Europe cash vital as Celtic post £9m fall in turnover

THE importance of winning their Europa League play-off tie against Sion has been brought into sharp focus for Celtic with their annual accounts revealing the lowest turnover they have recorded in ten years.

Failure to reach the group stage of either the Champions League or Europa League last season was the primary factor in Celtic suffering a drop of almost 15 per cent in turnover for the year ended 30 June 2011, the figure of £52.56 million showing a drop of almost £9m from the previous 12-month period. It is Celtic’s lowest turnover since 2001, the year before they competed in the Champions League group stage for the first time.

Celtic have successfully managed the decline in revenue, with yesterday’s accounts also showing their debt reduced to just £530,000, compared to £5.85m at the same time in 2010. Player sales of more than £13m, the bulk of that figure coming from the record £9.5m transfer of Aiden McGeady to Spartak Moscow last August, also helped Celtic show a small profit of £102,000 in contrast to the £2.13m loss they posted last year. But while chief executive Peter Lawwell and outgoing chairman John Reid both hailed the accounts as positive in the circumstances currently facing the club, they made it clear that returning to a sustained presence on the European stage holds the key to increasing revenue.

In his first full season as manager, Neil Lennon oversaw back to back eliminations from the Champions League and Europa League against Braga and Utrecht respectively, leaving Celtic with their poorest financial return from Europe since the early Champions League exit against Artmedia Bratislava six years ago.

Lennon will begin his bid to guide Celtic into the group stage of this season’s Europa League on