Celtic supporters unite to plan 'escalating campaign' against Parkhead board

Celtic fans intend to escalate their protests against the board’s running of the club, with plans including taking action when the team faces Kilmarnock this weekend.

Fans are being encouraged to stay away from the start of the televised Premiership match against Kilmarnock and make a late entry to Sunday’s game to highlight how unhappy they are with the Celtic hierarchy.

Supporters have made their anger known about the club’s transfer business, and the running of the football department, after a failure to significantly strengthen the first team during the summer window.

Though 12 new signings were made, fans are frustrated by the level of new recruits, a failure to replace some departed players, and how that was a factor in Celtic being knocked out of the Champions League by Kairat Almaty.

Chants of “sack the board” have already been heard through Celtic Park, and the North Curve Celtic group shared a photograph of themselves holding up banners calling for the removal of major shareholder Dermot Desmond, chairman Peter Lawwell, and chief executive Michael Nicholson.

In response to the criticism and an open letter signed by hundreds of supporters’ groups that questioned the leadership, Celtic issued a statement defending the club for not “throwing money at transfers”.

The club claimed information reported in the media about transfers was misleading or inaccurate, and also said that UEFA rules on financial fair play limited the club’s ability to spend their significant cash reserves on signings.

That drew derision from some fans online, and prompted a vote of no confidence in the board from a number of prominent supporters’ groups.

After a meeting of representatives from 260 different supporters clubs, groups and fan media organisations who had signed the open letter, a statement was circulated that outlined plans to “escalate” a campaign against the board.

It read: “Yesterday evening, a consultation meeting was held with the signatories of the recent open letter to Celtic FC. The open letter has still to be addressed by Celtic FC despite it representing tens of thousands of Celtic fans.

“The consultation meeting reflected the second step of acting as a collective fan movement for positive change at our club and was attended by 85 in the room and 175 online. Comprehensive minutes will soon be shared with all signatories.

“At the meeting, there was an overwhelming consensus on the following points which were compounded by a fan survey of 38,832 Celtic fans in advance of the meeting:

to build on the recent ‘no confidence’ votes on the Celtic FC board, seeking the removal of Michael Nicholson, CEO; Chris McKay, CFO; Peter Lawwell, Chairman.
to build a strategic, escalatory campaign against the Celtic board.
to build a democratic and representative fan body
to coordinate a ‘late entry’ protest at Kilmarnock v Celtic to further visualise and vocalise fan discontent.

“To help progress these points and the fan movement generally, a steering group of volunteers is being assembled.

“Finally, we would like to thank all who have participated in the process so far. It is natural that there will be a mix of feeling regarding some actions or inaction, however the most important consideration at this stage is maintaining, building and utilising broad fan support.”

The Celtic support had grown increasingly unhappy throughout the summer at what they perceived as an unacceptable and frustrating lack of high-profile signings arriving.

Though forwards Callum Osmand and Shin Yamada were brought in, neither was considered to be a ready replacement and first team starter to replace Kyogo Furuhashi, who was sold in January. Numerous strikers were linked with the club but deals did not materialise and the striker situation came to a head when Celtic allowed Adam Idah, who had been signed for £9m the previous year, to travel to Swansea City ahead of a proposed move.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said Idah wouldn’t be sold without a replacement being signed but the Republic of Ireland forward completed his switch to Wales before Celtic’s late moves for a striker were unsuccessful. Kelechi Iheanacho signed for the club after the transfer deadline, having been released from his contract with Sevilla the previous day.

Winger Nicholas Kuhn was sold to Como early in the window for a significant fee, but wide players Michel -Ange Balikwisha and Sebastian Tounekti weren’t signed until after the Champions League exit. Yang was allowed to travel to Birmingham City to seal a move south but is back with the Celtic squad after a move collapsed.

The return of Kieran Tierney and the signing of midfielder Benjamin Nygren have been seen as positives but the remaining additions do not look likely to be regular inclusions in Rodgers’ side.

The manager has also been an increasingly frustrated figure throughout the summer and repeatedly underlined his insistence that the team needed quality additions to progress to the next level after reaching the knockout rounds of the Champions League last season.

The situation is also likely to affect Rodgers’ situation with the Northern Irishman’s contract expiring next summer and the manager having said that his ambition would need to be matched by the club if he was to remain beyond his initial three-year deal.