Celtic Trust puts Board on probation with six-month review

Angry members ‘fully support’ the team and new manager but vow to keep spotlight on ‘arrogant unfit’ board’.

The Celtic Trust has put the PLC board on probation with a six-month review.

Over 100 members took part in a special Trust meeting on June 21 to discuss future relations with the board. They overwhelmingly carried a motion for action.

A planned protest has now had to be cancelled for logistical reasons, but the Trust is determined to hold directors to account with its three-point review plan.

It mimics the promised review of footballing operations announced last October by the PLC which was never formally published.

Around 100 members took part in special Trust meeting on June 21 to discuss future relation with the board. It overwhelmingly carried a motion for protest action.

In a joint statement with other major fan groups, the Trust said: “With a new era dawning at Celtic, we first and foremost welcome Ange Postecoglou 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 Postecoglou and the first team squad, whilst also holding the PLC to account over their conduct.”

The Board’s performance will be scrutinised by fan groups in three target activities:

• Funding and backing for Ange Postecoglou to rebuild the first-team squad to deliver success on the park
• Evidence of progressive structural change in the running of Celtic Football Club.
• Improved treatment of, and communication with, the Celtic support.

The Trust said: “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.

“However, if we believe there is no evidence of improvement, we will not hesitate to escalate our protest actions further to prevent a repeat of the last season.”

The Trust has also urged fans to delay purchasing Celtic merchandise or matchday purchases until January when the Trust will deliver its review findings to members.

“While we fully accept that we do not represent all Celtic fans, we urge those who share our aims and values to join us on these measures. We believe that collective action is required to help hold this board to account.”

The Trust had planned to organise a demonstration against the directors before the pre-season friendly against Preston North End on July 16. But news that the players will arrive individually by car rather than by team bus led by the new manager and changes to the fan congregation areas meant that the team welcome and board protest has unfortunately had to be postponed.

We will now meet other supporters’ groups, including The Bhoys, Celtic Shared, the Green Brigade and North Curve Celtic, to discuss a new plan of action and tactics to keep fan pressure on club directors.

Further details will be posted on the Trust website and on the Trust Twitter account.