Celtic counting cost of shock Champions League exit – Daily Business

Failure to qualify for the Champions League saw Celtic’s revenue drop by more than £20 million since the start of the season.

The stark figure was revealed in the club’s interim financial report for the six months to the end of December 2025.

The Hoops were knocked out on penalties by Kazakhstan side Kairat Almaty at the play-off stage, dropping into the second tier competition the Europa League.

The club is counting the cost of the shock defeat, with revenue down £24.1m from £83.5m to £59.4m as a result of lower media rights values and ticket prices.

Profit from trading before intangible asset transactions dropped to £4.2m from £26.9m and was driven almost entirely by the reduction in revenue.

Operating profit, which includes player transactions, amounted to £11.1m (2024: £42m) and pre-tax profit fell to £13.2m from £43.9m.

Profit from transfer of player registrations was £14.1m, down from £21.5m, while “acquisition of player registrations” more than halved to £13.7m.

The latter figure included the disposal of Nicolas Kühn, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Marco Tilio and Adam Idah. The reduction in operating profit also included an increase in amortisation over the previous year from £6.4m to £7.1m reflecting the investment in the first team squad

Despite these setbacks, the club’s cash position strengthened to £67.4m from £65.4m, and operational highlights included participation in the Europa League group stages.

However, the club informed the stock exchange that it “currently expect our revenue and profits for the second half of the year ending 30 June 2026 to be significantly lower than the result posted for the first six months of the financial year, and profits for the year ending 30 June 2026 to be lower than the first half of the financial year.”

Chairman Brian Wilson, who came in after Peter Lawwell resigned following hostility from disgruntled supporters, admitted that the board had not met their expectations.

“In recent months, the board has acknowledged that mistakes have been made,” he said. “We are endeavouring to develop, enhance and refresh key areas of governance and strategies.

“The immediate priorities are to restore stability, achieve unity and deliver football success. These have provided the foundations for the achievements of the past 20 years – a period of outstanding success within the Club’s entire history.”

He said unity “requires the shared acceptance that we all, passionately, want the very best for Celtic Football Club, as well as an understanding that our highest obligation is to the safety of all supporters and staff.”

The season had begun, he said “with positivity” and the exit from the Champions League in August 2025 was a “bitter blow”.

He said stability was restored by Martin O’Neill and his backroom team replacing Brenda Rodgers before Wilfried Nancy arrived in early December.

“Appointing a manager in mid-season inevitably comes with challenges and regrettably the implementation of Wilfried’s style and ideas did not achieve our immediate objective of winning games and we took the difficult decision to part company with Wilfried in January 2026.

“We again turned to Martin, Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham and their backroom colleagues to steer the Club through to the coming summer and are pleased to have seen Celtic return to winning football matches in early 2026.

“We owe them and the players, who have also had to deal with change and uncertainty, a great debt of gratitude.”