Celtic and a potential future in the European Super League; fresh quotes

By Hamish Carton

March 23, 2023

The prospect of Celtic being part of revised plans for a European Super League is again being reported today.

Plans are currently being developed for an “open-access continental competition” featuring the continent’s biggest clubs.

Sports development company A22 are in charge, as they were for the controversial closed-shop 2021 launch.

Photo by David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Their chief executive Bernd Reichart has been speaking to the PA, with the fresh quotes distributed by multiple outlets including STV.

Reichart was unable to confirm or deny if Celtic were part of discussions, due to confidentiality agreements, but he did speak about Scottish clubs in general.

He said: “Analysing the situation of the Scottish top clubs, the situation they’re in is quite comparable to other European leagues where domestic revenues are not sufficient to grant competitiveness on the bigger European stage.although they have every condition to be one of the big European clubs – football tradition, modern stadia, passionate fan base, historic track record and trophies.

“I see a big opportunity in a multi-divisional system which is granting access to 60 or 80 clubs to have a strong second column [of revenue] you can build your ambition on.

“Currently the recurrent, solid competition you’re building your project on is your domestic league.”

It’s easy to convince yourself that this is just optimistic paper chat, the kind of stuff we’ve heard regularly over the past 20 years.

But the April 2021 Super League episode showed just how serious A22 are, and how quickly these things can materialise.

That launch was a complete disaster and failed as a result, but you get the impression that their second go is going to be better thought out.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

As per the article, A22 is proposing an “open, 60 to 80-team multi-divisional format” which guarantees competing teams at least 14 European fixtures per season.

At present, the Scottish league winners are guaranteed just six Champions League matches per season, as Celtic found out this season.

As we mentioned yesterday, that number will rise to a minimum of eight in a Champions League format change coming in from season 2024/25.

Given the disparity that exists between Celtic and Scottish football in general, more European football is what we should all be hoping for.

Regardless of what way things go with the Super League proposals, it seems like increased action in continental competition is in the post.

File this under ‘one to watch’.

In other news, additional tickets for the upcoming derby have sold out in a matter of minutes

Hamish Carton
Hamish Carton is a sports media professional with more than eight years of experience in the industry. Previously a football reporter for the Press Association, Hamish joined 67 Hail Hail to cover his beloved Celtic FC, the team he has supported all of his life. He is the face of the website’s YouTube channel and is responsible for planning, presenting and editing videos on the channel. He writes occasionally on the website and, just like Patrick, he is so in love with Ange Postecoglou that he's even written a book about his journey at Celtic.

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