Celtic Chief Executive Michael Nicholson has spoken after the club released their latest annual financial results.
A hefty increase in profit from £13.4million in 2024 to £33.9m this time around was confirmed, along with a year-end cash balance of £77.3m.
Nicholson, however, admitted that the recent summer transfer window had fallen short of the mark as he reacted to the latest results.
He said: "The 2024/25 season marked another period of progress for Celtic Football Club, both on and off the pitch. Our strategic focus on success and performance on the pitch, whilst continuing to develop the Club off the pitch, delivered strong results across the Club.
"On the pitch we secured the Scottish Premiership for the 55th time and won the Premier Sports League Cup for the 22nd time, taking our total trophy count to 120. Although disappointed by narrowly losing out to Aberdeen on penalty kicks in the Scottish Cup Final, we were all delighted with the team’s success over the season, and I thank Brendan, Callum and all of the management and staff.
"This success was further reflected in a successful Champions League campaign, marked by competitive performances where we achieved three wins and three draws and progressed to the play-off round where we suffered a narrow exit to Bayern Munich over two legs.
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"Elena and the Women’s team started off our season with an outstanding series of performances in the qualifying rounds that led to the team’s historic qualification for the first time to the UEFA Women’s Champions League, where we were drawn against Chelsea, Real Madrid and FC Twente. Domestically, the team did not hit the heights we had all hoped for after securing the Championship in the previous season, however the intensity of the season and the Champions League experience will form the basis for valuable development in our Women’s football operation. I thank Elena, Kelly and the Women’s team management and staff for everything they have done to continue the progress of Women’s football at Celtic.
"Our objective each year is to compete in the Champions League. Unfortunately this season, we suffered a loss on penalties in the tie against Kairat Almaty, which resulted in Europa League entry instead. As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure to achieve that key objective and commit to improving going forward. We now look ahead to our Europa League fixtures against FK Crvena Zvezda, SC Braga, SK Sturm Graz, FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord, AS Roma, Bologna FC 1909 and FC Utrecht, where we will hope to perform strongly and progress in the competition.
"Aligned to our core objective of competing in the Champions League is successful player trading. Last year, we invested record sums between transfer fees and first team player wages. This year, regretfully we did not achieve all of our objectives in the transfer window. We share and understand our supporters’ disappointment and frustration, and we will continue to seek to review and improve our strategy and execution as the market continues to evolve.
"Alongside player recruitment, the creation of Champions League players through our academy system and pathway to first team football is crucial to our strategy. During the year ended 30 June 2025, we completed a significant enhancement of our Lennoxtown facility, with a further phase to follow this year, and we recently completed the transformation of our Barrowfield training ground. At Barrowfield, this included the construction of a full-size indoor playing surface, a performance gym and all the facilities required for an elite footballing environment. This facility, dedicated to our Women’s first team, under 18 professionals and boys’ and girls’ academies is unique to any club in Scotland and will provide outstanding facilities for our teams and academies to grow and develop for years to come. In addition, at Celtic Park, we have installed a new hybrid playing surface and refurbished several areas in the stadium. We are currently assessing a number of further capital projects to enhance the experience for our supporters in the stadium as we look to continue to develop Celtic Park.
"The completion of our Barrowfield training ground underpins our commitment to the development of academy players and is crucial to enabling these players to maximise their potential and the connection they have with the Club.
"Nothing demonstrates this more recently than Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney. Our captain Callum McGregor achieved the milestone of 500 appearances for Celtic in February of this year, and my sincerest thanks and congratulations go to Callum for everything he has achieved for Celtic over a period of almost 25 years.
"I would also like to pass on my thanks and gratitude to James Forrest. On the last day of the 2024/25 season, James scored in the final moments of the game to mark a milestone in the history of Celtic by scoring in the last 16 consecutive seasons of his career at Celtic. The goal marked James’ 109th for Celtic in his 527th appearance and in lifting the Scottish Premiership trophy that day he became Celtic’s most decorated player with 26 major honours, taking over from the great Bobby Lennox. We were also delighted to welcome Kieran back to Celtic, following a successful spell in the English Premier League, as we continue to build for success with our academy talent.
"During the year we have also made progress with our digital strategy, as we look to enhance engagement and communication with our supporters. The implementation of our digital strategy will lead to improved touch points with our supporters, including the launch of a new Club App, digital ticketing options and the re-development of Celtic TV. We understand that our global supporter base wishes to engage with Celtic in this way and we aim to provide them with the opportunity to benefit from a more seamless experience.
"We were also pleased to enter into new long-term partnerships with both adidas and JD Sports demonstrating our commitment to working with the best partners in the market. We also appreciate our longstanding shirt sponsor Dafabet, with whom we extended our successful partnership, and we thank all of our partners for their support.
"Reflecting on an incredibly busy year, I would like to thank all of my colleagues who work tirelessly for the best for Celtic.
"As we look to the season ahead together with optimism, we have started off the domestic season well. We must and will strive not only for success, but also to continuously improve our Club both on and off the pitch.
"I will close by thanking our supporters for their continued and relentless support of Celtic. It is never taken for granted.
"Supporters underpin everything we do and seek to achieve at Celtic."
