A prominent Celtic supporters’ group have agreed to call off any further protests and disruption until the end of the season.
The Parkhead club have been mired in turmoil on and off the pitch for much of the season, with fans openly revolting against the board.
The severity of the protests was one of the factors which eventually saw the Green Brigade ultras eventually being banned from the stadium.
But the board appeared to extend an olive branch earlier this week when they lifted the ban for the title run-in.
The Celtic Fans Collective have now reaffirmed the need for unity – but urged supporters to delay the renewal of their season tickets.
A statement read: ‘This week’s announcement of the imminent return of the Green Brigade to Celtic Park promises to lift the stadium on Saturday against St Mirren.
A Celtic supporters group has paused their protests against the board until the end of the season
Celtic have allowed the Green Brigade ultras to return to matches for the rest of the season
‘With six league games left, we all need to come together and get fully behind the team to help drive them over the line in the title race.
‘Given the position the team is in and the importance of retaining our championship, matchday protests and actions have been scaled back.
‘We acknowledge that the shared focus of supporters for now must be on backing the players in these final weeks.
‘However, that does not mean the wider issues at the club have gone away.
‘The failures of recent transfer windows, disastrous managerial and football department appointments, and the mistreatment and dismissal of supporters over the course of the season means that change is still needed within our club.’
Celtic fans have been at loggerheads with the board all season over a succession of failures in the transfer windows over recent years.
Chief executive Michael Nicholson has been a frequent target, as was Peter Lawwell prior to him stepping down as chairman at the turn of the year.
Dermot Desmond, the club’s major shareholder, has also come under intense criticism, along with chief financial officer Chris McKay.
The statement from the Celtic Fans Collective continued: ‘It remains our firm belief that Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay should be removed from their positions and replaced with suitable professionals willing to stand up to the presumed authority of Dermot Desmond and his family.
‘With season book renewals to be released in the coming weeks, we are asking supporters to withhold their renewals until the final day possible.
‘This is a simple way to send a clear message to the current custodians of Celtic Football Club that fan anger over this season is not limited to a small minority.
‘A huge swathe of the support has had enough and is demanding change.
Celtic supporters groups have called for board members Chris McKay and Michael Nicholson to stand down
Major shareholder Dermot Desmond has also been criticised by Celtic supporters groups
‘We urge all fans to loudly and colourfully back the team as they push for the title and the Scottish Cup, but also to use their renewal to send a message the board that change is necessary.’
Meanwhile, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill denied they had been lucky with their post-split fixtures and warned his team had plenty of work to ensure they went into the final game with their title chances intact.
Celtic will host Rangers three games before the end of the season and leaders Hearts on the final day, having faced them both away twice already before the Premiership splits in two.
The SPFL declared it was unable to keep to convention and ensure the current league leaders were given a home game on the final day when arranging the final five fixtures.
With a city derby on the final day ruled out, and with both Celtic and Rangers unable to play at home at the same time on May 16 or the midweek before, and with the champions having three home matches left after Saturday, the league stated giving Hearts a home match on the final day was ‘not possible’.
When asked on talkSPORT if Celtic had ‘lucked out’ in the fixtures, O’Neill said: ‘No, that’s the draw.
‘Generally speaking when I was manager years and years before, the Celtic- Rangers game is one that they played relatively early in proceedings.
‘I think there’s a reason why that can’t happen. I think there is some sort of march taking place in Glasgow in the early parts of the split, so the Rangers game fell into the middle. I think that was the reason.
‘Consequently the Hearts game falls into the last match, I assume. You would have to ask the SPFL.’
A major pro-Scottish independence march is planned for Glasgow on April 25, when Celtic host Falkirk, while the Glasgow Kiltwalk starts from Glasgow Green the following day, when Motherwell play Rangers at Ibrox.
Manager Martin O’Neill has denied Celtic have been lucky with the post-split fixtures
O’Neill added: ‘You’re talking about “lucking out”, we might be out of contention by that time. You never know, that’s the point.
‘The very fact we have three games (at home) because we need to have 19 home and 19 away games, I think that’s the only way they could have done it.’
O’Neill declared he was viewing Hearts and Rangers in equal measure as title contenders and stressed his side had ground to make up.
Last weekend’s late 2-1 win at Dundee allowed the third-placed Hoops to cut the gap on Hearts to three points.
‘I think our result against Dundee last weekend keeps us in it,’ he said. ‘Had we lost that game, it would have been a long way back for us. But we are fighting strongly at this minute.
‘We have this split now where we play Rangers and Hearts, of course, and they play each other as well.
‘The other games are pretty difficult. We are at home to Falkirk and away to Hibs and Motherwell. Essentially those are the best teams in the SPFL.
‘So it’s going to be exciting but for us, not just playing it down, we are still playing catch-up. We are so far away from winning a title.’
