You can imagine the scene, deep inside Celtic Park. “Let’s invite Fergus over to raise the flag on the opening day of the season. Would be great to get him back 20 years after his critical role in saving the club, especially after that nonsense in ’98.
“Wait a minute, probably best not to mention the flag just yet, let’s call it the opening home game of the season”.
16 years ago Fergus McCann accompanied Jean Stein onto Celtic Park to raise the league title flag, an event which seemed beyond us when he flew into Glasgow to complete the takeover from the old board in 1994.
He was booed by a sizeable minority of the support, ostensibly for not spending enough money on players. It was a source of regret for tens of thousands of us. Fergus arrived with a plan to turnaround a club which played in an antiquated stadium and were being thoroughly routed on the park. He left five years later with the league flag flying high, a modern 60,000 seater stadium and net bank debt at £2.5m. It was something of an economic miracle, and although he got the money he wanted when he sold up, he never got the credit he deserved.
Celtic fans had been conditioned to distrust him by a small handful of people with considerable reach. The club was being rag-dolled, despite the miracles it was performing. The man himself was never one for showboating, his last two contributions to Celtic were to speak at the annual Celtic Charity (the charity he formed) dinner, and to mark the unveiling of the Brother Walfrid statue. Only charity has brought him back, so this will be a rare day indeed.
I’m absolutely delighted to announce we are publishing Tommy Gemmell’s autobiography, “Tommy Gemmell – All the Best’. The book is written and will be out in the summer. It will be a paperback but we are going to do a small hardback run, all of which will be signed by Tommy, and will include a special chapter with questions from CQN’ers, which Tommy will answer in the book. Details on how to submit a question soon.
This one is going to be a lot of fun……….
If you would like to read the new CQN Magazine, GO HERE to read properly, and for FREE, the graphic below is just a taster.
[calameo code=0003901710a55b5798f06 lang=en page=1 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
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You can use ur bus pass on some trains to Auld Reekie!!
Russian news reader hears of Ally’s treble boast.
———
http://youtu.be/qfK804n1D7
Neganon,
Paul may have partook in some revisionism or he may not. The ball started rolling 20 years ago. The mind clouds.
Paul published the article over an hour ago and your very own revision has appeared, inferring perfection was claimed.
Sheesh
does anyone think we will get over 25000 for the first qualifying round if it’s played at murrayfield against a team we likely wont have heard of?
Len Brennan
Whers the game?
Oops try this one
http://youtu.be/qfK804n1D7M
Agent Green
Re : Ross Kemp prog. What channel was it on? Is it on catch up anywhere?
South Of Tunis
At the Nite Club above the Playhouse, when Joseph shook off his locks?? One of my all time favourite gigs..
Hrvatski Jim
13:51 on
7 February, 2014
Great post and I would suggest that you read the one from TBB listed below which appeared on the last thread if you haven’t already.
The Battered Bunnet
10:44 on
7 February, 2014
I have deliberately raised this topic, not because I want tp in any way denigrate Fergus McCann, who in my opinion is only worthy of overall praise, but because Fergus’ stated intention on exit has , for whatever reason, been watered down.
TBB this morning made a very good case for the PLC structure and I find little fault with his logical and legal arguments, nor with the points that you make regarding how we come to be where we are.
Your point about the ordinary fan not being able to put their hand further into their pocket is a very valid one.
I know many former Rangers Football Club Ltd shareholders who just could not match the unbelievable “spend” made by David Murray when he took Rangers into the league of privately owned PLC’s and I have no doubt that the Ibrox club and company would have been far better off long term if these individual shareholders had kept something close to their percentages.
However, they didn’t — and when they asked awkward business questions Murray didn’t so much show them the door as hit them with it!
Today, the Celtic support in general do not own as much of the ordinary shareholding as Fergus initially envisaged. I think that is a dangerous thing. I also think it is to the disadvantage of those shareholders — who may be looked upon as the guardians of the spirit of the club whilst at the same time being a block on the major shareholders — that they are not better organised and together as a “block”.
