We Pay Our Way – So Why Are We Treated Like We Don’t?

Time for positive partnership between civic society & football

It’s that time again. Time for the annual round of criticism. The football season is about to start and once again incidents of chanting, illicit flag waving and general behaviour the chattering clases loathe. It’s time to tell Celtic & football fans how to behave. Time to pretend we’re some rogue outfit whose success comes without responsibility. And yet again, I find myself asking the same question—what exactly do we get back for everything we put in?

Because let’s be clear: Celtic pay their way. And then some.

Each year, Celtic pay tens of millions of pounds to various arms of the UK state, the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council. And we’re not talking about vague “economic impact” here—we’re talking hard cash. Treasury. HMRC. Direct payments.

Let’s run through some numbers: