IT’S a double celebration for Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell at Parkhead today.
The club supremo will spend his 64th birthday watching Ange Postecoglou and his victorious players bring down the curtain on another triumphant Premiership campaign against Aberdeen.
Lawwell, who had spent 18 years as chief executive and 18 months in a director’s capacity before returning as club supremo on January 1, has seen Celtic win a phenomenal THIRTY-THREE trophies during his time at the club.
It’s an extraordinary sequence of silverware success that is unlikely to ever be surpassed by a board member.
A BIG HAND…Peter Lawwell and Ange Postecoglou applaud the Celtic team in their Youth Cup Final success at Hampden.
Lawwell’s last action as CEO was a significant one as he played a principal role in the move for Postecoglou as the long-term replacement for Neil Lennon.
With only three weeks to go before he left the position on June 30, he took the decision to end the two-month pursuit of Eddie Howe and switch the attention to the Greek-Australian boss of J-League Yokohama F Marinos.
As parting gifts go, it was a momentous one as Lawwell left that particular office although remaining on the board.
SMILES BETTER…Peter Lawwell enjoys a joke with majority shareholder Dermot Desmond.
With impeccable timing, the newly-installed chairman witnessed Kyogo Furuhashi flash a double behind Allan McGregor to seal the club’s second successive League Cup at Hampden on February 26.
And Lawwell was in the Tynecastle stand on May 7 to watch the Japanese striker, one of Postecoglou’s first recruits in his inspired squad revamp in the summer of 2021, whip in the breakthrough goal before Oh Hyeon-gyu added the second to clinch the club’s eleventh crown in 12 years.
It was the fifteenth title success Lawwell had enjoyed across the board during his time at his boyhood favourites.
THAT’S MY BHOY…Peter Lawwell, during his chief executive reign, embraces Scott Brown after Celtic’s title success in May 2018.
The chairman will applaud as warmly and enthusiastically among his fellow-Celtic supporters in the east end of Glasgow today as the Premiership trophy is handed over.
The feelgood factor could carry on across the city in a week’s time, but the potential eighth treble in Celtic’s glorious history is hopefully a story for another day.
Happy birthday, Peter. Enjoy your day in Paradise!
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report and best action images from Celtic v Aberdeen this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.
