Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers can renew their rivalry with a new legion of fans set to rise at the crack of dawn to tune in from Japan.
The Hoops, as Celtic are known, have already claimed the League Cup in December thanks to two goals from Kyogo Furuhashi.
Furuhashi’s 16 goals in 26 games since he joined Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou in swapping the J-League for Scotland has made the Japanese international an instant hero and tempted Celtic to dip into the Far East market again.
New Year celebrations for fans started early when the club announced the signings of Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda on December 31.
“The deals wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Postecoglou being at Celtic,” Japanese football expert Sean Carroll told AFP.
The Australian’s judgement has been backed by a board keen to make the most of bargain prices and the commercial opportunities on offer in Japan.
“Japanese clubs still take an element of pride in sending their players to Europe,” Carroll explained.
Celtic have enjoyed the benefit of a Japanese superstar on and off the field before.
Shunsuke Nakamura won three league titles in four years at Celtic Park between 2005 and 2009 and famously scored the winning goal with a stunning free-kick to beat Manchester United in the Champions League.
Celtic’s current quartet of Japanese imports do not yet have the same star attraction in their homeland as Nakamura did, but their presence is being noticed.
Celtic’s Japan Twitter account that was only launched in July already has more followers than Paris Saint-Germain’s Japanese language account.
“Celtic has a huge opportunity now,” said Cesare Polenghi, whose digital media company Ganassa runs the club’s Japanese accounts. “I’m quite sure if there was no Covid that they would be coming to Japan in the summer.”
The limited international exposure of Scottish football means Celtic are a long way off attracting sponsors of the size of Rakuten and Yokohama Tyres, whose names have been blazed across the front of Barcelona and Chelsea’s shirts in recent seasons.
But having four players for Japanese fans to follow offers a better chance of commercial returns. “We’re confident because of the quality of the players and the intelligence of the manager,” Polenghi said.
- AFP, with additional editing by George Russell
READ MORE:
Guangzhou Takes Over China Evergrande’s Football Stadium
Owner blows whistle on China’s top football team
Ash Barty Tennis Win Beats TV Ratings Records – The Age
