Celtic Football Club Annual General Meeting 18 November 2010
One of our members attended the AGM of Celtic Football Club on Thursday 18.11.10 and he has kindly provided us with a report of the proceedings. No personal views are expressed regarding the content of the proceedings - it is merely a factual report of what was said and was recorded in good faith by the contributor. It is intended as information for members of the Celtic support who were not in attendance.
The meeting opened at 1434 hours with the Chairman, John Reid, making opening remarks and he confirmed that the quorum of 10 shareholders present was in order for the meeting to proceed. He said that following the resignation of Brian McBride due to work commitments with Amazon, Brian Duffy was to be voted on later as his replacement. There was an apology for non-attendance from Ian Livingstone, CEO of BT, who was unable to attend due to a previous commitment. This was because the original date of the AGM had been changed and Mr Livingstone was unable to fulfil both commitments. The Board has accepted his apology. Dermot Desmond was unable to attend and was represented by Michael Walsh. The media were present to truly reflect what goes on at the meeting and the Chairman hoped that proceedings would remain emollient (meaning –‘not harsh’).
This led on to three video presentations by John Reid, Peter Lawwell and Neil Lennon. (These can be viewed at www.celticfc.net)
John Reid said that last season had been a false start but the club had avoided financial catastrophe. Neil Lennon had given us a measure of dignity and hope in the final part of the season, avoiding a potential gap of possibly 20 points deficit in the race for the league championship. Dr Reid spoke kindly of Tony Mowbray. His appointment had been based on his previous Celtic history, his dignity and sucess as a manager in England.
Neil Lennon was a tried and tested Celtic man, a leader and an inspiration. He believed Neil to be tactically astute, articulate and a good ambassador for Celtic Football Club – a credit to himself and to the club. He expected Neil to become a great Celtic manager.
Dr Reid considered the Chief Executive, Peter Lawwell, to be the best in British football. He had given up a significant bonus this year and had deferred others to a later date.
Peter Lawell reported that the club’s turnover was down £10 million mainly due our failure in the Champions League. We had lost competitions because we simply were not good enough, however, the club reserved the right to ask questions (regarding referreing decisions). The club had been dogged in terms of correspondence with The Scottish Football Association (SFA). He commented that SFA Chief Executive, Stewart Regan, was involved in a review of all SFA processes and procedures.
He believed that Celtic would come out of the January transfer window in a stronger position. In regard to Robbie Keane he said that the Irishman had wanted to return to England to pursue his football career but it was creditable that we had been able to pay his wages for the time he was with us.
In relation to our joint shirt sponsorship with Rangers FC he said that we had scoured the world looking for a sponsors without success. On return to the Scottish market, possible suitors wanted both clubs as joint clients. The company Tennents emerged as the eventual sponsors of both clubs.
On the subject of player departures, both Artur Boruc and Aiden McGeady wanted fresh challenges elsewhere and offers were tabled for both. The money received was re-invested in 11 new players.
He considered that economic pressure and poor team performance had contributed to a less than full stadium each home game. He felt that many supporters needed to reconnect again and hoped that better performances would cause this to happen.
Neil Lennon considered his new post was very fulfilling and was a privileged position. He was happy with the support he had received from the Board especially Peter Lawwell. Neil said that spirit of the squad was very good. The club had tried to sign Craig Bellamy, David James and Jamie Bullard without success. Things had changed in the last five years and it was now more difficult to sign players from England. On the subject of the assignment of a possible mentor to assist him, he said that he had received good advice from previous managers Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan who had trod this path before him. In response to a question about what he would consider an acceptable outcome for the season he said ‘winning the treble’.
Scottish Football Association
Dr Reid then addressed the issue of the SFA. He identified that he and the club had been the victims of attempted goading and bullying (in the media) to try and force a response to the lie and alleged cover-up (following the recent match at Tannadice). He said that the proper forum for comment was at the AGM. He said that this situation must be treated seriously and therefore will enable confidence to be restored. A fundamental review of SFA procedures and processes was needed and not just a ‘tinkering’. Openness and accountability was paramount. He made reference to the use of technology, a fourth official with access to TV evidence, referee selection and training. He referred to Scottish National Party Member of Parliament, Pete Wishart, who had suggested that the allegiances of referees be made known in the interests of protecting referees. Dr Reid felt that being allowed to explain and justify their decisions would lead to their further protection. He put forward these suggestions as a constructive structure for the success of the system. He expected no special treatment for Celtic, not better than anyone else but not to be treated any less than others. There cannot be integrity in a system that allows a referee to lie and allegedly to try and get others to lie on a crucial decision affecting a game. Now that we have new SFA chief executive, who appears to be determined to look at these things afresh, he needs the support of all of us. He continued to say that If, on the one hand, you are saying we want to restore confidence in this game but, on the other hand, we know that an official has lied and conspired and there is an attempt to cover up the lie, but we are actually going to leave him at the centre of the game, then that undermines people's confidence in a readiness to change things. Resolutions Resolutions 1 to 10 were proposed by the Board and number 11 by shareholders. The former were passed with 99% plus approval, the most notable being the election to the Board of Brian Duffy, Group President of Ralph Lauren and a life-long Celtic supporter. Dermot Desmond was re-elected. There was a question from the floor regarding Mr Desmond who had not attended any of the seven Board meetings this year. The Chairman responded that Mr Desmond was in continuous communication with the Board and with Neil Lennon. Mr Desmond had also recently attended a