Earlier this month it appeared that the Celtic vs Athletic Bilbao friendly, a testimonial for long-serving winger James Forrest, hadn’t exactly captured the imagination of the support.
Only the bottom tier of Celtic Park was on sale for the August 1st clash and even then there were many seats left at the level behind both goals at the stadium. The good news is, a few days out, the expected crowd looks much healthier than feared.
A look at Celtic’s ticketing website today shows that the bottom tier is almost entirely sold out. Tickets are still available in the Jock Stein Lower and Lisbon Lions Lower, but they all seem to be single-ticket offerings. It’s hard to find two seats together unless on the top tier. The Main Stand is also on the brink of being unavailable.
The front half of that top tier has now been put on sale, where large groupings of seats have been sold across the North Stand and directly behind the penalty areas.
It’s hard to know for sure but, purely eyeballing what’s available, a fair estimate of Tuesday’s potential crowd would be between 30,000 and 35,000 people. For a pre-season match on a mid-week night, that’s pretty good going.
I don’t think anyone really expected this one to be a sell-out despite Forrest’s enormous contribution to the Bhoys, but there’s still time for plenty of more box office sales between now and Tuesday night. Tickets remain on sale priced at £14 for concessions and £22 for adults.
This will be the first time home fans get the chance to see the new Brendan Rodgers era on the pitch, just ahead of Flag Day against Ross County next weekend.
It’s also a special occasion to pay tribute to Forrest, whose medal and goal haul across the years will mean he is always remembered fondly by the support in future.
What’s more, charities will benefit. A significant proportion of funds raised will go to two groups – the Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride, which provides palliative care, and the Celtic FC Foundation.
A fantastic night is in store against quality La Liga opposition!
In other news, Celtic to take part in Premier League International Cup; full list of teams, tough draw.
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