THE ongoing feud between Celtic fans and the club’s board has taken another major turn.
That’s after a supporters’ survey made for some rather damning reading for club chiefs.
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Tensions between the Celtic fanbase and the board continue to escalate and there’s no sign of the supporters’ fury abating.
Dissatisfaction with the Hoops’ transfer business prompted an outcry during the summer, with things boiling over during Celtic’s dire 0-0 draw with Kairat Almaty at Parkhead last month.
Chants of ‘sack the board’ rung around the stadium then and at the Premiership clash against Livingston the following weekend.
The Hoops ended up being dumped out of Champions League contention by Kazakhstan outfit Kairat the following week and since then anti-board sentiment has continued to grow and grow.
Frustrations at the lack of transfer business being done PRIOR to the Champions League exit in particular was a real bone of contention.
Transfer frustrations too were echoed by manager Brendan Rodgers and were for much of the summer window.
A furious open letter was unleashed, spearheaded by leading Celtic fans groups.
It garnered more than 400 signatories and demanded answers from the board.
Chief executive Michael Nicholson and other senior figures sat down with a select group of fan representatives last Friday.
But a statement released by Celtic late on Saturday night caused widespread fury among the Hoops support.
The 1,030-word letter – with no particular name or names put to it – defended the transfer strategy with the club vowing to never change its signing policy.
Votes of no confidence in the board followed from several fan groups.
Last night, all signatories of the original open letter were invited to a meeting.
Ahead of that gathering, the Green Brigade sent out a survey to all of the groups and individuals who had signed the letter.
They said it “intended to aid and accelerate potential objectives and actions against the board.”
And it’s fair to say it makes for extremely damning reading.
The results were presented and discussed at the meeting last night.
Just shy of 39,000 individuals completed the survey, which sought to garner opinion on objectives and potential actions.
And every question asked was met by an overwhelming response.
99.4 per-cent of respondents backed a vote of no confidence in the board, with 99.3 per-cent backing the removal of CEO Nicholason, 98.5 per-cent backing chief financial officer Chris McKay’s removal and 98.8 per-cent backing Peter Lawwell’s removal as chairman.
Celtic fan action survey results
Potential objectives
Do you endorse a vote of no confidence in the Celtic FC board? Yes 99.4%
Would you endorse a call for the removal of Michael Nicholson? Yes 99.3%
Would you endorse a call for the removal of Chris McKay? Yes 98.5%
Would you endorse a call for the removal of Peter Lawwell? Yes 98.8%
Would you endorse a call to implement a fan advisory board at Celtic FC? Yes 99.5%
Would you endorse the idea of a democratic Celtic fan body? Yes 99.5%
Potential actions
Would you endorse a call to withdraw from the home ticket cup scheme? Yes 93.9%
Would you endorse a call to boycott the Uefa Europa League fixtures? Yes 92.2%
Would you endorse a call to boycott all Celtic products except tickets? Yes 97.%
Would you endorse and participate in a silent protest? Yes 95.5%
Would you endorse and participate in a late entry protest? Yes 93.7%
Would you endorse and participate in an early exit protest? Yes 91.4%
99.5 per-cent of fans said they would endorse the creation of a fan advisory board with the same number saying they’d endorse a democratic Celtic fan body.
The responses to potential courses of action were a little more mixed but all the possibilities mentioned had a ‘yes’ response of over 90 per-cent.
A huge 97.5 per-cent of respondents said they would endorse a boycott of ALL Celtic products, excluding tickets.
95.5 per-cent backed a silent protest with 93.7 per-cent saying they’d back a protest in the form of a late entry to a game.
Fewer respondents, 91.4 per-cent, said they would back an early exit from a match.
In terms of ticketing actions, 93.9 per-cent of respondents said they’d back a withdrawal from the home match cup ticket scheme with 92.2 per-cent backing a boycott of Europa League matches.
Celtic released their Europa League ticket packages just yesterday, with the announcement bringing with it plenty of reaction on social media.
The courses of action were discussed at last night’s meeting.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
A late entry – one of the options in the survey – to Sunday’s Premiership clash at Kilmarnock certainly appears to be on the table.
Plans could also be in place for banners to be placed on the empty seats at Rugby Park.
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