I decided not to go with this topic to early and tried to
let the dust settle and see if in time, Celtic would come out with something that
would offer some satisfaction regarding the season ticket renewals. I like to think myself as being petty reasonable,
but my take of the latest statement dated 23rd June, only appears to
raise more questions and further a belief that we as a support are taken for granted.
Please do not take this constructive criticism as me not
getting behind the team. Not the
slightest. I, like many others will
support the team as much as I can, getting behind them and share in the glory
and success. What I cannot do, is sit back
and accept decisions that appear to have no consideration for all
of the support. The statement states
that the club has met with supporters and representatives of supporters group. I do not know of one person within my Celtic
network via friends, family, and associates or even through social media. Can anyone say any different? I would like to take this opportunity to note
that I think that the Supporters Liaison Officer does a great job judging by
what he deals with through Twitter alone, however surely with our fan base the
role should be played by a bigger team, similar to other clubs and not one
person.
If the club have consulted supporters as suggested, to what extent has this been carried out? What is the demographic of the group and can it be a fair representation through the support and why so secretive? One final point in reaching out to the support. Could consultation with supporters not have been completed via an online survey in order to gain a more comprehensive supporter perspective on how to move forward in these unprecedented times.
Assuming the start of the season occurs behind closed doors,
the decision to offer online passes in exchange for not getting to attend the
match in person is a great one in fairness.
One that ensures that we do not miss the match entirely, but it cannot
be for the same price. Even more so where
there are multiple season tickets in one household. And surely, they can do better than a
streaming service, considering Sky are the broadcasters for the league. Could they not go for a pay per view type set
up or would that be expecting too much for Sky to do for the Scottish Game.
In compensation for loss of matches, could the club not
offer something back, even if tokenistic.
Off the top of my head, this could be monthly subscriptions to the TV
channel for a month per match missed; vouchers for a total sum per match that
could be used through out all retail options connected to the club; a price
freeze on future season ticket renewals for number of seasons that equate to
matches missed and/or future cup games offered to cover missed matches. The list
could go on and on. Also, could the club
not allow contact from those fans who have been unfairly hit in the pocket and
begin negotiations that ensure fans continue to support the club as they had
done previously and in doing so, show a more meaningful show of appreciation.
Finally, for me, the fact that the club are looking to bring
in a top production team, offers no compensation. All that matters to me is that the game is
covered effectively and efficiently, rather than getting numerous pundits views
and analysis which more often tends to irritate. This move also does little to inspire the
current production of the club’s TV channel and encourage me to subscribe. It seems to be a slap in the face for those
overseas supporters who already subscribe from far off in order to play their
part in the club.
All this could be for nothing, if we get to attend all of
the home games, but unfortunately, I cannot see this being sanctioned in time
for the start of the season in 5 weeks’ time.
We all know how football and its supporters are viewed politically, so the
return to football will be low down on the list of getting back to normality. I believe that the first supporters back into
the stadium will be done initially on a limited number in order to respect
social distancing and with that will come a whole range of issues which I will
no doubt touch on in the future.
Till the next time.
Hail! Hail!
M
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