Reid insists Celtic will not fall into foreign hands

Published on Wednesday 22 October 2008 00:28

CHAIRMAN John Reid insists Celtic will continue to live within their means, despite admitting they are unable to complete with the financial might of their fellow European heavyweights.

Reid is eager to increase the Scottish champions' worldwide appeal, claiming playing in Scotland limits the club's ability to generate income. But he says that Celtic are more than capable of "punching above our weight".

Manchester United, Celtic's opponents in the Champions League last night, were subject to a takeover by American businessman Malcolm Glazer in May 2005, while United's neighbours, Manchester City, have twice been under foreign ownership since Thaksin Shinawatra bought the club in the summer of 2007.

There are another seven English Premier League clubs in the hands of foreign owners – Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Sunderland and West Ham United – but Reid says Celtic would not follow in their footsteps.

"No, I wouldn't and Dermot Desmond (Celtic majority shareholder] wouldn't either," he explained.

"We're quite happy taking the (television] money that we got and doing what we have. The key thing about it is not to have somebody who is just handing money out to you, but to run a good business model.

"And despite all of the problems we've had and the limited resources, at our agm last week we were able to report again that, on the business side, we had the board and shareholders had made a small profit.

"We had allocated some towards strengthening our squad, but, there's no doubt about it, we're in a limited market in Scotland for multimedia sales.

"Therefore, when we have to play the Barcelonas or the Manchester Uniteds of the world, we have to punch above our weight because of our sport's size, because of our sporting ability, because of our management and because of the added value we put into that type of players."

He added: "But we would like access to a bigger platform, whether in Europe or outside Scotland, or whatever."

Celtic return to Clydesdale Bank Premier League action this weekend when they take on Hibernian at Celtic Park.

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