Celtic debt up by £4m after title 'surrender'

CELTIC revealed yesterday that their debt rose by almost £4million to £19.5million at the end of a year which, in the words of chairman Brian Quinn, saw the Premierleague title "surrendered". As the club prepare for a season without extended European participation, Quinn also stressed their determination to cut the size and scale of players' contracts.

The annual accounts for the year ended 30 June showed Celtic's turnover was down for the first time in ten years, a drop of almost ten per cent to 62.17million. A major drop in merchandising revenue was blamed, with Celtic now anticipating that avenue to improve dramatically on the back of their new five-year contract with kit manufacturer Nike.

Quinn remains content that Celtic have successfully emerged from the most serious financial recession experienced in football and expressed his confidence that, despite the shock second qualifying round exit from the Champions League to Artmedia Bratislava, new manager Gordon Strachan will oversee a healthy rebuilding programme at the club as Martin O'Neill's successor.