The Celtic Dis-Connect

The Celtic AGM is looming, Tuesday December 01 is the date. The date is sandwiched between 2 away games against Hearts and Dundee. The Celtic board will be praying that results from now till then go Celtic’s way when football resumes after the international break.

Shareholders from all backgrounds will gather at Celtic Park. The Celtic shareholders present will also include members of the Celtic Trust, The Celtic Supporters Ltd, The Celtic Fan Collective, The  Celtic Associations, many members of Celtic Supporters Clubs and individual Celtic Supporters who may have different views but all want the same for Celtic to be run well by those paid very well.

The majority of the Celtic Support do not think the club is run well in fact some would say it is an absent dictator who is running the show. Recruitment has been poor over a number of seasons even the most supportive fans of the current board would have to agree with that and then there are the questions which remain unanswered who actually is in charge of recruitment at Celtic?

Celtic won the double last year with the League won in dramatic fashion in the dying minutes of the campaign. Last season we witnessed a Management Merry Go Rounds with Brendan Rodgers, Wilfried Nancy and Martin O’Neill (twice) taking control of the dugout.

In the boardroom the chairman Peter Lawell and non executive Tom Allison stepped down from their roles. Lawell was replaced by long time Celtic director Brian Wilson on and interim basis and almost 12 months on Celtic have still not found a permanent chairman. In September Celtic appointed Mark Keane and Raymond Buchannon as non executive directors.

Keane’s dad John will always have a place in Celtic Supporters hearts for the part he played in removing the Old Board that paved the way for the Fergus McCann era.

Celtic failed to qualify for Champions League back in August just like the year before. They also lost the final of the League Cup to St. Mirren but these defeats on the playing field do not tell the whole story of the fallout between the Celtic board and a large section of the Celtic Support.

The atmosphere was toxic at times especially at away grounds. A cold night in Tannadice after a defeat to Dundee United sticks out in my mind as very toxic.

Celtic fans were angry on the terraces but they were also organising to have a greater impact away from the terraces. The Celtic Supporters Limited which was founded in September 2025 started to gain momentum, Business man Willie Haughey announced his Celtic Season Ticket Alliance idea and was joined by Celtic legend Paul McStay to promote the idea.

The Celtic Fan Collective was also formed and included support from the Celtic Trust, Ultra Groups, Supporters Associations, Supporters Clubs, Fan Media and Individual Celtic Supporters. The biggest impact the collective have had to date has been the Not Another Penny Campaign where fans were asked not to spend money on match days at Celtic or on official merchandise etc.

The impact of the campaign led to a £4.3M drop off in merchandising which played a big part in the club showing an operating loss of £4.8M.

Fan unrest, Financial Losses, Poor Recruitment, Failure to qualify for the Champions League and a management merry go round you would imagine that heads would role in the board room but failure at Celtic has been rewarded. Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson got a £258,000 bonus taking his earning for the year to over £900,000.

At a time when we are all feeling the financial pinch with the cost of living Celtic CFO Chris McKay earned £626,000 which included his bonus of £163,000. Its some reward for failure. Some may argue that Celtic won a double but surely these vast bonuses should be based on over all performance on and off the field.

I am not sure how many Celtic games Dermot Desmond attended last season. From my view in the main stand the last time I  saw him in his seat was at the Falkirk game when Martin O’Neill came back to the club on a short term contract after Brendan Rodgers had left.

Desmond took his personal frustration on Rodgers out in public by using the clubs official website for a personal attack on Rodgers a manager he appointed twice and we all remember Rodgers the circumstances of his first departure.

Desmond picks up a £40,000 salary from Celtic. Small change to him but a lot of money to the average Celtic fan.

The latest box ticking exercise from this board is Celtic Connect. This latest effort for fan engagement has been set up to make sure certain supporters groups are kept outside the conversation and that they can hand pick who they want to tow the party line with the Club’s senior leadership.

Non of the current board would ever question Dermot Desmond’s running of the club so I have no confidence that 11 individual Celtic supporters will be able to hold him to account.

They may sign up with the best intentions but they will soon find out they are pissing against the wind drinking tea inside the walls of Celtic Park at 4 meetings a year before sliding out to allow another voiceless fan in for his cups of tea.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast