European football – a blessing or a curse?
An odd question, perhaps, when it comes to the men’s game and the genuine money that can be made through participation, particularly at group stage level.
In the women’s game, it isn’t quite so much.
Both Hibs and Glasgow City jet out this week to compete in the first leg of their qualifying tournaments with the Leith side sucking up the costs of a trip to Cyprus while City head to Vienna.
Their first challenge is to overcome Austria Vienna in an opening game of mini-tournament while Hibs take on Danish champions Fortuna Hjørring on Wednesday night.
Last season Celtic banked €400,000 for making it to the group stages of the competition for the first time in their history.
They failed to win a game in a group that contained Real Madrid and Chelsea but the fee last season for those who banked points in the group was €50,000 per win and €17,000 for a draw; it is hardly life changing money for clubs.
That figure rises slightly this season to €60,000 per win in an 18-team league format, similar to the set-up in the men’s UEFA Champions League last year.
In terms of prestige it always helps to be able to market oneself as a Champions League club but the reality is that even at elite level, this is a game still struggling to find its commercial feet.
Factor in the costs of meeting UEFA guidelines for stadia criteria for those who make it into the ‘proper’ stages of the competition and clubs bank minimal profit from their participation.
Last season’s winners, Arsenal, made just over £2m in revenue from the competition which included tickets sales. It is change down the back of the sofa in men’s football circles.
Off the park, there can be a cost, too. Celtic toiled to cope with the intensity of games and schedule as they tried to compete on a two-pronged campaign across domestic and European football.
Even in the latter half of the season when they had packed away the passports, they remained heavy legged, carrying injuries and struggled to rouse themselves for the title run-in. They finished fourth in the SWPL, just nicking the place off of Eva Olid’s Hearts.
If such thoughts may occupy the minds of chief execs, they will not take up much place in the minds of players this week, however.
For Hibs and for Glasgow City – who have twice made it to the quarter-finals of old Champions League tournament – it is a chance to go and rub shoulders with the very best.
Hibs haven’t been in this environment since 2019 and will want to go and make the most of it. For young players it is an experience that only benefits their development as it opens their eyes to a different kind of football culture.
Off the pitch, the reality is that it can still actually cost teams money to go and compete at the very top level of the game.
AND ANOTHER THING
Skye Stout’s experience at the hands of the keyboard warriors will have been a brutal learning curve of the vicious element of social media.
We can all wring our hands and voice our disgust, just as we did when middle-aged man Joey Barton had a pop at 17-year-old goalkeeper Ava Easdon last year, but the bottom line is that more has to be done.
Social media platforms such as ‘X’, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram all have to be accountable for the accounts that they offer a home to.
Faceless accounts give people licence to behave in the basest of ways. There is a cowardly legitimisation of bullying that simply wouldn’t be accepted in the street – where, of course, others would be able to intervene.
A 16-year-old kid put in that position is abhorrent. And while a very high profile football community was keen to rally around, ultimately there has to be far tighter controls when it comes to posting.
Anonymous accounts – and aren’t they all where this nonsense is concerned – should be the first to be banned. Name, address and proof of ID would be the first step.
The Dads, the uncles, the brothers, the next-door neighbours all spouting abuse should be unmasked. Let’s see them for who and what they are. AND FINALLY
Amy Gallacher had a moment during Celtic’s 2-1 win over Hearts last Sunday where she looked very much like the Amy Gallacher of the club’s title winning season.
Showing off both vision and acumen to slip a sublime ball through the heart of Eva Olid’s defence harked bark to the kind of form that made her so formidable for the Parkhead side.
Last term she toiled to find that same level, perhaps because of the nature of Celtic’s campaign across the board.
Elena Sadiku’s side still look short of bodies as they look to mount a title challenge but having Gallacher in that kind of form will only be a benefit as they look to get back among the silverware this season.
Interesting too that Gallacher is now vice-captain at the club, alongside Claire Walsh. Sadiku said that the decision to move things around in the senior leadership group was well received by Natalie Ross – who previously held the vice-captain post.
