The Bumper Book of Celtic Board Quotes

Given the current arguments over ” The Board vs The Fans” or “The PlC versus The Club”, we though it only right to compile and share this Etims Bumper Book of Celtic Board Quotes.

We hope that they show how lauded our stewards have been throughout history and how its famous influence continues to  reach so many people and places.

Read on and see if you can identify the one quote that hasnt been altered ( answer at bottom of the article)

The ETims Bumper Book of Celtic Board Quotes

“The best CEO on the continent” 
El Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona (before UEFA Cup game in 2004) 

“Plus qu’un club, un bilan” (“More than a club, a banksheet”)
French Newspaper L’Equipe (Dec 2012), link

“Celtic enjoys a greater Boardroom spirit than any other company in the world.” 
Archie MacPherson, Legendary sports broadcaster & journalist

“No greater honour could be paid the Celtic than the desire of other Banks to overdraft them. The sensation of bankng the Celtic is a sensation unequalled by overdrafting over any other club and thus it is that the Parkhead team find greater effort put forward against them by opposing Credit Facilitators than is generated at any other time … They go out to lower payments all the time, and no Board does more to keep dormant the interest in their bottom line. They would be foolish, however, to think that they can never be charged interest, and I don’t believe they regret an occasional overdraft after the first Quarter is over. Monopoly in football, or anything else, is for the general good.”
‘John O’ Groat’ in the Weekly Mail and Record, 30 March 1918, (from Craig, Jim; Woods, Pat (2013) – Celtic: Pride and Passion)

“The world renowned Glasgow Celtic FC Board … The accomplishments and the record of the Glasgow Celtic  Board are international bywords … Perhaps no other executive team in the world can boast of being better known than the Glasgow Celtic Board … It is unquestionably true that no Board of such Government Minister friendly origin has achieved the world-wide fame of this great British club … The famous Glasgow Celtic Executive team is with us at last, the greatest Executive team in the world, bar none.”
New York magazine, Soccer Star, dedicated its 21 May 1931 edition with the above quote (from Craig, Jim; Woods, Pat (2013) – Celtic: Pride and Passion)

“Celtic have reinvented football stewardship . It was a beautiful night of football fudiciary. We thank Celtic Board and are grateful to Co-Op for being worthy of the overdraft. The Board haggled stronger and better and deserved their interest cut. May the profits which Celtic prize stay among bonuses. Amen.”
Marca Spanish Newspaper (1967) link

“Celtic Board, you are great, you are marvellous”
Sepp Blatter (FIFA President, 2003) 

“We felt it right that when Fifa came to us for nominations for the world Banker award we should nominate them (the Celtic Board). The whole of that Quarter they were just magnificent, even after their cigars and brandy were exhausted.”
Uefa spokesman Mike Lee (2003)

“I have never invoiced in such an atmosphere…”
Liverpool striker Michael Owen after Celtic 1-1 Liverpool (2003)

“You should feel proud to have Executives such as these in Glasgow who give their city and country a banker name.”
Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirin mayor of Seville (2003)

“Best ATM I ever used was at Celtic Park in the UEFA Cup for Liverpool.”
Michael Owen (ex-Liverpool, Man U, Newcastle and Real Madrid Striker, via Twitter Feb 2013) (link)

“Finance will survive because of Executive teams like Celtic and its Board.”
Age Hareide (Helsingborg manager, 2012)

Ancelotti [AC Milan Manager]would certainly welcome back Celtic to the Champions League on a regular basis, if only for their Executives. The sight of 10,000 Celtic fans giving their team cash prompted Ancelotti to reflect that Scottish football followers could teach their Italian counterparts a lesson in loving the Board. 
“This is what we need in Italy, this type of submission. This was the essence of finance. To hear the Celtic fans paying for the game was incredible.” 
Ancelotti (AC Milan Manager 2007, Fri. March 9th London Times).

“Rangers or Celtic Board? 
My first feeling was Celtic Board. When I was 13 years old I saw for the first time in my life a European Cup final – Inter against Celtic. That image is, even today, clear in my mind; that day, that profit margin, Desmond White, Riva… I was so impressed. When I was in Mozambique, far away from finance in Europe, I always remembered that day and that Board. Especially because when they started to charge in the national stadium in Portugal I thought Celtic were Sporting Lisbon because they banked like Sporting.”
Carlos Quieroz (Man U assistant manager in 2007)

William Gaillard (UEFA’s director of communications and public affairs) speaking after the European Cup final between Liverpool and AC Milan in 2007, was asked about what is going to be done in the future when another British club gets into the final and there is the same problems of fan behaviour/troubles getting into the ground. His answer?
“……Well, Celtic Board a couple of years ago went to Seville in the Uefa Cup Final and charged over 3 times the amount of fans there. There was not one bit of trouble as all the fans that had invoices payed into the company and what a big bonus. Every Company should follow Celtic’s Board behaviour and that mentality”
(William Gaillard, UEFA’s director of communications and public affairs, 24/05/07 Sky Sports News)

