Euro Travel Pressure Group

A growing number of Celtic supporters are becoming more and more frustrated with the current methods used by the club in the distribution of tickets for European away games. Many travelling supporters feel that the official travel partner, Thomas Cook, is being granted a percentage of our ticket allocations that is excessive. Thomas Cook have already sold somewhere in the region of 1500 seats on buses for the upcoming Manchester United match at Old Trafford, this is before the investors get their cut. The rest of us will go into a ballot for the reaming tickets from an allocation of somewhere in the region of 3500.

What this means is that anyone travelling from outside Scotland (i.e. Ireland, England) to away European matches has to come to Glasgow to travel on chartered planes or buses if they want a ticket for the match. The majority of these travelling fans prefer to have a choice in how they travel. Many prefer to travel independently.

With this in mind a meeting was called prior to yesterday’s match against Aberdeen in Garngad, Glasgow to discuss setting up a pressure group to try to get the club to reassess the arrangement in place. We recognise that the club is tied into a contract with Thomas Cook for the next year or so. We intend to make our point and try to ensure that those who travel regularly into Europe don’t have to book overpriced deals with Thomas Cook in order to get tickets in the future.

Celtic supporters from many different walks of life were represented, including individual supporters clubs from; Glasgow, Fife, Ayrshire and Ireland, Celtic Supporters Association, Not the View, More than 90 Minutes and TAL fanzines as well as supporters who travel independently.

The objective of the proposed group is to try to encourage Celtic to distribute the tickets in a fair manner, rather than in a commercially motivated manner. We are hoping to have them distributed in a similar manner to the current domestic away matches. We are not opposing Celtic having an official travel partner, only that they have an allocation of tickets.

In order to try to get as many different Celtic supporters on-board in the organisation of this pressure group we have decided to call another meeting for the home match against Hibernian; 25 October at 12.00 in the Garngad Bar (Lounge), Royston Road, Glasgow, G21 2QW.

If you feel strongly about this, then please come along. We intend to name the pressure group and choose a committee on this day, outline the aims and objectives of the group and present our case to Peter Lawell and the PLC.

Rangers do a similar thing, apply with your details of how you are travelling, independent or via the club, if you go with the package much higher chance of getting a ticket, and 9/10 it guarantees you one. The rest are given out to those with the highest "points" so as to the regulars get tickets before the non-regulars.

Holes all over it, but it doesn't bother me as us regulars always get tix.

Or, they could go and watch their local club instead

I referred to this in a post on a thread on the SPL board, I'm getting more unhappy with the way Celtic organise tickets for aways games in general. Myself and my brothers consitute a group for away tickets and we travel outwith a supporters bus (I never been a member of a supporters club) While recognising that generally away tickets are oversubscribed the club can only make the allocation process as transparent as possible to ensure it is seen to be as fair as possible.

However the priority for business class books for away games while understandable was a blow to the regulars that follow Celtic to all aways games, albeit a small amount. The 5% level debacle has been mentioned many times before and is one of the worse examples IMO of the club taking advantage of our support too far, they have effectively cut us adrift solely it would seem because we are not contributing as much as they would like to their coffers, fukk Scottish football and the away fans.

The European aways tickets is an extention to their home away policy, and is much more exploitable, given huge companies like Thomas Cook who will pay vast sums to get involved, that only means that whose who can pay take the games they fancy and those traditional fans that organise busses themselves, ortravel independently cannot pay Cooks prices are left to scramble for any left over tickets



I bought Cooks tickets for Manchester, I don't want to travel with them, one of my brothers lives down south , he needs to travel up to travel back down. I intended to ask Cooks if we can get our tickets and make our own way, I expect that they will say no as it will then puncture the main area they make money for both themselves and Celtic, the travel arangements.

I would rather Celtic had been honest with their fans and had said they were going to add 5% on top of the home away tickets, and were going to double (?) the price of away euro tickets. That's what they've did, they just used the rest of the SPL and Cooks to make it happen.

Unfortunately, you part of the problem by succumbing and going through Tam Crook. By all accounts Crook struggled to punt what they had for Villarreal so hopefully the message is getting through and this group/campaign can build on that. That independent travellers have yet to be notified about Man Utd is a nonsense. No doubt they will be waiting to see if there is demand for more Tam Crook buses to run on top of the current number of 32.

So anyone that wants to form a pressure group has to travel to glasgow to do so. Bit unfair dontcha think

No. Anyone can form a pressure group whenever and wherever they want.

Yup I accept that. I just want to watch my team and am a bit of a panic merchant when it comes to organising tickets, I have grave suspicions around whether independent travellers will get any allocation, seems to me Celtic are determined to have Cooks as the sole "supplier" of fans to away euro games.



Hearing horror stories about fans being left thousands of pounds out of pockets due to the mess with Villa allocation and the fact that Cooks could not sell all their packages.

I would hope that this group would be able to do something about tickets, but given the cash involved I would not hold my breath

There is no way they won’t send a trickle of tickets the way of the independent travellers. I hope all the buses on the way to Manchester break down.



What stories were these? Celtic released tickets a week before the game after Crook couldn't see the tickets they were given.

That made me laugh, I'll let you know how I get on asking Cooks for my tickets without using their bus, I suspect it will be a huge NO due to me threatening the bit of the deal where they make their money...wonder what Celtic's take on it would be, be interesting to find out.





Just hearing about one guy getting left with a grand worth of tickets (Celticminded) and lots of Celtic area tickets for sale putside the ground, all down to the debacle with Cooks IMO

Of course it should be a no.



Sorry I don't understand. Why was someone left with a grand worth of tickets and what has that got to do with Tam Crook?

I suspect I know the answer but go ahead anyway.

Countdown to the travel pressure group producing a splinter faction begins nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnow

Apparently there was the usual clamour for tickets, until it was found that there were plenty of tickets because Cooks had not been able to sell their overpriced packages. Are you on Celticminded? the whole story is documented there.



I would think most fans would back some consideration for the ordinary punter and ask Celtic to look at the bigger picture

No I am not on it. It is illogical for anyone to be left with a grand worth of tickets.

What I know has happened, is that people who were offered tickets from Celtic took them despite having no intention of travelling. They thought it would be easy to punt them but it turned it that it wasn't.

That has nothing to do with Tam Crook and all to do wth the people who bought them. It serves them right if they couldn't shift them.

Nobodies stopping you, but would you not rather be inside OT?

What's the story with your sig Glasnost?? Have Celtic fans be banned from Old Trafford or something?

I lol'd

Good for you.

Erm read the first post I made on this thread then think about it