Current HCTS rules allow Celtic PLC to shaft scheme members | OneFootball

A word on transparency and the Green Brigade’s point on Celtic selling increasing numbers hospitality tickets for considerably higher prices that the ordinary season ticket will pay if they are successful in the secretive Celtic Ticket Office ballot…

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

You just have to look at the number of executive coaches heading to Hampden from Celtic Park to see that these numbers have risen, a point that we have made on The Celtic Star previously. Our issue with this is where the tickets are coming from?

Well they are coming from the allocation given to the club by either the SPFL (for the Premier Sports Cup) or the Scottish FA (for the Scottish Cup).  These tickets needed to satisfy the additional corporate sales are then allocated by the club to the corporates at the expense of supporters who in good faith joined the HCTS.

On transparency, at no point did Celtic say to supporters that they now require an additional number of corporate tickets so your chances of getting a ticket in any Hampden ballot has been reduced. In these circumstances do you wish to continue?

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Look at it this way. If you place a bet at the bookies and take odds of 5/1 then when collecting your winnings you are told “actually we changed the odds to 4/1 without telling you….”

That’s exactly what the Celtic Ticket Office appears to be doing to the supporters on the HCTS. It’s shady to say the least but then again there’s very little to be said regarding fairness and transparency when talking about the way Celtic Ticket Office works.

This is where you join the HCTS. It says nothing at all about how Celtic allocate tickets to members on the scheme, so in theory as the trend for corporate hospitality continues to grow Celtic could allocate more and more tickets to this area and therefore fewer and fewer to ordinary supporters.

Celtic supporters shows their support at full-time following the team’s victory in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

It’s time for Celtic to clarify this and we have time to state our case and ask for transparency ahead of season ticket renewals for next season. As things stand Celtic can move the goalposts and always in a direction that is going to disadvantage ordinary season ticket holders.

So you can go to the Falkirk game on a Friday night, they’ll take your money regardless, but come the glamour games at Hampden, it’s a different story and you’re chances are being reduced without them having to tell you that it’s happening.

This is exactly the kind of issue that the Celtic Fans Collective should be taking up with the club on behalf of the Celtic support. Ask for the number of tickets allocated via the HCTS over the last five games at Hampden against theRangers. The number should be the same except for the next game due to the 500 ticket punishment that the SPFL actually did flag up well in advance.

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

If they have nothing to hide on this Celtic could say for example, four games x 20k and one 19.5k and that would be perfectly reasonable. Allocating additional tickets for corporate sales is of course an increasing trend in football and Celtic PLC are always looking at new and improving revenue streams. Fair enough, they are a PLC first and foremost after all.

But if you are going to cut season ticket holders’ (on HCTS) chances without telling them then that’s not on and should be called out, as the Green Brigade did yesterday and The Celtic Star did ahead of the Scottish Cup Final back in May.

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Pyros from the Saints supporters. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

If it’s not the case then fair enough, a simple explanation is required. Otherwise the HCTS as it currently stands is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.

The HCTS is renewed annually. It is essentially a contract between the season ticket holder and the club. The terms of that contract were set by the club. It’s really needs to be re-negotiated on behalf of Celtic supporters who are being asked to pay but regardless of the gap between perceived and actual benefit widening.

Certainly one for the Celtic Fans Collective to consider.

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Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star

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