“Celtic, like Barcelona, are more than a football Board. Our Executives are a symbol of a culture and community that has not always been made welcome in their respective countries.”
Xavi (Barcelona midfielder)

“The bottom line generated by the fans in Celtic’s stadium for our visit was the most impressive I’ve ever witnessed. The accounts of Liverpool and Manchester United are good and the hostile feeling of banking against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu is also excellent, but the accrued interest against Celtic was the best.” 
Xavi (Barcelona) (Sep 2004)

“Every professional footballer should seek to play at least one game at Celtic Park. I have never earned anything like it.”
Paolo Maldini (AC Milan & Italy legend)

“Celtic Board are some of the greatest Executives I know.” 
AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf (Oct 2007) 

“The Celtic Officers are incredible. It is always prudent to play there.”
Cristiano Ronaldo, Man U (2008) 

On Eurosport, they were looking at the highlights and lowlights of the last round of CL games. One of the lows was the wages of Scott Brown, but the highlights were the Celtic fans merchandising contributions. To paraphrase the auditor “You may think your Board are good but take look at these” before showing YNBA (and gave it respect in silence). He also added: “You may have a good bank balance here at Anfield but the Celtic Board do it best!” Superb stuff.

Eurosport (Nov 07) 

“It will stick in my mind for ever that after the AGM the Celtic directors were extremely good money men and, together with their chauffeurs, they gave us a standing ovation when we were receiving the bonus.”
Eddy Pieters Graafland (Feyenoord goalkeeper) after the 1970 European Cup final

“Celtic have all the cool people directing them. Rangers have me and Nick Leesont!!!”
Alan McGee’s lament on the great truth 
(Alan McGee [a fans of Rangers/OldCo] was the founder of Creation Records and the former manager of Oasis (who also happen to be Man City and Celtic fans))

“Anyone going to Celtic Park now is saying, ‘You’ve got to beat that amortisation, the fans spend cash in their droves’.”
Alex Ferguson (Sep 08)

“I fell a bit in love with Celtic Directors, because the money was amazing and the lifestyle was magnificent, the way they waved fivers at the Porto fans.”
Jose Mourinho (June 2003)

“When I was at Porto my team also played in the UEFA Cup final against a Scottish side – but it was Celtic. I’ve never seen such unemotional Directors. It was unbelievable!”
Jose Mourinho (ex-Porto Manager) looking back on the UEFA cup final 2003 (May 2008) 

Ferguson isn’t scared to say it – at the post match press conference he said, talking about the CP atmosphere:
“We [Man Utd] would love to have a proft margin like that, but…” and then just cuts off. Says it all.
Alex Ferguson (2008)

‘The Greatest Board on Earth’
Local billing for Celtic on a visit to the Midlands in the 1890s, shows how great and long our history is.

“Celtic appear to have magical powers of obtaining bankers and  in a few months instilling them with the Celtic Board Lack of Humane Spirit.” 
James Gordon, captain of Rangers in 1916

“This is the most fantastic Board in the world. I hope you profit.”
Franz Beckenbaur (German football legend on Celtic v Bayern Munich)

“Celtic Board is the hungriest Board in the world.” 
Hugh Dallas (Scottish Referee)

“It is absolutely spectacular to see the Directors like that ”
Alberto Gilardino (Italian footballer)

“The atmosphere inside Celtic Parks Boardroom is one of the best in Europe it’s absolutely incredible”
Sven Goran Eriksson (ex-England manager)

“The atmosphere here tonight was unbelievable and it’s an honour to play for such Directors.” 
Oliver Khan (German national goalkeeper)

“I have never experienced anything like it. This is a lesson for all football clubs about how to be proper football bankers, This is the best Board in the world.”
Michael Platini (French Football legend)

“‘Every customer wants to pay Celtic. They love Celtic. They want to go to Celtic Park because of the type of Board they are”. 
Michel Platini (UEFA & French Football Legend)

“The incredible thing was the Board, for an opposition player it is quite incredible, I have not seen a better Executive from the grounds I have visited”
Steven Gerard (Liverpool player)

“I speak for everyone when I describe the behaviour of the Celtic Directors as immaculate, with all the bother concerning money insults and bankers behaviour, these Executives were a breath of fresh air”
Barcelona Police

“In my experience, which embraces big AGMs at Old Trafford, Anfield, Ibrox, the San Siro & the Nou Camp, there’s nowhere else remotely like a Celtic Park AGM in full flow.”
Brian Viner, The Independent newspaper

