Glasgow City Council has paid nearly £140,000 to host events at Parkhead stadium over the last five years – more than three times the figure they’ve paid to use Hampden.
Celtic have been paid tens of thousands of pounds to host events at the Parkhead stadium for Glasgow City Council in the last five years.
The local authority has hired out part of the stadium 22 times while Ibrox has never been used. The national football stadium, Hampden, has been used seven times.
Celtic have earned nearly £140,000 to hold council events – three of which were funded through EU cash from Erasmus Plus. In contrast, the local authority spent £39,000 at Hampden, reports the Scottish Daily Express.
Glasgow on a barge
The highest spend was £12,270 on an Early Years Conference at Celtic Park just before lockdown in 2020.
More recently, the council paid £11,270 on a digital conference in October last year at Parkhead. All of the events related to either the education of social work departments at the local authority.
In terms of education services, the council said it would “always explore internal options to host learning and teaching development conferences and events”. But it added, “due to the volume of education staff and partners across the city that attend, must hire venues that have the capacity to accommodate large numbers”.
The Freedom of Request detailed: “Social Work Services give consideration to a range of factors including venue availability, capacity and the facilities required to support the event.” All three stadiums can be hired for a range of events.
The council said the decision on which venue to select is down to its size and requirements for those attending. According to the Celtic website, the biggest venue is the Kerrydale Suite in the Jock Stein Stand. It has a capacity for 600 people and is described as “perfect for a wide range of large-scale events from Conferences to gala dinners”.
At Ibrox, the biggest venue is Edmiston House which can hold 700 but it only opened earlier this year. After that, the members’ lounge has space for 180
Hampden lists 30 spaces for hire with the largest holding 1,000.
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “External venues will only be booked if there are no suitable council buildings that that have the capacity and space that meet the requirements of the event or conference. This is due to the large numbers of staff and partners who attend.”
