Bhoycie One of the most fascinating discussions on the Bhoycie Bus this week had nothing to do with transfers, formations or even football.
It centred around the Celtic Season Ticket Alliance.
Now before anyone reaches for the keyboard, let me make something clear.
This isn’t an attack on Paul McStay. It isn’t an attack on supporters who signed up. Nor is it an attack on those who genuinely believe the Alliance can become a force for positive change.
It’s simply asking the question that every successful movement eventually has to answer.
What’s next?
Because from the outside looking in, there appears to have been one very clear objective.
Season ticket renewal.
Once that deadline passed, the noise seemed to disappear.
That doesn’t necessarily mean nothing is happening behind the scenes. It may well be. But perception matters, and right now the perception is that supporters were encouraged to buy into a movement before renewal season, only for communication to dry up once the money had been committed.
If that’s unfair, then the Alliance has the perfect opportunity to prove otherwise.
Because supporters deserve an update.
Not because they’re entitled to know every private conversation taking place, but because that’s exactly what this movement promised to improve.
Communication.
For years, Celtic supporters have spoken about wanting a greater voice at boardroom level. They wanted representation. They wanted influence. They wanted someone capable of asking difficult questions on behalf of the support.
The Alliance appeared to offer that.
The proposal was simple enough.
Supporters would unite behind a long-term vision of increasing fan ownership and influence at Celtic.
On paper, it’s an admirable ambition.
Who wouldn’t want supporters to have a stronger voice inside their football club?
But here’s where my questions begin.
If the objective is fan influence, why did participation require supporters to renew their season tickets?
That’s the one part I’ve never quite understood.
The single biggest piece of leverage supporters possess is their financial support.
Whether people like hearing that or not, it’s true.
The strongest message supporters can send to any football club isn’t a banner or a social media campaign.
It’s where they choose to spend their money.
So it struck me as unusual that the one condition attached to joining the movement involved continuing to make the very payment that keeps the existing structure operating exactly as before.
Again, that doesn’t make the Alliance wrong.
It simply raises a perfectly reasonable question.
Why?
Surely if the aim is to increase supporter influence, that objective exists whether somebody renews a season ticket or not.
Supporters without season tickets care just as deeply about Celtic.
Many overseas supporters invest enormous sums into following the club every year.
Others have simply been priced out.
Should their voice carry any less weight?
Another point that struck me was the credibility behind the campaign.
Having Paul McStay involved immediately gave the project legitimacy.
If there is one Celtic figure whose motives I wouldn’t question for a second, it’s Paul McStay.
His love for the football club has never been in doubt.
Which makes this even more important.
Because credibility should also bring accountability.
Supporters backed this idea because trusted Celtic figures backed it.
Now those same supporters deserve to hear where things stand.
What progress has been made?
How many supporters have joined?
What conversations have taken place?
What are the next milestones?
Silence creates uncertainty.
And uncertainty inevitably creates speculation.
The irony is that many supporters have spent years criticising Celtic themselves for poor communication.
It would be a shame if a movement established to improve supporter engagement found itself attracting similar criticism.
There’s another angle to all of this that I think deserves discussion.
Over the past few years, we’ve often heard supporters demanding more transparency from Celtic.
Personally, I don’t think football clubs should reveal every aspect of their strategy.
Recruitment plans shouldn’t be public.
Transfer targets shouldn’t be public.
Commercial negotiations shouldn’t be public.
But when supporters actively buy into a movement built around representation, updates become important.
Not because anyone is demanding confidential information.
Simply because people want reassurance that momentum still exists.
Perhaps everything is progressing exactly as planned.
If that’s the case, fantastic.
Tell people.
Supporters don’t expect miracles overnight.
Nobody realistically expected fan ownership to transform within a few months.
What they do expect is evidence that the journey continues.
One thing Marc said during our discussion really stuck with me.
He argued that supporters already receive all the communication they need from Celtic itself.
“The team sheet tells you everything.”
I agreed with him.
When you look at the starting eleven and substitutes, you instantly know how serious the club has been about strengthening.
Maybe the Alliance faces something similar.
People won’t judge it on launch videos or good intentions forever.
Eventually they’ll judge it on outcomes.
Supporters don’t need grand promises.
They need progress.
Whether that’s another update.
Another target achieved.
Another block of shares secured.
Or another meaningful conversation with the club.
Movements don’t survive on goodwill alone.
They survive by maintaining trust.
And trust is built through communication.
The Celtic Season Ticket Alliance began with genuine optimism and some hugely respected names lending their support.
That goodwill still exists.
But goodwill has a shelf life if supporters are left wondering what happened after the season ticket deadline came and went.
This isn’t a call to abandon the project.
Quite the opposite.
It’s a call to strengthen it.
Because if the Alliance truly wants to become the supporter voice it set out to be, then it has to keep talking to the very people it was created to represent.
Otherwise, the uncomfortable question will only grow louder.
Was the season ticket renewal the beginning of the journey… or the destination?
