No one who was bound for Celtic’s annual general meeting was anticipating the atmosphere to be redolent of a Sunday church service.
At every turn this season, the club has encountered strife and acrimony.
With £77.3million in the bank at last check and a weakened team struggling in the Premiership and Europa League, criticism of the board’s handing of its affairs has been at fever pitch.
Without question, the disconnect between those at the helm and the rank and file is as wide as it’s been this century. The gathering in the Kerrydale Suite was unlikely to pass without a few sparks flying.
What ensued, though, was an unedifying spectacle — a rabble which would have been more at home in a public house.
Those who arrived angered at the direction the club is going in did so with some justification. There was even acknowledgment of this from key figures on the top table.
Celtic fans hold aloft red cards as the club’s annual general meeting descended into farce
The club’s senior figures take their seats at the top table before the rancorous scenes began
One shareholder appeared perplexed as those around him began their red-card protests
For those wishing to question the inscrutable summer transfer window or the thinking behind the hoarding of tens of millions of pounds, the floor and a microphone beckoned. Or at least it should have.
That right was denied to them by those who weren’t interested in a robust but civilised discourse.
There’s a way to articulate your dissatisfaction with the way your football club is being run. Barracking directors to the point where they could not finish a sentence isn’t it. It’s hard for someone to accept your point of view when you are jabbing a finger in their direction and yelling abuse.
‘I thought it was a really sad, sad morning,’ said interim manager Martin O’Neill, whose presence on the top table brought warm applause.
‘I just wonder what the great Jock Stein would have thought of it all, who preached unity at the football club, who said that a club not united would never be successful.
‘There were people who had wanted to ask questions and the board have said that they’ve made mistakes.
‘There’s only so many times that you can apologise and then you have to get on with things again.’
Martin O’Neill described it as ‘a sad, sad morning’ as he reflected on the AGM scenes later on
It was clear from the outset that many shareholders weren’t interested in listening to apologies or explanations.
There was no desire to ascertain how the board might attempt to operate better in the future. It seemed that the only show in town was decrying them for their previous shortcomings.
It was ugly before it had even started. As the directors walked in to take their seats at 10.30am, they were booed. Dozens of red cards were flashed in their direction. The first cry of ‘Sack the Board’ went up.
Before chairman Peter Lawwell could even introduce those sat to his left and right, Jeanette Findlay, vice-chair of the Celtic Trust, jumped out of her seat and approached the stage.
Lawwell demanded respect, but he was whistling in the wind. After four minutes and 37 seconds, he announced a half-hour adjournment.
The directors returned to the platform at 11.01am. If anything, the atmosphere was even more febrile.
Lawwell warned that he’d have no hesitation in closing the meeting if there was a repeat of what had gone before.
Fans have protested on the field this term, with a game at Dundee disrupted by objects thrown
Dozens of attendees then got up and left the room while again yelling and waving their red cards.
If the organisers believed some pre-recorded videos would placate the audience, then they were wrong.
It’s fair to say that Lawwell reflecting on a ‘good year on and off the park’ didn’t exactly lighten the mood.
Chief executive Michael Nicholson also caught a nerve when claiming the board ‘always wants to get better’.
Finance director Chris McKay’s assertion that the cash in the bank was to guard against ‘volatility’ was met with scorn.
‘We indeed wanted to spend more, but for circumstances which we’ve covered elsewhere, we were unable to deliver on that,’ he said.
Lawwell continued the narrative, acknowledging the legitimacy of supporters’ grievances.
‘I understand the frustration and the negativity from some parts, and the disappointment,’ he said. ‘We have made mistakes and recognise there are improvements to be made.’
Ross Desmond, son of major shareholder Dermot Desmond, labelled some fans ‘bullies’
At this point, those who’d walked out of the room filed back in. It was pretty clear that they weren’t carrying olive branches.
Lawwell issued another warning about the conduct before announcing that Ross Desmond — the son of major shareholder Dermot — would address the meeting.
What followed was an extraordinary episode. The room was initially silent — perhaps sensing that a seismic announcement about the future of the club was in the pipeline.
Instead, to a growing clamour, the Irishman delivered a pre-prepared speech which made his father’s online attack on Brendan Rodgers look like a Christmas card greeting.
Speaking on behalf of his father and himself, Desmond junior offered a strong defence of his dad’s credentials as a Celtic supporter before turning both barrels on those in the audience and those in the wider support who ‘lie in wait for any opportunity and any small opening to stir up toxicity around the club’. He was only getting started.
‘We will not be railroaded by those whose only vocation in life is to be anti-establishment and by those who try to degrade the club,’ he said.
Then, as the hostility in the room grew, he pulled the trigger.
‘Criticism and advice are welcome and are the right of every supporter,’ he continued. ‘But some of what we have seen recently is not constructive, it is destructive and cynical.
‘All it does is strengthen our resolve to protect the integrity and stability of Celtic Football Club. Our board led by Peter and our executive led by Michael are dedicated Celtic people.
‘The attempts to dehumanise and vilify them are shameful. These are people with families, they love the club every bit as much as anyone here and when we are not performing they suffer just as much as anyone. They work tirelessly, often under intense pressure.
‘The incident a few weeks ago at the Falkirk match (when a steward was assaulted) was symptomatic of wider behaviour that has not been … these people are bullies and they try to hijack the behaviour of Celtic supporters.
Supporters gather outside the ground after a game against Falkirk to express their discontent
‘We cannot allow them to define who we are. I’m well aware of the target I put on my back when I say this.’
By this stage, the room was in uproar. Desmond seemed to have more to say, but he’d said enough.
As dozens of attendees rose to their feet to shout him down, Lawwell intervened and brought the second part of the meeting to a close after 24 minutes and 11 seconds.
Comprising of 17 resolutions, the formal business was concluded later with voting taking place by proxy.
That means there’s no requirement to reschedule the AGM, so it will now be a year before there will be another opportunity for shareholders to directly hold the custodians of the club to account.
Many present yesterday clearly won’t lose much sleep over that. Sledgehammer diplomacy is seemingly the only way they know.
That approach certainly destroyed any lingering prospect of a compromise or a mutually agreed road forward.
As the meeting dispersed well ahead of schedule, there could be agreement on one thing; Not in 30 years has Celtic Football Club been so divided.
