Lawwell calls on Uefa to widen access to Europe

On the day Celtic published annual accounts showing a ten-year low in turnover as a result of last year’s failure to secure either Champions League or Europa League group stage participation, Lawwell told The Scotsman that some clubs are being “polarised” financially by the existing Uefa model.

Only the top 12 nations in the Uefa co-efficient rankings table are guaranteed automatic qualification places for their clubs into the lucrative Champions League group phase.

Scotland are currently in 16th place and in serious danger of sliding even further down the rankings unless Celtic, Rangers or Hearts can make a significant impact in the Europa League this season.

Celtic’s turnover reached a record high of £75.24 million three years ago in the midst of a profitable spell which saw them participate in the Champions League group stage five times in six seasons.

But as they go into their third successive campaign without Champions League football, Celtic yesterday revealed a turnover of £52.56m which reflects the value of Uefa’s elite tournament.

Lawwell is determined that Celtic should return to the Champions League on merit but is aware of the increasingly daunting qualification process Scottish clubs must face in order to get there.

“I think the access rules should be looked at,” Lawwell told The Scotsman. “It gets more difficult all the time for clubs like ourselves to get into the group stage. The fewer occasions we are in the Champions League, the more difficult it gets.

“I would support a change which saw the champions from more middle-ranking nations like Scotland given an automatic place in the group stage. At the moment, there is a polarisation of clubs in Europe and it has a detrimental effect on competition.

“Financially, we are at such a disadvantage here. In addition to the big five nations (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France), we now have clubs from eastern European nations such as Russia and Ukraine with significant money to spend. You also have clubs from Turkey investing heavily,” explained Lawwell.

“Celtic want to be a Champions League club, we believe that is the stage the club should be on. European football is the key for us financially and having virtually no European football last season had a major effect on our turnover.”

Celtic have cut their cloth accordingly, reducing their operating expenses last season by almost £5m to £52.5m, partly as a consequence of lowering their wage bill.

“We can’t afford to buy Champions League level players,” added Lawwell, “so we need to create Champions League players instead. With the financial resources available to us reduced, we have to make the most of our intellectual capital.

“We have to do that by sourcing potential Champions League players through our scouting network, which we believe is world class, bring those players here and develop them.

We have had success in that way with the acquisition and development of players like Ki Sung Yeung, Beram Kayal and Emilio Izaguirre.”

Celtic invested £10.5m in new players last season, but recouped more than £13m, mostly from the sales of Aiden McGeady, Stephen McManus, Artur Boruc and Marc-Antoine Fortune.

The club’s debt, which had risen to just over £9m in their half-yearly accounts published in February, has now been slashed to a negligible £530,000.

“We knew we had receipts to come in during the second half of the year, so the size of the debt was never a concern for us,” said Lawwell. “We had planned for it, there were no problems.”

In his formal statement to shareholders which accompanied yesterday’s accounts, meanwhile, Lawwell proceeded to reflect on the consequences of Celtic’s failure to win the SPL championship for a third campaign in succession.

“Results on the pitch continue to be the major influence on trading performance,” he wrote. “Our failure to recapture the Scottish Premier League title last year, and its impact on European qualification, again had a detrimental effect on our performance in 2010-11. Nevertheless, sensible cost management and effective financial controls, in addition to the gains reported from the disposal of player registrations, mitigated the negative impact, resulting in reasonable financial results.

“Revenues generated by progress in European competitions remain of major significance and provide greater flexibility when considering player investment.

“Our Five-Year Plan recognises the need to compete successfully in the Scottish Premier League, the winners of which in 2011-12 will gain entry to qualifying game 3 for the group stage of the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League. Overall the key company objective remains football success, as this will greatly assist revenue generation. However the funding of that success must clearly recognise the financial constraints applicable to the organisation, particularly as Celtic continues to play in the Scottish football environment and the challenges that such an environment present.

“The development of a greater number of internally generated players through continued investment in youth development and scouting facilities will assist in addressing such issues. As a result, the profitable sale of player registrations is important in addition to any incremental contribution from European progression.”