Dermot Desmond Still Won’t Commit to Attending Celtic’s AGM — Another Example of the Disconnect Between the Board and Supporters

Here we go again. Celtic have confirmed that this year’s AGM will take place at Celtic Park on 1 December, but there is still one rather important question hanging over the meeting.

Will Dermot Desmond actually turn up?

The “principal” shareholder has not attended a Celtic AGM in twenty years. Despite his enormous influence over the direction of the football club, supporters are still waiting for him to commit to facing shareholders and answering questions about the decisions being made behind the scenes.

And that tells its own story about the relationship between the people running Celtic and the people who follow the club.

The Celtic Fans Collective have publicly called on Desmond to attend in person, making it clear that sending his son, another representative or a prepared statement is not good enough.

I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request.

Last year’s AGM was an absolute embarrassment. Ross Desmond delivered a statement on his father’s behalf, taking aim at sections of the support and describing criticism of the club’s executives as destructive and cynical. The reaction was immediate, Peter Lawwell suspended proceedings and the meeting was eventually abandoned before shareholders could properly have their questions answered.

Twelve months on, what has actually changed?

The club has announced that this year’s AGM will be held in person, and interim chairman Brian Wilson has promised that shareholders will have the opportunity to challenge, question and receive answers from the board.

That’s welcome, but it doesn’t answer the biggest question of all.

Where is Dermot Desmond?

We are talking about someone who has wielded enormous influence at Celtic for years. Whether supporters agree with his decisions or not, his involvement in the direction of the club is hardly a secret. Yet when it comes to facing the people who want answers, there has been no public commitment from him to attend this year’s meeting.

Celtic supporters are not asking for the impossible. They are asking the person with such significant influence over their football club to stand in front of shareholders and explain the direction in which he wants to take it.

We want to know what the long-term plan is. We want answers about recruitment, the lack of progress in Europe, the relationship with supporters and the decisions that have left the club in its current position.

Most importantly, we want accountability.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to accept the club’s repeated messages about improving communication when the most influential figure at Celtic continues to remain absent from the one meeting where shareholders can directly question the people running the business.

There is also something particularly frustrating about the contrast between the expectations placed on supporters and those placed on the board. Fans are expected to buy tickets, renew season books, spend money in the club shop and continue supporting the team through every disappointment.

But when those same supporters ask for answers, they are too often left with statements, representatives and carefully managed conversations.

The Celtic Connect initiative is another example. The club talks about giving supporters a greater voice, but that voice means very little if the people at the very top are unwilling to engage with the difficult questions.

I want to make one thing clear: I am not suggesting that Desmond has confirmed he will refuse to attend. But as things stand, there has been no public commitment from him to be there on 1 December.

And that is precisely the problem.

Celtic is not simply a business investment. It is a football club built by generations of supporters, families and communities. The people who fill Celtic Park every week deserve more than prepared statements and messages delivered through someone else.

Dermot Desmond has an opportunity to change the conversation. Turn up, listen to the concerns, answer the questions and show supporters that their voices matter.

Nobody expects every decision to be popular. Nobody expects every question to have an easy answer.

But we do expect the people making those decisions to have the courage to explain them.

If Desmond wants supporters to believe that he cares about the future of Celtic, 1 December would be a pretty good place to start.

Because another AGM without the man who holds so much influence over our club would only reinforce the feeling that the board wants the support’s money and loyalty, but not necessarily their questions.