The Celtic Trust say that only 2,000 out of 29,000 or so actually vote.
I am all for some kind of moratorium whereby no one person or group can hold more than say 10% of the club shareholding– so as to ensure that we never go down the road of someone selling out to a faceless oligarch or chancer who does not have the spirit of Celtic at their core.
As things stand at the moment that could happen.
However, football fans have become a lot wiser about shareholdings and their rights in the past 10 years — and I would hope that some will wake up and consider some future planning now as opposed to reacting or not reacting t a time when Dermot puts his shareholding up for sale.
BTW — The Great Desmondo has said this is an emotional investment as opposed to a financial one– and I believe that.
But he will not be here forever and should Celtic ever make it into some kind of bigger super league then the value of his shareholding will increase with someone always willing to buy it.
We have no power over who that someone might be, and what they might do with a majority shareholding in our club—- and that is the scary bit!
The Fergus debate, for me, boils down to a simple question?
Would we have CQN today if it were not for Fergus?
Would we have all this division over the most innocuous of topics?
Would we have the flouncing and late night moon howlers?
Would we have had the pleasures of Estadio and Pablo?
Would we have witnessed the formation of the Kano Foundation and experienced the good deeds and charitable donations this forum has fostered?
So many more consequences of a single act.
I notice that Edinburgh City Council have installed trams just so that Celtic fans can get to Murrayfield quicker.
More corruption.
Hrvatski Jim
13:51 on
7 February, 2014
At least one of the share issues was oversubscribed by the fans, but Dermot took his full allocation, when it could have been split on an even percentage basis with all the other subscribers.
DeniaBhoy in awe of wee Oscar’s Courage
13:58 on
7 February, 2014
It was comedy booing. Everybody round me doing had smile on their face (myself included).
Ross Kemps Nornn Ireland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-iFVPGVcbQ
DBBIA
Glad to see the back of dry January? Have you got wet yet?
Dry January? In Somerset, that description is wrong on so many levels.
I will be up for the St Johnstone game on the 16th.
number12
Great first post! Keep it going!
Jeez… The Ros Kemp thing was “Ross Kemp Extreme World” on SKY one.
Murrayfield was chosen because the preferred option [Murray Park] is likely to be under the bulldozers by the time the CL gets underway.
Hrvatski Jim
14:24 on 7 February, 2014
I notice that Edinburgh City Council have installed trams just so that Celtic fans can get to Murrayfield quicker.
More corruption.
………………………………………………..
Tram schedule was delayed deliberately by unseen Fenian hand to allow opening of route to coincide with our relocattion to Auld Reekie.
Murrayfield seems like a sensible decision to me, even if it is in that Embra.
At least we can be sure it will be open in five months time …
This is one to savor and I would gladly accept anything approach this tomorrow.
Particularly the clean sheet.
November 2010 and Celtic hit 9 against Abetdeen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CvBgcEbfc
Breaking News from Edinburgh Evening News:-
Tram Line to be extended west to Bellgrove Station by July
Quote from Sally – “I put a bet on last week that would happen”
number12 – cracking first post.
Are you a hun?
Murrayfield? Named after someone called Murray? No good will come of it.
Is there an ‘Avenues of Heroes’ at Murrayfield?
HH!!
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/
14:20 on 7 February, 2014
Len Brennan
Whers the game?
——-
It’s at Lennoxtown mhate. Updates on CFC twitter page.
Celtic Football Club @celticfc 11m
45mins: On the stroke of half-time Hearts are reduced to 10 after their No.7 is red-carded for kicking out at his opposite number.
HH
/Bishop B
Ahhh the great Wim Jansen.
He gave us Henrik and a league title.
Were people jumping up and down with excitement when he arrived? I don’t remember it.
We played Rangers 5 times that season and beat them once. The worst defeat was the cup semi at Celtic park when Albertz was allowed to walk through our team.
He got the job done and we won the league. He is and always will be a legend. I don;t believe that he was going to stick around any longer than a season no matter who was in charge.
