Last night Celtic quite literally paid the price for interim Chairman Brian Wilson’s disingenuous attempts at restoring unity with the balls protest that happened early in the Europa League play-off match against VfB Stuttgart. An inevitable UEFA fine will follow…
Wilson delayed Wednesday evening’s meeting with the Celtic Fans Collective by a week so that ‘executive directors could attend’ which of course they didn’t. Instead they sent along a second string including the Celtic SLO and the marketing chap – who had no real authority to agree on anything. The bans were always going to remain despite the old Westminster fox playing devious games.
Meanwhile Martin O’Neill was fed misinformation and went into last night believing that progress had been made. That was far from the truth. At the game the Stuttgart fans held their banner in support of the Green Brigade calling for the bans to be lifted.
The protest was therefore as inevitable as it was regrettable. At some time there needs to be unity restored. At Ibrox they have pumped up the volume big-time and are creating levels of noise that Paradise was once renowned for – not any more. We are a shambles.
We are a club on the slide. The self-harm is there for all to see and tracing the rot back it’s clear to see where it started. Not from 200 or so ultras paying for games they can’t attend due to the Celtic Board’s collective punishment but at the very top from those taking hundreds of thousands from our club – wage thieves the lot of them.
Bodo Glimt 3-1 Inter Milan
— John Hartson CSC (@John_HartsonCSC) February 19, 2026
At the meeting with the Celtic Fans Collective the club for the first time gave an explanation of sorts for the ban on Celtic Fan Media, including of course The Celtic Star. Apparently the club took offence at a couple of things said on podcasts earlier in the season. That’s it. Nothing more than that. Nothing more specific.
Here’s a thought – speak to the podcasts responsible, ask for an apology, an explanation, a resolution. If that’s not possible then look at banning those responsible. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath-water. That has resulted in other outlets that were working with the club professionally, with no issues at all, including The Celtic Star, being banned for no reason whatsoever.
Stuttgart 👏 pic.twitter.com/pb5zqO9Ner
— Bricky🧱 (@Bricky67_) February 19, 2026
It’s the same nasty, small minded, vindictive behaviour that has seen hundreds of Celtic supporters paying for their tickets but banned from matches for incidents that they were clearly not party to. If that was you, how would you feel? There’s a chap on our supporters bus affected. He’s not an ultra. He just sits behind the Green Brigade, or at least he did. He is in his seventies. Banned for no reason. We’ve offered him tickets but he won’t go to games until the ban is lifted.
How dare they do that to him! Or to any Celtic supporter who has broken no rules but merely find themselves dragged into their vindictive collective punishment.
A club like no other right enough.
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MON’s comments about £40 million subs are ludicrous. Just look at Bodo and Club Brugge to see what can be done with smart recruitment, a proper academy and good coaching. Unfortunately we have none of these and we know who is to blame. The board should be resigning en masse this morning but we all know the arrogant, smug, incompetent scumbags will continue to steal wages from OUR club
THE CELTIC BOARD HAVE WASTED THE FULL SEASON, THEY HAVE UNDERMINED MARTIN Oneill AND WASTED MILLIONS ON MORE DUDS, STRIKERS WHO CANT SCORE, WE HAVE TO SUPPORT THE GUYS ON THE PARK, DRASTIC ACTION IS REQUIRED, NOT THROWING BALLS ON THE PARK
So what ‘drastic action’ would you recommend Patrick, if a few balls thrown onto the park is beyond the pale?.
MON doesn’t need the off field crap as well as trying to clean up the onfield mess.
Careful as ye go lads.
Hail Hail.
The old guy on your bus is telling you porkies, my son sits one row behind the GB and isn’t banned
He is banned John. Indiscriminately. Your son is lucky.
This toxicity has been years in the making sadly. Not another penny, boycott games, everything at the ordinary fans disposal to force Fritzl and family to sell up and get out. Wilson, Nicholson McKay are useful idiots to him; nothing more
What will throwing balls on to the pitch achieve FUCK ALL it only means you leave the ground later some people have transport to get don’t suppose you gave them any consideration..
