please log in to view this image SCOTLAND'S top-flight football clubs have been given a cash boost by an increase in season ticket sales. Figures were also up last season â as fans rallied to offset gate revenue lost by Rangersâ demotion to Division Three. With a week to go before the SPL kicks off, Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs and Partick Thistle all report increases on last year. Inverness CT, Ross County, St Johnstone and St Mirren said levels were much the same as last season. But the Paisley side expect to surge past last yearâs figure as they will wait almost three weeks until their first home league game. Only Dundee United reported a decrease â although sales were at a record level last season with Dundee derbies played in the SPL for the first time in seven years. Neil Patey, from accountants Ernst and Young, said the bounce could be due to league restructuring â or a feelgood factor returning to the economy. He said: âAny increases are a positive message for Scottish football. âFor Hearts, there has been an appeal to fans to buy season tickets and Partick got a boost from promotion. But for all the other clubs, the football situation is pretty much the same as the season before. âGiven all that has gone on in Scottish football, there could have been a concern that season ticket sales could have fallen. âThat doesnât appear to be the case â despite negative predictions when Rangers went down to the Third Division. âMaybe itâs a sign league reconstruction is being viewed positively and the economy generally is better now.â Champions Celtic said sales were up on last seasonâs campaign. They sold more than 42,500 standard season tickets for 2011/12, according to their annual report. These are the most recent figures available for the club. Sales at Hearts were up by more than 1000 on the same time last year.
A good news story. Of course all these Armageddon merchants who received thousands upon thousands of pounds between them* to peddle this ****ty lie will of course retract their bullshit. * I just made that up, but it is definitely definitely true.
Like barbers lobbying against a death sentence on the grounds that one less head of hair to cut would mean a vastly restricted income.
i see your positive story and raise you a negative one... http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/motherwell-st-johnstone-both-set-2097930 MOTHERWELL and St Johnstone both face making brutal losses from the next round of Europa League qualifiers. Our two remaining representatives in the tournament will rack up massive bills trekking to Eastern Europe to face Russians Kuban Krasnodar and FC Minsk of Belarus. Well’s charter flight alone to the remote Russian outpost beyond the far end of Ukraine will cost the Fir Park club £180,000. Although the flight is shorter for Saints, MailSport understands they are having to pay a packet to keep tiny Grodno Airport open after their game to allow them to fly home. And the Perth club will have to shell out more than £4500 to fast-track visas through for players and staff to allow them into Belarus in the first place. With the prize money in the qualifiers only around £86,000 per round, both teams stand to lose a fortune from a competition they fight all year to qualify for. Well gaffer Stuart McCall insists the only way to make money is to reach the group stages – where a minimum £1.1m awaits – and believes it’s time to regionalise the early qualifiers. He said: “We’re having to pay £180,000 for a plane and there isn’t the TV money you’d get for a German or Italian club. “I can’t understand why they don’t regionalise the qualifying rounds. “As it stands, you can only make a profit by reaching the group stage.” That’s still two rounds away for both teams. But despite Saints’ heroics in seeing off Rosenborg last week, the Perth side are facing a logistical nightmare as their reward. Chairman Steve Brown has been forced to fork out £155 a head to speed-up the visa process to get his players to Belarus in time for Thursday’s first leg. And he was stunned to learn their destination airport only opens from 10am to 2pm for regular flights. Saints will now have to foot a hefty bill to open up Grodno Airport after Thursday’s game so they can get back to prepare for the SPFL opener with Hearts at McDiarmid Park on Sunday. And Brown has revealed he will give £1 from the sale of every adult or senior citizen ticket snapped-up by Jambos fans to The 1874 Hearts Fighting Fund.
£180,000 to charter a flight? Really? What a waste - you could hire Rangers chief executive for almost 4 months for that type of money. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23412447
Is Doomcaster still up here trying to run things? He was a right git when he was with us. Had a lot to answer for when we nearly went under
Let's just say opinion is divided where he is concerned, 99% of SPL fans think he's useless, the other 1% think he's doing a fine job.
Even those he bent over backwards to help think he's ****e. and...AND he was still the preferred candidate to get the top job after league restructuring. Most would agree that he was the lesser of two eejits. Just imagine how bad the other guy was.
Aye, why not. Acts of violence against people in charge of sporting organisations isn't even a crime in Scotland and is always defended in the media.