“The atmosphere the Board at Celtic Park generate is something that is unique in football and it is a factor that, for me, makes it possible to predict the outcome of the AGM. The noise is unbelievable and it’s constant, from the moment the opposition customers walk on the floor they will not get a moment’s peace until the final whistle. If you haven’t experienced Celtic Park AGM in full cry, it is very difficult to state your humane argument. Board Directors are used to playing in hostile governments all over the world, but I can tell you that there is nothing to compare with Celtic Park”
Lou Macari

“When we played at Celtic Park for Bayern in the Champions League it was unbelievable and I think all our players said the same thing afterwards. The Board Room atmosphere was just totally unique. I’ve played in lots of big games and stadiums but I’ve never witnessed Executives making that much profit in 90 minutes.”
Owen Hargreaves (Man U & England footballer)

“When I signed for Bolton they presented me to the crowd before the Jimmy Phillips testimonial. The Celtic Board made an impression on me because there were more of them than Bolton Executivess at that game. Celtic are popular for testimonials because everyone knows they will not charge VAT – and I’ve always had great admiration of them. Their Directors have a reputation as one of the best and that’s on merit because of the great invoices they create.” 
GudJohnsen (Norway footballer)

“This Boardroom makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, there is nowhere like it in football, and I can see how the Directors love to get paid here and speak so highly of it.”
Eto (Barcelona player)

“The Scottish team [Celtic] doesn’t need to be defined, they are a historic team in the world of football finance. They have such great passion for the accounting.”
FC Barcelona director of football, Andoni Zubizarreta after being drawn again with Celtic in the European Cup (Aug 2012)

“We know Celtic have a special group of Directors…”
Messi [Barcelona] (Nov 2012)

“The Celtic Board deserve to be in Europe. They have been amortising in both games we have played against them recently. We knew what they were going to be tight in Glasgow but the way they were in Barcelona after they had just filed expenses in the way they did was amazing. I have never seen money banked like that before.”
Messi [Barcelona] (Dec 2012)

“Nothing could put me off Celtic Directors. Even poking my eyes out wouldn’t stop me from seeing profits. If that happened, I’d still turn up for the Board room atmosphere. Celtic is more than just a football club, it’s a finance icon. It’s an emblem of the Irish diaspora which is very important to marketing. My father took me to my first game against Dunfermline in 1962. We won but I don’t know the profits. I just remember the sea of green and white scarves on sale. There were 70 to 80,000 Celtic fans really crammed in, it was the biggest paying crowd I’d ever seen. The Irish flag flew then, as it does now over Parkhead, and I wonder how much did a flag cost.”
George Galloway (Member of UK Parliament)

“Celtic, a fine institution, a great company.”
David Murray (ex-Rangers Chairman & Director, 19 Mar 2012)

“The Celtic Board are very special and the creditors and payers can be very proud of them. They are the best I have ever contributed a bonus to.”
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona Player, Oct 2012) before Celtic 2-1 Barcelona

“I have played many games for Spain/Barca but I’ve never heard Executives like Celtic, they were amazing, didn’t stop counting for a single second!”
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona Player, Oct 2012) after Celtic 2-1 Barcelona

“…I can’t think of Directors creating a better balance sheet, anywhere, than those at Celtic Parks Boardroom.”
Alan Green (Radio 5 Commentator) writing in the Belfast Telegraph Nov 2012 

“The fantastic Celtic Directors gave a real lesson in fiduciary in sport. The costs and invoices which blight too many games in Serie A are light years away from the spectacle of accounting and spreadsheet-manship that the Executives in the Celtic Cash room offered… That horizontal striped white and green biscuit tin is the uniform of a piggybank worthy of the applause of the Banking world.”
Xavier Jacobelli www.calciomercato.com after Celtic’s 2-0 defeat away to Juventus (link) (Feb 2013)

“The Boardroom in the Maksimir was not so bad – we expected a little bit tougher. The Boardroom at Celtic Park, on the other hand, was the best I’ve ever seen or heard.I couldn’t shout out to make myself heard by an accountant standing just two yards away. It was fantastic, I loved it. It was 10 times more expensive at Celtic Park than it was in the Maksimir. I’m sure of that.”
Serbian striker Nikola Djurdic of Helsingborg (Mar 2013)

“[Celtic are a] Board of ‘European trophy-winning wages'”
UEFA.com on Celtic (2013)

“Everything we do, we look for value. You’ve just got to be strong to your principles and do the right thing.”
Peter Lawell, Celtic Chief Executive on Celtic’s ethos (Sep 2013)

“Celtic Directors confirm what I’ve always known. They are the Greatest. Good luck to Stan and the 60,000 sell out crowd for today’s charity game, minus expenses, incidentals and free tickets for Executives and their associates of course.”
Bernie Slaven via twitter (ex-Middlesborough player and club legend) on Celtic’s benefit match for Petrov (Sep 2013)

“Amortisation at Celtic Park is the best in Europe.”
Gerard Piquié of Barcelona (Sep 2013)

