The Celtic Trust was established in 1999 with the primary purpose of providing an umbrella organisation that, through the mobilisation of the combined shareholdings of ordinary supporters in Celtic Plc, would seek to assist Celtic to prosper on the playing field and financially, while also staying true to its historic roots as a social institution taking proper account of the community which it serves.
Arguments in favour of supporter representation on the Board
The Celtic Trust is a supporters' trust, an organisation established to represent the interests of small shareholders and supporters at Celtic.
It's Constitution as an industrial & provident society (a co-operative) gives each member one vote on matters of policy, and with regard to electing the officers of the Trust. Every year the Trust has to submit annual accounts to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). As an incorporated body it can own shares in its own right, and we do own shares in Celtic.
Following the away fixture v Motherwell on 12 December 2009 a number of members contacted the Trust concerned about the sustained racist abuse suffered by Aidan McGeady, on number of occasions, during the match. Those of you who were present will remember a considerable section of the Motherwell support chanting “you’re in the wrong f------ country” and other chants of a similar nature.
On behalf of the Trust the secretary wrote to both the Police and Show Racism The Red Card (SHTRC) highlighting this behaviour and asking why no action had been taken against the perpetrators. To date no reply has been forthcoming from SRTRC. We have, however, received a reply from the senior Police Officer in charge of the match on that day
In his letter this officer says that neither the Police supervisor, in the stand from which most of the abuse emanated, nor any of his officers witnessed this behaviour!! Motherwell FC say “that none of their staff observed or made reports” and there was nothing noted in the report of the Referee and match officials.( Selective hearing loss or what?)
He does, however, go on to say that “Strathclyde Police do not tolerate any form of sectarian or racist behaviour” and “will act robustly to deal with any acts of criminal behaviour” and assures us that in future alerting police officers to such behaviour will form part of the pre-match briefing.
He also suggests that anyone experiencing this type of behaviour “should bring it to the attention of the nearest police officer so that action can be taken”.
It is clear from the above that the Police and match authorities are not going to act unless folk actually complain, so can I suggest that is what we do.
REPORT AND COMPLAIN!
However anyone doing this should do so in a calm and dignified manner, have another supporter witness the complaint being made, and take the number of the officer to whom the complaint is made.
It would also help if this and any reaction was reported to the Trust to provide a basis for any future correspondence if this is necessary.
Contact details for the Trust can be found on this website in the Contacts section
Saturday 16 January 2010,The Ward Room St Mary’s Church Abercromby Street Glasgow at 10.30am. All AGM Papers can be found here.
Following the brief meeting on 19 December we have agreed to have a further (and hopefully larger) meeting on Saturday 20 February 2010 (the morning of the home game against Dundee Utd) at 12 O'Clock in The Ward Room of St Mary's Church, Abercromby Street. All supporters are welcome.
Following the results of the survey in which 73% of respondents said they thought holding an open meeting for all supporters was a good idea, a brief initial meeting was held just before Christmas. There was a fairly small attendance which was not that surprising given the time of year. The Trust and the CSA were represented as were a couple of the websites (CQN and Celtic Underground). The discussion was fairly relaxed and centred around what people thought the main issues were for Celtic supporters just now and whether there were better ways for us to come together and channel our voices. It was emphasised that there was no question of any new organisation being set up and it was simply a matter of exploring ways for organisations and individual fans to work more closely together. The meeting agreed that there was enough in the idea to meet again in February to see if we can take the idea further. Details of the meeting will be posted on this website and others and again all fans will be welcome.
There is another report of the meeting at the end of the most recent podcast on www.celticunderground.net.
The draw for the Celtic Jersey, bearing the emblem of the National Famine Memorial Day, was made during the match on Saturday 5 December. The winning ticket was No.00084 and the lucky winner is Robert Storrar Jnr. Robert is from Livingston but his work takes him all over the world. He and his prize will soon be heading off to Brazil. Maybe he can inspire some young Brazilians with a love for the Hoops and a wish to play for them!!
As stated 25% of what was raised will go to charitable causes. The main beneficiary is the locally based charity 'Mary's Meals' which feeds needy children in Africa and other parts of the world and that cause will receive £250.
An additional £25 has been donated to St Margaret Mary's Church in Castlemilk to help enable disabled folks there, gain access to the Church.
