There has been a joint statement by a variety of Celtic fan organisations on Friday afternoon.
The Celtic Trust and the Green Brigade are the two major players in this statement as it pertains to Celtic fans.
The groups want to hold the board to account for last season and the horrible manner they treated the support.
While the groups have made note they totally support the new manager they will be taking action to bout the oars ‘on notice’.
This will begin with a protest before Celtic’s friendly against Preston on July 17 – three days before our Champions League qualifier.
The protest will be against the board but the fans who choose to attend will also make making their vocal support heard for the manager and the team.
The coalition of Celtic groups have also called for a merchandise boycott until January. They realise they don’t speak for every fan out there but have implored those who share the same goals as them to not buy any club merchandise.
With a new era dawning at Celtic, we welcome Ange Postecoglu and offer our support to him and the team in their quest to return success to the club. For the second season running, the Celtic support has committed to backing the team, renewing season tickets in their tens of thousands, despite ongoing uncertainty regarding if, and when, fans might return to stadiums. Regrettably, over the course of the last year this support has often been taken for granted by the current custodians, who have mistreated the fanbase and mismanaged the club we all love.
Whilst there remains understandable anger over the arrogance and complacency demonstrated by the PLC board, we cannot simply continue as normal given the severity of these concerns. We have therefore set out an action plan that allows the Celtic support to demonstrate their full backing for Ange Postecoglu and the first team squad, whilst also holding the PLC to account over their conduct. Firstly, we will hold a rally prior to the pre-season match on the 17th of July to welcome and encourage the team and manager ahead of the upcoming season and to send a clear message that we are putting the board on notice. We will not sit back and allow a repeat of their conduct last season.
Secondly, we ask that fans who share our aims and values opt to keep any money that they would normally spend on other Celtic merchandise or matchday purchases until January, when a review can be held on the club’s conduct. That money can be spent at a later date or people could consider buying shares in Celtic, either directly (subject to taking appropriate advice) or collectively by joining the Celtic Trust.
This review will be based on the following criteria: • Improved treatment of, and communication with, the Celtic support.
• Evidence of progressive structural change in the running of Celtic Football Club.
• Ample support being granted to Ange Postecoglu to rebuild the first-team squad to enable our new manager to deliver success on the park.
We believe the criteria to be modest and achievable, and if the requests are met, we would be delighted to de-escalate any protest actions and seek to build positive relations with the club. If, however, we believe there is no evidence of improvement in these areas we will not hesitate to escalate our protest actions further to prevent a repeat of the last year. Whilst we fully accept that we do not represent all Celtic fans, we urge those who share our aims and values to support these measures. We believe that collective action is required to help hold this board to account.
This will likely split the support. Members of the Celtic trust voted through the boycott last week and the other fan groups have backed the move.
There has to be more fan representation and more transparency. Dominic McKay appears to be on his road to doing this but right now some of the club’s supporters and the board are still at odds.
