WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020 12 Celtic celebrate nine in a row despite anticlimactic end to Scottish season Celtic have won a record-equalling ninth Scottish Premiership title in a row

AFP | London worth £7 million ($8.5 million) could only be distributed once eltic’s grip on Scottish the leagues were declared over. football remains unbreak- But as the shutdown stretched Cable after a ninth consec- into its third month, there has utive league title was confirmed also been a growing acceptance on Monday even though they that the season could not be have not kicked a ball for two completed on the pitch. months. Nine in a row is a landmark Worthy champions? staging post in Scottish football. Celtic were 13 points clear at Only twice has it been achieved the top of the table when match- before, once on either side of the es were halted, after storming divide -- by Celtic and ahead as Rangers faltered fol- Rangers. lowing the winter break. But Celtic’s feat in matching “We have scored 89 goals, con- those historic achievements ceded just 19, and established a feels like an anti-climax after the commanding 13-point lead at the coronavirus lockdown deprived top of the table. We are champi- them of the chance to win it on ons for a reason,” Celtic said in the pitch. a statement. “They are the ones who have Rangers fans will claim this lost out the most in terms of the title will always come with an as- opportunity to play in front of terisk attached. But for the blue the supporters, going for nine in half of the Glasgow divide, their a row,” said Celtic manager Neil focus must now be on stopping Lennon of his players. “I feel so their rivals reaching the holy Celtic fans gather at following the announcement that their club has been crowned Scottish champions for the ninth season in a row sorry for them.” grail of 10 in a row next season. Scottish league chiefs on Mon- Celtic’s European Cup-win- day declared the season over, ning side were unstoppable from drawing a line under a bitter 1965 to 1974, while Rangers’ in- squabble over how to finish the vestment in a stellar cast of stars campaign. was rewarded from 1988 to 1997. Rangers failed to gain suffi- For all those sides achieved, nei- KNOW WHAT cient support among the other 41 ther managed a full decade of league clubs for an independent dominance. inquiry into the controversial However, doubt remains over Scottish clubs could vote that allowed the season to when the 2020/2021 season can suffer more than oth- be called on a points-per-game even start and what the Scottish er leagues if games basis. football landscape will look like. Many clubs were unhappy at According to UEFA’s latest have to be played the Scottish Professional Foot- Club Licensing Benchmark re- behind closed doors ball League’s insistence that the port, gate receipts provide 43 final instalment of prize money percent of revenue for the 12 clubs in the Scottish Premier- ship, by far the highest propor- tion in Europe’s top 20 leagues. If a large portion of the sea- son were played behind closed doors, that would hit Scottish clubs particularly hard. Celtic are best set up to be able of Celtic celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal (file photo) to ride out the economic storm, with their latest accounts show- burning through £1 million a However, even an improved Association chairman Rod Petrie ing cash reserves of £33 million. month and the Dons’ turnover deal is reportedly worth just £26 told the BBC. Rangers admitted in Novem- from the 2018/19 season was just million a season. Finance experts Begbies ber to needing £10 million in under £16 million, compared “Our middle-ranking Scottish Traynor have predicted insol- funding to see them through to with Celtic’s £83 million. Premiership club might get four vencies among the hardest-hit the end of the season before the Premiership clubs’ desire not times the money through the clubs as “inevitable”. consequences of the pandemic to jeopardise a new television gate as it does through its TV Celtic may be champions were known. contract with Sky that starts contract, so the economics (of again, but there is little else that Aberdeen chairman Dave Cor- next season played a part in end- closed-doors games) don’t work is business as usual for the Scot- Celtic captain Scott Brown applauds the fans after a match (file photo) mack has warned his club are ing the season early. in Scotland,” Scottish Football tish game. Lancashire offer to stage Test cricket during crisis AFP | London terest, tax, depreciation, and three-Test series between Eng- said Gidney. “We believe we amortization) for the Red Rose land and the West Indies that have the capability, the expe- he coronavirus has left the county in 2019 were £7.6 million, was meant to take place in June, rience and facilities on site in TEnglish cricket season in a 10-fold increase since 2015 and in July. supporting them put on a bio-se- limbo but Lancashire were dealt a record for a first-class county. Australia and Pakistan are also cure event.” a devastating personal blow “Excluding minority interests scheduled to tour England in the Lancashire are also thinking when they lost their chairman, and one-off legacies it is abso- coming months. big for when cricket can return David Hodgkiss. lutely a record,” CEO Daniel Gid- Old Trafford was original - in earnest -- including plans Just weeks later the Manches- ney told AFP. “It’s a very proud ly due to host the second Test to promote themselves in the ter-based county have returned day for the club. against Pakistan, which was game’s biggest market. record financial results -- a fit- “A hundred percent it is Da- scheduled to start on August 7. “David’s legacy is to complete ting legacy for Hodgkiss, who vid’s legacy. He was a mentor, Should the current lockdown the ground redevelopment, a died in late March at the age of a friend as well as a boss. With be relaxed sufficiently to allow new stand, another hotel and 71 after contracting the virus. his construction background, cricket to go ahead, Tests could work with the local authority And they have put themselves without him the £60 million re- be played behind closed doors on a leisure centre,” said Gidney. in the frame to host Tests during development (of the ground) Late Lancashire chairman David Hodgkiss (right), makes a presentation to at “bio-secure” grounds with “We also decided after last the English summer. would not have happened. England’s James Anderson at Old Trafford in 2017 on-site accommodation such as year’s World Cup match be - Lancashire, who chose not “The board was the driving Old Trafford. tween India and Pakistan to to follow other counties in fur- force but he was the centre of kick in the gut.” in a position to host Tests this That would allow players and look east and an Indian growth loughing players during the that. year. officials to be monitored while strategy -- to make Lancashire COVID-19 crisis, have announced “For me a business problem to Test hosts? The England and Wales Crick- restricting their access to the the second Indian team so if the their highest-ever annual turno- solve is like any other problem Gidney said Lancashire, with et Board (ECB) hope they can outside world. fan say supports Mumbai Indi- ver of £34 million ($41 million). such as a recession but when you a Hilton hotel on the site of their kickstart a season delayed by “We have made a formal ex- ans then their English team is EBITDA (earnings before in- lose a friend it is an emotional Old Trafford ground, were still coronavirus by rescheduling the pression of interest to the ECB,” us.”