GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 05: Former Celtic Non-Executive Director Willie Haughey (R) and Celtic Chief Executive Officer Michael Nicholson during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park, on October 05, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Willie Haughey has revealed that the Celtic Season Ticket holders Alliance is open to ALL Celtic fans.
Soon after 5pm last night news emerged from Go Radio that Haughey is ready to launch a scheme aimed at giving fans a real say in the running of the club.
The name proposed by Haughey seems restrictive but further detail was provided.
The initial plan is to connect with every Season Ticket holder.
FAR BIGGER THAN THE CELTIC ACTIVE SUPPORTERS
Haughey will have a secretariat set up shortly to deal with that process but has far bigger plans than involving 54,000 Season Ticket holders.
For a variety of reasons many aren’t Season Ticket holders.
Outside of Scotland there are some large areas of Celtic support, it is believed that around 10,000 fans based in Ireland actively travel to matches over a season.
Haughey is taking on a massive challenge but after being alarmed by the events of this season has decided to take action.
17 minutes 20 seconds:
I want the 54,000 people (Season Ticket holders) to get in touch with s directly.
See, if you’re not a season ticket holder for whatever reason, but you’re a a shareholder, a small shareholder, can you still be part of this.
And I was going to say, I didn’t want to confuse people by saying that (non Season Ticket holders) would be phase two.
So, anybody that’s a Celtic fan, if you’re not lucky enough to be a Season Ticket holder and you want to join, delighted to have you.
I would like it, it would be brilliant if the whole diaspora was part of of that. But because it’s called the Season Ticket Alliance, that’s just the name. It could have been, you know, the Celtic Voice, someone else will come up with name.
And we might actually end up changing the name because somebody who joins us who is smarter than me comes up with a better name then great. We change it.
The next steps from Haughey will be watched closely
The Celtic Trust and Celtic Supporters Limited are both involved in various share related issues. Mainly trying to revive the almost 20% of shares that are currently dormant.
THE SHORT TERM PLAN
That would be a longer term project, Haughey appears to be looking to make an immediate impact.
During his Go Radio appearance he discussed a whole range of issues and revealed that he has spoken directly to the Green Brigade.
Bluntly Haughey put the current problems down to bad recruitment with Paul Tisdale named.
It won’t be too difficult to mobilise the Celtic support for change but the mechanism for change seems more problematic.
There hasn’t been a Celtic share issue since 2006. Omitting a generation of fans from direct investment and involvement.
Dermot Desmond currently owns around 34% of the shares in Celtic.
That would be brilliant I am not a season ticket holder any longer but have a few shares and would be really interested.
He is on first name terms with Desmond. Maybe he wants to sell.
I am very suspicious. We need real clarity. Is this free from taint by the Board?
When you’re up against restrictions, power and money, you need some form of power and money to shift that. If Haughey is able to generate change faster, by taking this intiative (and opening it up to all fans and actually speaking to the likes of GB) then I guess the choice is clearer – is it something fans can get behind and make the change happen quicker, or sit and watch or be part of something longer term (although it’s hard to predict how a changing landscape affects long term change).
Either way, most fans have a vaguely similar desire? A professional, modern exec team with modern ideas, a DoF in the McKay mold, who can run things well and let the manager focus on managing the team, a team of scouts that is well run, a player model that allows for a better pathway to the first team, ie this could be anything because the B team league set up is dire – maybe a youth team that plays regular games overseas against quality opposition, at this stage any idea is worth exploring so we don’t lose another generation of talent.
The biggest thing for me that is a problem isn’t actually us – I do feel that our collective passion will one way or another cause the change needed, whether it’s Haughey’s route or one of the other groups that is working hard to create change needed.
The problem is the SFA. When other nations come here to play a football team here or there’s an international competition, it’s the equivalent of a young person visiting an old person, they like them, they have affection for them but their lives are moving in different lanes now. And that’s our country in terms of football; stuck in a comfortable groove, tea and biscuits while other nations are forging modern, hungry for success, innovative football ideas and energy.
