WILLIE HAUGHEY, DAVID LOW, AND OTHERS MAKE THEIR MOVES TO SAVE CELTIC
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 16 minutes ago
- 4 min read
I’ve often that said that, unfortunately, for the average Celtic fan, nothing we as individuals do is likely to shift the current, heavily entrenched Celtic Board. However, the Celtic Fans’ Collective with their “Not Another Penny” Campaign, proved that it is possible for ordinary fans to organize, come together and force the board to at least sit up and take notice.
That being said, and I do not mean this in any way to disparage the efforts of the Collective, if you want to force heavily monied individuals to change their attitude, then ultimately, you’re going to need some financial firepower of your own. As well-intentioned as their efforts are, the lack of large cash reserves will always limit what a fan-led group like the collective can accomplish.
So, I was delighted to hear Willie Haughey’s appearance on Go Radio. He set out not only his vision for change at Celtic, but he also flexed the monetary muscle to back it up.
Willie Haughey, David Low and Other Celtic Men with Business Acumen Can Drive Change Far Quicker than Fans Alone
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show last night, Haughey set out his plan for a new group called the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance.
His initial plan is to get as many as possible of Celtic’s 54,000 season ticket holders to provide contact information to a newly set up trust, which Haughey himself with bankroll.
“For every 10,000 season ticket holders that sign up I will donate £2,000,000 to this new trust.”
So, we are looking at potentially in excess of £10 Million in Celtic shares that would be under the control of this new trust.
Meanwhile, David Low’s Celtic Supporters Limited also continues to gather momentum. The new initiative, set up around the same time as the Celtic Fans Collective last year, aims to help locate and bring under one unified banner the huge number of Celtic shares that are currently not accounted for and not being used in a voting capacity.
It’s too early to put an exact figure on it, but it is believed there could be as much as 20% of Celtic’s current total shareholding unaccounted for.
Haughey isn’t someone that is universally embraced by the Celtic support. However, his success in business and his track record up stepping up previously in Celtic’s hour of need, back in 1994, means he does command widespread respect. The main for concern for many is his refusal to condemn Dermot Desmond or speak out against the current board.
However, if we set the obviously emotional nature of this anger at the board and Desmond in particular, perhaps Haughey is the unifying force we’ve been waiting for.
Haughey may not be as politically sly as Brian Wilson, or as heavily monied as Desmond, but he is one of the ever-decreasing group of individuals that still commands respect from both the corporate side of Celtic and the fans on the terraces.
To be brutally honest, we’ve tried a range of protests. We’ve tried meeting with the club and discussing things directly, and we’ve had the embarrassment of an AGM aborted after 10 minutes in perhaps the worst act of corporate cowardice in Celtic’s history.
Ultimately everything fans have tried this season, whether it’s been the Celtic Fans Collective, Celtic Supporters Limited, the Green Brigade, The Celtic Trust or any other entity, has, so far anyway, proven unsuccessful.
I think it’s very telling that Willie Haughey made a point of name-checking all of the fan groups mentioned above in positive terms during his interview last night.
He also once again reiterated his respect for Dermot Desmond and the current Celtic Board.
There are very few people who could speak favorably of Dermot Desmond and call for The Green Brigade to be immediately readmitted in the same interview yet still be taken seriously. Willie Haughey has the balance to do so with integrity and honesty.
Individually we’ve had ultras, other supporters’ groups and shareholder groups try to bring about change this year. However, we haven’t really had a movement that brought all of these subsets of the Celtic support together.
It’s going to need a lot more than £10 million and a long list of fan signatures to remove Dermot Desmond, but perhaps that’s not the goal.
As much as I don’t like Dermot Dermond, if the guy can learn to know his place (as a shareholder, not the owner) and start to show some humility and engage sincerely with those like Willie Haughey, David Low and other’s spearheading these new, business-focused approaches to changing the corporate culture at Celtic, then I wouldn’t mind him still being a part of things.
People don’t have to like each other to work well together. However, there must always be respect. Whether this new venture succeeds or fails may, in the end, rest largely on how much respect Desmond and his underlings are willing to show towards it.
Regardless of what happens next, taken in tandem with Celtic’s first ever competitive win in Germany last night, there are reasons to be positive today, as we look forward to week of football that may well decide our season.