A big "Thank You" to everyone who bought tickets and made the Raffle such a success.
The next full meeting of the Celtic Trust will be on Saturday 16 January 2010 in the Ward Room of St Mary's Church, Abercromby Street at 10.30 (the morning of the home game against Falkirk. All Celtic supporters are welcome but only members are entitled to vote. All members should make sure their dues are paid up to date by the day of the AGM. Resolutions should be sent by 9th January to the Trust PO Box or by email.
We are sorry to say that we have been unable so far to provide you with the full analysis of the voting figures for the recent PLC AGM. Celtic PLC has so far not published the full set of figures on the same basis as previous years. We are hoping to meet with them soon to discuss this and other AGM-related matters but a date has not been set. We will keep you informed.
A very useful meeting was held today at Celtic Park in which the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Supporters Association met with representatives of Celtic to flesh out the new more transparent scheme. A full report of this meeting is in the News Section of our site Meeting with Celtic re European Away Scheme October 2009. In the meantime, all season-ticket holders who are part of the European Away Ticket scheme should check which band they are in with the Ticket Office. If they are unhappy with the band they have been allocated to and if they are unable to resolve this with the ticket office then please contact either the Trust or the CSA for assistance.
Members may be interested to hear a podcast interview which our Chair recently gave to Celtic Underground. The podcast (no 65) can be accessed via their homepage at www.celticunderground.net
Membership fees/donations can now be paid using Paypal - please see membership page
For those of you who use Twitter, you may wish to 'follow' the Celtic Trust on this service as we are now posting 'tweets' from time to time.
The Celtic Trust is happy to endorse the recently set up appeal for funds to support the family of Kevin McDaid who was brutally murdered by bigots in Coleraine in May. We are currently considering ways to boost the appeal and would be happy to receive suggestions from members and supporters.
Today Celtic released the following statement:
Celtic FC Honours National Famine Memorial Day
Celtic Football Club today announced that it is to mark National Famine Memorial Day on 17th May 2009. The day has been earmarked by the Irish Government to commemorate and honour the 1.5 million people, who either perished or emigrated from Ireland during the Great Irish Famine from 1845 -1851.
As a mark of respect, the Celtic team on Sunday will wear the Club’s Celtic Cross on their shirts when the team plays against Hibernian FC on Sunday.
The Cross, representing a bridge between Scottish and Irish cultures, is the symbol of the Club’s charitable arm, established to continue the charitable work initiated by the Club’s great founder Brother Walfrid, an Irish Marist Brother.
Celtic Chairman John Reid commented:
“Given Celtic’s proud Irish heritage, this Club is inextricably linked to the Great Famine and the subsequent immigration from Ireland.
“Celtic Football Club therefore is proud to be marking National Famine Memorial Day in this manner as we pay our respects to all those affected by the Great Hunger, one of the most tragic chapters in modern world history. The Irish Famine resulted in death, disease and displacement of people on an unimaginable scale with the West of Scotland becoming a principal point of refuge”.
“The Famine is a lesson from history which should never be forgotten but from the despair and death of famine arose new hope, new life and a new future, part of that came in the in the shape of Celtic Football Club.
“The desperate people who fled Ireland and their offspring born in Scotland, became the collective parents of Celtic Football Club. The Club’s main inspiration Brother Walfrid and Michael Davitt, the club’s first patron, were both young children during the Famine in Ireland”.
“Celtic is a Scottish Club with proud Irish roots, an organisation which represents a fusion of cultures between both countries. We are a Club open to all and while we celebrate our traditions, it is important that we also celebrate our diversity.”
“During the past 120 years Celtic has developed into a world class football organisation which strives for excellence and success on and off the field. However, while we always aim to build and grow, there will be one constant - we will always remain much more than a football club and we will always remember our proud heritage.”
The Celtic Trust would like to congratulate Celtic for this excellent intiative and statement and we would also like to congratulate our good friend and colleague, Joe O'Rourke, General Secretary of the Celtic Supporters Association whose idea it was.
Representatives of the Trust Board recently met with the current and prospective Match Commanders at London Road Police station to discuss a number of concerns brought to us by our members concerning the treatment of our fans both at home and away fixtures. The notes of the meeting can be found here.
A line drawn under a disgraceful episode
.
