Another intriguing development within Celtic fan landscape

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The Celtic Star

·25 September 2025

Another intriguing development within Celtic fan landscape

The recent emergence of Celtic Supporters Limited (CSL) marks a significant and intriguing development within the Celtic fan landscape…

Announced with a clear mission to represent small shareholders, season ticket holders and ordinary supporters, CSL describes itself as “a vehicle for shareholders, season ticket holders and supporters of Celtic Football Club to unite around and to articulate a collective view to the Board of directors of Celtic plc.”

CSL is headed by a trio of well-known figures. Duncan Smillie, who serves as chairman, alongside David Low and Peter McGowan. Each brings a wealth of experience, influence, and credibility to the project. David Low is a particularly notable name among Celtic supporters, having played a key role in the club’s historic takeover by Fergus McCann in the 1990s, while Peter McGowan has long been active in shareholder and fan engagement circles. Duncan Smillie adds significant business acumen and a strong public profile as CSL’s lead.

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Fergus McCann Glasgow Celtic Chief Executive 21 August 1995: Photo Mary Evans Allstar Graham Whitby Boot

Together, this leadership team arguably provides a level of gravitas and professionalism that perhaps sets the organisation apart from some previous fan initiatives.

Here’s what they have to say on their website –

What Are We?

CSL is a vehicle for shareholders, season ticket holders and supporters of Celtic Football Club to unite around and to articulate a collective view to the Board of directors of Celtic plc on matters of importance concerning our football club. We are a professional organisation with high standards of governance. We seek to influence the future direction of our club and to protect the interests of all stakeholders. We aim to ensure our collective voice is heard. We are not a protest movement.

CSL is a company limited by guarantee and registered in Scotland. It does not have shareholders. It’s directors will be elected by its members in general meeting. All members have one vote each. All members are equal.

Our Goal?

We believe the interests of small shareholders, season ticket holders and supporters in general are not adequately represented by the directors of Celtic plc. We intend to hold those directors to account for their actions. We believe that since Fergus McCann’s departure from the club in 1999 the balance between the corporate interests and smaller shareholders and season ticket holders has been lost. Our objective is to see that balance restored and for supporters and stakeholders to be respected and united.

How?

We intend to progress our objectives through a high profile marketing campaign which will seek to develop a significant membership base. There will be three principal strands to our endeavours:

‘Untraced’ shares. All football clubs have a significant problem with ‘untraced’ shares and none more so than Celtic plc. Celtic plc has approximately 28,000 shareholders of which up to 20% is characterised as ‘untraced’. We intend to offer shareholders a service which will help locate these shares and re-unite supporters with their shareholdings and unclaimed dividends.

Membership fees will principally be applied to costs associated with re-activating ‘untraced’ shares and acquiring Celtic plc shares off-market and via the

AIM market operated by the London Stock Exchange. No fees or salaries will be paid to directors or officials of CSL.

Shareholders will be asked to grant their proxy vote to the CSL instead of the chairman of Celtic plc to vote at general meetings of shareholders of Celtic plc.

We shall make a proxy form available to all shareholders on our website.

In conclusion, our mission is to give ordinary shareholders and supporters a voice that they currently don’t enjoy with the regime managing our club.

Duncan Smillie, Chairman Celtic Supporters Limited

Duncan Smillie, a former board member then chairman at Partick Thistle, was interviewed recently by Stephen McGowan in The Herald and talked about Celtic being the one constant in his life. “I’ve had people come and go, jobs come and go, friends come and go, and I’ve had a wife come and go. The only constant is Celtic.

“We are not trying to make trouble for the club; it’s not about that. We just want to get to a position where people stand behind us and help us to become an influential player.

“In the 1990s, with Save Our Celts or Celts For Change, it was quite hard to mobilise people. I think it’s a lot easier now with the way people communicate. I think it’s important for disaffected fans to get under one banner.

“It is a broken relationship yet, ironically, all sides want the same thing. The board, the fans, and shareholders all want the best for the club. How to get there is the issue.”

