Win gives us 'foundation' to strengthen - Lawwell

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell believes qualification for the Champions League knockout stages has given the club a “foundation” to strengthen the squad.

The immediate effect has been to boost Celtic’s share price by 15% the day after Gordon Strachan’s team qualified for the knockout phase for the first time by defeating Manchester United 1-0 at Celtic Park.

The result could be worth millions of pounds in prize money, gate receipts, television and sponsorship deals – sending shares in the Glasgow club to their highest level since March.

But Lawwell insists the financial windfall involved in reaching the last 16 of UEFA’s premier tournament can wait while the fans continue to savour the achievement.

Lawwell said: “It is not insignificant moving forward but last night was all about the football and giving the fans something they have been waiting for for such a long time.

“We have had many really close attempts at it and some very sad exits at the very last minute.

“So the important thing was to give the supporters something they had been waiting for for a while.”

He added on Sky Sports News: “We have stabilised the club to some extent without compromising the quality – we have a very strong and high-quality squad.

“But Gordon knows what his budgets are and we were hoping to strengthen in January in any case, despite what happened last night.

“We are always looking to increase the quality in the squad and we now have the foundation which will allow us to do that.”

The rise in the share price added about £4m to the value of Celtic, which now has a market capitalisation of £28m.

Analyst Stan Lock, of Brewin Dolphin, said: “The shares are up because of the result last night. They are in the next stage of the competition and if you get there, there is more money.

“There is a few million pounds involved and the further you go the bigger it gets.”