Celtic Park: A Legacy of Neglect and Discontent

A 32 minute video highlights the shocking state of Celtic Park on the back of years of neglect has been released.

Over recent times, especially since the turn of the year there has been growing social media references to the conditions in and around the stadium, rarely favourable.

It seems that the effect of Storm Eowyn in January is still being felt around Celtic Park, it is either that or the club just doesn’t care about the entitled customers. During the summer improvements were carried out to the 15 Executive Boxes in the South Stand, the ones that already have hot water and Ladies toilets.

Like the approach to football matters employed under Michael Nicholson the club does the bare minimum in every other area. If it isn’t broke why fix it seems to be the mantra but that approach is showing up all around the dilapidated stadium and the under utilised footprint.

It genuinely appears that not even minimal maintenance has been carried out at Celtic Park this century, the Jock Stein Stand was opened in August 1998, a Spot The Difference competition would test the knowledge of almost all fans.

YEARS OF NEGLECT

In 2014 The Celtic Way was created following the demolition of the London Road School, it still looks impressive but closer inspection shows up a high level of neglect, the statues of Billy McNeill, Jock Stein, Brother Walfrid and Jimmy Johnstone are looking weathered, it seems that they are rarely given a scrub.

The Celtic World Order podcast took a look around the stadium, highlighting a number of issues that are simply the results of neglect.

It is unknown if the club employs any sort of Stadium Maintenance Team, the basics seem to have become a casualty for a club so deep in profit that £11.75m was paid out in Corporation Tax on profits to HMRC.

If Nicholson refuses to spend on players to give Brendan Rodgers a greater chance of success surely he could create a budget of £1m or £2m to ensure that the area around the four stands is kept to a decent level.

2 minutes 30 seconds: The Celtic Way Wall at the Billy McNeill statue, unveiled in 2015 is badly weathered and needing cleaned up.
6 minutes 20 seconds: The famous UEFA Gazebo, without adequate media facilities on big matchdays the top European managers and players are led into a tent.
10 minutes 50 seconds: The tacky entrance to Kerrydale Suite, covered in stickers and unappealing
16 minutes 47 seconds: Dafabet advert referencing the #trebletreble, looks untouched in six years apart from some graffiti.
18 minutes 30 seconds: The corner between the Lisbon Lions Stand and South Stand is a mix of wrap-overs and exposed building works.

BARROWFIELD

The above issues could easily be resolved without impacting on budgets anywhere else in the club, clearly income far outstrips outgoings, even with the white elephant of the Barrowfield Training Centre opened half a mile from Celtic Park.

Having the greatest training facilities in Scotland isn’t going to create a single first team player when post Academy players are facing part time opponents such as Caledonian Braves, Civil Service Strollers, Cowdenbeath and Berwick Rangers.

Around Celtic Park the biggest concern in the decaying South Stand. The foundations were laid in 1929, the current seating was created in 1971 with a new facade put in place in 1988 which basically created office space and some hospitality areas.

EUROPEAN COMPARISONS

Media facilities were neglected, tonight the players and Braga management will be ushered into a glorified tent to discuss their Europa League tie.

The Gazebo first appeared in 2001, it was thought to be temporary but has outlasted the players of that era, it has become an embarrassing part of the Celtic Park European experience.

At a recent meeting with selected supporters groups Nicholson said that the South Stand wouldn’t be developed while Celtic played in the SPFL.

In the mid nineties when Celtic hadn’t even played a Champions League qualifier Fergus McCann showed the ambition to build three stands hosting 52,000 fans that didn’t plunge the club into liquidation.

The current ‘custodians’ can’t provide hot water or Ladies toilets outside of the corporate areas in the South Stand, the Gents toilets are best avoided.

All of these issues and more are coming to the fore, in recent years Celtic fans have been visiting the stunning stadiums of Madrid, Munich, Dortmund and elsewhere.

They see what is possible.

No fan is expecting the club to be competing at the high end of the transfer market but there are no excuses for the neglect shown in every area by the executives that dine out on the tag line of being ‘more than a club’ while barely paying lip service to what the slogan really means.