A letter sent to the Celtic Plc Board regarding the widely condemned racist behaviour of the Rangers fans who chant about An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger) was discussed at their recent meeting. A response was received directly by the Celtic Trust and a general response has now been posted (in the form of a letter to the fans from the Chairman)on the club's website (www.celticfc.net). The Celtic Trust welcomes the condemnation from the PLC Board and we hope that the club, together with Strathclyde Police, will take firm and direct action against any person found to be singing this song at Celtic Park.
The Irish Government has protested to the Scottish Government about the racist chants of the Rangers Fans who have been asking us since last season 'why don't you go home?'. The Celtic Trust condemned this song as soon as it first began to be sung (see Archive under 'Holocaust chants'). We also, along with other groups, raised this in a meeting with Show Racism the Red Card some months ago. This organisation, charged with removing racism from Scottish football, agreed that the song was racist and apologised for not dealing with it sooner. Since then, however, they have not replied to any contact from us and have made no public statements on the matter. This is a clearly racist song and the response by sections of the media trying to link it to sectarianism is a blatant attempt to portray this as a tit for tat process. Even worse is the response of some commentators to link it to the issue of faith schools. This is entirely a problem for the Rangers support, their organisations and their club, and those bodies charged with removing racism from football. The Celtic Trust has no intention of engaging in any media-directed game which is designed to take the spotlight from the racists responsible for the singing of, and defence of, this song.
WALFRID BADGES FOR SALE
The Trust still has a supply of Brother Walfrid badges at £1 each (discounts for bulk buy negotiable!). All money raised will go to the CSA's Walfrid's Wells campaign which supplies fresh water wells to communities in Nigeria who are suffering from the lack of easily available clean water. Contact us via the phone/email details on our contacts page.
Arguments in favour of supporter representation on the Board
The Celtic Trust is a supporters' trust, an organisation established to represent the interests of small shareholders and supporters at Celtic.
It's Constitution as an industrial & provident society (a co-operative) gives each member one vote on matters of policy, and with regard to electing the officers of the Trust. Every year the Trust has to submit annual accounts to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). As an incorporated body it can own shares in its own right, and we do own shares in Celtic.
Racist Chanting at Motherwell: Police Response
Following the away fixture v Motherwell on 12 December 2009 a number of members contacted the Trust concerned about the sustained racist abuse suffered by Aidan McGeady, on number of occasions, during the match. Those of you who were present will remember a considerable section of the Motherwell support chanting “you’re in the wrong f------ country” and other chants of a similar nature.
On behalf of the Trust the secretary wrote to both the Police and Show Racism The Red Card (SHTRC) highlighting this behaviour and asking why no action had been taken against the perpetrators. To date no reply has been forthcoming from SRTRC. We have, however, received a reply from the senior Police Officer in charge of the match on that day
In his letter this officer says that neither the Police supervisor, in the stand from which most of the abuse emanated, nor any of his officers witnessed this behaviour!! Motherwell FC say “that none of their staff observed or made reports” and there was nothing noted in the report of the Referee and match officials.( Selective hearing loss or what?)
He does, however, go on to say that “Strathclyde Police do not tolerate any form of sectarian or racist behaviour” and “will act robustly to deal with any acts of criminal behaviour” and assures us that in future alerting police officers to such behaviour will form part of the pre-match briefing.
He also suggests that anyone experiencing this type of behaviour “should bring it to the attention of the nearest police officer so that action can be taken”.
It is clear from the above that the Police and match authorities are not going to act unless folk actually complain, so can I suggest that is what we do.
REPORT AND COMPLAIN!
However anyone doing this should do so in a calm and dignified manner, have another supporter witness the complaint being made, and take the number of the officer to whom the complaint is made.
It would also help if this and any reaction was reported to the Trust to provide a basis for any future correspondence if this is necessary.
Contact details for the Trust can be found on this website in the Contacts section
Celtic Trust AGM
Saturday 16 January 2010,The Ward Room St Mary’s Church Abercromby Street Glasgow at 10.30am. All AGM Papers can be found here.
Celtic Supporters Open Meeting
Following the brief meeting on 19 December we have agreed to have a further (and hopefully larger) meeting on Saturday 20 February 2010 (the morning of the home game against Dundee Utd) at 12 O'Clock in The Ward Room of St Mary's Church, Abercromby Street. All supporters are welcome.
