Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson reveals three staff members 'assaulted' after cup final defeat

Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson has said that three members of the club’s staff were assaulted by angry fans following the club’s cup final defeat to St Mirren on Sunday.

The cup holders fell to a 3-1 defeat against the Paisley side in the Premier Sports Cup final at Hampden, a third consecutive defeat for new Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy and the latest in a series of disappointing results for the club this season.

Nicholson says that in the wake of that defeat, three of his colleagues were assaulted in a “completely unacceptable” incident at Celtic Park.

The chief executive was speaking after Peter Lawwell’s decision to stand down from his post as non-executive chairman, following “threats and abuse” from an element of the support. Both Nicholson and Lawwell have become targets for a section of the support who are unhappy with the current management of the club at the highest level.

Nicholson shared his feelings on Lawwell’s decision, and made it clear that the club would not tolerate the behaviour of what he said was “a small minority”.

“I’m hugely disappointed,” Nicholson told Celtic TV. “It’s a sad day for Celtic.

“I think it’s sad because one of our colleagues has felt the need to stand down from his role. Peter is a Celtic fan first and foremost.

“He’s been a great colleague, a great leader for Celtic, both as chief executive and more recently as chairman, as we’ve enjoyed great success on and off the pitch.

“But it’s a sad day for Celtic because of the reasons behind Peter’s decision to stand down. I know it’s a decision that weighed heavily on him. It’s not an easy decision but I think he’s made a decision for himself and for his family because of the abuses and because of the threats that they brought towards him.

“And those are behaviours that we’ve seen from perhaps a very small minority of the Celtic support, but those are behaviours that are completely unacceptable. We’ve most recently had a situation where three of our colleagues were assaulted at Celtic Park on Sunday night after the match.

“And as I say, these behaviours and conduct are completely unacceptable. For me, they’re not Celtic. They’re not values of Celtic supporters and Celtic family. And as a board, it strengthens our resolve to do the right thing for Celtic and to take this club forward together for the future.”

Nicholson was also asked about new manager Nancy’s troubled start to his time as boss, having lost a top of the table clash with Hearts, a home European game against Roma, and a cup final to St Mirren in his first ten days.

The chief executive acknowledged results were not what anyone hoped for, but backed the Frenchman and said the board’s support was “absolutely solid”.

“It’s not even two weeks ago when we spoke about Wilfried and his appointment,” Nicholson added. “There’s never any time to start at Celtic and it has been challenging. We’ve had some disappointing results, not least on Sunday.

“And in that respect, I understand that Celtic supporters are concerned about where we are. I understand and I respect the right of every supporter to express their discontent and to share that with us.

“But we know where we want to go. And step by step, all of our job is to support Wilfried, his team and the squad to take us where we want to get to.

“The starting point is now we’ve been working and met with Wilfried this week to discuss recruitment ahead of the January transfer window and also looking ahead to the summer transfer window because we know that we’ve got a project to support here.

“We’re excited about where we’re going to get to. That’s going to take time both, as I say, day to day within the training environment, but also month to month, window to window.

“And then we know that when we get to that stage in the summer, hopefully having had success this season, we’ll be looking ahead to next season with great optimism with Wilfried.”