CELTIC WOMEN: A NEW, SMALLER STADIUM IS A GOOD IDEA, SHARING WITH RANGERS ISN’T
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I read this morning about the proposed three-way groundshare between Glasgow City, Celtic and Rangers.
It makes sense for Women’s football in Scotland to look at ways of maximizing income, whilst minimizing outgoings.
It’s also, unfortunately, an acceptance of the harsh reality that a 3-5,000 capacity stadium is probably about right in the current climate.
Women’s football in Scotland is still a developing sport.
As much as I personally enjoying watching Celtic Women play, I know that plenty of fans remain unconvinced on the merits of a Celtic Women’s team.
Celtic Women Need a Permanent Home And Celtic Could Use an Extra Stadium
The harsh reality is that Celtic Women don’t draw as many supporters as we would like, at the moment.
However, as I already said, women’s football in Scotland is still at a relatively early stage of development.
Here in Japan, where we actually managed to win the Women’s World Cup in 2011, I can see the fruits of perseverance in this regard.
Japan is about 15-20 years ahead of Scotland in terms of the development of the Women’s professional game.
There are a number of reasons why Celtic Women struggle to consistently pull in big crowds.
I would argue that making fans travel first to Airdrie and now Hamilton isn’t ideal, and could, at least partially, be one cause of the low crowds.
Celtic in all its forms are a Glasgow institution, and we should have a stadium in Glasgow for all our teams.
There’s also the fact that Celtic Women often have games scheduled on the same day as Celtic’s first team matches.
Making fans choose one over the other, when I’m sure there are plenty of us who want to support both, is, frankly, dumb. There’s no other word for it; it’s just bad planning.
However, I really don’t think any groundshare arrangement that involves Rangers is a good idea. It’s not just because of the personal distain I have for that club and its supporters.
It just isn’t good business for Celtic, or indeed any progressive brand to be associated with such a regressive club.
The “Old Firm” died in 2012 with the old Rangers, and in the eyes of many Celtic fans, myself included, we rejected any sense of association with Rangers as a brand long before that.
There are a multitude of reasons why they are known internationally as “Scotland’s Shame”, and that’s baggage that Celtic don’t need.
Instead, let’s build a new stadium facility, not just for our women’s team but for our B Team, our youth teams, and so on.
Lennoxtown is the first team training center, Celtic Park is where the first team play their matches.
But there are enough other teams that still fall under the Celtic banner to warrant a second, smaller stadium.
So, I say ditch this shared stadium idea, or let Glasgow City and Rangers go for it as a partnership if they so desire. Celtic are a bigger brand than either of them, even if our women’s team haven’t quite been up there in terms of performance this season.
Most fans who don’t support the idea of a Celtic Women’s team worry that it is an unnecessary diversion of funds and resources from our first team.
I strongly disagree with this.
However, if you are one of those fans, then surely it makes more financial sense, in the long term, for the women, the B team, and our youth teams to have their own, custom-built facility.
This would, in the long run, be a huge step towards making Celtic Women “financially self-sustaining” as I often hear those opposed to the women’s team demanding.
It would also add some prestige. The FIFA Women’s World Cup will come to Scotland as one of the co-hosts in 2035.
Wouldn’t it be a great advert for Celtic if we had our own facility, in addition to Celtic Park, that we could make available for the tournament?
Women’s Football is here to stay, and I think its time Celtic got fully onboard with helping our team be the best they can be. Giving them a permanent home, alongside the B team and the youths would be a great start.
Then we can talk about scheduling the games so fans no longer have to choose between supporting our men or our women.
I want to support everyone who wears the hoops, regardless of their age or gender. Hopefully you do too.