Celtic’s Cowardice in the Face of Their Own Fans
By welcoming The Anfield Wrap while freezing out their own fan media, Celtic have shown once again that they can’t handle honest scrutiny
There’s a difference between being open and being opportunistic. Celtic’s decision to allow Liverpool fan media outlet The Anfield Wrap access to interview Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not, in itself, a scandal. The issue isn’t the player who’s conducted himself well since joining Celtic, nor is it The Anfield Wrap - one of the most professional and successful fan media outlets in Britain. The issue is Celtic’s hierarchy and their shameful, self-serving hypocrisy when it comes to media access, fan engagement, and their treatment of their own supporters.
For years, Celtic have wrapped themselves in the rhetoric of being “more than a club” and utilising Jock Stein’s immortal words of “football is nothing without fans.” But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find an organisation utterly allergic to scrutiny - especially when it comes from their own. Fan media that dares to hold them accountable, highlight failures, or ask uncomfortable questions is frozen out, dismissed, or threatened with bans. Yet, when a prestigious English outlet arrives, cameras in hand and brand polished, the doors at Lennoxtown are flung wide open. It’s as predictable as it is pathetic.
This isn’t about envy as I have no skin in the game - it’s about principle. The same Celtic board that can’t stomach a word of internal criticism is happy to cosy up to outsiders, offering access they refuse to those who’ve chronicled the club with love, honesty, and credibility for years. They don’t want fan media - they want fan compliance. Everything, from ticketing to merchandising to message control, must now fit into their monetised ecosystem. And if you think that “access for sale” model is beneath them, just wait - remember when Rangers charged £25,000 a year for fan media privileges? Don’t bet against Celtic finding their own version soon enough.
I’ve seen this culture of hypocrisy up close. Since launching my own fan media outlet in 2006, I’ve covered Scottish football at every level - league, cup, international - all out of my own pocket bar a number of advertising deals. I’ve been banned by the Scottish FA, lied about by veteran journalists and club officials, and even had the SFWA demand my access to games be revoked for daring to publish quotes Sky Sports had already aired - St.Mirren and the Scottish FA can testify to that fact. Yet, through all that, I kept going and during this time helped raise funds for Yorkhill Hospital (now the Glasgow Children’s Hospital), who helped save my childrens’ lives.
During those fundraisers, I reached out to a number of clubs across Scotland. Some didn’t reply which is fair enough. Some went above and beyond. Rangers, of all clubs - whose supporters and press officers alike viewed me with disdain and hatred in equal measure - donated stadium tour tickets to help the cause. Celtic, refused or ignored every request. Not even a signed football or a pair of stadium tour tickets to raffle off. Glasgow Warriors were hardly better, offering to sign a rugby ball if I bought it from them first. But Celtic’s silence stung most - not because I expected special treatment, but because it reflected the institution’s core indifference to its own community when there’s no PR value in it.
That attitude persists today. It’s one thing to value professionalism and control, it’s another to wield it like a weapon against your own supporters. Open access to The Anfield Wrap doesn’t prove Celtic’s media-savviness; it exposes their cowardice. They want applause, not accountability.
Celtic’s greatest strength has always been its fanbase: passionate, intelligent, and fiercely loyal. But that same fanbase is treated like a customer database and a PR nuisance. Until the board grows comfortable with honest, critical scrutiny from their own, acts like this will continue to reek of hypocrisy.
And for all their branding about history, values, and community, maybe the truth is simpler: Celtic’s hierarchy doesn’t want fan media - they want fan marketing. As long as that remains the case, they’ll deserve every word of criticism coming their way.