SACK THE BOARD? CELTIC’S SITUATION ISNT THAT SIMPLE ANYMORE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
A lot of Celtic fans who, like me, grew up in the 80s and 90s, talk about the Save our Celts movement as one of the most momentous, and also stressful events of their lives.
Truth be told, I was 10 years old when it all happened, had only just got into watching football regularly, and only had a tangential idea of what was happening. My memories of the whole episode are hazy to say the least.
However, many fans are now drawing parallels to this, Celtic’s darkest time, and the current state of the relationship between fans and the board.
Forget “Sack The Board” Celtic Fans Today Need a Different Approach to Force Genuine Change
Now, we all know Celtic are in a far, far better place now than we where when Fergus McCann, Brian Dempsey and a huge fan collective clubbed together to save the club from extinction.
Peter Lawwell, and others like him in the current Celtic boardroom, whatever you may think of them personally, have played a big part in the club’s financial success since then. They deserve credit for doing so.
That does not however mean that they are above criticism. Quite the opposite, in fact. The custodians of Celtic have the tremendous honor of overseeing the ongoing success and progress of a club whose proud, unbroken, history dates back almost 140 years.
With that honor, with that great power, there must always come great responsibility.
I’m sure I head that line in a film somewhere once...
Anyway, I digress.
We’re in something of an awkward position right now as Celtic supporters, or at least I think we are anyway.
Financially, the club has never been healthier. Our almost total dominance of Scottish football over most of the past 20 years is unprecedented in ours or indeed any other Scottish club’s history.
And yet. I’m sure I won’t be alone when I say, on a personal level, I have never felt more alienated from those in charge of our club than I feel now.
It’s not just the total lack of meaningful communication, I honestly feel like if I were in a room with most of the Celtic Board right now, we would barely have anything in common to discuss.
These are people so disconnected from the daily realities of the average, working class football fan, that I genuinely believe they look at the current discontent among some fans and think “What’s your problem?”
Back in 1994 amidst all the chanting of “Sack the Board” Celtic were on the precipice. But for the last-minute actions of the aforementioned fan and business community collective, we could very easily have suffered the same fate as Rangers (Requiescat in Pace).
We aren’t facing anything like that now. In some ways, I actually think the current situation is even more insidious.
Back in 1994, the likes of Michael Kelly and co were victims of their own greed and belligerence, but above all else, their own incompetence. Years of inaction at boardroom level, of neglecting Celtic’s massive commercial potential, of taking supporters for granted, finally caught up to them.
The circumstances are totally different now, but the level of inaction and belligerence is, I think, comparable.
Brendan Rodgers seems destined to be chased out of the club for a second time next summer, by a board unwilling to match his ambitions for Celtic beyond Scottish domestic football. He cuts a frustrated figure, and many, though certainly not all, fans share his frustration.
So, what can we do about it?
As I said, the tactics of 1994: coordinated boycotts of games and organized protests won’t work.
The Celtic fan community these days is not as united as they were back then. For every fan like me who believes our board have become stale and need to make way for new ideas and fresh faces, there’s another fan who will tell you that you’re “entitled” for even broaching such a subject. The common conversation ender is “Do you want to end up like Rangers (Requiescat in Pace)?”
People are entitled to that view, and I won’t slate them for having it, even if it’s one that I personally don’t share.
But anyway, it effectively means that for every fan willing to walk out or withhold their season ticket renewal until there’s a change in the boardroom, someone else will happily take their ticket. The board knows that.
We live in a world now where late-stage capitalism dictates many of the actions of the business world, and football, increasingly seems more like a business and less like a sport, as time passes.
In such a world, the only way to force change, is through financial means. Now, some might say that depriving the Club of revenue via a merchandize boycott is one way to do this.
However, I disagree. Firstly, there will always be people who buy Celtic merch. Every new shirt, every new kit, regardless.
Secondly, most of the money for kits sold goes to Adidas anyway, so Celtic’s short-term cash-flow impact would be minimal.
What is needed is for a number of minority shareholders, those who share Brendan Rodgers vision for a Celtic team that, with a bit more investment, could push on to a whole new stage in Europe, to come forward and ask questions of the likes of Dermot Desmond.
Remember Mr Desmond only owns 34.64% of the Club, so, if enough smaller shareholders could be convinced to group together, it could force a change in corporate strategy, or if push comes to shove, a change in leadership.
I’m not at the point yet where I think that’s necessary. I think securing influence in the Celtic boardroom is more important than securing power or ownership. I would rather our current board could be convinced to alter their current attitude of non-engagement with fans, their straight-up refusal to even consider fan representation at board room level.
How we achieve that is something that every supporters group, every Celtic media outlet, and every fan with an interest in these matters needs to consider carefully. We all need to start talking to each other more. “joined up thinking” as some would call it, and collective action in unison, is the only way to have a meaningful impact on this situation.
I don’t ultimately have an answer for all those Celtic fans out there as disillusioned as I currently am with the corporate leadership of our club. I really wish I did.
What I do know is that only through a coordinated, open and respectful dialogue can we hope to find the answers together.
The Celtic Board have made it clear they aren’t interested in talking to us. So, I think it’s time we started talking amongst ourselves about what we, as a support, do next.
Whatever your view of the current state of Celtic, we all want this club to be as successful as it possibly can be. Forming a coherent, united message on how to best achieve that would be a good start.