GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 17: Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell, Majority Shareholder Dermot Desmond, and Chief Executive Officer Michael Nicholson (L-R) during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and St Mirren at Celtic Park, on May 17, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Peter Lawwell lost the plot today at the Celtic AGM. Calling it off after less than one hour that included a 30 minute adjournment.
In previous years the club Chairman would have taken on protestors with his usual sarcasm and patronising to roars of delight from the elderly audience. Not this year. Big Peter was a shadow of his usual arrogant self.
NO Q AND A 2025
I had been looking forward to the Q and A slot. The one occasion a year when Lawwell and his cronies are held to account. Last year the Chairman was very sensitive over a question to the CEO about Pete’s laddie.
This year there was additional security checks in place to attend. Showing a proxy form wasn’t enough.
Shareholders that had registered to attend had to wait for staff to confirm their name on a list. ID such as a passport or driving licence was required. Very defensive from the self style most admired board in European football.
I got into Hall one at around 9.50 with that room full up soon after.
FROSTY
When it was full the heating was switched off, setting the tone for a frosty morning. The seating was cramped, if someone had to move so to did everyone else in the row.
The top table was booed into their seats. Lawwell didn’t name the directors individually. He did excuse his long term friend Tom Allison who bottled it due to unforeseen circumstances.
As he opened the meeting there was some jeering and a red card protest from a group to the right of the podium. Clearly they had got organised and arrived early.
HECKLERS
As Lawwell tried to direct shareholders to watch a video from last season Jeanette Findlay approached the area to ask questions. Shareholders were present to ask questions, not watch sugar coated video highlights.
The overspill rooms were poorly organised, summing up the club’s attitude to those outside their bubble.
Findlay was backed by the hecklers. Soon Lawwell appealed for good behaviour. Next he was adjourning the meeting for 30 minutes. Five or 10 minutes would have served the same purpose.
When the board returned to the stage the hecklers stood up and walked out, some waving red cards.
#ticagm pic.twitter.com/LC4eyaLZdW
— DMC (@davemc71) November 21, 2025
After his AGM fiasco should Peter Lawwell be removed as Chairman?
NO- We are lucky to be led by a footballing giant
YES- Well past his usefulness as the AGM proved
DULL AND BORING
It looked like the meeting would go ahead. Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay went through dull, boring interviews with dull and boring Gerry McCulloch. Pale, stale and male.
The hecklers then returned. Lawwell bit his tongue at that, as they returned he was perhaps about to say something unbecoming. He did say ‘we welcome back our……. guests’. They weren’t guests, they were shareholders, entitled to two hours scrutiny a year.
And then it was over to Ross Desmond. Delivering a message just like his Dad’s October 27 statement on Brendan Rodgers.
After mixing up excuses and attacks on fans he took things too far.
When he turned to the assault carried out during the Falkirk match the hecklers stepped in. They corrected him. One fan arrested, possibly a breach of the peace charge.
Not an assault as Celtic have portrayed the incident.
ITS MY BALL
And with that Lawwell was off. The outcome he was looking for.
I suspect he was un-nerved knowing the content of Ross Desmond’s speech and the reaction it would get.
The next steps are unknown.
But there is absolutely no intention for change by anyone inside Celtic.
A long bleak winter lies ahead. Lawwell can call off the AGM but he can’t stop fixtures being played or a wave of support for the Celtic Fans Collective on the back of today’s abysmal corporate performance.
This statement from Ross Desmond (Son of Dermot) is fucking wild. Surely this is the watershed moment. Absolutely no way back from this. pic.twitter.com/pJWJoLtRzF
— Mac Thréinfhir (@pmacth0) November 21, 2025
For years we’ve had to put up with Lawwell having a smug grin and a witty pop at The Rangers but for this Board that time is over.
Unfortunately they are the placemen of Dermot Desmond. I don’t know what right he has to make a statement at the Club’s AGM, similar to his father’s statement on the club website.
This Board are so ineffectual it is beyond parody. They can’t appoint a manager without Dermot’s say so. Our website is now available for him to make statements on when the whim takes him. If he’s in the room do they need to raise their hand to go to the toilet?
The mess the club is in is entirely self inflicted: from the wanton selling of our best players to kamikaze recruitment designed to hamstring every manager that has walked through the doors in the last fifteen years.
Fans will grumble and complain however they can’t be fooled by what we see on the park.
If they get that right they can go back to counting their beans and playing with their spaghetti hoops.
Today the board for the first time in a long time did some joined up thinking.
The set out to deliberately to antagonise Celtic shareholders in order to get a reaction that would allow them to hide and provide the excuse to abandon the clubs annual AGM.
