A Glasgow city centre pub popular with Celtic supporters on matchdays, McChuills, is facing a fight for its survival due to ongoing pandemic restrictions wreaking havoc with the business.
The owners have repurposed the 27-year-old venue as a daytime cafe, hoping to bring in enough punters to see them through the latest batch of regulations that make it exceptionally difficult for pubs to operate.
They have also launched a Crowdfunder, explaining their situation and asking generous patrons to donate some money to help keep the doors open into 2021.
A Facebook post said: “It is with a heavy heart we need to ask for our loyal customers to help to keep McChuills alive. Over the recent months we have exhausted every avenue of funding and what little we have received has not been enough to break even.
“We have adapted both the pub and it’s purpose more than once, going from a live venue and bar to where it stands now as a daytime cafe, in an effort to remain open and save jobs, but we are sadly facing closing the doors for good in the very near future.”
Known as a live music spot, McChuills is also very popular with Celtic supporters, especially when the Bhoys are playing at home, being one of the last city centre pubs before taking a route up the Gallowgate towards Celtic Park.
The pub’s culture goes well beyond football, attracting people from various subcultures together into one establishment. It makes for a pretty interesting and joyful night out regardless of your interests.
As you’d expect, plenty of people have been supporting their cause, including BBC Radio Scotland’s Off The Ball programme. Presenter Stuart Cosgrove gave the venue a heartwarming shoutout on Sunday afternoon.
At the time of publishing, a massive £14,495 has been raised via their crowdfund plea, though that is still significantly short of their stated goal.
Hopefully, when football does allow the return of fans, the established spots for Celtic fans to socialise before and after matches remain.
In other news, Celtic star Ryan Christie has impressed Scotland fans today despite a defeat to Slovakia.
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