David Low and two others have formally set up Celtic Supporters Limited, registering with Companies House on September 9.
Low and his colleagues Peter McGowan and Duncan Smillie had hoped to become involved with The Celtic Trust but after almost 30 years of making little progress they have decided against that route to go ahead with their plan to modernise Celtic.
Since Fergus McCann’s share issue in 19995 brought in thousands of supporters the influence of fans has been in decline with control of the club concentrated into three groups led by Dermot Desmond.
In July 2025 Yahoo! Finance reported:
Dermot Desmond is currently the largest shareholder, with 35% of shares outstanding. Lindsell Train Limited is the second largest shareholder owning 18% of common stock, and Christopher Trainer holds about 11% of the company stock.
Low outlined some of his plans for Celtic on ACSOM on Friday night, for a long time he has been hoping to revive what could be as much as 20% of the club shares which have become dormant due to changes since 1995. Bluntly many of the fans that bought in under McCann have died with their shares unclaimed, many have been due dividend payments.
If those shares can be revived it could create a worthwhile grouping, just 5% of the shares are required to call an EGM that would be able to question the Board of Directors on specific issues.
Low is big on corporate governance with Celtic falling short of good practise in a number of areas such as appointing a former CEO as Chairman just 18 months after ‘stepping down’.
Five years is the recommended lifespan for a Non Executive Director, eight years at a push.
Tom Allison, a former Clydeport colleague of Peter Lawwell has been a NED since 2001 with Brian Wilson appointed in 2005.
The world has changed and moved on dramatically since they were appointed but the basic function of a NED to question if best practice is being carried out appears to be ignored.
Brian Rose was appointed as a NED in 2023 and hasn’t been heard, just like Sharon Brown who is now into her tenth season on the Celtic board.
With over 400 different fan groups signing up for change at the club and asking direct questions there is a different mood around the Celtic support at the moment.
They’ve had a glimpse of success in Europe under Brendan Rodgers but that has been reigned in by Michael Nicholson’s transfer activities.
With a new look to the Champions League supporters are comparing Celtic against Club Brugge, Benfica, FC Copenhagen and others.
The comparison isn’t favourable.
Social media is highly influential, something that a coward inside Celtic hasn’t yet grasped but with Low, Smillie and McGowan combining their knowledge there is likely to be a powerful voice emerging around Celtic.
With the 2025 Accounts soon to be published and the AGM being held in November the timing of Celtic Supporters Limited is perfect.
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1 Comment
by Kevin Watson
Yes watch Paul and David discuss his vision in 20 years for Celtic .
Speaks so eloquently and obviously was involved with buying into Celtic in 90s.
Hope it is a success