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Celtic is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain both a quality squad and an affordable wage bill. This in spite of success on the pitch that saw them win the Scottish double for the 13th time last season. This success is rewarded in attendances. The club sells over 53,000 season tickets a year, the highest number in the UK. Turnover rose 14 per cent in the year to 30 June to £69m with £11.5m contributed by the European campaign. However, total costs were up by 19 per cent with salary and bonus payments increasing by a fifth. Labour costs account for 58.7% of turnover. Chairman Brian Quinn said that the high costs were a legacy of contracts concluded before football's asset 'bubble' burst and television receipts fell. Wage costs relative to current income were unsustainable and the club would have to 'continue to seek economies' on player costs in the short term. One solution that he ruled out was defecting from the Scottish Premier League to the Premiership! Overtures from the then Nationwide League two years ago came to nothing and Celtic had no ambitions to make its own bid to join English football.
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