Would you give up your seat for Celtic?

[+Fraz]

I noticed a tweet the other day (not from the club) asking if people in the North Stand would be willing to give up their season ticket seat when Celtic visit in order to be moved to the main stand (thus the North stand could be sold to them). This would allow an extra revenue of around £50K for the club per game. Arguments about the level of income, if there are enough seats in the main stand etc aside, in theory would you agree to do this? If I remember correctly Killie did this last season and the fans agreed.

As we are very much struggling to balance the books and I have heard that season ticket sales are still slow. So my head says yes but my heart says no chance as it would somewhat feel like we are selling out to Celtic. Guess I'm on the fence!

My first poll so I hope I've done it right!

[ictbob]

I suggested this last season and got slated for it.in these tough times I think fans have to do all they can to help the club financially but with the lake of competition in the league I think Celtic will struggle to sell out the south stand.

[Alex MacLeod]

We have never sold out to Celtic so I cant see it happening. The diehard Northstanders choose that area because they are behind the goal and because its more sheltered. I also dont think there's enough spare seats in the main stand to accomodate all the North ST holders unless they use the uncovered sections.

[Caley Mad In Berks]

We have never sold out to Celtic so I cant see it happening. The diehard Northstanders choose that area because they are behind the goal and because its more sheltered. I also dont think there's enough spare seats in the main stand to accomodate all the North ST holders unless they use the uncovered sections.

At the last home OF game (Rangers, end Feb), the North stand was less than half full. The main stand wasn't full either and my guess would be that those in North stand could have fitted into main stand, albeit using the uncovered wings.

[bishbashbosh]

would consider it as the rain must stop soon, but only if celtic paid the 20 odd quid adult price for all seats in north stand whether they populate them or not on the day.

also Money up front, cash in club bank a/c before game. dont want to loose any more cash to a glasgow club

[bauhaus]

For a start Celtic wouldnt agree to paying up front, think they take a 10% cut of what they sell, and take weeks to pay up aswell. Games average around the 6000 mark for Celtic, which means 3500 ICT fans wouldnt squeeze into the Main stand. Non starter for me.

[Renegade]

I am a North Stand Season Ticket holder, and my answer is absolutely not. When Celtic come to town, there's enough nuggets in the stadium as there is, more so now they've been given them the West Stand as well.

Don't give the club ideas.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Renegade

[+CaleyD]

Obviously the club need to try and find ways to eek every penny they can out of the upcoming season and, in theory, moving home fans around a bit to accommodate additional away fans (when the demand is not there form home fans to fill seats) makes sense.

Not sure the sums add up for moving people from North Stand to Main Stand, but they might stack up for moving people from the South End of the Main Stand further along in order to free up and additional 1000 or so seats.

Under normal circumstances I would probably fall into the "bad idea" camp, but these are not normal circumstances.

Playing a bit of Devils Advocate, would those saying "No" be willing to purchase an extra ticket to compensate for the additional income they are denying the club from selling the seats to someone else?

[Alex MacLeod]

If the question was about Rangers of old then I'd maybe agree. Celtic do not fill our stadium and never have. There are many more Rangers fans in the Inverness catchment area than Celtic. I know that by counting the buses going south when I travel north on match days. Theres at least six 'true blues' bus for every one 'bhoys'

[+CaleyD]

If the question was about Rangers of old then I'd maybe agree. Celtic do not fill our stadium and never have. There are many more Rangers fans in the Inverness catchment area than Celtic. I know that by counting the buses going south when I travel north on match days. Theres at least six 'true blues' bus for every one 'bhoys'

There's little difference between league average attendance for either Rangers or Celtic...in fact Celtic were last to sell out a league game at ICT....so your logic is flawed.

[Alex MacLeod]

When?? What I've seen is that Rangers still hold the ICT record attendances.

[+CaleyD]

We haven't had a sell out crowd against Rangers in 4.5 years

[+DoofersDad]

Maybe with Rangers not being in the SPL next season 2 things will happen.

1. Local Rangers fans deprived of Premier league action will go along and support ICT when they play Celtic. And who knows, even when they aren't!

