£130m - The price of a new main stand?

The final article in the series around financing of infratsructure spend at Celtic Park

Since the summer, I have written a number of pieces for the site about the need for Celtic to spend on infrastructure, and specifically the need for Celtic to spend on stadium infrastructure and a new main stand. It's important to note that it’s been written without prejudice in that I sit in the north stand and so I'm not asking for the main stand to be rebuilt because I want more comfortable seating. I'm wanting it to be rebuilt because, firstly, I'd rather we spent money on ourselves than have a surplus that results in corporation tax going to the tax man. Secondly. I've set this out at length in previous pieces (and if you haven't read them, I would strongly suggest you go back to those Saturday morning articles before continuing with this one) we are a Champion’s League club with a Conference League main stand and facilities. I've written at length about why we should have a new main stand. I've written at length about some of the challenges around funding and the considerations that the board will have about whether to progress with this, but of course the biggest consideration that the board will have is what will the damn thing cost and how practical or impractical is it to build a new stand when we already have a full stadium.

There are three principal considerations that the board would have when looking at the main stand. For me, unfortunately the main one will not be should we do it to make ourselves our champions league club. In fact, that's unlikely to be a consideration at all. They will be looking at:

1) can we afford it?

2) can we build it with an already full stadium?

3) if we build it, will we get a return on investment?

The latter point I might cover only briefly because it's an accountant's position and one that as someone who leaves the number jiggery pokey in my business is somebody else, it's relevant but I sometimes don't think it's as relevant as accountants do.

So let's look at can we afford it and is it possible to build it when we already have a full stadium?

These two points are so closely linked that they have to be looked at in tandem and perhaps we should look at the second point first i.e can we build it when we already have a full stadium?

One of the challenges that Celtic currently have, and perhaps a reason for building a new main stand is the point that was raised in one of the previous articles, that we have a full ground with full corporate facilities and a waiting list. But of course, this poses challenges for the construction of a new means stand full with a full stadium - We've got nowhere to put the main stand occupants whilst it against demolished and rebuilt.

I would expect that the quickest and cheapest solution for the construction of a new main stand would be to bulldoze, the existing one and build a brand new one. It makes everything pretty straightforward. You are having a team in to bulldoze, and you are constructing from scratch. Anything other than that is going to be fiddly, and fiddly in the construction industry equals expensive.

Liverpool have managed to build new stands keeping the existing structure in situ and so we know the principle is possible, but of course what we can't know is whether it's possible at Celtic Park with the existing main stand and the railway tunnels and former mine shafts that we know exist below.

I could end this article here because I don't know the answer and can't know the answer. However, for the purposes of continuing the rest of this piece, let's assume that that is possible, but obviously that would be part of a feasibility study that would need to be undertaken. The more important part in relation to this is, we know that it's feasible to build around an existing stadium stand and not have to decant mass amounts, but obviously that's fiddly and as mentioned, fiddly and construction equals cost. So the first thing that needs to happen at Celtic Park is the feasibility needs to be undertaken on the stadium and the feasibility needs to involve an assessment of the cost of building a new main stand in and around the existing structure to ensure that we can the existing fan base in place.

Now obviously we've got to put this in the context of what's affordable. It's for Celtic, so for example, a bulldozing and rebuilding new means stand with the level of press facilities, corporate facilities, business facilities and other aspects that would be expected of a club of Celtic stature is in the region of, for example, £80-£100 million, but doing that by retaining the existing patrons in the main stand would cost (eg) £300 million then it’s a non-starter. If, however, this price comes in at marginally above (for example £120 million) then that gap is not unbridgeable and must surely be something that Celtic consider.

So what would that cost be?

Crystal Palace NEw Main Stand -

Well, fortunately we have a pretty good idea what the cost would be now in the inflated priced world of post Brexit, post covid, post Russian invasion of Ukraine and all other things that have driven prices for such a project upwards. Crystal Palace are building a brand new main stand. They are increasing capacity from just over 5,000 to 13,500, and in that project they're doing other bits and pieces around the stadium. And so this figure is not just for the main stand, although it principally is, and they are doing it for £150 million. That is a lot of money for Celtic in the financial environment within which we operate and the massive impact that being in or not in the Champions league has for us. Those sorts of financial issues are considered in previous articles and you should read those. However, is £150 million really the cost that it would be to Celtic?