Celtic’s 2024 Annual General Meeting [AGM] is set to take place this week and it’s one of the most important dates in the calendar for fans and shareholders.
This is the one day when fans and shareholders can look the Celtic hierarchy in the eye and demand direct answers to questions that have been annoying them for the last twelve months.
So with that in mind, here are six burning issues 67 Hail Hail believe Celtic fans need answers to and addressed over the next 12 months.
Celtic’s January transfer budget
As everyone knows, Celtic are cash-rich right now. The Bhoys spent £33m in the summer strengthening the squad and pretty much most, if not all, of that outlay was offset by players who were offloaded in the transfer window.
With Celtic announcing a record turnover of £124.6m in the latest set of accounts, there is still plenty of money in the bank to splash in January.
Celtic need another striker, a permanent left-back and should Kasper Schmeichel not decide to stay on another season, a second goalkeeper is likely to be on Brendan Rodgers’ list.
The Celtic End
The Green Brigade have long advocated having the full Jock Stein Stand allocated as a safe standing area where fans can enjoy the matchday experience much like they do in the north curve.
However, Celtic rejected those plans earlier this year and it was met with scathing criticism from fans despite how impressive it looks when it was used that way for SWPL matches.
There are stumbling blocks in the way as Celtic would have to get fans who own season tickets in that section to agree to a move but with demand growing for this, it is likely someone is going to ask the question.
Celtic fans and pyro
Some Celtic fans enjoy the atmosphere and colour pyro brings to games, especially on European nights and Glasgow Derby’s at Celtic Park.
However, with Celtic falling foul of several UEFA fines for the use of the illegal devices, it is likely that fans and shareholders will want this contentious issue addressed.
There will be fans who will want the club to try and convince the authorities that pyro should be legalised and allowed inside grounds for safe use whereas there are others who cannot stand the devices.
The club and Brendan Rodgers have made their feelings clear on pyro but there is no denying that the fireworks will cause several talking points not just at the AGM but throughout the whole season.
Celtic Park ticket exchange scheme and away allocations
The demand to watch Celtic at Parkhead has been outstripping availability for a number of years now. With the season ticket waiting list growing by the year, many fans will feel a sense of frustration at not being able to watch their heroes at Celtic Park.
Especially when watching on TV there are several empty seats on home matchday. Now, for whatever reason, not every Celtic fan can make every home game.
That is fine and the wider Celtic support does not have an issue with that. But surely Celtic could have been at the forefront of an initiative that has been started by Aberdeen this season where the Pittodrie club have begun a ticket exchange service where season ticket holders can put their tickets up for resale in exchange for 30% of the pro-rata cost being refunded back?
Celtic away ticket allocations will also be a burning issue for fans after season-on-season cuts to the number of briefs being made available to the travelling support. No doubt questions will be asked of the board on what they are trying to do to remedy this.
- READ ON: Everything you need to know about Celtic’s 2024 AGM, start time, special resolutions and more
The mysterious 2024 Celtic Fan Survey
The Celtic Fan Survey closed in July this year after the club put together a 25-minute questionnaire asking the support for their opinion on various matters surrounding the club.
Fan engagement, catering, Celtic TV and much more were asked about but, as yet, there has been no mention of the survey almost six months on.
Main Stand redevelopment to expand Celtic Park
With 60,000 seats, Celtic Park is the second largest stadium in the country and puts the club at a huge financial advantage over Rangers with an extra 10,000 season ticket holders each year.
Fergus McCann future-proofed Celtic as he started work to rebuild the stadium back in 1994, but now, there seems to be a growing number of fans wanting the club to complete the work and have a full two-tier wrap-around over the main stand.
That would create thousands of extra seats and more season ticket holders, reduce the waiting list and allow more fans access to single matchday tickets as well as increase the yearly income significantly with extra season ticket sales.
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