Open Meeting 19 December 2009
Following the results of the survey in which 73% of respondents said they thought holding an open meeting for all supporters was a good idea, a brief initial meeting was held just before Christmas. There was a fairly small attendance which was not that surprising given the time of year. The Trust and the CSA were represented as were a couple of the websites (CQN and Celtic Underground). The discussion was fairly relaxed and centred around what people thought the main issues were for Celtic supporters just now and whether there were better ways for us to come together and channel our voices. It was emphasised that there was no question of any new organisation being set up and it was simply a matter of exploring ways for organisations and individual fans to work more closely together. The meeting agreed that there was enough in the idea to meet again in February to see if we can take the idea further. Details of the meeting will be posted on this website and others and again all fans will be welcome.
There is another report of the meeting at the end of the most recent podcast on www.celticunderground.net.
Result of the Celtic Trust Raffle
The draw for the Celtic Jersey, bearing the emblem of the National Famine Memorial Day, was made during the match on Saturday 5 December. The winning ticket was No.00084 and the lucky winner is Robert Storrar Jnr. Robert is from Livingston but his work takes him all over the world. He and his prize will soon be heading off to Brazil. Maybe he can inspire some young Brazilians with a love for the Hoops and a wish to play for them!!
As stated 25% of what was raised will go to charitable causes. The main beneficiary is the locally based charity 'Mary's Meals' which feeds needy children in Africa and other parts of the world and that cause will receive £250.
An additional £25 has been donated to St Margaret Mary's Church in Castlemilk to help enable disabled folks there, gain access to the Church.
A big "Thank You" to everyone who bought tickets and made the Raffle such a success.
Celtic Trust AGM
The next full meeting of the Celtic Trust will be on Saturday 16 January 2010 in the Ward Room of St Mary's Church, Abercromby Street at 10.30 (the morning of the home game against Falkirk. All Celtic supporters are welcome but only members are entitled to vote. All members should make sure their dues are paid up to date by the day of the AGM. Resolutions should be sent by 9th January to the Trust PO Box or by email.
Full PLC Voting figure analysis
We are sorry to say that we have been unable so far to provide you with the full analysis of the voting figures for the recent PLC AGM. Celtic PLC has so far not published the full set of figures on the same basis as previous years. We are hoping to meet with them soon to discuss this and other AGM-related matters but a date has not been set. We will keep you informed.
A report of the 2009 Celtic PLC AGM is now available here
Meeting with Celtic re European Away Tickets
A very useful meeting was held today at Celtic Park in which the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Supporters Association met with representatives of Celtic to flesh out the new more transparent scheme. A full report of this meeting is in the News Section of our site Meeting with Celtic re European Away Scheme October 2009. In the meantime, all season-ticket holders who are part of the European Away Ticket scheme should check which band they are in with the Ticket Office. If they are unhappy with the band they have been allocated to and if they are unable to resolve this with the ticket office then please contact either the Trust or the CSA for assistance.
Celtic Underground podcast October 2009
Members may be interested to hear a podcast interview which our Chair recently gave to Celtic Underground. The podcast (no 65) can be accessed via their homepage at www.celticunderground.net
Membership fees/donations can now be paid using Paypal - please see membership page
Follow Celtic Trust on Twitter
For those of you who use Twitter, you may wish to 'follow' the Celtic Trust on this service as we are now posting 'tweets' from time to time.
Celtic Family asked to support McDaid Family Appeal
The Celtic Trust is happy to endorse the recently set up appeal for funds to support the family of Kevin McDaid who was brutally murdered by bigots in Coleraine in May. We are currently considering ways to boost the appeal and would be happy to receive suggestions from members and supporters.
Click here to find a Review of the Tommy Burns Video by Kenny Butler who attended the launch last week on behalf of the Celtic Trust
Celtic mark the first National Famine Memorial Day
Today Celtic released the following statement:
Celtic FC Honours National Famine Memorial Day
Celtic Football Club today announced that it is to mark National Famine Memorial Day on 17th May 2009. The day has been earmarked by the Irish Government to commemorate and honour the 1.5 million people, who either perished or emigrated from Ireland during the Great Irish Famine from 1845 -1851.
