Prominent supporter Auldheid proposes a Celtic Fan Membership Service | OneFootball

Earlier this week The Celtic Star published an in-depth article exploring the idea of a Fan Membership Service is the way forward for Celtic support — a professionally run structure that could unite the global Celtic support and give it real influence over the club’s direction.

Celtic fans with scarves during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

We then followed that up with a second piece highlighting how other clubs, even those not fan-owned, have managed to challenge a PLC board and force meaningful engagement – Fan Power Without Shares: How Membership Schemes Can Challenge Football PLCs — a reminder that, while never easy, change is possible.

Momentum for such a conversation is building. Following Wednesday night’s fan consultation meeting, the North Curve issued an update revealing that one of the key actions agreed by the meeting’s signatories was “to build a democratic and representative fan body”  – North Curve Celtic’s Fan Consultation Meeting update.

Against that backdrop, and with supporter frustration edging toward organised action, The Celtic Star chatted with Auldheid—one of a small group of Celtic supporters whose dogged work on Resolution 12 first exposed uncomfortable truths about governance at Celtic —to discuss his proposal for a Fan Membership Service in detail.

Celtic fans celebrate the title win. 17 May 2025.. Vagelis Georgariou

What follows is a wide-ranging conversation about credibility, governance, and the long game of fan power…

The Celtic Star: Why should fans believe this service can succeed where the Trust and other supporter bodies have struggled?

Auldheid: “It is a service provided by the fans to the fans for the fans. It will not depend on resolutions at an SAGM once a year but the opportunity for the Celtic support globally to put their concerns forward and to get answers in the spirit of dialogue which depends on trust but is a step towards building trust issue by issue. It will include supporters with shares and those without shares and so will have a much wider reach than the fragmented groups, but it would not be a replacement for them and would work with them in a spirit of unity to fulfil the purpose of Celtic.”

The obvious challenge is avoiding the internal divisions that have blunted previous supporter organisations.

The Celtic Star: How would the membership service be structured to avoid the infighting and stagnation we’ve seen elsewhere?

Auldheid: “The Membership Service would be funded by supporters at as low a monthly cost as possible to provide the resources to deliver the kind of service supporters would want to subscribe to.

“It would be set up as a not-for-profit service and if there is any profit an amount service users would agree to would go to charity, with The Foundation the obvious but not only one.”

Celtic fans celebrate the title win. 17 May 2025.. Vagelis Georgariou

The Celtic Star: Supporters will want reassurance on money. Who would oversee the funds, and how would members know it’s being used responsibly?

Auldheid:  “As a not-for-profit but funded organisation there would be a regular book-keeper, an occasional auditor and a set of accounts to be agreed by members and an office manager responsible for the smooth running of the service.

“The cost would be a factor in the membership subscription. Basically, it would adhere to best practice for a not-for-profit organisation. Folk with experience of such standard practice could advise on that set up”.

Scale is everything if the service is to matter.

The Celtic Star: Realistically, how many supporters do you think would sign up at launch, and what’s the minimum number needed for real impact?

Auldheid:  “Since it intends to reach all the support and if it delivers what they want, then they would set that figure at 40 thousand—20k from match goers and 20k from the Celtic diaspora. There is a ‘what if’ business model to establish the cost of Membership depending on the actual numbers.”

Celtic fans celebrate the title win. 17 May 2025.. Vagelis Georgariou

Rather than compete with the Celtic Trust, ARCSC, or the Green Brigade, Auldheid envisions collaboration.

The Celtic Star: How would this service work alongside those groups—and would you actively seek to unify them under one banner?

Auldheid: “All of them would be part of identifying issues along with the Service staff and deciding what needs to be taken to Celtic to address. There is a rudimentary model for how that can be done. If the formal bodies and bloggers engage, those who are on social media could move from talking about issues without making any difference to being facilitators of change.”

Celtic fans celebrate the title win. 17 May 2025.. Vagelis Georgariou

The Celtic Star: Beyond making statements, what practical levers of power would the service give supporters over the PLC? Would it be legal, financial, or purely public pressure?

Auldheid:  “Much would depend on the PLC’s response to The Service. Since they accept communications need to improve, the independent Service would be a means of doing that. However, if there was an issue where Celtic were seen as uncooperative, the service would allow for funding of a law firm on a retainer to either advise on the formation of a resolution that complies with Company Law if that is their area of expertise or refer to a firm that has.

“It need not be a resolution to the Board—it may be a letter to the police to question any action on their part that has caused supporters problems, or to City Council to complain about pavements that need repair. There is nothing like a letter with a reputable law firm heading at the top to open doors. It certainly did with Resolution 12.

“In some cases having a large membership speaking for the support means Celtic need not be involved at all. A sum for such a retainer is in the model although all the assumptions used there need to be checked as realistic.”

Celtic v Kilmarnock – The Celtic board after the match on Saturday February 17, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan

Celtic PLC has a history of ignoring or deflecting supporter concerns.

The Celtic Star: How would you stop this scheme from being brushed aside as just another protest movement?

Auldheid:  “In a word, NUMBERS. No more meetings in silos with different groups where what is true at one meeting is no longer true later. Recognition that supporters are capable of understanding how things work and why they don’t and have something of value to add to the dialogue.”

The Celtic Star: What is the ultimate goal: boardroom influence, fan ownership of shares, or simply forcing greater transparency and dialogue?

Auldheid:  “A House united around a common purpose, not one where division is rife. Agreement on what the purpose of Celtic is and everything that is done meets that purpose.”

The Celtic Star: How would you ensure the scheme is accessible to all Celtic supporters—including those abroad, the unwaged, and fans who feel alienated from current structures?

Auldheid:  “Via technology by bringing together the disparate groups, blogs, podcasts etc and using them to agree common issues and take them to Celtic.”

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Every ambitious plan carries risk, and Auldheid is candid about the need for caution.

The Celtic Star: What are the biggest risks of launching this scheme—and how would you prevent it from collapsing into the same issues of division, apathy, or boardroom resistance that have blunted past efforts?

Auldheid: “By having a feasibility study to identify the risks and take steps to reduce them. This would need a small start-up group and crowd funding to pay for the study.”

The Celtic fans enjoy the occasion. Celtic v St Mirren, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, – 17 May 2025 Photo Robert Perry Shutterstock

From supporter revolts to shareholder statements, pressure on the Celtic board is building. The question is whether this momentum can be channelled into a permanent, professional structure capable of forcing meaningful change.

Auldheid’s Fan Membership Service offers one possible blueprint – a low-cost, inclusive, legally backed platform that could turn decades of frustration into sustained influence. The challenge now lies with the supporters themselves.

Will Celtic fans—scattered across Scotland, Ireland and the world—rally behind this vision and could it become a reality?

Green Brigade tribute to James Forrest on Trophy Day. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

This conversation is only the beginning. We know supporters will have their own ideas, concerns, and supplementary questions about how a Fan Membership Service could work in practice. ACSOM had David Low on their show and was talking about a similar solution to this. These ideas are the start of the process and there may well be others too. The idea scenario is that these are merged, tested and we end up with a solution that works for the Celtic support who thereafter buy in to the proposals.

You can leave your thoughts and questions in the comments section below this article, or contact The Celtic Star directly at editor@thecelticstar.co.uk.  We will collate  your questions and put them to Auldheid who will be happy to respond.

Please share this article as it’s important to get ideas and suggestions like this out there to the wider Celtic support.

Niall J

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