Member Info for jockybhoy

Regardless of the SFA's role, King can invest can't he? Just not as a director. And even then, he'd de a director of “the holding company for the Scottish football club 'Rangers'" so not entirely sure how that plays out. Either way, he could easily "invest" by substituting his own loan for Ashley's one. If he wanted to... (the cruel might insert a lame gag relating to him "selling out", but I'll resist...)

@MartinBuchan, @CambridgeBlue: McCoist didn't have the Newcastle "loanee 5" available. OK only one is playing but his 5 goals in his last 5 starts coincides with 2 draws and three wins. The £500k promotion fee and £5k a week (Ibelieve Vukic is on 3x that salary on his tod) will seem cheap if "Rangers" get promoted.

There is no way on God's green earth that any institutional investor will buy into this club (from word one I was amazed they did in the first place - due diligence replaced with rolling a die). Th eonly money that will keep NewGers afloat is fan money. King et al may pay lip service, but the've not been particularly active so far have they....

CambridgeBlue - and yet Celtic will still bank UEFA money. If only McCoist's management team had been able to do that, you'd still have Craig Whyte in charge! I think it interesting to note that Rangers' interim accounts didn't provide for the £500k loan fee (because that's what it is) which Ashley offered on a provisional basis, as there was "an element of doubt" relating to promotion, and yet Rangers entire business plan, since starting in Division 3, is that European money is seemingly a given. That said, I hope all Scottish teams do well in Europe, it helps the co-efficient (Rangers succeess in getting to the UEFA final pre-liquidation eased Celtic's path in the Champions' League qualifiers for example), but it is a bit of a lottery, the qualifiers coming so early in our season...

Cambridge Blue. You may think you are "maintaining" Rangers traditions by doing that but it's pretty low...

Regarding finances - "attendances, bums on seats" is not neccessarily the key. Ask the club and they will tell you season tickets are guaranteed income - THAT is the key. On your wet winters evening example, which is better for the club? 30k in the stadium @ 30k's money or 30k in the stadium @ 40k's money? After all if the season book holders can't get along for what is in effect a game they have already paid for, why would they do so if it involves payment also? In answer to your points: 1) Celtic fans come from outwith Scotland and Ireland. Celtic are plenty well supported and there is no doubt about that - look at the global CSCs for example - I have had tghe pleaseure of drinking with the HK, Bangkik, SingTims, the CSC in Tokyo, in Luxembourg in Brussls and Paris. NY too - these guys are buying Celtic TV & merchandise - they are supporters of Celtic. 2) It's not lying - that's the tickets sold amnd that's what's reported to the taxman. That's standard in most sports. As a Celtic fan I do feel we are better than most clubs - so do UEFA, Juventus, Villareal and so many teams we play against. Gerrard, Giggs, God, even Shearer wanted to play Celtic for their testimonials because of our fans, not "the club". 3) I live in London, had a season ticket for the past few years why should I be penalised based on my travel issues with getting "less" than a local supporter who pays the same as I do? 4) Give me some proof regarding the board's "dangerous game" re Green Brigade and I'll consider it. Until then it's just smoke and mirrors (where ave we heard that before). Reading the interim financials from last month, Football and stadium operations - so season tickets and pies - are UP from £18,598,000 to £16,446,000 - that's up 13% to end December. Patently we weren't in the Champs League past Christmas previously tso that will be an additional benefit to the final figures and should offset some of the shortfall from "walk-ins" which are dependent on everything from weather to the economy to cup-runs. And sure, playing against Rangers has lost us a wee bit of revenue, but that's a small price for the consequent light being shone on their decade long tax evasion and misreporting of contractual statements to the governing bodies. I don't see the same "doom & gloom" regarding attendances you do - and equally I don't think CCP should enter into some sort of volume comparison with a club charging half the price of a season ticket compared to Celtic. That's a pointless exercise.

Not making the final of the League Cup will mean Celtic forgo the chance to earn an additonal c. £220k + gate money from the final, so not a major hit for revenue, given the success in other competitions. More disappointing is that the chance for a "Historic Treble" has gone, again. Celtic are still leading the league, in the Scottish Cup and the lucrative Champions League group stages, though in truth Celtic's progression in the CL will be a tough ask.

I guess the rise and rise of the Celtic share price is partly down to the new visibility amongst investors but also the track record of delivering strong financial performance. A new improved sponsorship deal in the current climate, an improving squad (both in quality and value), a strong position in the top division in Scotland and the strong likelihood of Champions League football next season are all reasons to think Celtic's share price should be higher than comparable Scottish team(s) - with the caveat that profits will probably be retained by the company, so investors (rather than fans) will likely only realise gains by selling.

Seems the market feels this will benefit Celtic more than TheRangers with Celtic's share price continuing to rise, whilst TheRangers suffers a slight drop. The initial offering from TheRangers does seem to have piqued some interest in Celtic's shares though as SteadyEddie notes, which must be welcome. I wonder if it will tempt others into the market. On a separate note I was speaking to some from the continent about SMEs getting credit ratings and issuing hiigh yield debt - I wonder if there is a market for this type of financiing for football clubs looking to invest in their infrastructure by issuing medium term debt?