strategy meeting. The Chairman commented that he was earning money such as was made available to underwrite the shares issue. Jeanette Findlay of the Celtic Trust proposed resolution 11. This was that the Board set in place a series of discussions with the various bodies that represent Celtic supporters on the advantages and disadvantages of direct representation from these bodies on the Celtic PLC Board. She went on to ask what the Board had to fear about these discussions and that they didn’t want to enter into them lest the result was one they did not want. She wanted the Board to talk to the supporters and not at them. The Chairman responded there would be legal difficulties in terms of the Companies Act with such supporter representation on the Board and he said that this resolution was not essential to any supporter putting themselves forward a candidate for the Board. He reminded the shareholders that anyone could put themselves forward for election under the present setup so the resolution was unnecessary. Peter Lawwell commented that no other club as far as he knew had more engagement with its supporters that Celtic and he read an itinerary of meetings that had been arranged for next year with the various supporters groups. The General Secretary of the Celtic Supporters Association was not aware of this schedule. He summed matters up by saying that Celtic had a support of intelligent and professional people who might be able to offer a valuable insight into ways to take the club forward and had no objections to the proposal. The Chairman agreed almost entirely with his comments but maintained the Board’s position. The vote was lost on the floor but the decision was to be put to a poll which would be invigilated by Computershare and the result notified in the media and on the club’s website in due course. (Celtic FC website 19.11.09 shows the result as follows - Votes cast: 70,165,628 Question and Answer Session As it had been reported that 25% of the club’s turnover was as a result of merchandising sales, it was asked if the club was taking full advantage of our Irish heritage in the North American market. Peter Lawwell said that the club continued to look for potential markets. We had increased our profile in the USA with recent club tours and in particular, we had played a match at the iconic home of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. He noted that subsequent TV coverage of soccer in the USA was of the English Premier League and other football leagues stronger than in Scotland which left us at a disadvantage . Newly elected director, Brian Duffy, had extensive worldwide experience in this area. He had lived in the USA for four years and agreed that this was the case with Scottish football. Peter Lawwell was asked what the club had done to stop the (so-called) Poppy demonstration. He said that a flimsy banner had been taken into the ground and investigations were ongoing into the matter. It was clear that the Board felt this demonstration was inappropriate.
In relation to the issue of Rangers FC and its alleged ‘Employee Benefit Trusts’, a questioner asked if Celtic FC had any such arrangements. The Financial Director reported that there were none at our club. A suggestion was made that an offer a free annual season ticket each week should be made to a subscriber to the Celtic View publication. The questioner anticipated that this would raise £100,000 a year and the Chairman referred the matter for the consideration of the Financial Director and the Board. A former schoolteacher related his experience as young man when told that ‘ if you can’t control yourself then you can’t control others.’ This was in relation to Neil’s protestations over bad refereeing decisions in a recent Match at Tynecastle. Neil respectfully thanked the contributor and said that he was a young man who would learn and would certainly take that advice saying ‘ I will watch what I say from now on.’ A questioner objected to the Green Brigade protest at a recent match. Her opinion was that such behaviour was using the club as a ‘political football’. She said that her grandfather had served at Passchendaele and was sure that many in the room had members of their families serving in the RAF and Navy. The Chairman said those involved in the protest represented only about 200 of the Celtic support. He said there was a time and place for political protest and Celtic Park on a matchday was not it. He understood that this is a difficult matter for a Scottish club with an Irish heritage. But an act of remembrance is not a glorification of war, or a celebration of war, or an endorsement of war, it is a remembrance for the fallen.
He went on to say that In all decent societies, we respect people’s rights to say they don’t want to be associated with that. However, in all decent societies as well, the way that you do that is important. You do it in a way that doesn’t desecrate their memories, or causes stress to the families of the fallen. He abhorred anything that divided people and expected respect for all. He said that she had expressed her view eloquently and better he could have done. The matter of this protest is currently being investigated by the club. In reference to supporter behaviour he said ‘Once you’ve stolen a fiver, there’s no point shouting ‘thief’ at a man who has stolen a million’. This was clear reference to the behaviour of our support in relation to that of our closest rivals. In response to a question the Chairman said that the club had so far succeeded in reaching a figure of 6.5% towards a target of 10% to charity.
A questioner asked the Chairman what he brought to the club. The Chairman responded that it was not for him to say but a vote of 99% for his appointment was greater than even that which could be achieved by a Labour MP in Coatbridge. This comment was met with much laughter. He said that he was proud to have been approached in the House of Lords by three fellow members who had seen the benefits of the Celtic connection in Nairobi where a disadvantaged community had seen what can be achieved by an impoverished community. Our humble roots at Celtic served as an example to them. The Chairman responded to another questioner that the club would never be sold to anyone without Celtic’s ethos being protected. A questioner asked why Willie McStay was allowed to leave the club. Peter Lawell explained while Willie was abroad Chris McCart had been appointed head of the youth academy. Then the new manager had brought in his own first-team assistants. As a result there was no opportunity for Willie to be involved. The questioner also asked why David Hay was not involved and the answer again was that whilst David, amongst many others, had been a great servant to the club, there was no current opportunity for him.
The meeting was brought to a close at 1700 hours.
Votes in favour: 2,262,268 (3.22%)
Votes against: 67,903,360 (96.78%)
Votes withheld: 26,658
OUTCOME: RESOLUTION FAILED)