Change is needed at our club. And for the good of football here, change is needed at the SFA. It’s embarrassing how twee and backward thinking we are – we could still win the league regularly/mostly/always but do it within a competitive league that generated more money, bringing better players in and upping the overall standards. Change is needed at our place. Then everywhere. HH
Change is a must from top to bottom and an overall leader who can speak for and represent the club not passing the buck to the manager as the empty suits hide behind the couch
How many groups do need? another one is just going to add to more confusion. Celts for change,the collective, the GB and now the season ticket thing that Haughey is fronting.
FFS!
Editor: Any group calling out Nicholson and his multiple failings is welcomed. How many did we have in August?
Reading around message boards this morning i can’t believe how easy it was to get the support onside with a scheme that has no detail no substance and seems to be made up on the hock
First it was season ticket holders only ,now it’s anybody ,whatever happened to
”Hold till you see the whites of there eye’s ” the devils in the detail
If i remember right Lord Haw Haws consortium had a similar vague plan to buy the Club and thwart Fergus but it to was also lacking in detail but nevertheless there consortium stayed in the game up until the Bunnet won ,,,,,,did they profit from it ?
folk need to hold off until they know the details of Lord Haw Haws plan, as right now he’s given the support the disney version , lets here the jeremy kyle version before blowing yer load
We are never going anywhere with with the previous groups, What saved us in ‘94 was a man with money, like it or not you have to match like with like, the efforts we make at protesting is a joke.
We need someone in the mode of a Willie Haughey and I for one would rather give his version a go and take us out of the gutter.
If the ‘secretariat’ soon to be set up by Lord Haughey to oversee the millions of pounds he’s providing for fans to use to buy shares is half as good as the famed horse with the same name …this board are bang in trouble ! Let’s hope so . Down the stretchhhhhhh!
The devil is in the detail. At the moment it looks the same as the Trust and Celtic Supporters Ltd. It also sounds like he wants anyone with shares to turn them over to this new Trust just so “maybe through time we can get a fan in the board”. The original Celtic Trust has been banging the drum for this for years. Does he not want the present mob out or will a bit more accountability suffice. All this money for shares is as worthless as the clubs bank balance if there are no shares to buy. How can we trust anyone who accepts an honour from the Brit establishment? As I say the devil is in the detail. I’d rather have Janette Findlay fighting my corner than a labour peer.
From “Paranoid” as we were labelled by the whole SMSM to ‘not Paranoid enough’ as we learned the truth.
Surely the obvious question is WHY? Why did Haughey not contact the Celtic Fans Collective who, broadly it seems to me, have similar aims? Did someone who shares the initials of
Desperate Dan start feeling a little desperate due to the CFC and Not Another Penny? Did he directly, or more likely his favoured indirectly, contact Haughey and rapidly dream this new thing up to split the support? Is the support so credulous it believes billionaires and multi-millionaires actually tell the truth about their collective intentions? It’s clearly been rushed due to its vagueness and, imo is a direct response to NAP. Of course time will tell but meantime I’ll do nothing.
I’m a life-long Celtic supporter from a family of Celtic supporters. I’m a small shareholder. I no longer attend matches except occasionally for a number of reasons. Prior to last summer myself and family spent serious money on Celtic merchandise but that is ‘on hold’. Due to general agreement with the Celtic Fans Collective’s aims I’ve made one donation.
We certainly need to do something, I think we all agree on that. But lords and knights of the realm etc., are generally ‘for the watching’. Billionaires are fleas on the back of humanity and should be nowhere near CP.
My dream is, and has been for decades, for a majority, supporter-owned club where we recognise our charitable roots and develop to our potential on a not-for-profit basis.
Hail! Hail! The Glasgow Celtic
Questioning the Motives of Willie Haughey
Why hasn’t he backed David Low’s Celtic Supporters Limited organisation with a generous £10m donation to help trace dormant shareholders?
Why launch a scheme that will have a detrimental effect on the Celtic Supporters Limited organisation?
Why is it only in the last few months leading up to season ticket renewals that he has suddenly become concerned about supporter behaviour?
Why choose Go Radio to announce the proposal, wouldn’t it have been proper to attend one of the Celtic Collective meetings to discuss “your” intentions?
Why paint Paul Tisdale as the villain and not criticise his employer Dermot Desmond?
Why hasn’t he consulted his friend Dermot Desmond about his plan or was it perhaps Desmond’s original idea?
Interesting times ahead – Well hopefully !