And if anyone is considering trying to derail the AGM this year then PLEASE DON’T, we get one chance to hold the board to account to ask them difficult questions they don’t want to answer
Last years AGM was a disgrace my first thought was have they been paid by the board, so it gave them an excuse to close the meeting without having to answer any questions they didn’t want to answer and if I’m wrong then it was sheer FUCKING STUPIDITY and achieved NOTHING except let the board off the hook well done if they had a brain cell it would die of loneliness
Hail Hail Celtic Tommy
you honestly expect straight and honest answers at an AGM
What fkn tree are you living in , the Agm was set up to end early message boards are trawled through looking for actions against the board and the club as no knt can hold there own water,it was set to fail and Desmond got the last word as usual
As for the ball protest
imagine 200 folk not taking into consideration you had transport to catch ,
away n have a word with yourself , 200 folk aren’t able to get to a game every week paid for might i add , if you want to vent the vent at the board who have spun bullshit about unity but played a different game behind closed doors
Ball protest drew to a humiliating show on the european stage of a club run like no other ,no other club has destroyed itself from within all down to one petulant major shareholder
The happy clappers up in arms about a ball protest in support of there fellow fans who have been banned from attending games , need to take a hard look at themselves , your all happy clappers when were winning accepting mediocre signings , lack of ambition which has papered over the cracks for years
But when were looking at an utter mess of our own making ,,,you’re only up in arms at a missed train and a load of balls
Wilson called for unity when he replaced Lawwell at the end of last year. The Celtic Fans Collective immediately reached out and gave him three alternative dates that would work for a meeting. Ignored. Eventually there was contact after the boycott. The meeting was supposed to be held last Wednesday but Wilson pushed it back a week so that executive directors who were apparently on annual leave could attend. The Collective wanted to discuss the bans on GB and fan media to have them lifted, plus Nicholson’s position at the club.
The executives did not attend that meeting. No progress was made despite what MON was told and subsequently mentioned in his media conference. We did discover why the fan media was banned – a few OTT comments on unnamed podcasts – but no progress on lifting the ban. Same with GB, although Wilson later got in touch saying he’d be calling GB directly. Don’t know if that happened but doubt it.
The Celtic Fans Collective went into the meeting ready to compromise to achieve unity – immediately – to back the team in the closing months of the season. Celtic not interested in the slightest. Thus the balls protest. The Celtic Star didn’t vote for it but the majority in the Collective did. Same with the boycott game. However certainly understand the frustration of the supporters who came from various supporters buses who wanted to participate. It’s time to call a halt to all of this infighting and for that we all just need to two parties to each make concessions – even temporary ones – and engage in a joint purpose thereafter to back the team to win the double. The Celtic Fans Collective I know are up for that. The roadblock is in the Celtic boardroom.
I’d like to point out the rubbish with the Green Brigade has been going on for a number of seasons, the board has asked them to fall into line with UEFA rules and regulations with songs and banners to stop us getting fines and stadium bans (which they’ll be happy now as we make get one for the disgraceful behaviour last night), the ban finally came about because of an assault of one of our stewards.
The complaints against the board about transfer activity and merchandise only have to look across the city to Rangers and see how a badly run club looks like (over multiple seasons, multiple CEO’s) and be grateful we have an owner like Desmond.
Have a look at Man United, Ferguson collapsed that club because of his own personal greed over Rock of Gibraltar which meant the owners just went we don’t need (or deserve) this crap and sold the club to the Glazer’s which plunged the club into £1 Billion of debt as they borrowed against the club for the purchase, do these idiots want the same to happen to our club ?
Yes, we have money in the bank but we also have a sustainable business model that has worked over multiple seasons which has been to are benefit (look at our league championships). Yes I do agree bringing back Rodgers wasn’t the greatest appointment, as his refusing to play players he signed himself and wanting more money to spend, exactly what he did last time he was here, also look at the state he has left Leicester City in when he was given £130 Million to spend.
This left to Martin O’Neil coming back and playing the players Rogers refused to play and performances drastically improved over night (and if Rodgers had been playing the players that he refused to play we probably wouldn’t have had to play Stuttgart last night as we could have got in the Champions League or at least the top 8 of the Europa League).
Yes Nancy’s appointment was a mistake which cost the Director of Football his job (which I think we all agreed with) but the board have made the hard decisions this season against a lot of adversery.
But again about last nights disgraceful scenes, how can ANYONE who took part in that protest last night call themselves a Celtic fan when it was a Celtic legends 1000th game as a manager. It should the complete disrespect to the Club, Team and to the Legend himself Martine O’Neil.
