Thirty years on from the takeover of Celtic by Fergus McCann the story of that period has been retold on the Celtic Exchange Podcast.
In a fantastic example of how fan media works Matt McGlone, David Low and Jim Orr have shared their memories of a traumatic period in Celtic’s history where they came close to liquidation, rebuild the stadium and won just three trophies.
Between the end of February and the start of June 2023 Ange Postecoglou’s side also won three honours.
That was unimaginable back in the nineties as the Centenary Double and Joe Miller’s Scottish Cup winner started to fade into the background.
Paul McStay, Pat Bonner, John Collins and a few others carried the fight on the pitch, in 1990 and 1991 there were epic Scottish Cup wins for Celtic over Rangers (IL) but even then there was no happy ending with a trophy to show for those victories.
It was a period of decline, there was a resignation that the club was losing or had lost the battle to David Murray, pre moonbeams he dominated more than just Scottish football. An official takeover of STV was suggested, he brought out his own newspaper, The Sunday Scot while Jim White of STV and Chic Young of BBC Scotland battled for the biggest scoop. James Traynor headed up an obedient line of newspaper messengers.
Fanzines Not The View followed later by Once A Tim offered some hope that things might change but it seemed far fetched that anything could be altered, like the Royal Family the Celtic board were always there with no prospect for change.
JIM ORR
Frustrated by the events of 1990 when Brian Dempsey was briefly on the Celtic board, Orr put in the groundwork with Willie Wilson to set up Save Our Celts.
During the podcast Orr, a regular on A Celtic State of Mind and the playwright for Bend it like Brattbakk and Bend it like Bertie, relives the details of how the first protest group got off the ground, the challenges of the times when Dempsey and Jimmy Johnstone were on the phone to discuss how they could get involved.
It was a start, malcontents had a voice, profile and focus but Save Our Celts ran out of momentum, there is only so much that a couple of activist fans can achieve in their spare time but the seeds were sown.
MATT MCGLONE
With Save Our Celts running its race a newer more aggressive group surfaced through Matt McGlone and Save Our Celts.
Large meetings were held at Glasgow venues, supporters clubs were mobilised which put the established Association and Affiliation in the spotlight but on the ground the support was being mobilised as Liam Brady was sacrificed for Lou Macrai with crowds at Celtic Park hovering around 20,000 at home matches, many watching from cheap plastic seats in The Jungle.
Dempsey and Fergus McCann engaged with Celts for Change, the issues at the club were as much a news item as a sports story with the team on the park hovering around fourth place, chasing Aberdeen, Hearts and Motherwell.
A Scottish Cup defeat to Motherwell on 29 January 1994 turned the tide, there was no chance of a Celtic trophy, the debts were mounting, the income dropping with McCann and others showing interest in reviving a business that was on its knees.
DAVID LOW
Having worked with Dempsey buying up proxy shares, Low travelled extensively which brought him into contact with McCann, formerly of the Croy CSC.
McCann’s offer to build a new stand in 1988 had been rejected by the Kelly dominated Celtic board of directors, he had gone away but not lost interest.
Low carried out much of the legwork, he knew that the Kelly regime couldn’t be sustained but there were a few contenders and investors on the scene.
McCann and Dempsey were known but there were others such as Willie Haughey, John Keane, Gerard Weisfeld around and ready to save Celtic.
Over the long weekend at the start of March some tough negotiating was required, most directors were happy to see the club saved and moving in the right direction, showing their true colours Michael Kelly and Chris White insisted on selling their shares- in a company that had been within an hour from receivership under their leadership.
The McCann Years
Outside of the incredible 1965 to 1970 period under Jock Stein the McCann Years are the most dramatic in Celtic’s history.
Under Stein the stadium and the club as a whole barely changed, on the pitch, training ground and dressing room everything was transformed.
McCann had a techy relationship with the blood and thunder of the playing side but a precision focus on the business, he built a stadium in phases that has delivered the highest attendances in Scotland over the last 25 years and created the PLC that has evolved into the current set up at Celtic Park which has almost evolved into a new family dynasty.
On the park things were very traumatic with Lou Macari, Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen and Jo Venglos in the manager’s job with a 17 month stint from Jock Brown that no blog post could ever do justice to.
Only three trophies were delivered under McCann but it included the one that mattered most, if the 97/98 League Championship hadn’t been delivered there is no telling what direction Celtic would have moved in
Season 94/95
Was a grim soul-less experience spent at Hampden as the North Stand rose into the east end skyline. Tommy Burns struggled to get his way on the park as McCann powered on with rebuilding the club, it seems that paying Phil O’Donnell’s transfer fee in one instalment shocked the CEO.
Pierre van Hooijdonk was signed during the period that the Share Issue was pitched to supporters, the Dutchman provided a happy ending to the season with the winning goal in the Scottish Cup Final, ending a six year drought.
Season 95/96
Back at the new look Celtic Park Burns had added Andy Thom after a near miss with David Ginolla.
The initial matches at Celtic Park were awkward but the team found a style, the fans got over the loss of the Jungle but one defeat and 10 draws resulted in a second prize with Rangers ending interest in both cup competitionS.
Despite being trophyless there was a real sense of optimism, the fans had a home and the team an identity- all that was needed was the next step to be taken.
Season 96/97
There was an incredible frenzy around the club as Paolo di Canio was signed in close season, teaming up with Jorge Cadete, Thom and van Hooijdonk.
On paper it seemed dynamic but problems seemed to be brewing away in the background, after a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Falkirk it was the end of the road for Burns with caretaker Billy Stark seeing out the season.
Season 97/98
On the eve of going on pre-season Wim Jansen was appointed as manager with no new signings in place and Jock Brown trading in di Canio for Regi Blinker, as Cadete returned to Portugal Henrik Larsson was signed while the A-Listers from Italy were joining up at Ibrox to seal 10-in-a-row.
Jansen lost both of his first two league matches but credible displays against Liverpool in the UEFA Cup alongside the signings of Marc Rieper and Paul Lambert worked wonders in the autumn with Jansen’s pragmatic style.
On a glorious spring afternoon St Johnstone were beaten 2-0 to deny the unthinkable but within a few days Jansen had resigned with another summer of turmoil underway.
Season 98/99
With McCann preparing to sell up and move out Dr Jo Venglos was a left-field appointment as manager, just in time for a bonus row as Croatia Zagreb wiped out the prospect of reaching the group stage of the Champions League.
Celtic did sign Marco Viduka from the Croatian club but before his debut he returned to Australia which wouldn’t have helped McCann’s blood pressure.
In springtime he was back across the pond, leaving behind a stadium and infrastructure but appointing Allan MacDonald as his successor with more turbelence ahead under the dream ticket of John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish.
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