CELTIC DOMINANCE IS EARNED, NOT A PRIVILEGE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Ok, brace yourselves, there’s a long-overdue rant incoming.
Ever since Celtic wrapped up the title 10 days ago, I’ve read a multitude of poorly crafted editorials, misspelt social media posts and unhinged rants from fans of Rangers and, to a lesser extent, various other clubs decrying the “unfair advantage” Celtic apparently have over everyone else in Scotland.
This is nonsense. And it needs to be challenged at every opportunity.
Celtic Have Been as Low as Any Club Can Go, and We’ve Rebuilt into a Titan
At 41 years old, I hope I haven’t quite reached the stage yet where people would call me an “old fart”.
However, I am old enough to clearly remember when Celtic were a mid-table team, hours away from bankruptcy and being laughed at every day by both the media and our financially-doped opponents across the city.
This was 1994. We’re only talking 31 years ago. Last week marked the 27th anniversary of Celtic stopping Rangers (Requiescat in Pace) from winning ten in a row.
To go from being utterly dominated to utterly dominant in less than 30 years is almost unprecedented in World football.
It started with Fergus McCann, who along with Brian Dempsey and many others wrested control of the club from a belligerent board.
Fergus gave us a new stadium, a renewed optimism and hope, and ultimately the financial and footballing means to end Rangers dominance.
Then Dermot Desmond came in. This week marks 30 years since the Irish tycoon joined Celtic as a non-executive director.
He nominally assumed the status of Celtic’s de facto owner in 1999, when Fergus McCann offloaded his shares, for the significant profit he knew it would return.
This is one millionaire with whom I have no problem. Fergus McCann believed in the ideal of Celtic as a business and a football club.
He stepped up in our hour of need and he personally profited considerably from doing so. To paraphrase the great man himself, he deserves every “thin dime” he made from his investment in Celtic.
Fergus McCann departed Celtic in 1999, but his legacy continued in the board room. Dermot Desmond soon brought in Peter Lawell and together they have overseen a regime which, while I have plenty of issues of disagreement with how it’s been managed, is undoubtedly financially robust.
We’ve never spent more than we could afford. We have always paid our taxes on time. We complied fully with all financial regulations.
And as far as I know, no face-painters have ever been left out of pocket for accepting a gig at Celtic Park.
We deserve to be where are now. We are the dominant force in Scottish football, and we will remain so for as long as we continue to manage our affairs responsibly and match the financial ambition of any potential rivals.
Don’t let any embittered, jealous, fan of any, smaller, club ever tell you otherwise.