THE ADIDAS CUP CELTIC NEWCASTLE MATCH ANOTHER STEP IN THE NORMALIZATION OF GREED
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- May 6
- 2 min read
Celtic’s announced pre-season friendly (and that’s all it is a friendly match) with Newcastle is a step too far for many. Myself included.
The Adidas Cup is Not a Serious Competitive Match, No Matter How Hard Celtic or Newcastle Try to Say it is
We knew an announcement was coming about a pre-season friendly with Newcastle. I even wrote about it last week.
However, as is usually the norm, or at least it was until fairly recently, I expected this game to be included for season ticket holders.
At the very least, I expected that season ticket holders would be given a heavily discounted price for buying tickets to what will probably amount to a kick about between two reserve teams.
But no, tickets went on sale today, only to season ticket holders initially, priced at 25 pounds for adults and 17 pounds for concessions.
Excuse my language but there is no nice way to say this. With the Adidas Cup Celtic, Newcastle and Adidas are taking the absolute p*sh out of the fans.
I commended Celtic and Adidas last week for opting not to increase the price of the new standard edition home shirt. However, 75 quid is still far too much in the first place.
Back when I had a season ticket, it was customary to get one pre-season match at Celtic Park and one Cup or European game included in your season book.
These have both just quietly been phased out, while prices have continued to surge, and the value offered diminishes every year.
Greed has been normalized in football south of the border for several years. Now this creeping pestilence has also been allowed to infect Celtic. It needs to stop.
I expect Celtic, Newcastle and Adidas are in for a rude awakening this time.
The stadium will be half-empty, and the negative PR this creates and the resentment it breeds between fans and the board far outweighs any short-term commercial advantage.
But therein lies the problem.
When Celtic came to Japan in the summer of 2023, it was painfully obvious, even though I didn’t want to see it, that short term commercial advantage was the only consideration.
The cheapest ticket was 3 times the price of an equivalent J-League ticket. The shirts were selling for more than double what most teams charge in Japan.
And there was tacky, over-priced merchandise galore on sale throughout both matches.
Sadly, such things have been normalized in Japan when most European teams visit. The novelty value of seeing Champions League players up close overrides the fact that it’s clearly a rip-off.
However, some teams, like Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Real Madrid, have looked at the bigger picture. They kept ticket prices reasonable.
As a result, they are able to visit regularly and sell-out when they do. Celtic played to half-empty stadiums last time and will draw even less of a crowd if they visit again.
They blew the chance to make an impact in Japan because of short-term greed. Today’s announcement shows they learned nothing from that debacle.
