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Celtic fans take firm stance after rejecting invite to meet with the Parkhead board

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Celtic fans take a firm stance with the Parkhead board after being invited to the club to discuss policing from the Rangers home fixture last season.

Celtic supporters found themselves being kettled by Police Scotland with some missing the game as fans complained to the club about the heavy-handed tactics of the constabulary.

The Parkhead club instructed Fairhurst to launch an independent investigation into the treatment of Celtic supporters and it seems now, that the club is ready to publish those findings.

Prior to doing so, Celtic invited various Supporters Clubs and the Green Brigade to a meeting to discuss the findings but that invite was roundly rejected in a statement released by the Celtic Fans Collective.

Peter Lawwell, Chairman of Celtic, Dermot Desmond, Non-Executive Director of Celtic, and Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic, are seen in attendance prior to the William Hill Premiership match between Celtic FC and Rangers FC
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Celtic fans ‘unanimously voted to decline’ invite to meet Parkhead board amid protests

Celtic fans have demonstrated twice against the Parkhead board as the Hoops support question how the club is being run.

And that stance continues after the Celtic Fans Collective delivers the reason why Supporters Associations declined to meet the board to discuss the Fairhurst’s findings into police conduct at last season’s Glasgow Derby.

The statement on X read, “Yesterday, Affiliation of Registered Celtic Supporters Clubs, Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs, Bhoys Celtic, Celtic Disabled Supporters Association, Celtic Supporters Association and Green Brigade received an invitation from Celtic FC to attend a meeting regarding the policing of the derby match on March 16th.

“After months of delay, the club is finally set to release the findings of the independent investigation by Fairhurst.

“In conjunction with the Celtic Fans Collective, the supporter groups have unanimously voted to decline this invitation.

“Until Celtic FC signals an intention to answer all of the questions raised in the open letter and begin to engage positively with the wider support, we have no confidence in meeting with the club under the current leadership.”

What next for Celtic fans and the Parkhead board?

Simply, fan action continues as the momentum of the movement against the Celtic board continues to build.

The Celtic Fans Collective is a collaboration of supporters from all walks of life that includes CSCs, fan media and Ultra groups.

Celtic’s next game is at Parkhead against Hibs where 60,000 will gather for the first time since fans delivered their vote of no-confidence in the board.

Looking at how the last two protests have gone, the game at Celtic Park on Sunday could see fans deliver the strongest message to the board yet.