The uncomfortable Q&A session which would no doubt have had them squirming was removed. They are a cowardly shower and are totally unfit for purpose.
That is exactly what happened here Lou Beau.
These people are cowardly, sinister and controlling. The word “establishment” was used, which has no place at Br Walfrid’s club. The use of untruths to control situations is appalling.
As they have all resigned from their position and not been voted back on ? Or do they just ignore that and make it up as they go along. HH.
The shareholders must act to remove Desmond special privileges, he either has to buy the remaining shares or dilute his enough to remove his influence. This is not longer a PLC and the regulators must step in. There is no accountability and they will not change course, a sad day for all.
0:47: “What’s hes tee-time?!” Stand-up line of the season 2025-26 from a stand-up guy. Shame the absentee landlord wasn’t there to hear it himself. Great to see the return of the red-cards, not seen since Not The View 1988 against chop Souey at Ibrokes.
Another point to this debacle gives the SMSM another stick in which to come down hard on Celtic FC as a complete entity …manna from heaven to the scoops ! Days like these don’t come along too often for the tribute act nodding dog lovers ..but when they do you can rest assured they are going to milk it for all it’s worth …and have the biggest belly laughs doing so ! There has to be better ways for shareholders and fans to cut their cloths more accordingly… surely?
Oh dear ,what now ,board have nothing to worry about, Celtic park will be full every game,STs snapped up ,all Adidas strips and merchandise snapped up ,on and on it goes with the board taking the utter pish out of faithful gullible fans,I used to laugh at the mess sevco got themselves in but for all their fuck ups money wise and failed recruitment they still treat their fans with a bit respect and listen to them unlike our shower who look upon fans and treat them like dog shite to be scraped off,wake up Celtic fans because it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better and today just proved that,I can’t believe we’ve still got board happy clappers in our ranks,what more must desmond and liewell and co do before our fans wake up.
Unfortunately the organised protest had the opposite effect of getting answers from the Board. Not the most clever strategy, allowing the Board a pass for another year. Let’s be honest, there is a toxicity seeping in from a faction of fans. Disgruntlement is fine, particularly in the current circumstances but anger and hostility just divides the club, without progress. The shareholders had a right to hold the Board to account and because of the conduct of the meeting (whoever is responsible) this right was denied.
Editor: Your next criticism of Celtic fans or shareholders will be your last on here, stick to Celtic Thick News. I will leave your comment on here so that others can see the snakes out there. Your hero big Peter bottled it today. He shouldn’t have handed the AGM over to Dermont’s boay and he shouldn’t have adjourned then ended the meeting. Kind regards to P67 and your chums. Last warning.
A plc Board which can’t even run an AGM!
Of course it was going to be boisterous.
The Board chose not to adapt, not to try and de-escalate in advance,
but chose to antagonise shareholders?!
All the Board has done is further entrenched itself,
with no middle ground to even consider.
It’s gloves off now: the Board v. the support…?
I agree, but beg to differ only slightly Bob .
i believe this was orchestrated very deliberately by the board beforehand. There was no attempt at de-escalation, just to intimidate, with mini Desmond calling people anti-establishment and non-contributers to society, thus provoking the response.
We saw the utter contempt for people that mini-Desmond, his Dad and the Board have. It also shows they have not learned a thing about the Establishment from Irish history or choose to be ignorant of it.
The AGM was abandoned by them and therefore how can they legally be voted back in? No voting can take place without shareholder imput. I believe it is time to get lawered up!
Unfortunately MON has bitten the poisonous apple
on DD Sons speech The Hoops boss said: “He has every right to say what he said. Absolutely. If he is not careful his legacy will be tainted
Im no business expert but are they allowed to close a must have meeting like that without arranging another?
Absolutely, definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, a deliberate move to avoid questioning & scrutiny.
The Bunnet got rid of the rats off the sinking ship..but since his departure, DD has let the biggest rat of all take the wheel.
PL ain’t going quietly, there was never any chance of that, narcissists don’t do going quietly, he’s more likely to wreak havoc before he does go.
What a total shit storm this club is internally.
Not a penny more from me till bare minimum that rat faced parasite is out the door.
Did Lawwell actually say “Behave.”?
H. Keevins said on SSB tonight that DD had got rid of Brendan Rodgers. That is patently untrue as Rodgers resigned himself and of his own volition.
That means Keevins hasn’t been following and / or is making it up as he goes along!
You still want to buy the Sunday Mail to follow this story?
Keevins doesn’t know if he’s going for a sh*te or a haircut
Ignore him
What?
Sevco will be watching and might try to wriggle their ‘war’ jackboots on our ‘war’ weary club !