The Daily Record is stepping up its race to merge with Ibrox fan media as they chase a digital audience to stay afloat.
With print sales hovering at just over 40,000 a day the management at the Record has virtually given up on that market with the paper edition an afterthought from the previous days online content.
Savvy Celtic fans have steered well clear of the Glasgow based publisher for years, it is a guilty pleasure for many as they take in the spin from fakeovers through to super stadiums, hover pitches and a variety of other moonbeams.
Sometimes it is full on but this morning the more subtle approach is taken as they wrap up a number of fantasies aimed at grabbing a share of the online market.
The Seville Calculator is a favoured phrase among online bears as they mock the number of Celtic fans who travelled to the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.
The internet was still in its earliest days, most fans had to book up through traditional travel agents, finding a direct from from Scotland to Spain was almost impossible a week after the semi-final victory over Boavista.
From the last 16 victory over Stuttgart many fans booked up a weeks holiday in Spain for May, just in case. Buses left Benidorm, Alicante and other Costa hotspots for six hour journeys and more, others were happy to soak up the atmosphere in a friendly holiday resort.
In total 21,000 fans flew ‘directly’ from Scotland to the match, those flights went to Seville, Faro and Malaga, the majority of fans had to make alternative arrangement with additional flights put on from Manchester and London to cope with the demand.
The Record reported:
Alan Brazil admits he COULD see Jose Mourinho managing Rangers.
The Fenerbahce boss was asked directly about managing Gers – or bitter rivals Celtic – by Record Sport in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Europa League last 16 first leg clash against Barry Ferguson’s men in Istanbul. The Special One said not right now, but in the future, why not? As he praised the passion of Scottish football, admitting it has the “fire” he looks for in a league.
And while talkSport host Brazil jokingly told Mourinho to stay away from Ibrox, he did admit that with the fresh investment about to pour into Rangers from 49ers Enterprises as they close in on a deal to buy the club, that he wouldn’t completely dismiss Mourinho becoming the new gaffer in Govan at some stage. But only after giving Gabby Agbonlahor a brief history lesson on Celtic vs Mourinho’s Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.
One sobering thought for the management of the Record is that there were twice as many Celtic fans in Seville compared to the number buying the Record today.
There is more chance of circulation of the Record soaring to 49,000 than of the San Francisco 49ers taking control of the 2012 Ibrox Tribute Act and bankrolling a spending splurge as the Record reported 15 days
Every newspaper produced a supplement or pull-out, they all jumped on board because they knew that there was huge demand and interest in the match.
BBC Scotland and STV sent out teams of reporters to base themselves in Seville with the tea-time news magazines full of content from supporters enjoying the 30 degrees plus temperatures in the most sophisticated of Spanish cities. The Record even sent out a ‘Battle Bus’ to Seville, not all fans were pleased with that reminder from home.
The support that went to Seville in 2003 was real, awards followed from UEFA and FIFA, it was the biggest ever movement of Scottish fans outside of the UK.
No arrests were made, you’ll barely find a mention of Manchester 2008 on the pages of the ailing Glasgow tabloid.
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by Peter Christie
I was in Albufera that week
The whole resort was crammed with Celtic fans