28 Sep 2016 22:32:13
Why can't we create an atmosphere like that tonight at Celtic in old trafford with 75,000 crowds.
28 Sep 2016 22:50:59
A lot of prawn sandwich fans.
28 Sep 2016 23:33:33
Its a special Irish magic we have redcon you should get yourself up here for a game and experience it for yourself. I just think with the money that is spent on players at United the fans just sit back and wait for the players to deliver due to their big price tags. As someone who is also a United fan Old Trafford is a special ground also for me.
29 Sep 2016 05:14:41
It was a champions league game of course the atmosphere will be electric. Isn't Celtic the club who were making up false attendances last year?
29 Sep 2016 07:30:31
Do false attendances happen in football?
29 Sep 2016 07:34:40
If you have never been there maze you wouldn't understand. On a European night the best atmosphere in Britain is at Celtic park or anfield by a mile in fact probably best in Europe.
29 Sep 2016 09:46:01
Can't disagree with you that there are good atmospheres at parkhead and anfield, but best in Europe is up for debate. Don't discount the Westfalen stadium in Dortmund when it comes to atmosphere. It is loud colourful and electric.
29 Sep 2016 09:53:27
Ken I have been numerous times and most of my friends are Celtic fans and even they will admit that the attendances have been abysmal the last few years. In fact one of them I was chatting this week was appalled at the attendance of a recent game considering the ticket season allocation that sold out.
I'd agree with Huggy that it may be up there but the best I am not so sure.
29 Sep 2016 10:02:11
It is huggy I agree. They create great noise and no hostility towards opposing fans while still creating intimidating atmosphere for opposing players. Great place to go to a game.
29 Sep 2016 10:07:47
The league up there had become very poor and the standards have dropped significantly. But the cost off going had not come down pro rata so gates are falling. But a high class European fixture up there is certainly one of the best atmosphere to experience. Some of the results they have achieved even in recent years is due to the crowd carrying the players to levels way beyond their normal capabilities which is borne out by their away results.
29 Sep 2016 10:27:34
43,000 season ticket holders last season and 52,000 this season so what figures are made up? For decades we had the biggest club ground on these islands nuntil United extended OT to accomodate all the glory hunters from Surrey, Japan and London, if we were in the EPL we would need to extend our ground to 80,000 to cope with the demand.
29 Sep 2016 10:42:39
jamesbhoy - you haven't thought out your comment very well .
You are, were and always will be playing in a mickey mouse league with no competition outside of Rangers - any European game is greatly anticipated never mind PL opponents, seeing the dross served up there you would sell out for a visit of QPR.
You know very well that a large percentage of your fans travel over from Ireland to games, the coach trips are advertised every week over several days in the Belfast Telegraph and the Derry journal- never mind papers in ROI as are the trips to Anfield, Goodison and OT, geographically equidistant to London and Surrey ( how we chuckle at the Surrey reference )
And the banners from other countries at Celtic park? Presumably these are suburbs of Glasgow
So, an increase in fans to 80,000, these are all fans just waiting in Glasgow for the capacity increase are they?
29 Sep 2016 11:48:54
James not to get into a debate about your club but answer me this did they or did they not fiddle their attendance figures last year? Presumably this was because the club was embarrassed by the numbers.
As for being this global phenomenon that would rip the PL up after you expand your stadia to fit in all the fans, as far I am aware and correct me if I am wrong but aren't Rangers still statistically the most accomplished club in Scotland in terms of silverware?
Ken so basically you are saying just ditch a game if the opponent is not a big club? Ok.
29 Sep 2016 12:14:49
Always thought St. James park was a lively place to enjoy a game.
29 Sep 2016 12:27:08
Redcon, back in the 70s, the atmosphere was superb, we used to sing all match. These days, if I make a comment or start singing, some people look at me like I've got three heads. If I want quiet, I go to church or library!
{Ed025's Note - funny that schmidfield..i dont see you as a bible bashing intellectual mate, but i could be wrong.. :)
29 Sep 2016 12:39:57
Suppose it depends on what you interpret to be a great atmosphere 🙈.
29 Sep 2016 12:49:29
Maze you really do see things how you want to see them. I don't see how you could interpret that from ken's comments.
Clubs to some how magically make up numbers though. I have been at many arsenal games, because I live near stadium, where there have been thousands of empty seats however they say they are at full attendance. The only was I can understand this is due to the fact that their season tickets are sold and even when they don't turn up to games they still count them.
29 Sep 2016 13:19:21
That's not what I said maze at all. And you know it.
29 Sep 2016 14:15:56
jamesbhoy67
As MAZE said, the season ticket sales isn't the issue, they sell out or thereabouts.
The actual attendance has been shocking for league games/ non ECL games.
You could move to the EPL and extend the ground to 80,000 but you would never fill it on even a regular or even a semi regular basis!
29 Sep 2016 15:38:57
I think that the commitment of the Celtic supporters is shown by the number of season tickets they sell.
If fans are willing to put money into the club without going to the matches, doesn't that show how much they love their club, in that although a lot of the matches may be dull and boring, they still want the club to have their money.
Fans could buy tickets on a match to match basis and not be out of pocket, doesn't the fact that they pay for matches that they won't be going to show how committed they are.
I know I'm biased as I'm a season ticket holder at Celtic park, but could I turn this debate the other way round? . How many EPL clubs if they were suddenly placed in the Scottish league without their main rivals, and playing very mediocre opposition week in and week out, would be able to sell 42,000 season tickets? .
I would guess that apart from yourselves and maybe Liverpool, there wouldn't be anyone else.
29 Sep 2016 17:58:25
Well put gerry. You have fantastic support and always have had fantastic support through the years.
29 Sep 2016 17:07:15
Fair point Gerryc, didn't see it like that.
personally though, if i was committed enough to buy a season ticket in the first place then i would attend as many games as possible!
we are all different though, that's what makes it interesting.
30 Sep 2016 07:46:28
Heres a point to consider, how many of those season tickets were sold AFTER the club qualified for the UCL group stages?
Maybe that's why they sold more this season than last?
30 Sep 2016 15:34:32
The 42,000 season tickets were sold last season when we didn't qualify for the Champions league.
This season the figure is around 52,000 season tickets sold, but I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of them were sold before we qualified for the Champions league.
You have to remember as well that Celtic don't have access to the riches that are on offer in the EPL, in England clubs can attract fans on the basis of being able to buy some of the best players in the world. These Celtic fans who buy their season tickets know that the players we can sign are nowhere near the standard that even clubs like Bournemouth and Burnley can buy, financially we aren't on the same planet.
That's why I think that the number of season tickets sold at Celtic is really impressive, if they sell that amount whilst playing in a poor league with very little excitement, can you imagine what we'd be like if we had the same Sky TV money, and were able to buy some world class players?