Tickets sales for the upcoming clash between the Hoops and AIK Stockholm at Celtic Park have been well below expectations and it appears that Celtic’s home ground could be half empty when they welcome the Swedish Champions on Thursday for the first leg of the Europa League Play-Off.
It is no secret that there is a toxic atmosphere around Celtic at the moment with the club failing to qualify for the Champions League for the second consecutive season after suffering an embarrassing 4-3 loss at home to CFR Cluj last week. And after the board has failed to properly reinvest in the transfer market as well, it appears that the Celtic fans are prepared to not attend the all important Europa League Play-Off game against AIK Stockholm as a form of protest.
As a result, it appears that Celtic Park could be half empty on Thursday as the ticket sales for the game have been very poor till now. The tickets had been first offered to season ticket holders last week after which they were made available to the general public. But a quick glance at the club’s online ticket website shows that vast number of seats are still available with the game only two days away at the time of writing.
Thus there are genuine fears at the moment that the club will not able to sell even half of the tickets when they welcome AIK Stockholm at Celtic Park in two days time. And while it is clear to see why the fans are angry with the club hierarchy, Thursday might not be the best time to arrange a protest ahead of such an important tie.
With Celtic already out of the UEFA Champions League qualification phase for the season, it will be a disaster if they fail to qualify for the Europa League as well. It will mean missing out on all forms of European revenue altogether which is certainly not going to help the club in future transfer windows. At this point of time, the game against AIK Stockholm might be the biggest of Celtic’s season.
The Swedish Champions are no pushovers either with 12 League titles to their name and currently sit at 3rd in the Allsvenskan table this season. Also, with 20 games already being played in the Swedish League, the AIK players are much further ahead in their season than their Celtic counterparts and can be expected to be much fitter at this stage.
Celtic can also expect over 50,000 rabid Swedish fans when they visit AIK’s Friends Arena next week for the second leg. Thus, a half empty stadium this Thursday is not going to help the club’s cause in any way.