Six weeks after his first plea for unity Brian Wilson finally met up with the Celtic Fans Collective.
With that timeline you’d think that the interim Chairman might have been prepared for as it down with well briefed, concerned supporters.
While it wasn’t quite the Peter Lawwell or Ross Desmond levels of contempt and disdain there was no connection with the Collective.
Wilson is of course a lifelong Labour politician. A former colleague of Peter Mandelson, someone who sat in Tony Blair’s cabinet.
The current Celtic Chairman would rather have been knocking out attacks on the SNP for readers of the Scotsman. Being held to account is a wholly alien concept.
The meeting took place at 3pm on Wednesday 18th of February. Wilson promised to have Minutes agreed by 5pm on Friday.
Celtic rejected parts of the Minutes produced by the Collective and offered nothing in reply.
When Monday failed to bring a compromise the Collective decided that it was time to publish their Minutes. They did so at 12.30 today.
Quotes from the Minutes are in bold and italics.
MICHAEL NICHIOLSON
BW stated he has faith in Michael Nicholson and considers his performance this season acceptable, BW reiterated that responsibility rests with the Board collectively.
BW acknowledged mistakes had been made this season and that Nancy’s appointment was “not good” and circumstances “far from ideal”. However, no specific failings were detailed.
It is beyond belief that anyone can describe Nicholson’s performance as acceptable.
We know that group stage football in any UEFA competition is considered a success inside the Celtic board.
Now we also know that third in the SPFL and losing a cup final to St Mirren is also acceptable.
Oh and there was the sackings of Wilfried Nancy and Paul Tisdale. Nicholson already has Mark Lawwell on his crime sheet.
A CEO that dismantles the playing squad to boost the bank balance is also acceptable. Straight from the mouth of the interim CEO.
FAN ADVISORY BOARD
The Collective referenced October minutes which included discussion of a Fan Advisory Board. Four months on, no structured engagement mechanism had been introduced.
BW confirmed consultation on supporter engagement structures would begin and committed to meeting again within one month to update on progress.
However, he did not commit to establishing a “Fan Advisory Board” specifically, stating that wording and structure remain under review.
PT noted previous the meeting with the club in which there was specific reference to the establishment of a Fan Advisory Board using this exact terminology. Following this BW committed that the club would remain consistent and follow through on this with an offer to provide an update in a months’ time.
This from the club that hasn’t staged one of their quarterly Fan Forums since May 2025. The Forum is a box-ticking exercise for UEFA licensing. At the last one Paul Tisdale presented a power-point explaining the brilliance of his recruitment model.
A Fan Advisory Board would achieve absolutely nothing. The PLC board achieves nothing with everything of any significance needing approved by a Non Executive Director.
In a properly functioning football club a Fan Advisory Board would be of use. Celtic are nowhere near that status.
FAN MEDIA BANNED BY CELTIC
Kevin McQuillan stated that a refreshed communications strategy is underway and that the role of fan media is being reviewed. It was acknowledged that criticism of the Club may have influenced decisions.
Neither KM or BW knew who made the decision that fan media access would be removed.
So the interim Chairman and Head of Marketing and Media know nothing about that decision.
The Collective submitted their agenda for the meeting in advance. Wilson knew the issue would be raised, he added McQuillan to the meeting.
Claiming that he didn’t know who decided is in keeping with his claim that the club was taken by surprise by the resignation of Brendan Rodgers.
Most tellingly under AOCB the Collective noted:
During closing remarks, as members of the Collective reiterated the seriousness of supporter anger and the opportunity for leadership to reset relations, it was observed that BW appeared disengaged at points in the discussion. This was perceived by some attendees as indicative of a lack of urgency or attentiveness at a critical juncture.
Clearly Wilson hadn’t even checked the club approved minutes of the meeting on October 6.
He was in the dark about who banned fan media. He had no idea of the commitment to a Fan Advisory Board.
STALL, DEFLECT, DENY, DELAY
Wilson had no authority to make any decision at the meeting. He was a messenger to report back to Nicholson and we all know how limited his Executive powers are. With big Peter taking another extended holiday the CEO has to wait on emails back from the Caribbean before anything can be done.
That meeting took place on February 18, we should expect a further meeting by March 18 if the Labour MP is a man of his word.
Any future meeting beyond March without the CEO or someone with Dermot Desmond’s authority is a waste of time.
Having delayed the meeting to bring Executive authority Wilson again failed.
Media and Marketing Head McQuillan is a nodding dog. If he doesn’t know who banned fan media he should be sacked. Almost certainly he was having a Lawwell moment.
Fans can expect absolutely no change from the ‘Shut up, we know best’ policy that has turned the club into a laughing stock in European circles.
No other club admires the balance sheet and the annual eight figure payment of Corporation Tax to HMRC.
Other clubs look at Club Brugge and Bodo Glimt to see how to be successful outside of the five rich leagues.
Brugge have a stadium capacity half the size of Celtic Park.
The 53,000 residents of Bodo could be housed inside Celtic Park. Since January 3 Celtic Park hasn’t housed a crowd of over 50,000.