2. The occasional supporters who might go to watch one or other of the old firm will have no choice this year. If they want to watch ICT play a big team they only have Celtic.

In addition, if we are playing a more attractive brand of football and having a bit of success we may have an increase in gates next season. No doubt I'm clutching at straws here but we just might fill both the North and Main stand when Celtic come calling. We certainly should be able to.

Why can't football fans be like rugby fans and then we wouldn't need segregation and this debate would be irrelevant.

[+CaleyD]

What I would add is that this is in large part down to a fall in attendances in the home end....the exact same scenario as we witness against Celtic.

As I said already though....I don't think the numbers support giving up an additional 2400+ seats to Celtic. If we could give them just 1200 or so of the empty seats then we'd be doing well and getting close to max crowds.

That doesn't equate to a £50k increase in income, but it would be a substantial sum of money....especially if we could provide them in the Main Stand where we can command an extra £5 per ticket compared to providing additional seats from the North Stand.

It's all hypothetical in either case as we don't know if it is something the club would consider looking at...or even if the logistics could be made to work in terms of stewarding and division of facilities.

What I do think is important is that we, the fans, are willing to accept that in tough times then we have to be willing to make the odd sacrifice for the financial well being of the club. There has to be a bit of give and take.

[+CaleyD]

Maybe with Rangers not being in the SPL next season 2 things will happen.

1. Local Rangers fans deprived of Premier league action will go along and support ICT when they play Celtic. And who knows, even when they aren't!

2. The occasional supporters who might go to watch one or other of the old firm will have no choice this year. If they want to watch ICT play a big team they only have Celtic.

In addition, if we are playing a more attractive brand of football and having a bit of success we may have an increase in gates next season. No doubt I'm clutching at straws here but we just might fill both the North and Main stand when Celtic come calling. We certainly should be able to.

I think you answered your own questions....."Might". The fans who went in e.mails by the hundreds saying they weren't buying season tickets unless the club voted "No" to NewCo haven't followed up on their promise (yet) I believe. Is it fair, or realistic, to expect the club to take a gamble that we are magically going to see 1200 additional home fans suddenly turn up for a Celtic game???

Why can't football fans be like rugby fans and then we wouldn't need segregation and this debate would be irrelevant.

You'll get no argument from me on that....if Irish Football can manage (and thrive) without segregation then it surely must be workable in other countries.

[Row S]

I am a North Stand Season Ticket holder, and my answer is absolutely not. When Celtic come to town, there's enough nuggets in the stadium as there is, more so now they've been given them the West Stand as well.

Don't give the club ideas.

My sentiments as well. Absolutely no effin way will I give up my seat to be sat upon by those scumbags. Or should I say not sat upon because they all stand up now and are allowed to do so for the whole game by the stewards.

Edited July 10, 2012 by Row S

[Georgeios]

That's an Eh no GGFd

[WYNESS101]

Wouldn't want celtic fans tearing more seats out of are stadium bad enough they did it in the south stand last season. Its a NO from me

[Council Juice]

Concur with the idea of Football fans being able to sit together like rugger fans. Meant to be grown ups and in some cases civilised human beings.

And still to this day I can't figure out why the club havent put covers over the two wings on the main stand. Surely temporary covers, even removable ones of sorts, could be erected to offer some shelter in these areas.

About time the governing bodies started talking about safe standing areas. It works in the lower leagues and in plenty of top european leagues and at every alcohol and drug fuelled gig around the country without any real issues (safe isolated incidents) so I can see no possible logical reason as to why it's not doable in the top league in Scotland. It wouldn't surely benefit game atmospheres.

Yes I know it was brought about due to tragic events like the Hillsborough disaster but there were mitigating circumstances that day that led to such a devasting unfortunate outcome but I dont think the fact that game being standing, controlled properly and effectively, pose any threat to a persons well being. Provided that there are strict capacities and guidelines followed it would be a welcome addition to top flight football in Scotland.

With the camera stand and building in the middle we could easily have a segregated standing area opposite the main stand. Away fans near the south stand with other away fans and home fans beside the north stand. Food stalls and toilets in the middle beside tv tower/unit futher helping to seperate the two groups as well as at the corners.