C walsh are you a member of the Desmond clan.greatful to have a dictator calling all the shots at our club. What shite.
what utter shite
These so called Celtic fans
That’ll be the one’s who follow everywhere , they the one’s who built an atmosphere that let’s face it is sorely missing , that the one’s travel the lengths of Europe some even without a ticket ,,,,that the one’s your taking about
That the one’s who stood up for our club and got rid of the Kelly/whites back in the day when we were minutes from bankruptcy , while others sat and spouted the same pish you’ve just wrote about so called fans who sat back while Celtic were about to go under that the one’s
i’ve to laugh at these self anointed Celtic fans who believe they should be held in such high regard than others where any mere mention against the board is held in such contempt
ya Desmond bootlicker
KELLY are we moments away from bankruptcy now or are we one of the best run clubs in Europe ?
Tell me, when rules and regulations are brought in for all clubs to adhere to do you see yourselves (The Green Brigade) above every other club (that includes Celtic FC) in Europe and that the rules a don’t apply to you and your band of merry brothers even when you attack one of our own stewards or is that something that has to be ignored.
Plus even if a new group came in and bought the club they would have to adhere to same rules and regulations or the club would be subject to fines, bans and playing European games behind closed doors meaning that the club would suffer financially and positionally too all for a small group of so called fans who put them and their wants above the majority of our loyal fan base, team and most of all club, you are not fans and use this club and it’s great history for your own selfish antiquated reasons which has nothing to do with football.
You need to take a long hard look at yourselves, you call Desmond a dictator but what are you’s ? Do as we say or we’ll make a show of you and the club, the club you claim to love and support.
Jeezo oh even more shite
Tell you what if you think were the best run club in Europe your needing find a windae somewhere and stay on it
As for being a member of the GB oh ma age is against me there but nice try ,see how in one post you try to smear those who don’t agree as members of the GB , who lets face it are world wide known and have raised thousands for charity and good causes and never seek the limelight calling out uefa ,,,,good on them , standing up for Palestine ,,thank god they did
Creating amazing tifos gaining worldwide attention and might i add the club had no problem cashing on it and selling its merch
Loyal fans ,, catch yersel
Now we’ll get to the attack on the stewards , well i wasn’t there and most likely you weren’t there but videos were taken and witness statements takin and guess what ,,,,,,nobody charged with assault , no court case , no arrests ,yet 200 banned bet you think that’s fair
Did you see the assault the following home game by the steward on a kid must have been all of 14,and he was only cheering the team on so i take it you’d blame the kid
oh also the club refused to look at video evidence ,,,,strange that
football behind closed doors and we would suffer financially yeah i see your point like we spend fk all ,we just bank it and pay huge corporation tax each year ,,,,,but some how that will harm us ,,,tit
as stated in previous post ,,,,your a Desmond bootlicker , try arguing the points without the GB
Some folk don’t follow the heard and happyclap along the way
Rules are made for a reason ,,,to break them
Well SCATMAN, I don’t know how old you are but I can remember the dark days when we were nearly liquidated by a board so mouthing off and saying why aren’t we buying £20, £30 or £40 Million players on £40,000, £50,000 or £60,000 a week (look how that’s devastated our rivals across the City) because we have money in the bank sounds a wee bit Whinnie to me.
The problem with the Green Brigade goes back a long time (well over a decade now) and Desmond and the board all through that time have held meetings with them, explained why they need to contain the actions (songs, banners and pyrotechnics) as the UEFA rules have changed over the years which meant any such behaviour could and would result in financial penalties and/or bans (for away games or games played behind closed doors).
When we were qualifying automatically for the Champions League for winning the league we could justify higher wages and transfer fee’s but as that has changed we can’t justify that as we could have an expensive squad with a large wage bill. As I have pointed out the Rangers situation and since they have been taken over by the 49er’s group they have been looking at our model as it is the one that works year in year out plus look at how they have narrowly escaped UEFA FFP rules with their expenditure.
The groups calling for protests Green Brigade and The Celtic Fans Collective seem to have different agenders one wanting not to move with the times and regulations which we as a club have to adhere too and the other not happy with the clubs transfer dealings, business arrangements (i.e kit deal with Adidas) and results in Europe (which they seemed happy last season).
So I don’t know what you mean about Desmond being a dictator, with regards to the Green Brigade he has been patient and engaged with them over the years and The Celtic Fans Collective seem to have their own agenda and that is for Desmond and the board to sell up who too only they know which worries me greatly and if it doesn’t worry you I’d like to know why.