A Kew Heavins exclusive: A homage to Peter Lawwell, the greatest Celtic man ever to have lived

As this old codger was sitting divvying out his weekly pills into his pillbox, my ever reliable 1G Nokia 5110 pierced the early morning stillness.

I thought to myself, “Who could this be at this hour of the morning?”

85 years in this game and you never fail to be intrigued by an early morning call.

It’s either someone looking for money, (thankfully I owe nothing to nobody) or someone wanting to sell you something.

In my case, it’s usually someone wanting to sell me a story.

In this case, it was an exclusive, free of charge.

From the greatest Celtic man ever to have lived.

Peter Lawwell.

An unappreciated legend in his time.

In the fullness of time, Celtic supporters will recognise the contribution of Peter Lawwell to their club.

They will come to see that he singlehandedly saved Celtic from liquidation.

Unlike them, I have carried out my jurisprudence on Peter Lawwell.

And with the benefit of a wise old head, I am fully aware of what he has selflessly contributed over the course of nearly three decades to Celtic.

When my good friend Peter stated at the 2024 Celtic AGM, “You get what you pay for”, he was only being modest.

His modesty stemmed from having saved such a wonderful institution as Celtic from liquidation.

Some might state that Peter got his pound of flesh for that, but not I.

Over the course of his time at Celtic, £15 million was but a drop in the ocean in the overall scheme of things when it comes to the club’s turnover during that period.

An honest day’s pay for many, many honest days of work.

No more than he deserved, as far as I’m concerned.

I digress, to say my good friend Peter’s call was unexpected would be an understatement.

He is, after all, an extremely busy man.

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 erection of stickers with hurty images on them around his place of residence by those persons unknown, he told me, had resulted in countless night’s of sleep loss for his long suffering wife.

That can’t be right, can it?

Families physically and emotionally scarred by a husband and father’s role at a football club?

Threats and intimidation against another human being?

Peace and goodwill anyone?

We continued to shoot the breeze as old farts do, and we knocked a laugh out of the fact I still relied on my Nokia 5110 to engage in telephonic conversations.

Peter told me that his kids kept him up to speed on the modern wonders of mobile phones.

A modest I-phone 17 keeps him up to date with all the machinations of the modern footballing world.

Peter always believed in moving with the times, and being a progressive, forward thinking individual.

After all, if he hadn’t, Celtic would probably be liquidated by now.

We agreed we’d sit down and have a cup of tea sometime in the new year.

And then laughed when we realised that neither of us knew where the other one lived, which was the point I had made about Peter’s address having been put out on social media with the intention to incite even more trouble for him and his family.

Of course, I don’t know a lot about how social media works, but I was aware of that much.

I don’t need to know where he lives because it’s none of my business, and vice-versa.

I’m not the prying type, you know?

After we finished chatting, I must admit, I felt humbled.

I felt, once the conversation ended, as if I had been in the presence of greatness.

And I must ask this question, if Peter Lawwell made me feel like that, why is it that the Celtic support cannot see him in the same light?

Why is it that they cannot see the good he has selflessly done for Celtic?

With little or no personal gain for himself?

Of all the people who have been involved with this mighty club, none deserves a statue to be erected in their memory more than Peter Lawwell does.

He epitomised kindness and benevolence, and he was always on hand to listen to the concerns of his beloved Celtic supporters.

This is why I do not hesitate to pay homage to the man.

But for him, Celtic might not exist today.

When the old Rangers went into liquidation, Peter quietly took on board all of the learnings from such a catastrophic failure at his club’s arch rivals.

Yes, he may have lamented the loss of the revered O** F*** brand, but Celtic was his first concern, always.

After all, Peter was a business man, and he saw the O** F*** brand as a business, and Rangers 1872 as a business partner.

The loss of a business, and a business partner rankles with any businessman.

Peter was no exception to the rule in this regard.

But as a result of his deeply embedded love of Celtic, he put that love first, and duly saved Celtic from liquidation.

It is for that he should be remembered.

That is how I will remember him.

Personally, I wish him all the best for the future.

The halls of Celtic Park will be a lonelier and quieter place without his jocular behaviour, and general bonhomie.

I’m sure the other board members will miss him telling them to ‘behave’ at board meetings.

This was just Peter’s way.

You had to know him to understand it.

The unfortunate reality is that he is somewhat misunderstood by the Celtic support.

But as the years pass by, people will eventually realise what he was to Celtic, and what Celtic was to him.

Peter Lawwell.

The greatest Celtic man ever to have lived.

Legend, Gentleman, businessman, but above all, a Celtic supporter of the truest kind.

He might now be gone, but he will never be forgotten.

Enjoy your retirement Peter.

After all you’ve been through, if anyone deserves it, you do.