Lawwell reinforces the message of Celtic preparing to fail

Peter Lawwell has reiterated that the policy of the Celtic board is to buffer the club for failing to reach the group stage of the Champions League.

Last season’s participation, driven by the success of Ange Postecoglou in the SPFL, took Celtic back into the big time for the first time in five years.

AEK Athens, Cluj, Ferencvaros and Midtjylland caused severe damage to the balance sheet with a differential of around £20m attributed to reaching the Champions League compared to playing in the Europa League. Previously Malmo and Maribor had knocked Celtic out of the Champions League.

The value of showcasing players in the elite competition can’t be quantified while Champions League football makes the club more attractive to prospective signings with a variety of commercial knock-on benefits.

This season is Celtic’s fourth in the Champions League in the last 10 years with Lawwell spelling out in the Annual Report how the boardroom strategy is geared towards preparing to fail in the Champions League:

In terms of funding and liquidity, our year end cash, net of bank borrowings, was £72.3m (2022: £30.2m).

The increase this year was principally due to the translation into cash of the strong trading environment and the typically non-recurring items mentioned previously.

These reserves were used to fund the summer 2023 transfer window and will be used for settling outstanding sums due from transfers over the last two seasons, which are typically paid in instalments.

This sum also contains the cash required to fund the significant investment that the Club is planning to make in developing our Barrowfield training facility. It is important to highlight that, given the increasing gap between the sums able to be earned between the Champions League and the Europa League, it is vital that we retain a cash buffer in reserve.

History tells us that we will not always qualify for the Champions League and the benefit of holding cash reserves affords us the optionality of managing through seasons where we participate in the Europa League with the ability to retain our squad as opposed to selling key players to bridge the income shortfall between both competitions.

Reaching the Champions League didn’t prevent the sales of Jota and Carl Starfelt, two starters whenever they were fit since moving to the club in the summer of 2021.

If suitable offers come in Celtic’s track record is that they will sell players regardless of whether they are in the Champions League or not.