Sorry went a bit off topic but if Scottrish football was to innovate ideas as a WHOLE then clubs could use this to their benefit to upgrade facilities without the large financial outgoings of a new stand and give fans the opportunity to stand and sing at games.

I dont think it's right that fans from the North stand should be moved for more 'Tic fans. Perhaps if some were moved to sheltered areas in the main, and the stand halved (via a seating segregation) to allow the remainder and some Celtic fans in there too. (The surplus bile so to speak) but then are the North stand lot not among the more "cheery" fans and would having Tic fans beside them influence them to altering behaviour and stewards to be even less inclined to allow vocal football support?

[Huisdean]

Personally, I would not give up my seat in the main stand under any circumstances and especially not to accomodate Celtic fans (I would be affected if the main stand was split in two as some posters have suggested). What i don't get is where are all these extra Celtic fans going to come from. If they get one of the uncovered wings, and the west terracing seats, that is a substantial number of extra seats we can sell wwithout disrupting our own supporters.

It is truly disappointing if fans who boldly stated thye would not renew their season ticket if Rangers were readmitted to the SPL have not done so and also some of the fans who are not season ticket holders do not attend more regularly to help the club. It would not take the addition of too many extra fans each week to improve finances at the club and Ross County being promoted as surely lessened the impact of Rangers not being in the SPL as we are guaranteed, hopefully, 2 big crowds to compensate for no Rangers games.

And, before anyone asks, I did renew my season ticket even before it became clear how the club would vote.

[MissICT]

I'd love to see our fans filling the north and main stand. We need to get more ICT fans to the games. What is the capacity of the main stand?

[+old caley girl]

When this idea was posted last year I was dead against he idea. Now though things are different financially for the club. Yes having county visit will help but if the tv money drops and sponsorship drops combined with the fact we were probably struggling anyway then all ideas are worth considering.

I agree with the poster about season tickets. I hope all the folk who contacted the club re rangers and didn't buy will now go and do so. I hope folk didn't mislead the club on this. Other clubs fans seem to be backing their clubs financially after the rangers fiasco and we need to do so as well!

So let's maybe think about money making schemes that maybe we wouldn't have considered before. I think Celtic could sell out both sans btw. Finally folks a bit of topic but if you haven't already bought your season ticket and you are in a position to do so then get buying!

[Renegade]

. I think Celtic could sell out both sans btw.

Celtic didn't sell out their allocation the last time they were here - at least I could see quite a few empty seats. Celtic are a team who have for decades hijacked religion and exploited sectarianism for their own gain. I would never sell my soul for that lot.

[+CaleyD]

Simply not true that Celtic don't sell our their allocation. Whether they would sell the additional tickets being talked about is open for debate, but if home fans aren;t going to buy them then why not give it a go?

Just to clarify, we're talking about extreme circumstances here, circumstances that have come about as the result of our Chairman voting to do what was right in terms of "sporting integrity".

We're not talking about being greedy here, we're talking about bringing in extra funds which are needed for the club to survive. Where else does the opportunity present for the club to raise substantial 5 figure sums?

You'd rather have thousands of empty seats and see the club go to the wall?

As I said...and as has been ignored (conveniently), are those saying "no" willing to buy up those empty seats?

We're not going to suddenly grow our support by 1200 to 1500 fans overnight....and even if the club tried to sell them to non-Celtic supporting football fans by reducing the price then they would be getting hammered by season ticket holders for devaluing the product.

The petty minded stupidity of some of our fans knows no bounds on occasion. This isn't about pissing on your seat to protect your territory, this is about fans realising that they can't expect the club to do everything without our help. In the grand scheme of things, does a different viewing angle for a couple of games really make all the much difference?

[Alex MacLeod]

I think most folk can see where your coming from Don but I cant see how it would work. At the moment, according to ticketmaster, there are 462 available seats in the main stand, excluding wings. There are 555 season tickets sold in North stand. There are many more fans who prefer to pay on the day. Where would you put all the home fans? Also what would be the cost of the additional police and security needed to look after two stands to ensure segregation?