The Celtic Christmas advert was played on the big screen at the end of the club’s 2024 AGM to make those inside the Kerrydale Suite feel all warm and fuzzy.
But it didn’t need the latest Hoops festive feature to give the room a warm glow as the previous couple of hours was enough to ensure there was a real feel good factor.
Unlike Tony Roper’s dream in the Christmas ad, the reality of Celtic’s current position isn’t bad at all and the top table sat behind two glistening pieces of silverware and basked in the recent glory of a stunning Champions League win over RB Leipzig to ensure a smooth ride. It was as smooth as these things can go and they even resisted any real digs at Rangers – well, from the top table at least – but as always you can never please everyone all of the time. Here, Record Sport looks back at some of the main issues on a day when all nine resolutions passed with flying colours.
Did he make his Mark?
The only real contentious moment came when Celtic blogger Joe McHugh asked when the club decided to sack Mark Lawwell, son of chairman Peter, from his recruitment role. The Parkhead chairman opted not to answer it and warned those in the room: “Joe McHugh runs a blog and has an unhealthy obsession with me and my son.”
Chief executive Michael Nicholson added: “This isn’t a meeting to discuss personal attacks. When Mark decided to pursue other opportunities, we were sad to see him go.”
It was a three-pronged attack on Joe from the top table as Brendan Rodgers interrupted: “Mark did a fantastic job at Celtic. Every player won’t succeed. Mark’s influence in bringing in Ange (Postecoglou) was huge. If that was his only contribution, he did a fantastic job. But he influenced bringing in other players like Alistair Johnston. My experience working with him was second to none. He’s a massive Celtic supporter who wants nothing but the best for Celtic. Sometimes you bring in a player that might not work out. But what I do know is his intention was for the very best for Celtic and for that I will defend him.”
They were met with a huge round of applause
Prayer for the Godfather
In his opening gambit, Peter Lawwell said how you only had to “look elsewhere” to notice the consequences of not bringing in cash from Champions League football. Presumably, he was referring to the other side of the River Clyde and rivals Rangers. It was a tame dig by his standards but one punter was a bit more brutal when speaking to Lawwell. He asked: “Mr Chairman. Who was the last Celtic player to score against Rangers? Gary Hooper,” in reference to the last Old Firm match before the Ibrox side hit the financial skids. He then continued: “The term honest mistakes was coined by Hugh Dallas. The question is, who benefits from these honest mistakes?” VAR confirms everything we already knew. Incompetence and subconscious bias for one team…
That was met with laughter in the room Lawwell said: We’re all enjoying your question. Would you mind jumping to the question?”
But he continued: [To Michael Nicholson ultimately] You are now the godfather of Scottish football. You are now Al Pacino.
Nicholson, with a courteous smile, proposed Godfather 4 with Shamrock Studios.
The shareholder wasn’t finished: A prayer next: Lord thank you for making me a Celtic supporter. Thanks for Brother Walfrid, Jock Stein, Lisbon Lions, Fergus McCann, the second voyage of Brendan, for getting Craig Whyte off his show trial of 2017, always good to see an innocent man walk free.
Bless
Room for stadium improvement
One of the main issues that did arise was a desire from fans for the stadium capacity to be increased and also improvement in some areas of Celtic Park. Michael Nicholson was told that he said three years ago it would take £100m to redevelop the south stand and one fan proposed a crowd funder and for season ticket renewal forms contains a £100 option to donate towards redevelopment.
Finance chief Chris McKay said: “If we were in EPL, it would be a much easier decision to make. Need to think long-term. There’s a lot of challenges balancing football success as well. We would never rule anything out but debt markets are very difficult for football clubs.”
Later, a member of a Liverpool-based supporters club said he won’t give club money to be put on the waiting list for a season ticket but added he would give you his credit card on the spot if offered one today. He was disappointed at what he seen as the glib answer on the millions it would cost to upgrade the south stand. He asked if the board truly understood that if stadium capacity was increased then another 20,000 season tickets would sell in a nanosecond.
Lawwell said: “We covered that earlier but if you make yourself known to one of our colleagues, we can discuss later.”
If you want my money…
Where did this come from? One shareholder said Rod Stewart should be opening his wallet and putting money into Celtic. He said the rock star’s bank balance is expanding all the time.
The fan said his first game he attended was in 1964 and that he has contributed more money than the Hot Rod.
But Lawwell set the record straight, saying: “He does donate a lot towards the foundation. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. I’m not sure he’d be interested in investing in the football club. But kindness and generosity for the Foundation is appreciated.”
Pyro pests and away ticket allocation
The Celtic FC Foundation was praised at various points of the AGM and one fan used their great work to highlight the ridiculous situation of the club raising money through charity while a section of the fans cost the club tens of thousands in UEFA fines due to unruly behaviour, mainly pyro. He received a huge applause. He also expressed dismay at how away tickets are distributed and how they are falling into the wrong hands.
Nicholson said: “It’s a long-standing issue. Not a Celtic-specific issue. Behaviours around Scotland and Europe. On away tickets, an allocation scheme has been in place for a long period of time. We have raised issues at fan forums for a fairer system. Let’s say we allocate 600 tickets for Tynecastle, those tickets don’t always end up in the hands of supporters. In terms of behaviour, the fines worry and concern us. What concerns us most is be safety of supporters and the impact it might have in the game. Seen lately that it’s delayed games. Big challenge but what’s helpful is the feeling in the room that wants us to tackle the issue.”
Celtic End
One season ticket holder asked about the proposed Celtic End in the Jock Stein stand and if the club is planning to build it and if so if there is a guarantee fans will be offered similar seats in another part of the stadium? Michael Nicholson said: “The initiative is not a Celtic one. It’s been pulled together by another group of supporters. We’re aware we’ve sold out season tickets.
“Took on board there’s a demand for increased rail seating through the survey. Still working through the results of that. In addition, I need to look at practicalities and will always take in the views of all supporters. There does appear to be a demand. Was at Stamford Bridge and they had a standing section behind both goals.”