Articles

Fear & Loathing at Ibrox: Dire financial figures reveal a club locked in a doom spiral.

|
Image for Fear & Loathing at Ibrox: Dire financial figures reveal a club locked in a doom spiral.

Friends, today the Ibrox club’s financial report came out, and it’s every bit as grim as we could have hoped for. They posted a staggering net loss of £17.7 million, a shocking figure by any standard. Their total expenditure has once again exceeded £100 million. For any Scottish football club, that level of outlay twice in succession is simply mind-boggling.

This is, in essence, the profile of a club trading while insolvent, propped up solely by directors to keep the lights on. It’s no wonder that this summer saw the wage bill slashed and a stark end to the “good times.” I anticipated rough numbers, but these go beyond anything most could have imagined.

Consider for a moment that UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations no longer focus on debt alone. Instead, they zero in on the wages-to-turnover ratio, and based on this report, that number is unsustainable here. No amount of creative accounting can hide that.

How does a club end up in such a position? Remember, these figures only go up to June this year. They don’t cover recent fiascos, like the need to relocate to Hampden for early-season fixtures. That bit of misfortune will hit next year’s numbers, which could make the current picture look rosy in comparison. This club is in serious trouble.

To put it into perspective, Celtic’s last financial report showed a profit of £17 million, a direct contrast to their £17 million loss.

Remember when the media was trumpeting “record-breaking commercial deals” over there, claiming their revenue would soon surpass ours? Well, let’s look at the actual numbers.

In our latest accounts, Celtic reported £30 million in merchandising income alone. Our multimedia and commercial activities brought in £46 million.

These figures are huge, forming a large part of our overall revenue.

By contrast, their accounts reveal just £7.8 million from sponsorship, £11.5 million from retail and other commercial activities, and £6.7 million from broadcasting rights. That’s a combined total of £26 million—£4 million less than what Celtic makes in merchandising alone. The gap is enormous, and I don’t see how they’re ever going to close it.

This is a club in a real existential crisis. They cannot sustain their current spending, and even whilst at this level of splashing out, we’ve won five out of the last six trophies and seven out of the last nine, while they’ve been spending like there was a magic money tree at the side of the Ibrox pitch.

How can they realistically expect to compete when the pressure to make serious cuts starts to really kick in? That club and its fans won’t know what hit it.

Now consider their overall management state: no chairman, no CEO, no head of their academy, no head of football operations. If they lose tomorrow night, they could soon be without a manager, which isn’t an ideal place to be if you are a club that just posted £17.7 million in losses.

I’m no accountant, but if this were a business looking for investment, I wouldn’t touch it. Their avenues for growth are nearly exhausted. Their stadium and kits already look like Formula One cars plastered with advertising. Yet these deals bring in paltry sums, particularly in relation to what we make.

Season tickets are maxed out, and even with sell-outs, they can’t erase the 10,000-seat deficit. Adding a few seats here and there won’t close that gap. They made an almighty mess just trying to fit extra seating and disabled access over the summer. The idea of a major stadium renovation to shift the balance is laughable.

If Celtic were in their position, I’d be terrified.

There’s no clear solution, no easy way out.

Financial sustainability rules have blocked the “oligarch bailout” option.

All they have left is a season ticket base that’s stayed loyal through the past decade. But even that could waver if their form dips further. Third place is a very real threat this season, and if Aberdeen pulls out a win tomorrow, they’ll be circling the drain yet again.

If they can’t offer fans any glimmer of hope, the downward spiral will accelerate.

And if the fans lose faith, season ticket numbers will fall as well, and with them, so does everything else.

So, yes, this is a massive development, a watershed moment.

It’s a fear and loathing night alright … their forums are already in uproar.

Stock up on jelly and ice cream because their next few weeks and months are likely to be the stuff of legend. Buckle up—it’s going to be a long, bumpy ride for them and a very entertaining one for us.

Share this article

13 comments

  • Johnny Green says:

    Great news James, you’ve made my day…….and I’m looking forward to the end game.

  • TonyB says:

    The only hope they have now is the pro zombie corruption that exists at all levels in Scottish football.

    Expect a pattern of assistance that will make previous ones seem tame.

  • Pilgrim73 says:

    Loans up by £10m also. And the big one, by my calculations they have a 79% wages & transfer spend v revenue. That is not sustainable under UEFA spending rules. Yes it was under the 90% cap for that accounting year but it won’t be good enough cone season 25/26 and given the impoverished nature of the squad they have now it paints a gloomy picture for their fans.