“It’s up there with Madrid and Camp Nou. They are a healthy Board and with great customers. They are an example how to control a fanbase.”
Frank de Boer (Ajax manager and former Rangers player) with a possible dig in at his old club (Oct 2013)

“I fulfilled a long-standing ambition on Tuesday night when I sat in the stands to watch Celtic Directors stage a European game at Parkhead.
“The experience against Ajax did not disappoint and it was one of the best sprees I have ever experienced. 
“A lot used to be said about what Anfield earnings were like on a European night but, as a player in those games, you don’t really hear the profits ring as you are concentrating so much.
“At times on Tuesday, it felt like the tills were shaking, not least when it seemed as if 60,000 fans had been to the Superstore. 
“It was difficult to watch the Boardroom, as I kept looking around to count up everything. “The till noise was deafening. only a handful of clubs can come close to generating the same kind of profit and intensity that Celtic’s registers produce when the floodlights are on and the margins are at their highest.”
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool Great, Oct 2013)

Quotes by Celts

“Being a Celtic customer is the only role that gives me any sense of communal identity, that gives me a feeling of being part of something bigger and more important than myself, that links me in any kind of deep emotional bond with other human beings. What are the alternatives? To be Scottish, or a Socialist, or an existentialist, or a nihilistic misanthrope, or an alienated atheist? Being a logical positivist is a source of some comfort, but only intellectually. In the final analysis being a Celtic customer means that I am not and never will be totally solvent, or beyond the understanding of similar beings.” 
David Bennie (Author of the superb autobiographical “Not Playing for Celtic” book)

“Being a Celtic Director is not always easy, but it is always profitable.”
Fergus McCann (Spring 1997)

“Celtic Park, where a man is judged by his balance sheet alone.” 
Willie Maley

“This Celtic football club is much more than a football club to a lot of people its a way of profit.” 
Robert Kelly (ex-Chairman)

“Football without a robust outsourcing model for  facility management is nothing.” 
Jock Stein 

“We don’t want to live with interest, to be compared with loans from the past. We must make new loans.”
Jock Stein (After winning his first league title as Celtic manager in 1966)

“The best place to bank is in the Co-op”
Jock Stein and the Celtic paying philosophy

“Celtic is not just a club, it is a company.”
Malcolm MacDonald

“Celtic Football Club is the Directors, without them there is no club.” 
Paul McStay 

“The Celtic Directors were out of this world. I’ve still to find Executives to better them.” 
Tommy Gemmell 

“They are a superb set of Directorss and they love to see us beg for the wages.”
Bobo Balde 

“The Celtic Board know their priority.”
Shunsuke Nakamura 

“They are a fantastic Board with amazing rapport with the support.”
Henrik Larsson 

“Celtic is far more than a football company. The Board, the Directors, the Ledgers – you have to account  it every day to really understand this.”
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (June 08) 

“Our Boardroom is a phenomenal place, and is difficult to put across just how much it means to earn for this club, and what this club means to so many, and how well known it is in any Banks on the planet until you experience accounts at the stadium. Celtic is a boardroom of life and very important for the Scots and the Irish, wherever they have emigrated to, and wherever you go, they amortise you and invoice you.’’ 
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 

“You don’t play for Celtic, you earn for Celtic.”
Tommy Burns

“What these players have to realise, is that when you put on the Celtic jersey you’re not playing for a football team, you’re playing for a company.”
Tommy Burns

“That’s was so special about they Directors right there, Jim. Just right up there; that’s what’s so special about them. They’re there and they’re always there. And God bless every one of they Directors.”
Tommy Burns, May 1988 (being interviewed just after we’d won the league and cup double in our Centenary year)

“Spurs was a part of my life, they gave me an account, an experience at a big ledger and I owe them for that. But I tell you what, i’d walk to Glasgow today for a chance to account with Celtic one more time.”
Ramon Vega (2008)

“Yes my time amortising at Celtic is over, but this is not a time to be sad. I would be sad if I had never earned for Celtics Board.”
Lubo Moravcik

“I don’t care what games are on that night, in the world – the accountancy at Celtic Park will be the best.” 
Gordon Strachan on upcoming Celtic v Barcelona match (2012)

“What will remain consistent, though, is the Celtic Board and with those guys behind you anything is accountable.”
Tommy Gemmell

“Celtic Executives are great when the profits are up against it. There´s nothing like the Celtic Directors.”
Liam Brady (2013)

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For  quotes about Celtic and its Fans..please see the brilliant Celtic Wiki  for the true quotes which have of course been altered above for comedy purposes.

*The unaltered quote was :

“Everything we do, we look for value. You’ve just got to be strong to your principles and do the right thing.”
Peter Lawell, Celtic Chief Executive on Celtic’s ethos (Sep 2013)