until someone (most likely Rangers) take them out of their SPL comfort zone.

That is relative. Celtic fans want to compete with the bigger clubs around Europe. That will not happen any time soon.

They will continue to dominate the league and make money but not enough to attract the type of player the fans demands.

Attendances will drop as the standard gets worse

NIMAN

Although I said earlier that their attendances are down, I just checked their last 5 home SPL games, and to be fair to them, given the standard of opposition they are pretty decent.

43652 v Killie
42596 v Dundee Utd
48374 v Hearts
48002 v Motherwell
49428 v Ross County

Add to this, 2 sell-outs of 60,000 for Spartak and Barca.

Of course these will probably drop off a bit over time, but any club that can manage to bring in nearly 50,000 to watch Ross County, it makes you think about the income they could generate if they played in the EPL or a Euro Super League. Many big clubs in England, Spain, Italy or Germany would be over the moon with attendances like this every 2nd week.

Gotta feel sorry for them.

T-K-O

NIMAN wrote: »

Although I said earlier that their attendances are down, I just checked their last 5 home SPL games, and to be fair to them, given the standard of opposition they are pretty decent.

43652 v Killie
42596 v Dundee Utd
48374 v Hearts
48002 v Motherwell
49428 v Ross County

Add to this, 2 sell-outs of 60,000 for Spartak and Barca.

Of course these will probably drop off a bit over time, but any club that can manage to bring in nearly 50,000 to watch Ross County, it makes you think about the income they could generate if they played in the EPL or a Euro Super League. Many big clubs in England, Spain, Italy or Germany would be over the moon with attendances like this every 2nd week.

Gotta feel sorry for them.

Attendances at St James Park are pretty big and they spent some time in the first division.

But I agree . if they played in the EPL they would have huge potential.

NIMAN

Were Newcastle's attendances good when they were in the lower division?

happydayz182

NIMAN wrote: »

Were Newcastle's attendances good when they were in the lower division?

Yep..not quote sell outs like now but close to it every game

T-K-O

The point is 50k fans a week does not guarantee anything

cson

Wind up thread is wind up.

Jelle1880

T-K-O wrote: »

Celtic will not cope. The SPL along with Celtic has declined in recent years. With no Rangers to push Celtic they will find it difficult to attract players and sell tickets.

I think they will, provided they give their fans an alternative (Champions League football, that is).

ST sales and attendances are already down at Celtic, and the only way to keep fans coming is provide some entertainment in the form of top clubs coming to Parkhead.

As for the Old Firm games themselves: I think the only ones who will miss them are the media.

EdenHazard

T-K-O wrote: »

The point is 50k fans a week does not guarantee anything

So true, I think Celtic fans tend to bring this up as if they are somehow being stifled and if they moved to England their attendances would make them league competitors after a couple of years. I don't think its that simple, like Newcastle show in England. In Germany, Dortmund had years of doing nothing with mammoth attendance figures.

Soups123

EdenHazard wrote: »

So true, I think Celtic fans tend to bring this up as if they are somehow being stifled and if they moved to England their attendances would make them league competitors after a couple of years. I don't think its that simple, like Newcastle show in England. In Germany, Dortmund had years of doing nothing with mammoth attendance figures.

I don't think even the most deluded of Celtic fans think they could compete for the league within a couple of years of joining. Most wud believe they can compete in the league

T-K-O

Jelle1880 wrote: »

I think they will, provided they give their fans an alternative (Champions League football, that is).

ST sales and attendances are already down at Celtic, and the only way to keep fans coming is provide some entertainment in the form of top clubs coming to Parkhead.

As for the Old Firm games themselves: I think the only ones who will miss them are the media.

Celtic are currently bring out muscled in the transfer market by Norwich. They have guaranteed CL football but in the next two years they WILL loose their best players and without Rangers and a competitive league they will struggle to bring in replacements of the same or better standard.

Celtic will become a team like LA Galaxy or Perth light sabers

T-K-O

EdenHazard wrote: »

So true, I think Celtic fans tend to bring this up as if they are somehow being stifled and if they moved to England their attendances would make them league competitors after a couple of years. I don't think its that simple, like Newcastle show in England. In Germany, Dortmund had years of doing nothing with mammoth attendance figures.

Dortmund is another good example.

My own team Liverpool 44k a week and generate a lot of revenue all over the world and we still continue to struggle