An open mind approach to Willie Haughey’s £10m Celtic intervention

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The Celtic Star

·27. Februar 2026

An open mind approach to Willie Haughey’s £10m Celtic intervention

The video clip from Willie Haughey’s breaking news on Go Radio was widely shared among the Celtic support last night, with one eye being diverted from the action in Stuttgart as Celtic achieved a first for the club by winning a competitive match on German soil…

Celtic v Hibernian – Premier Sports Cup – Celtic Park Lord Willie Haughey in the stands before the Premier Sports Cup match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Sunday August 18, 2024. Photo Steve Welsh, IMAGO/PA Images

It was a morale boosting evening on the park and set’s Celtic up for the trip to Ibrox on Sunday to face theRangers in the most crucial match of what has been a turbulent season for Celtic on and off the park.

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The Celtic Season Ticket Alliance

Go Radio have now shared the longer video of Willie Haughey’s appearance on the show and there’s more detail included there as he is asked about various aspects of his initiative which he is calling “The Celtic Season Ticket Alliance” – so it’s well worth a watch.

Willie Haughey for instance confirms that stage two will be to open the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance up to a wider audience, bringing in other supporters who are not season ticket holders and explains that the Alliance will be looking for the members who join, presumably in their tens of thousands, will be able to pull shares together to create a larger percentage that the £10m he is providing to end up with a larger share of the club.

Celtic support in Stuttgart Photo IMAGO / Jan Huebner

He confirms that he has spoken to prominent members of the Celtic Fans Collective, plus David Low who has a share operation in progress. Haughey has also spoken to the Celtic Board about the plan but not to Dermot Desmond, who he points out is someone who has been a winner all of his life and is someone he has great admiration for.

The member of The House of Lords also confirmed that he is NOT going to be the next Chairman of Celtic and he has no interest in taking such appointment. He blames much of Celtic’s current woes on one thing and that’s recruitment and points a finger to Paul Tisdale while seeming praising Peter Lawwell’s son Mark for his time in that role. Doubt Brendan Rodgers would agree with that last point.

In recent days Willie Haughey has also spoken to the Board and also to the Green Brigade about bringing harmony through ending the ban on the Ultra groups and he points out that they have been attending games anyway so doesn’t understand what is to be gained from the continuation of the bans.

Haughey has also confirmed that he has a prominent Celtic legend ready to become a figurehead for the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance and that this will be announced, along with further details in the coming weeks.

Celtic v Hibernian 22.02.2026. Celtic v Hibernian, SPFL Premiership. Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

Here’s some of what Willie Haughey had to say when making his initial announcement on Go Radio last night…

“Over the last few months I’ve been looking at what’s going on. If you’ve not got harmony in a business, you’ve got no chance.

“Some of the stuff has been a distraction over the past few months. After last week and the fantastic atmosphere at the stadium to be killed in two minutes, we need to come up with a better solution for how the fans can get a voice.

Fan protest at Celtic v VFB Stuttgart at Celtic Park during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Knockout Play-off First Leg match between Celtic FC and VfB Stuttgart at Celtic Park on February 19, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

“I’m going to look at setting something up. I believe that the 54,000 season tickets holders are the core, they’re the heartbeat of Celtic. I’m going to set up a thing called the ‘Season Ticket Alliance’. I’m going to pay for it, I’m not looking for money from anybody.

“What I’m offering is, for every 10,000 fans that join us, I’ll put £2m in to buy shares for this trust. If we take all the shares of the people who join through the trust, if everyone joins, that’s £10m. They will be gifted to the trust. It won’t be owned by me.

“I think we have to get something that all the fans can get behind. Let’s get harmony, let’s get the Green Brigade back in the stadium. Let’s get everyone singing from the same hymn sheet.”

“I’m going to get a Celtic legend to front it, I’ve got that done. Hopefully in the next few weeks there’ll be more details. The long-term play is to get enough people behind us that we can go to the club and this should be the vehicle as to how the fans can get their viewpoint over to the club.

“Maybe even potentially in years to come, we can get someone from the fanbase onto the board.”

Celtic supporters singing YNWA ahead of the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Knockout Play-off First Leg match between Celtic FC and VfB Stuttgart at Celtic Park on February 19, 2026. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Later Willie Haughey said that he stepped forward when Celtic was in trouble the last time back in 1993/94 and always promised himself that if Celtic was ever in trouble again he would look at doing what he could to help. This is now that time.

It’s too early to support or oppose this plan and the best option that most Celtic supporters will take is to keep an open mind, wait for the additional information and then make a judgement on whether they want to join or not.

There will be plenty of commentary on this but all the early stuff is nothing more than initial thoughts based on perceived opinions. It’s certainly an interesting development and as money talks there is real weight behind this initiative from the word go.

Celtic in the Thirties by Matt Corr. Click on image to order