Brian Wilson, a director at Celtic, has written an obituary for Walter Smith, in The Guardian, in which he has pushed the grotesque and dangerous Victim Lie.
It is a shocking thing for someone on the board of our club to have done.
He has endorsed one of the most outrageous falsehoods in the history of sport on this island.
I have nothing against a Celtic director writing a tribute to the former Rangers manager Walter Smith.
It is an act of decency and further confirms that we are a better club than some of our enemies would like to paint us.
But I have serious objections, and all of us should, to a Celtic director who lends credence to the toxic falsehood which powers so much hate in our game.
When talking about the crisis that brought the club to its knees, this is what a member of our board actually wrote about the liquidation of the former club.
“(By) this time, the club was caught up in a bewildering series of intrigues and takeovers as well as having been punished with demotion, in 2012, for having gone into administration.”
That is nothing more than a blatant lie.
There was no “punishment” of “demotion”; such a thing did not exist in the rulebook then or now.
Had Scottish football attempted such a thing the club would have had every right to contest it vigorously in the courts and there is no doubt whatsoever that they would have won.
The idea that the club was “punished” with a draconian sanction which was not available to the governing bodies or the wider game is utterly fictitious.
There was no club to contest such a claim.
They were liquidated.
The realities of this are quite clear.
Their club ceased to exist and in order for a new “Rangers” to emerge they were told they would have to start in the bottom tier of the game … these are the facts, as voted by the clubs themselves, in a decision that was nearly unanimous.
Yet the game in Scotland continues to be corrupted by this falsehood.
The worst excesses of the Ibrox support are justified by their allies in the media on the grounds that the first Ibrox club “suffered” unfairly in 2012.
The rabid hatred of their fan-base is built on this grotesque and false representation of those events.
Even the club’s current behaviour, where they are threatening commercial contracts, is in part predicated on their having been “victims” of a conspiracy.
When their own directors threatened this summer of “scores to settle on and off the pitch” these were the scores they had in mind.
They know, as we all do, that there is no basis in reality to any of it, but they use it as an excuse to wreak havoc.
I am astonished and appalled that this lie has been given credence by a director from our club.
He should retract that segment of the piece immediately and apologise to the wider game for lending legitimacy to a malicious untruth which pollutes our national game and makes honest discourse more difficult.
We have a hard enough time fighting against this garbage without a Celtic official engaging in what can only be described as wilful deceit.
If he’s not prepared to apologise he should be asked to resign.
He won’t resign or be asked to resign, James. Our Board are complicit in perpetuating the myth and are part of the problem. They have betrayed, and have none of the core beliefs of, the support.
My first Celtic game was 1966 v Clyde 4-1 Celts. Been all over scotland and Europe watching Bhoys. Haven’t been since 2012, and won’t be back until 5-way agreement published. HH
Well dont go back until something is done.You have the power of voting with your feet but its something fans never do.I hear alot that they only carr about the bottomine so hurt the bottom line boycott until there are changes.An empty celtic park would perhaps concentrste some minds.I know i will probably get pelters so be it.Why hurt the team its not their fault will be another cry.If you dont do anything then dont complain HH
Agree with everything in this article except he should apologise AND resign. Disgraceful and shows how out of touch our Board is with fans.
Totally agree – apologies or not he should GO now.
it really beggars belief . i have said numerous times that this lie should be called out for what it is. at this present time when the nhs workers are in the spotlight the club that went bust denied these workers vital funds. why is it the 276 creditors who were the actual victims never get a mention ?.
Total disgrace , he could have given a suitable piece on the late Walter Smith rip, without any need to mention the financial perils of that club.It would appear that he has used Walter Smiths’s death to deliberately promote the great lie.The dogs on the street know that the Ibrox club now known as Sevco were liquidated in 2012 .It is little wonder that their is such corruption in Scottish football
Get him out of our club.mans a joke,again this board fail us just when things are going great
Well like his fellow brit nats over in ibrokes he’s a fully fledged yoonyinist and one time Labour MP. He’d be more happy over there amongst his fellow brits one would have thought.
Helping keep the continuity myth going is unforgivable, he should set the record straight immediately, or in my eyes at least, preferably booted off the board.
Do what I did. Email Wilson via the SLO and invite him to retract his factually incorrect statement
and offer him the opportunity to apologise and resign. If nothing else it will piss the Tory Barsteward off.
H H
There is no chance of Wilson retracting that statement and, given the way the shareholding is constructed, even less chance of him being voted off at the forthright AGM. The only way he can have any semblance of saving face is to resign immediately. But there’s probably little chance of that happening either.
I have commented on here previously about my utter contempt for Brain Wilson and how he should be nowhere near our club never mind as a director – I have voted against his re-election to the board at AGMs. I would not afford him the opportunity to resign. He needs to be removed from the board forthwith and certainly before the next AGM. Any board member who resists this needs to follow him out the door.
He should resign and a statement made clearing up the clubs stance. Or, are the club not saying anything because we are complicit in the 5 way agreement?
Simply unbelievable that this man represents our club. Resign. Celtic supporters everywhere need to let our board and make the wider community aware of truth. GB I can’t wait to see your banner acknowledging this is a traitor to our club. HH
It’s not even clear what on earth Wilson even does at Celtic. What is his remit?