Celtic Fans Collective – The step from emotional energy to strategic organisation

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The Celtic Star

·24 November 2025

Celtic Fans Collective – The step from emotional energy to strategic organisation

Tonight, the Celtic Fans Collective meets for what may be its most important gathering so far. The timing could not be more significant…

Celtic Fans Collective protest at Celtic Park ahead of the Celtic v Falkirk match. 29 October 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

The Celtic AGM has shaken supporters, embarrassed the club, and made painfully clear that there is a breakdown in how Celtic engages with the people who sustain it. The frustration is genuine, the disappointment is widespread, and the consequences are still being processed across the Celtic support.

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But tonight’s meeting cannot just be a post-mortem of what happened on Friday. It cannot simply be an argument about who said what, who shouted what, or whether someone should or shouldn’t have challenged the board in that moment. Those things matter, and perception matters, but focusing on them risks missing the bigger opportunity.

Celtic Fans Collective protest at Celtic Park ahead of the Celtic v Falkirk match. 29 October 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Tonight can be about building something that cannot be dismissed

Tonight can be about building something that cannot be dismissed, ignored, or sidestepped by a board that has already shown it is prepared to lean heavily on procedure, narrative, and framing to avoid meaningful accountability.

The Celtic Fans Collective is still in its infancy. And like any new movement, its first phase has been powered by passion and spontaneity. That is how movements begin. But after an AGM like the one we just witnessed, the goal is to turn that frustration into influence.

Celtic Fans Collective protest poster outside Celtic Park on 29 October 2025. Photo The Celtic Star

To do that, the Collective may need to acknowledge one uncomfortable reality. Whether fair or not, there is a perception that some supporters in that meeting lost discipline at key moments. Perception becomes narrative, and narrative becomes something a powerful institution can weaponise. The board moved quickly to frame the AGM as the work of a ‘small minority’ rather than an expression of widespread concern. If the Collective doesn’t take control of its own message, the board will continue to attempt to shape it for them.

Movements need clarity and structure. And at their best, they need a communicator, not someone who replaces the Collective, but someone who represents it.

When Fergus McCann fought the old board, he had Brian Dempsey alongside him. McCann had the plan, Dempsey was the orator. One was the strategist, the other was the bridge between supporters and the wider world. That balance helped neutralise the old board’s attempts to divide and undermine.

Tom Grant, Fergus McCann and Brian Dempsey at Celtic Park

The Celtic Fans Collective now has the chance to develop something similar. Not a leader in the hierarchical sense, but a spokesperson, someone who can clearly communicate the Collective’s message. Someone who understands procedure, stays calm under provocation, and keeps the conversation on track when others try to drag it off course.

The Collective already has solid foundations

Those seven questions raised earlier in the season remain the sharpest expression of what supporters want to understand. Five of them remain unanswered. Those five questions could form the basis of the Collective’s identity, its aims, its boundaries, and its purpose. If they become the anchor points for strategy and communication, the Collective immediately becomes harder to mischaracterise and harder to dismiss.

Michael Nicholson, Celtic CEO. St Mirren v Celtic, 23 November 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

From those questions, the Collective can begin to communicate what success looks like. What does change look like? What does improvement look like? What does ambition look like? Is the goal of structural reform, greater transparency, modernisation of football operations, supporter representation, or something else entirely? Without defining the destination, it is difficult to choose the route.

And because the Collective is not made up of full-time activists but of ordinary supporters with families, jobs and responsibilities, it makes sense to think about ways to make the work sustainable. The Collective is made up of thousands of fans. There are more still who would join and would pay a subscription model to sustain it.

Including fans outside Scotland and abroad. It’s time to tap into that.

Celtic Park under the lights before kick off Celtic v Sturm Graz, UEFA Europa League, Group Stage, Celtic Park, – 23 October 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock

Some form of membership model or funding mechanism

That might mean considering some form of membership model or funding mechanism to support things like legal guidance, professional advice, or representation at meetings like the AGM. These things cost time and expertise, and the Collective should not be expected to shoulder that load indefinitely on goodwill alone.

Ross Desmond at Celtic AGM. 21 November 2025.Screenshot social media

The AGM showed just how vulnerable a movement can be without professional representation. A provocative statement shifted the tone of the room. A rushed adjournment erased a Q&A. A procedural refusal prevented a vote. A post-AGM press framing shaped headlines before supporters even left the stadium. These are tactics. They are not personal. They are not emotional. They are simply the methods powerful organisations use to maintain control.

They will be used again.

Celtic vs Sturm Graz 23 October 2025 – UEFA Europa League, Celtic Glasgow vs SK Sturm Graz. Image shows overview of Celtic Park. Photo GEPA pictures/ Chris Bauer

The Collective doesn’t need to fight fire with fire, but it does need to be steadier on its feet. It needs to make sure supporters attending future meetings understand the tactics that may be used against them and know how to stay composed and effective in the face of provocation, or employ the services of professionals who can.

Tonight’s meeting is about learning from the AGM. It is about adapting to the PLC tactics. It is about blending passion and professionalism.

If the Collective can take that step, the step from emotional energy to strategic organisation, Celtic will face a supporter movement that is impossible to sideline. A movement that knows what it wants, how to pursue it with persistence when it faces resistance, and with a fighting fund to sustain it.

Niall J

Last orders for Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter

Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star

Last remaining copies of Celtic in the Eighties – get your copy now before it’s too late! Here’s what you get…

David Potter’s beautifully produced hardback book, the Celtic Historian final work before his passing. Your copy will also be personally signed by Celtic legend Danny McGrain!
You’ll also receive a complimentary copy of another brilliant David Potter book – Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style.

Order Celtic in the Eighties from Celtic Star Books and we’ll automatically add Putting on the Style. Please note postage will only be charged on one book so there is no cost to you at all for the Willie Fernie biography.

These two books combined will make a brilliant Christmas present!

Danny McGrain signing copies of Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Photo: Celtic Star Books

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Out now on Celtic Star Books. Order at celticstarbooks.com

Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style. Available at celticstarbooks.com

Mentioned in this article

Celtic

Celtic Fans Collective – The step from emotional energy to strategic organisation | OneFootball

Celtic Fans Collective – The step from emotional energy to strategic organisation

Tonight, the Celtic Fans Collective meets for what may be its most important gathering so far. The timing could not be more significant…

OneFootball Videos

Tonight can be about building something that cannot be dismissed

Movements need clarity and structure. And at their best, they need a communicator, not someone who replaces the Collective, but someone who represents it.

The Collective already has solid foundations

Some form of membership model or funding mechanism

Tonight’s meeting is about learning from the AGM. It is about adapting to the PLC tactics. It is about blending passion and professionalism.

Last orders for Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter

Celtic

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