Celtic’s clash with Aberdeen was their last home game with Peter Lawwell formally at the club.
Lawwell announced his decision to step down earlier that week, on the day of their game against Dundee United at Tannadice.
After losing his first four games in charge, Wilfried Nancy secured a first win in charge of Celtic with a 3-1 win in the Aberdeen game.
They followed that up with a 4-2 defeat of Livingston on Saturday, as Nancy looks to restore some much-needed momentum ahead of 2026.
But on the eve of that Aberdeen clash, Lawwell made an unexpected phone call to one Scottish media figure.
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Hugh Keevins on Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell
Lawwell spent 18 years as the Chief Executive Officer at Celtic Park, vacating this role in 2021.
He returned as Non-Executive Chairman shortly later, holding this position after Michael Nicholson’s rise to the CEO role.
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Someone familiar with (and often critical of) Lawwell during his time at Celtic is Hugh Keevins, whose role in the Scottish media needs no introduction.
Lawwell cited ‘intolerable’ abuse in his parting statement, expressing regret over the timing of his exit.
And discussing their conversation in his column for the Daily Record, Keevins revealed this to be the main reason for their call.
He said: “I received an unexpected phone call last Saturday night.
“It was from Peter Lawwell on the eve of Celtic v Aberdeen – his last-ever game at home as Hoops chairman.
“He probably had far better things to do, but Peter still took the time to thank me for having supported him over the questionable manner in which he had been driven from his seat in the directors’ box due to intolerable threats and intimidation from persons unknown.
“The only time, Peter said, that he could recall me ever writing something nice about him in this column.
“I took that as a jocular observation and asked him not to spread it about that I’d written something nice about anybody in case it destroyed my professional reputation.
“And then we talked, like old guys do, about how the world’s a different place from the one we used to know, and not necessarily for the better.”
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Key departures from Celtic this year
It’s been a year of departures from Celtic, starting with Kyogo Furuhashi in January.
Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah also departed the playing squad, along with B team manager Darren O’Dea.
The headline exit was, of course, Brendan Rodgers in October, who took John Kennedy and other staff members along with him.
Head of scouting Jay Lefevre also moved to Swansea, before Lawwell’s exit came as a fitting end to a year full of change at Parkhead.
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