  • BerkShireBhoy180 says:

    Their numbers(no matter how bad) won’t matter as the SFA will change the rules accordingly to help them. If they do go into administration watch the rule changing gymnastics that get performed to help them compared to ICT whose fans at least tried to save their club.

  • Johnny Green says:

    I’m looking forward to Journey Mk 2. the last one was brilliant, oh so funny.

    Same auld Cowdenbeath….always cheatin! LOL

  • Mr Magoo says:

    Fingers crossed it’s tit’s up fir they cnuts again.

    Just imagine , hearts relegated and they cnuts out of scottish football altogether .

    Alternative let em back in to lower leagues or juniors lol.

    We can watch them suffer over and over again

    • davidnewton1888@gmail.com says:

      Watching them suffer over and over again, absolute fewkin genius.
      Imagine at the start of every season we have to check the non-league fixtures to see which village team is pumping them this week. And watching the Clyde every Saturday when that battered old 10-man dinghy pulls up from Belfast wi them red faced zombies climbing oot and getting the bus tae Larkhall for a pint in the cnut and maggot before the 7-aside league game starts.
      And there he is, a forlorn figure on the touchline wi a bottle of Buckie and a roll up, pishy joggy bottoms on and Donnay gutties, Belgium Beale shouting “i telt you me and TavPen are unsociable, and we’re here till the death”
      Yeah Phil, we’re all here for that … again

      This should definitely be made into a film, called “you can’t kill what’s already deid”

  • Brattbakk says:

    I’m finding it hard to hate them when they bring so much joy. Their fans have already started not turning up but still bought the tickets. Even if they beat Aberdeen, it just staves off the collapse for another few days. How is their wage bill still so high? How much are they paying the dross they’ve signed? Is it Tav’s bonus? Or Clements improved terms? Hahahaha

    • davidnewton1888@gmail.com says:

      It’s the joy of the pain.
      What I love and is pure stauner material is the hope. It’s the hope that kills them you see.
      Pour me a large glass of hope and a pint of delusional tops, cos theRangers are coming.

      Naw yer no coming, yer gowan, gowan doon the swany and the slow demise is erotic.

      But we also have to consider the fact that you can’t kill whats already deid.

  • PortoJoe says:

    We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the financial numbers are largely driven from decisions made and approved in the boardroom – levels of salaries to pay and transfer fees agreed, together with commercial and sponsorship deals and a modern approach to media related sales and relations.
    Our board has been good at leading on lots of this stuff (and yes maybe not so good on the football side that matters). We should give credit for this as it doesn’t just happen and it makes a huge impact on our numbers, as you point out James.

  • davidnewton1888@gmail.com says:

    I’d just like to say that I’m grateful to them.
    They’re the only banter club keeping me happy and smiling.
    The sheer joy of them starting every season full of hope and glee and their wee hateful songs sung from their wee hateful hearts from their wee black hearts, until reality hits.
    Banter no1 rated incident – went tae Seville to win the Europa League Cup, and ended up losing and drinking jobbie water. All that way to watch the highest paid player in Scotland fluff a penalty, and they celebrated with turd based cocktails.
    I’m breathless.
    They must never be allowed to cease to exist.
    Sally celebrating the 92nd minute goal to secure and win against Brechin on a lively Tuesday night. I’ll play that video forever.

    No, they must stay. We should start a collection, some pennies for the urchins who attend family weddings in search of a bride.
    For it is them, and only them, who are capable of such banter.
    How boring would it be if they did go?

    Let’s hope Hearts get relegated and theRangers stay afloat for this is banter the world has never seen the likes of before

    And Barry Ferguson has to always have that 5-year old boys haircut, I laugh out loud just thinking about his fringe, they can’t take him away from us, that’s just cruel

  • Jay says:

    I hope you are correct that no oligarch deal is possible.
    I don’t think anyone would invest to that degree anyway in Scottish football as the potential future profits aren’t there but I’m concerned by the ineptitude of the SFA & the complete lack of authority they hold.
    The charges that sit against Manchester City would be what really concerns me because if someone was stupid enough to invest in them, they could dope the numbers in the same way with inflated sponsorship deals with linked businesses & they’d be right back to there old ways of just spend spend spend & unlike the prem there would be no attempts to curtail it.

    I know the chance of the initial investment are likely <1% or but I just expect that club to somehow wangle a way to come back from the dead AGAIN!

    That is my pessimistic outlook coming through though. The joy if we had a continuation of this season forever more where the likes of Rangers & Hearts flounder & competition comes from other areas would be hugely refreshing.

Comments are closed.

×