With no transfer stories to tell, or rumours to report, I usually restrict myself to following events at Celtic without commenting on them, but when I read James’ piece this morning I knew that I had to get involved and say something about it. I was infuriated.
The piece in question was his dissection of the Celtic Trust meeting with the board recently.
The Trust did their best to get the information the fans wanted.
They asked all the right questions.
It was the answers they got that were lacking in any detail.
The most remarkable came when they asked about the “added value” which was advertised as part of buying season tickets at the start of this campaign. Incredibly, the club still has no idea what that “added value” is.
I think, as James does, that this comes very close to treating the fans like absolute fools.
I am going to come right out and say it; they conned us.
There was no “added value.”
Fans were being asked to buy tickets to sit and watch crappy computer screens, and if there were four of you in one household and you’d spent upwards of £2000 on those tickets then hard cheese.
Single folk living alone got some of what they paid for; the most expensive televised games subscription in history, to watch Lennon fumble about on the touchline like an amateur.
But households got shafted. Fans who thought they might see the inside of a stadium, and if not who believed that the “added value” promise carried weight got shafted.
Now the board is gearing up for the next season ticket sales push; what’s the betting that “added value” amounts to X amount off the next one? It’s a put-up job, an absolute scam on the supporters, and one that nobody should be falling for again.
This board has crossed all sorts of boundaries in the course of this campaign, and their contempt for every one of us has been on full display, but nowhere more so than this.
The Trust has said that in their view the club has a “moral obligation” to take care of fans on this, by offering them refunds at the very least.
Well, I am not holding my breath for that one.
These people understand only one thing; the ringing sound of the cash registers.
They have taken the fans for granted here, and now freely admit it. The only lesson that’s going to get through is one where we withhold our money until we know things are going to change.
For me, that’s the only choice I’ve been left with.
No more of this.
The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger from Glasgow.