There’s also a recent interview with Phil Mac Giolla Bháin that is well worth a read. It outlined the initial plan to work with the Celtic Trust and subsequent to that not happening the new route is clearly going to be through Celtic Supporters Limited (CSL).

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Celtic title celebrations 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

CSL’s aims seem both ambitious and measured. The CSL stresses that it is NOT a protest movement, but rather a professional organisation with high standards of governance, seeking to hold Celtic’s board to account and ensure that the interests of smaller shareholders and fans are properly represented.

The group is structured as a company limited by guarantee, meaning it has no shareholders of its own. Its directors will be elected by members on a one-member-one-vote basis, and membership fees will be used to reactivate “untraced” shares, acquire shares in Celtic plc, and fund a high-profile marketing campaign. Importantly, CSL pledges that no fees or salaries will be paid to its directors or officials.

Celtic title celebrations 2024. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

On the surface, CSL’s stated goals resonate strongly with long-standing concerns among the Celtic support. As they clearly point out, since Fergus McCann’s departure in 1999, many fans feel the balance of power has shifted too heavily toward the corporate side of the club. CSL seeks to “restore that balance,” offering services to reunite supporters with dormant shareholdings and encouraging shareholders to assign their proxy votes to CSL rather than the chairman of Celtic plc.

Fors some observers, perhaps, the immediate question is not simply about the value of CSL’s objectives, but why they appear to have chosen to stand apart. The timing is interesting, coming just as the recently announced Celtic Fans Collective begins to gain traction. The Collective itself is designed as a broad platform to unite supporters’ groups, pool resources, and give fans a meaningful voice in the club’s governance, a goal that appears in keeping with the CSL’s.

Celtic Park on Trophy Day. Photo The Celtic Star

The Celtic Trust, long recognised as the primary vehicle for fan representation among shareholders, has pursued similar aims for years. While the Trust has undoubtedly lost some momentum in recent times, it remains an established organisation with experience and also plays an active role within the Celtic Fans Collective.

Intriguingly, some of those involved in CSL appear to have held influential positions within the Trust, raising questions about whether CSL’s formation reflects frustration or disillusionment with the Trust’s current direction, indeed only recently some members of the new group were quite vocal that The Celtic Trust was the way forward, prior to the recent AGM.

If there has indeed been a loss of confidence in the Trust, it is perhaps understandable. The Trust’s progress in recent years has been uneven, and some supporters have called for fresh ideas and renewed energy. But by creating a new organisation rather than working within existing frameworks, CSL perhaps risks adding fragmentation at a time when unity is viewed by many as paramount.

Celtic supporters on the road to Hampden. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Celtic supporters are no strangers to internal debate, but the current environment, marked by growing discontent with the club’s board and strategic direction, arguably calls for cohesion rather than competition. The Celtic Fans Collective was conceived precisely to bring together the many strands of supporter activism into a single, powerful entity, and in a short space of time has made impressive progress.

CSL clearly brings influence, skill, and experience to the table. Its plan to tackle the issue of untraced shares and mobilise proxy votes could add real weight to fan representation. But the question remains, why operate outside a structure that already aims to unify these efforts?

Perhaps CSL sees itself as a specialist organisation with a tighter focus on shareholder issues, complementing rather than competing with the wider Collective. If so, that could be a valuable addition to the movement. But if it becomes a parallel organisation vying for attention and resources, it perhaps also risks diluting the very power it seeks to build.

Celtic supporters shows their support at full-time following the team’s victory in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

For now, CSL’s launch is a welcome sign of renewed engagement among Celtic supporters. Its professional approach and clear governance model will appeal to many who want to see fans play a greater role in shaping the club’s future. Of course, the success of any such initiative ultimately depends on numbers, collaboration, and the ability to influence Celtic plc’s decision-making.

Whether Celtic Supporters Limited chooses to work alongside the Celtic Fans Collective, or choose walk its own path, will go a long way to determining whether this is the start of a stronger, united fan movement, or perhaps another chapter in the long history of well-intentioned but divided supporter organisations.

Time will tell.

Niall J

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