Celtic have responded emphatically to the statements of the Celtic Fans Collective and Green Brigade.
The Collective appeared to be losing purpose but the club statement after a tennis ball protest pushed them straight back into the spotlight.
At 10.07pm, around eight hours after Dermot Desmond’s round of golf was briefly disrupted Celtic announced that they were ending communications with the Collective.
It will hardly make any difference to the running of the Collective. Meetings have been hard to arrange, delayed and postponed with Brian Wilson so engaged that he was doodling during his February meeting. At that meeting Interim Chairman Wilson made it clear that he had no decision making power. Par for the course with a Labour politician.
The Collective had been consulting members on the future on Not Another Penny.
On the back of the 10.07pm statement the Collective have announced that they are stepping up NAP. All areas of non match ticket income will be impacted, such as merchandise, club tours and catering will be targeted.
Just ahead of Friday’s media conferences the Green Brigade announced that they were opting out of the Home Cup Ticket Scheme.
The Ultras group won’t be attending next week’s Europa League tie at home to Celta Vigo.
Twice in the last three seasons Celtic have suspended the Green Brigade. The impact has been obvious, individual player shouts can clearly be heard.
Without those 250 Season Ticket holders in Section 111 the atmosphere inside Celtic Park plunges.
CELTIC- ABSOLUTELY MORE THAN A CLUB AS THEY RELENTLESSLY PUSH MERCH AND SALES
A crowd of under 40,000 is expected for the visit of Celta, the visitors are bringing 3,000 noisy fans.
Like Roma and Stuttgart who visited Celtic last season the away support will find the famous Celtic Park atmosphere is a myth. Fans in their forties and fifties just don’t make the same type of noise.
We play Benfica in Europe tomorrow and Celtics last three posts have been to sell merchandise and their restaurant.
I’ve never seen a club so tone deaf.
— Abada-cadabra (@ThePundit_) October 14, 2026
Most definitely at Celtic the show must go on.
Social media is simply an advertising channel. A way of selling things to supporters broken up with birthday wishes to former players that the club shows no interest in.
There is no engagement with supporters. No warmth, simply a barely disguised hard sell.
Tragically the Lisbon Lions are simply viewed as a marketing term.
While fans raise funds for a Jim Craig statue in Govan the club contributes nothing.
A variety of strips and products are apparently inspired by the Lisbon Lions.
Unfortunately the Boardroom doesn’t seem inspired by the clubs greatest ever team. Six successive failures to reach the Champions League group stage is a pattern of failure. Not bad luck.
Over the last two seasons Celtic lost out to Kairat Almaty and Lask Linz, in 10 Champions League matches those clubs have picked up one point.
@CelticFC Inside the head or Dermot Desmond “Right no one’s buying into our marketing wheel out mr larsson that will get them to spend “🤡s
— 🏴daviebhoy (@DavidAl71528662) October 14, 2026
@CelticFC Honestly I love Henrik but you cunts are parasites and selling substandard pish under the guise of a hero.
— Steven Ward (@StevenWard1888) October 14, 2026
MERCH, BRANDS AND SALES, SALES, SALES
Like the Lisbon Lions Celtic look on Henrik Larsson as a selling brand.
Not the highest goal-scorer post Lisbon Lions, not the striker that left Celtic to go on to play for Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Larsson was in the last Celtic side to win a UEFA knock out tie. In March 2004 Celtic beat Barcelona 1-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup.
In the 22 years since Celtic have lost out in all three UEFA Cup competitions. To teams such as Bodo Glimt, Stuttgart and Copenhagen.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst won four Knock-Out ties in one season. Even Barry Ferguson has one on his CV alongside his successes at Clyde, Kelty Hearts and Alloa.
@CelticFC Remember Europe is a distraction as per the manager and Ross Desmond thinks we can’t compete…. Remember that before buying tickets to line the boards pockets 🍀
— Dougal 🍀 (@DougalMaguire93) October 14, 2026
And then there is the tickets. Lots of them. Thursday night matches against Celta Vigo and Beskitas in the Europa League.
When Celtic announced their squad for the secondary UEFA competition Martin O’Neill admitted that the SPFL Premiership is his priority.
At £40 a pop it won’t just be the Green Brigade turning their back on those fabled European nights under the lights at Celtic Park.
Reactions to social media posts are almost universally hostile. Not that anyone at Celtic appears to notice.
In a token nod towards the fans Supporters Liaison Officer John Paul Taylor has been promoted to Fan Engagement Officer. His successor as SLO has yet to be announced.
Celtic will soon be launching their festive sales blitz. They know exactly what the reaction will be across social media.
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