PAUL McSTAY FRONTS LAUNCH OF NEW SEASON TICKET HOLDER SCHEME
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Like many of you I was somewhat blindsided by Glasgow businessman Willie Haughey’s announcement a while back about the formation of a new Celtic Season Ticket Alliance to give season ticket holders a means of getting their voices heard in the Celtic Boardroom. We’re now several weeks on from that initial announcement on a Scottish radio football show, and today sees the first major update regarding Haughey’s plan.
It’s certainly an interesting one, and as promised during his initial announcement, Haughey has indeed brought in a Celtic legend to front this new initiative.
The Maestro himself Paul McStay is acting as spokesperson for the alliance during this initial launch phase.
Celtic Season Ticket Alliance Trust Releases Mission Statement, Set to Launch This Week with Paul McStay at the Helm
Ahead of this Friday’s formal launch of the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance, they sent a communication to ACSOM and indeed a number of other Celtic fan media outlets today adding further details of how this new initiative will work, and how season ticket holders can get involved.
The Celtic Season Ticket Alliance Trust’s Mission Statement reads as follows:
“To maintain and uphold the club’s legacy.
“In the medium term the aim of the trust will be to build a meaningful shareholding in the club. We believe that the 54,000 season ticket holders combined will have a substantial shareholding.
“For every 10,000 that join, the Trust will commit £2 million, with the aim of buying shares, up to a maximum of £10 Million if 50,000 season ticket holders join.”
The mission statement continued:
“To create a platform that would be a conduit for two-way communication with the club
“A board of trustees (maximum of 5) will be formed, which will include a combined chair and spokesperson.”
So far, so routine. But I think that next line of the mission statement is what sets it apart from other projects, led by both regular fans and investors, thus far.
The statement goes on:
“These individuals will be chosen on a one member, one vote basis.”
Embarrassing scenes like those we saw at last year’s aborted Celtic AGM, where members of the Celtic Board where able to basically ignore the will of the majority in the room on account of their financial firepower will not be an issue here.
Direct democracy seems, so far at least, to be a fundamental, underpinning principal of The Celtic Season Ticket Alliance Trust.
Of course, such a gathering will take time to bring together. This is where Paul McStay comes in.
The statement concludes: “Until the board of trustees has been formed, Paul McStay will serve as spokesperson for the trust.”
McStay said ahead of the Trust’s impending launch: “This is the place where Celtic fans can come together to raise our voices above the noise and make our opinions clear. The 54,000 season ticket holders are the core of the club,
“They are the heartbeat of Celtic”.
It seems McStay is as eloquent in voice off the park as he was with a football on it.
Crucially, the £10 million that Mr Haughey has pledged to make available if 50,000 season tickets sign up is not conditional on any further financial investment from season ticket holders.
All that current season ticket holders need to do is register their interest in the Trust, via a simple form on the website, listing their season ticket number, name and contact information.
So far this seems like a great idea, and having someone like Willie Haughey, not only a highly successful business figure, but also a man who still commands respect from Celtic’s current board, bankrolling the project may well represent a critical turning point.
Personally, I am cautiously optimistic about this. However, I do have some questions, and I believe these are questions the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance Trust will need to answer in the coming weeks if the project is to be successful.
As a concerned Celtic fan, but someone who, living 7000 miles away, will not be getting a new season ticket anytime soon, I would ask Mr Haughey and the Trust the following:
1) Are there any disqualifying criteria that would prevent any current season ticket holder from standing for election to the board of trustees?
2) How far along towards your eventual 50,000 target do you need to be before you will ask members to elect this board of trustees? 10%? 20%? 50%?
3) How long will trustees serve for before having to seek re-election, and will the Trust limit the number of terms for which a trustee can hold office? (We definitely don’t want a repeat of the current situation in the Celtic board room where several people have long outstayed their welcome.
4) What measures are in place to remove a trustee from the board in the event of misconduct, or if they are judged to have acted against the wishes of the majority of members?
5) Will the Trust ever be expanded to include overseas supporters? There are currently around 11,000 Celtic TV subscribers based outside the UK and Ireland. We aren’t season ticket holders, but we are, albeit to a lesser degree, stakeholders in the club in the same way season ticket holders are.
6) Do you have any plans to coordinate your efforts with those of David Low's Celtic Supporters Ltd, or the Celtic Fans Collective?
I hope and expect that the above points and more will be addressed soon after the official launch of the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance Trust this Friday. Time will tell, but the early signs for this certainly seem to be good.