Just a reminder of our state of play our model remains the same and there is no plan to change it any time soon.
Chairman quote : "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. 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.
The Financial sustainability rules are also a key feature of UEFA licencing and we need to be cognisant of running our club accordingly.
Our successfully proven strategy has provided stability and footballing success over many years and remains the same.
We must balance the signing of players that can be developed and sold when conditions are optimal alongside the need to sign players who are able to make an immediate impact and deliver footballing success.
The execution of this strategy is increasingly challenging owing to wage and transfer inflation, but this formula has underpinned both our footballing success and financial stability over a number of years now and it is vital that we adhere to it."
The Directors will still be feeling good about themselves and the shareholders are covered regardless of the paying customers needs or wants who are currently watching us give away our domestic dominance with a whimper.
And finally there is a mention for the people that provide the cash cow for the Directors model.
"I wish to extend my thanks to all our Celtic colleagues for their contribution to delivering another Treble AND of course to all our supporters who continue to support the Club year after year in enormous numbers.
Peter T Lawwell, Chairman
September 18, 2023.