In praise of Chairman Bankier- Herald/Times reporter pays tribute to departing Celtic giant!

Apparently there is chaos in the Celtic boardroom on the back of Ian Bankier’s decision to announce his retirement in January. 

That is the view of James Cairney in a column in the Herald/Times! 

Underwhelming would be a compliment for the whisky guru who has been chairman of Celtic for more than a decade. He could quite easily walk around Celtic Park on a matchday and go un-noticed, rarely has anyone in such a senior position made so little impact. 

Wedged between Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond, Bankier was the definition of a nodding dog, an empty suit/vessel that ticked the corporate boxes, did the very minimal with no contribution beyond the bland comments required to fill a space in the Annual and Interim accounts. 

At the 2015 AGM he launched an attack on Celtic fans promoting the Living Wage at the club- his words were gleefully picked up by the media that he has always avoided connecting with. Keeping payment to the majority of club employees below the Living Wage seemed to be a real passion.

With Lawwell gone he took centre stage at the 2021 AGM and didn’t show up well. With matchday protests over the rumoured appointment of Bernard Higgins chairman Bankier would discuss the issue.  

The Dubai trip was turned into an attack on the Scottish Government, something of a hobby-horse for staunch Unionist Bankier, backed by his boardroom buddy Brian Wilson who alongwith Tom Allison formed the Peter Lawwell Appreciation Society, better known as Celtic’s Remuneration Committee. 

Cairney of the Herald/Times puts his name to this incredible Bankier tribute as he poured over executive shuffles over the last 18 months: 

Just as things appeared to be settling, though, further disruption struck at the tail end of last week when chairman Ian Bankier announced his impending retirement, prompting all the usual well-wishers and their salutations paying homage to a job well done. The 70-year-old said he would see out the rest of the year but come New Year’s Day, someone else would be occupying the seat at the top of the boardroom table. 

After a prosperous decade at the helm of the Parkhead outfit – both in terms of trophies lifted and in filling up club coffers – the congratulations were well deserved. But once the tributes had finished poured in and Bankier received his pats on the back, the question soon arose: who’s next? 

The list of well-wishers consisted solely of boardroom chums. Four years after taking over as chairman revenue had shrunk to £51,080,000 in 2015, down £13,656,000 on the previous year. Executive pay didn’t suffer. If Bankier’s time was prosperous for some it certainly wasn’t for Celtic. In 2004 turnover was £69,020,000. 

Whoever succeeds Bankier isn’t an issue but the boardroom mentality that allowed one CEO to stay in place for almost 18 years, brought in a successor who lasted less than 100 days then replaced him with the former CEO’s pal requires serious scrutiny. As does allowing a CEO to tell untruths to shareholders without correction. 

And he did nothing about his deep concerns over Bobby Madden and Nick Walsh.

Bankier: “We did not invest to turn a profit, but for the association with our (Scottish Leader) brand and the following it has among Rangers supporters. Every time the ball hits the net at Ibrox you can see Scottish Leader in the background.”https://t.co/cdDt7b4mQz

— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) July 30, 2022

Bankier said: ”We bought when football shares were riding high and (Rangers) were talking about listing. It looked very good at the time but later unravelled.”

June 2003https://t.co/cdDt7b4mQz

— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) July 30, 2022