As a mark of respect, the Celtic team on Sunday will wear the Club’s Celtic Cross on their shirts when the team plays against Hibernian FC on Sunday.
The Cross, representing a bridge between Scottish and Irish cultures, is the symbol of the Club’s charitable arm, established to continue the charitable work initiated by the Club’s great founder Brother Walfrid, an Irish Marist Brother.
Celtic Chairman John Reid commented:
“Given Celtic’s proud Irish heritage, this Club is inextricably linked to the Great Famine and the subsequent immigration from Ireland.
“Celtic Football Club therefore is proud to be marking National Famine Memorial Day in this manner as we pay our respects to all those affected by the Great Hunger, one of the most tragic chapters in modern world history. The Irish Famine resulted in death, disease and displacement of people on an unimaginable scale with the West of Scotland becoming a principal point of refuge”.
“The Famine is a lesson from history which should never be forgotten but from the despair and death of famine arose new hope, new life and a new future, part of that came in the in the shape of Celtic Football Club.
“The desperate people who fled Ireland and their offspring born in Scotland, became the collective parents of Celtic Football Club. The Club’s main inspiration Brother Walfrid and Michael Davitt, the club’s first patron, were both young children during the Famine in Ireland”.
“Celtic is a Scottish Club with proud Irish roots, an organisation which represents a fusion of cultures between both countries. We are a Club open to all and while we celebrate our traditions, it is important that we also celebrate our diversity.”
“During the past 120 years Celtic has developed into a world class football organisation which strives for excellence and success on and off the field. However, while we always aim to build and grow, there will be one constant - we will always remain much more than a football club and we will always remember our proud heritage.”
The Celtic Trust would like to congratulate Celtic for this excellent intiative and statement and we would also like to congratulate our good friend and colleague, Joe O'Rourke, General Secretary of the Celtic Supporters Association whose idea it was.
2009 Trust AGM Report
Trust Reps meet with Police
Representatives of the Trust Board recently met with the current and prospective Match Commanders at London Road Police station to discuss a number of concerns brought to us by our members concerning the treatment of our fans both at home and away fixtures. The notes of the meeting can be found here.
A line drawn under a disgraceful episode
First Minister withdraws charge of bigotry against Celtic Trust Chair
Response from UEFA re poor seating at Villarreal game
Celtic PLC EGM Friday 21 November 2008
Celtic PLC AGM 2008 Report
.
Celtic Chairman responds to complaints re famine song
A letter sent to the Celtic Plc Board regarding the widely condemned racist behaviour of the Rangers fans who chant about An Gorta Mor (The Great Hunger) was discussed at their recent meeting. A response was received directly by the Celtic Trust and a general response has now been posted (in the form of a letter to the fans from the Chairman)on the club's website (www.celticfc.net). The Celtic Trust welcomes the condemnation from the PLC Board and we hope that the club, together with Strathclyde Police, will take firm and direct action against any person found to be singing this song at Celtic Park.
IRISH GOVERNMENT PROTESTS RE FAMINE SONG
The Irish Government has protested to the Scottish Government about the racist chants of the Rangers Fans who have been asking us since last season 'why don't you go home?'. The Celtic Trust condemned this song as soon as it first began to be sung (see Archive under 'Holocaust chants'). We also, along with other groups, raised this in a meeting with Show Racism the Red Card some months ago. This organisation, charged with removing racism from Scottish football, agreed that the song was racist and apologised for not dealing with it sooner. Since then, however, they have not replied to any contact from us and have made no public statements on the matter. This is a clearly racist song and the response by sections of the media trying to link it to sectarianism is a blatant attempt to portray this as a tit for tat process. Even worse is the response of some commentators to link it to the issue of faith schools. This is entirely a problem for the Rangers support, their organisations and their club, and those bodies charged with removing racism from football. The Celtic Trust has no intention of engaging in any media-directed game which is designed to take the spotlight from the racists responsible for the singing of, and defence of, this song.
WALFRID BADGES FOR SALE
The Trust still has a supply of Brother Walfrid badges at £1 each (discounts for bulk buy negotiable!). All money raised will go to the CSA's Walfrid's Wells campaign which supplies fresh water wells to communities in Nigeria who are suffering from the lack of easily available clean water. Contact us via the phone/email details on our contacts page.