Peter Lawwell steps down as Celtic CEO today with many fans delighted that his 17 year reign is finally over.
When the little known accountant took up his job in October 2003 Celtic had just returned from Seville and were in the middle of an epic Champions League campaign, taking seven points from Anderlecht, Bayern Munich and Lyon. Losing the three away matches by a single goal.
In three weeks’ time a Celtic squad stripped to the bone faces Midtjylland in a Second Round qualifier for the group stage. Two more rounds have to be negotiated to reach the group stage.
Despite being seeded, Celtic under Lawwell have fallen to AEK Athens, Cluj and Ferencvaros in the last three seasons. Lawwell is also toasted in the boardrooms of Malmo, Maribor, Sparta Prague and FC Copenhagen.
Lawwell has been in charge during Celtic’s greatest ever period of domestic success. Before 2016 there hadn’t been a single treble during his reign, that changed quickly as Brendan Rodgers delivered seven out of seven with two more in the pipeline.
What happened to force Rodgers out and the recruitment process that appointed Neil Lennon as successor in the Hampden showers will define the Lawwell Legacy.
As he signs out he can look back on a salary that started at £248,941 with club turnover standing at £69m. In the last normal season, the year to 30 June 2019 turnover was up to £83.4m with Lawwell taking home £3.5m. Had income grown in line with inflation Celtic would have brought in £106.7m, in real terms the outgoing CEO oversaw a drop in come of £23.3m while his salary and bonus soared.
Dom McKay picks up the pieces with a decimated squad, no trophies in the boardroom and a far different proposition to the one Lawwell picked up in October 2003.
His legacy is what he leaves behind, and it’s an utter shambles an entire football club ran around his gigantic ego, his pals and cronies in every job. That’s before you get to go lying to the Celtic supporters. #GoodRiddance
— roy (@Airthreycastle3) June 30, 2021
Priorities all wrong..
Motivation was always the balance sheet, and his ability to earn exuberant bonus..
There was no vision or ambition towards our status in Europe. Failure to qualify for CL simply offset by selling star players. Rinse and repeat— It dusnae Vata (@gazzarinho1) June 30, 2021
Downsizing
— Herewego9inarow (@JanKubis) June 30, 2021
Nose in the trough. Made more money from Celtic than possibly any player or manager & never backed the fans when we needed most, Res 12, OBA, etc.. A penny pinching accountant enriching himself & who limited our ambition to be the best in Scotland & not Europe. Good riddance.
— MalkyC (@MalkyC01) June 30, 2021
The man who saved Rangers and restored the old firm. The man who ignored 10 years of EBT cheating and did not insist on title stripping. The man who again ignored cheating regarding the Res12 issue. The man who ignored a corrupt SFA and a corrupt referring association. Etc Etc..
— FrancoBhoy (@FrancoBhoy1972) June 30, 2021
Overpaid accountant with zero ambition for the club. On the bang for buck, a failure.
— TheProvocativeH (@TheProvocativeH) June 30, 2021
Securing his bonus was his biggest priority. Failure to build on a position of strength & losing the ten because of it, will always be his legacy in my eyes.
— John Coyne (@JohnCoy29071630) June 30, 2021
On paper he cost us a fortune in CL money , not to mention 10iar sales
— Herewego9inarow (@JanKubis) June 30, 2021
He’s taken us from being a euro finalist to a team that can barely qualify for Europe.
— Steven 1888 (@1888steven) June 30, 2021
Too long the job went to his head 4/5 big decisions utterly disgraceful! Toney mcginn Rodgers all decisions have cost the club in total easily £100m!reality n thats just 3 that we definitely without question!!!!
— Andy hynes (@andyhy88) June 30, 2021
He ran the club for the benefit of himself and shareholder. Undoubtedly we were financially strong but those benefits never translated onto the pitch as we were dire in Europe despite strong domestic success. We may have been even more successful if he fully backed managers
— Ezio (@4La_Volpe) June 30, 2021
Should have went in 2012 when he bottled it, 5 way agreement, LNS sham enquiry, EBT’s and Cheating, Res 12 etc didn’t act in Celtic’s best interests and surrounded himself with a board of yes men #goodriddance
— Griff (@MildooWolf) June 30, 2021