Fergus McCann changed the club from top to bottom, fought the press, fought the SFA, fought for us. He didn’t fight for himself. He fought for the fans and the club. I don;t think he expected to be lauded. He had a job to do and he done it. I can’t understand anyone who watched Lou;s team before Fergus came in a crumbling stadium doing anything but applaud the guy.
Celtic fans are a fickle lot. McCann in my eyes is a total legend. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Jansen for me got a wee bit of a rub of the green and was never ever staying for more than a season.
LB
APPROACHING
Mrs Bonnar will be mortified.
Cadizzy – had a beer in Curlers last night, mega-delish.
Looking forward to catching up next week.
Ross Kemp is on every Friday
Billy Bhoy 05
13:30 on
7 February, 2014
No comment necessary
Yesterday in the House of Commons, during a debate on Scottish ‘separation’, Democratic Unionist MP Ian Paisley asked a Tory MP: “Do you agree with me that the unnerving and unsettling effect that a division in this wonderful union would have is that it would get the tails up of Irish republicans in my part of the kingdom?” The Tory agreed.
==
What are you on FFS. Why would Irish Republicans get their tails up about the Scots / English divorce, that is apart from the annoyance of having to listen to the overt hypocrisy we have to listen to day in day out from the Scot Nats trumpting on about freedom and independance.
number12
Fantastic post…. Also, Booing for me is hunnish at best, sometimes it is just better to say nothing at all.
number12
Welcome and well done…cracking post..
len brennan
14:30 on 7 February, 2014
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/
14:20 on 7 February, 2014
Len Brennan
Whers the game?
——-
It’s at Lennoxtown mhate. Updates on CFC twitter page.
Celtic Football Club @celticfc 11m
45mins: On the stroke of half-time Hearts are reduced to 10 after their No.7 is red-carded for kicking out at his opposite number.
HH
/Bishop B
Len I hope that wasn’t John Herron he was kicking.
We are a rather large and prolific family.
Hoopy do,
Every chance there won’t be much more than 25k there.
Where do you suggest it’s moved? ;)
LiviBhoy
A Celtic legend!!! HaiL HaiL The embarrassment of this is up there with Joc
Honestly I don’t get it, this Celtic Trust? They never seem to be happy about anything Celtic , moan moan moan moan, that’s all they do, we don’t like this, we don’t want that, we don’t like him, we don’t like them, we want this, we want that, I doubt if any of them crack a smile, what a bunch of whiners, constant non stop negativity towards very thing Celtic, and the irony of it all is they call themselves a trust, and they just don’t trust anything Celtic do, honestly they are hard work.
micktt
13:35 on 7 February, 2014
Afternoon….
I posted this at 00:00 last night, or tried to, it then went pear shape..I might have broke the blog.
Anyway was out last night in Ayrshire… a guy came into the company, just for a few minutes.
A guy asked him what he thought of NL, he replied, he’s a scourge on society…
I reacted, I told him maybe society is a scourge on him….. the look he gave me, actually looking back, of hatred.
A bigoted old former referee.. L.Thow..
Ayrshire is Green and White
HH
~~~~~~~~~~**~~~~~~~~~~
Is that not the idiot who sent off John Doyle at Ayr when he got his coupon in the way of a cross?
weeminger
“At least one of the share issues was oversubscribed by the fans, but Dermot took his full allocation, when it could have been split on an even percentage basis with all the other subscribers.”
Can’t say I have a full grasp on these things but I do recall something NeilR wrote in his debate with NegAnon some time back. He said that DD only got a dis-proportionate share of the over-subscribed share re-issue because he would not accept share bids from “institutional investors” who had not subscribed to the original launch.
To my mind, what I was being told was that any fan could buy shares for the first time and any existing shareholder could increase their holding in proportion to their original holding but no new “scavengers” were going to be allowed in.
This might be interpreted as protecting the interests of our fans or it may be seen as a smokescreen allowing his underwriting offer to be exercised.
I shall await further insight from the more financially numerate posters on this site.