GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 03: Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson, chief financial officer Chris McKay and interim chairman Brian Wilson during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, on January 03, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Brian Wilson doesn’t see the point in Celtic being involved with fan media.
Surely now it can’t be any clearer for those podcasts and websites that continually raise the issue of wanting to engage with the club?
The people that run Celtic have absolutely no wish to have any sort of relationship with fan media. None at all. Nada. Zilch.
Fan media isn’t wanted or welcome.
Celtic prefer to connect with supporters through their legacy media partners.
Despite crashing circulations the Daily Record, Sun, Herald, Daily Mail, Scotsman and others are the preferred partners of Celtic.
As are BBC Scotland, STV, Radio Clyde, Sky Sports and newcomers like Go Radio.
Celtic know exactly where they stand with legacy outlets. Those media outlets know where the line is drawn, the issues not to go near.
They are given access to players and management at Lennoxtown and on matchdays at Celtic Park. Most of them detest Celtic but there is a cosy relationship where they keep that largely under wraps.
Celtic provide content that fills up big spaces and by and large the club doesn’t come under any critical scrutiny.
You won’t read in the Record that Michael Nicholson has been in hiding since December 18 while picking up £17,000 a week.
The Sun won’t discuss how Celtic haven’t won a UEFA knock-out tie since 2004 and have fallen behind Midtjylland and Bodo Glint.
The Herald/Glasgow Times/Newsquest won’t discuss the stale static board where 20 plus years is the average term of a Director. Good practice at a PLC suggests a five to eight year term.
CELTIC AND THEIR LEGACY MEDIA PARTNERS
The Daily Mail will list Celtic’s great transfer success stories while completely ignoring Patryk Klimala, Ismaila Soro, Vakoun Bayo, Marion Shved, Albian Ajeti, Vasilas Barkas, Boli Bolingoli, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Odin Thiago Holm, Marco Tilio, Luis Palma, Maik Nawrocki, Michel Ange Balikwisha.
The Scotsman won’t discuss the £3.5m salary that Peter Lawwell picked up in season 2018/19.
To be fair to the Daily Record they did report in October 2016 about senior figures at Celtic facing huge tax bills:
HERE is the documentary evidence linking a host of former Celtic stars to a £434million tax dodge.
As well as former players, ex-manager Martin O’Neill also participated in the tax avoidance schemes based around the film industry.
Records from Companies House show Celtic’s former finance director Eric Riley and current chief executive Peter Lawwell also benefited.
There has been no follow up to that investigation in the Record.
No accredited broadcaster is going to dive into the fact that over the last 12 years Celtic have lost out in qualifying for the Champions League seven times out of nine.
Maribor, Malmo, AEK Athens, Cluj, Ferencvaros, Midtjylland and Kairat Almaty have all denied Celtic a Champions League place.
No accredited media outlet will list those clubs. Instead they’ll cover some obscure report that claims Celtic are the best run club in the UK, in Europe, in the Universe. A former CEO and Chairman laps up that sort of thing.
Fan media can, and many do discuss and report on the issues above.
For those reasons they’ll never be welcomed for tea, biscuits and a few crumbs of stories to amuse their readerships.
The above tweet was from ACSOM host PJ Dykes during a discussion.
Dom McKay brought fan media into Celtic Park in 2021. When his 72 day reign ended fan media was pushed to the back of the bus.
FAN MEDIA ON THE ROTA
If a new signing that couldn’t speak English was signed 20 fan media outlets were invited to ask an interpreter banal questions. Like ‘how does it feel to join Celtic’, ‘what do you think of the Celtic support’ and ‘are you looking forward to the big European nights under the lights at Celtic Park’. Barely cutting edge content. Gerry McCulloch type questioning although without the Irn Brun references.
This season, soon after fan media outlets signed up to the Celtic Fans Collective the rota was withdrawn.
The rota allowed two fan media outlets to send someone to a media conference to ask one question in alongside broadcasters. An almost pointless exercise. In the end under 10 fan media outlets went along with this set up/stitch up.
When Wilfried Nancy was appointed manager the rota was ended. No explanation was given other than an email to two websites that they wouldn’t be allowed in to ask one question to the Frenchman.
That situation continues to this day.
Meeting the Collective in February Wilson claimed that he didn’t know the reason for the fan media ban or who had taken the decision. Kevin McQullian, Head of Media and Marketing at Celtic nodded in agreement.
Wilson promised a follow up meeting with the Collective within a month. He has yet to set up that meeting. He does write a weekly column for The Scotsman, usually criticising the SNP Government. Not the smartest move for the Chairman of aPLC.
NOT WANTED- TREATING FANS WITH CONTEMPT
Celtic PLC treat supporters with contempt. Ross Desmond let the mask of a relationship slip at the AGM in November.
Fan media isn’t welcomed by any any board member of executive at Celtic. That stance couldn’t be any clearer.
Only Celtic fan media can hold the club to account. Sharing information on line with supporters. Celtic’s legacy media partners certainly won’t rock the boat. Not if they want advance notice of who is being appointed as manager.
Video Celts took part in three fan media zoom calls in April, May and July 2021.
Seeing that fan media outlets were at the back of the bus, included as a box ticking exercise Video Celts never took part in any more of those events.
The Editor did get a mention from the Chairman at the 2024 AGM. It wasn’t an endorsement, which was taken as a badge of honour.
The following year big Peter threw his toys out the pram and ended the AGM within an hour, to protect his CEO from questioning. Six weeks later Lawwell had left his role as Chairman, confirming that he should never have been given that job in the first place.
Desmond and his malignant cabal of corporate greed and austerity fc don’t care what celtic fans think or want, the season ticket holders have paid up yet again ,now the board have carte blanch to do what they want which is keep the money and spend zilch. Stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
Question from an ordinary fan , IF Celtic are so big and with all the problems going on at the minute, why can’t someone with a bit of money or contacts , try and wrestle control from DD , or is it more complicated than fans think.
I’ve a theory, we will wait until all our players are back in training , sell five or six for let’s say 75m , we’ll spend 15m on six players bring in a couple of loans , fail to qualify for Europe , and say that we’re not good enough for Europe, but look we’ve got 130m in the bank , jolly good . HH Joe
Every Celtic fan world wide should physically write a letter, to Celtic fc.of no confidence in the Board .deluge them with the evidence. Get the letter writing campaign going
I’ve just finished reading Michael Flatley’s Biography this is the person Entrepreneur, Visionary ,who should be contacted and given a copy of the Celtic Paradox.
He could drag the club into the modern world.
Editor: Problem with that would be it might threaten the cherished O** F*** business partnership.
“World class in everything we do, except communication [ & a few other things too].”
🙁
It stands to reason that our “interim chairman” isn’t going to want to engage with fan media – the 77 year old is a relic of an age coming to a shuddering halt. His lobbying history – the nuclear energy and aviation sectors – tells you how much of an eye on the future he has. This is an analogue leader for the digital era. The sooner we are shot of this dinosaur and his cronies the better it will be for the club.