Finger pointed at Dermot Desmond for Green Brigade ban

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The Celtic Star

·12 novembre 2025

Finger pointed at Dermot Desmond for Green Brigade ban

The stand-off between the Green Brigade and Celtic’s hierarchy has taken a new turn, one that now points directly to the club’s dominant shareholder...

Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond, largest shareholder and Michael Nicholson CEO are seen during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on October 29, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

North Curve Celtic, the umbrella for the ultras’ activity inside Celtic Park, issued a pointed update on social media today, laying responsibility for the group’s six-game ban at the feet of Dermot Desmond.

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In a series of posts on X, the North Curve wrote:

“Before Celtic v Falkirk, 29/10/2025, the Celtic Fans Collective held the largest demo which has ever been seen outside of Celtic Park – highlighting the need for change at Celtic board level.

Before Celtic v Falkirk, 29/10/2025, the @CFC_Collective held the largest demo which has ever been seen outside of Celtic Park - highlighting the need for change at Celtic board level.
– mercoledì 12 novembre 2025

“Dermot Desmond, Celtic’s largest shareholder who behaves as the defacto owner with total impunity and seemingly no challenge from the board, made a rare appearance at this match.

“It should come as no surprise that Dermot Desmond is believed to be behind the current ban of the Green Brigade, pouncing on a trivial incident in order to shut out and shut down vocal and visual criticism of him and the Celtic board at all matches.

It should come as no surprise that Dermot Desmond is believed to be behind the current ban of the Green Brigade, pouncing on a trivial incident in order to shutout and shutdown vocal and visual criticism of him and the Celtic board at all matches.
– mercoledì 12 novembre 2025

“Dermot Desmond and the Celtic board are nervous at the level of unity and coordination between Celtic supporters who seek positive change. They are nervous about the progress of the Celtic Fans Collective. That is why they are seeking to cause a distraction and a division.”

Dermot Desmond and the Celtic board are nervous at the level of unity and coordination between Celtic supporters who seek positive change. They are nervous about the progress of the @CFC_Collective . That is why they are seeking to cause a distraction and a division.
– mercoledì 12 novembre 2025

It’s an extraordinary public accusation, the most direct challenge to Desmond’s influence from within the support in many years.

The post didn’t appear from nowhere. Those close to the North Curve will presumably insist their words are grounded in credible information. To them, the timeline speaks for itself, the largest fan protest in recent memory, Desmond’s rare attendance at the Falkirk game, and days later, a swift and sweeping ban targeting the group most visible in dissent.

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

Whether that chain of events represents cause and effect remains unproven, but to many supporters the pattern is perhaps too neat to ignore.

Desmond has long operated in the shadows of Celtic’s corporate structure, seldom quoted, rarely seen, but ever present. His reputation as the “de facto” owner rests not on his shareholding alone but on the perception that nothing significant happens at Celtic Park without his blessing.

That perception, fair or not, now places him squarely in the crosshairs of a restless fanbase that sees a club increasingly governed from a distance and insulated from accountability.

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

The North Curve’s statement also lands in a moment of heightened tension. The Celtic Fans Collective’s campaign for reform has gathered momentum, shareholders via The Celtic Trust have raised concerns over proxy voting and transparency ahead of the AGM, and discontent with the board’s tone-deaf decision-making continues to simmer. In that context, the group’s suggestion that the ban was a calculated move to blunt supporter activism has found an audience well beyond the North Curve.

For many, this latest flashpoint is less about the details of the Falkirk incident and more about control. Who controls the narrative, who decides what dissent looks like, and when it crosses the line?

Stewards checking tickets inside Celtic Park before the Celtic v Falkirk match on 15 August 2025. Photo The Celtic Star

The club has offered no public response to the North Curve’s claims, sticking instead to the formal language of “safety” and “security” so far. But continued silence will only fuel suspicion that decisions of major consequence are being driven by a single hand rather than through transparent process, a concern that raises legitimate questions about corporate governance standards at Celtic.

Desmond’s critics argue that this approach, private and unaccountable, belongs to another era. Celtic today is not the club of the early 2000s. It is a global brand, a PLC, a community institution that operates in public and must answer to its stakeholders, not just shareholders.

The Green Brigade and the wider Collective have tapped into that shift, framing their protest not as rebellion but as renewal and a demand for honesty and modern governance.

Celtic supporters gather outside the stadium to demand the removal of the board ahead of the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Falkirk at Celtic Park on October 29, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

If their claims are correct, and the ban was indeed sanctioned from the top to silence opposition, then the implications reach far beyond one section of supporters. It would speak to a boardroom culture that prefers suppression to engagement, and to an ownership model that confuses control with leadership.

If, on the other hand, Desmond’s name has been invoked unfairly, then the club owes its supporters a clear denial and an explanation for how decisions of this magnitude are actually made. Silence may feel like control, but at Celtic, it now sounds like avoidance.

Once again, the issue isn’t just what Celtic decide, but how they decide it and who gets a voice in that process.

Niall J

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