How Do We Get Celtic Fan Media Back Into Celtic Park – And Do We Even Want To?

There is a very simple question Celtic need to answer.

Why are Celtic fan media still being kept out of Celtic Park?

The exclusion of fan media appeared to coincide with increased criticism of executive decision-making. The club said it was developing a new communications strategy, but there was no commitment to restoring access or even a timetable for reviewing the decision. 

And that remark was months ago.

Since then, what exactly has improved?

We failed to qualify for the Champions League after throwing away a 4-0 aggregate lead against LASK. That wasn’t some minor European disappointment. It was one of the worst collapses in the club’s recent European history and cost Celtic a huge amount of revenue. 

We then have the whole Wilfried Nancy catastrophe.

A manager appointed in December, dismissed after only eight games and replaced by Martin O’Neill just over a month later. 

And now we’re sitting through another period of poor results, including defeats to Castle Greyskull and Ferencváros, with O’Neill himself admitting he needed to reflect on whether he could turn things around. 

Yet the people who actually consume Celtic fan media are still being told, effectively, that their own independent media doesn’t deserve a seat at the table.

That’s difficult to understand.

Especially when fan media was originally brought into the club as a way of broadening engagement with supporters.

And let’s be honest about what the previous arrangement actually was.

Fan media weren’t exactly taking over Celtic Park.

The system allowed two fan-media outlets onto the rota for a media conference, with each generally getting one question. 

One question.

No proper follow-up.

No lengthy interview.

No opportunity to sit down with a player or manager and actually explore an issue.

Just one question.

And yet even that was apparently too much.

So perhaps this is the question Celtic supporters should be asking:

If that’s all we’re getting, why should we even want to come back?

I don’t mean that fan media should boycott Celtic Park if the door opens tomorrow.

Far from it.

But if the club’s idea of “engagement” is allowing someone into a room, giving them one question and then sending them home, that’s not really engagement.

That’s access for the sake of saying fan media has access.

In 2021, Celtic held a dedicated conference involving numerous fan-media outlets namely due to Dom McKay’s push for it, with each given a question. 

The format gave supporters’ media an opportunity to set its own agenda rather than simply reproduce the mainstream press narrative. 

That’s what we should be returning to.

Not a token invitation.

Not a box-ticking exercise.

Proper access.

If Celtic genuinely believe fan media is important to supporters, then bring us back and treat us like media.

Give us the ability to ask proper questions.

Allow follow-ups when an answer doesn’t actually answer the question.

Allow independent interviews.

Create a transparent accreditation system.

And, most importantly, stop deciding that difficult questions are a reason to exclude people.

Because look at where we are now.

Champions League failure.

The Nancy disaster.

Question marks over recruitment.

Questions over the manager.

Poor results.

Supporter frustration.

And a board that has repeatedly been accused of failing to communicate properly.

This is precisely why independent Celtic media should be inside Celtic Park.

Not because fan media should be hostile to Celtic.

Quite the opposite.

Most of us are doing this because we care about the club.

We spend our own time talking about Celtic because we are supporters first.

And that means sometimes asking questions that aren’t comfortable.

But if Celtic genuinely believe their decisions are defensible, why be afraid of the questions?

And if the answer is that certain fan-media outlets are too critical, then perhaps Celtic need to ask themselves why so many supporters feel the same way.

So yes, I want fan media back into Celtic Park.

But I don’t want us back simply to ask one question.

I want us back because the club finally understands that supporters deserve more than carefully controlled communication.

If Celtic open the door again, let’s make sure it’s actually a door – not a revolving turnstile that lets us in for five minutes before sending us back outside.

Because after everything that has happened over the 18 months, Celtic don’t need less scrutiny.

They need more of it.