Celtic to face Class Action over Boy's Club abuse

A compensation fund should have been set up years ago. It’s been dealt with appallingly by the Club.

 

Everything this board does is a complete and utter *.. they are not fit for purpose and havnt been for years.. this is just another example of how out of touch and slow they are to do anything.. they stumble from one * up to another..

 

The club, rightly so, have taken emotion out of this and kept this as straight and clinical as they possibly can, in my opinion.
The board are a bunch of * in running a football club, but I would be inclined to believe that we have been well advised to be keeping this entire issue as "quiet" as we have been.
The whole thing has dragged on, way longer than it ever should be, but til there is a final outcome to all the legal proceedings, then the club really can't be affording (in a legal/pr sense) to be making any bold statements or gestures.

The boys club and CFC are not the same organisation, we all know that. There of course was an affiliation, however many clubs around the world have many affiliations with many other clubs at various levels, it is simply how it works in football. We, as a football club, can not surely be held legally responsible for what goes on at an affiliated organisation. Unless said organisation wasn't an affiliation, but was actually a subsidiary company of CFC. Which it never was.
No matter how emotionally driven we as fans, or the victims, or anyone else wants to feel on the whole issue, the club needs to be taking this as straight as possible in the legal sense and not open up the doors for some sort of legal responsibility.

From my understanding, the club has been at the fore of a lot of changes for a long time, many of which would more than likely have came around because of the understanding of what had happened in this context and elsewhere in the UK and wider world. We have setup support groups, introduced greater background checks and all that, other than financially compensating the claimants, what else do people expect the club to be doing?
And I ask that not to argue, but to be somewhat realistic here.

What went on at the boys club and in other organisations across the country (in different industries as well) is utterly disgusting and shameful from everyone involved and people should be given all the help they can get. But there surely has to be some sort of limit to where the line of responsibility goes.
Morally, we could maybe do more, but what more exactly do people want?

 

Of course the club could have done more and I have no doubt will do more.

But the fact that celtic fc is constantly shouted out in the media with lawyers etc bumping their gums is not on either. Basically trying to bully the club to get a bigger payout.
Matters such as these should be kept out of media spotlight until resolved.

 

Look at it this way
After any tragedy everyone says (if there’s an inquiry, litigation etc) it’s not about the money
See if it isn’t about money why are they using ambulance chasers….I know they are victims and * forbid this happens to anyone, but what is their end game…MONEY and as much as possible….if their bringing this to invoke change and are truly doing it to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again then why sue…why not press for a public enquiry into abuse inside Scottish football
I know of one guy who is part of this class action and continually goes on about protecting others but is planning how to spend his windfall…if you really blame Celtic football club then why do you go week in week out with your season ticket while trying to sue the same club

 

Someone please reassure me that I’m reading too many hun comments on Facebook and that this isn’t the real reason Lawell and McKay left.

 

Money talks.

 

There's your problem right away .....Facebook and huns.
Don't have anything to do with them. Especially the hun part

 

I’m 99% sure it’s not the reason McKay left.

 

Legally we might have a defence.

Morally we have handled this shockingly.

Imagine if the club decided to fight this? What a * horrible position to take in a courtroom. Sickening.

There was clearly ties to the club, legally or not and we should have done something to reach out to the victims a long time ago.

 

Other than an apology and not paying compo (sue the perpetrators. They abused you, not a corporate entity) we don’t know what Celtic have done behind the scenes and out of the public eye

 

I don’t see why they WOULDN’T fight it, if they had no reason to legally accept it?

 

I get that. The optics are * horrendous though. “We accept you were abused but it wisnae us” is a horrible position to take.

Let’s be honest, if the board decide to take this into the courtroom then they will have had some very expensive lawyers advising that it is winnable and legally it might very well be. You can’t tell me that it wouldn’t look awful though?

There are enough stories been doing the rounds for years, of club officials at the time allegedly having a say in matters at the boys club to imply there was at the very least, a tenuous connection there.

It’s not a very nice position to take, even if we did win the case.

We should have nipped this in the bud decades ago.

 

The PLC which appointed war criminal John Reid to be chairman; spat on the graves of the tens of thousands of victims of British imperialist war crimes by imposing the bloodstained poppy on the hoops; broke up Palestinian solidarity demos; has sponsorship with sleazy exploitation companies; has Tory landlords who voted for bedroom tax and welfare cuts on the board...

I doubt they give one * about the victims of abuse.

I think the club will "win" in court and basically tell the victims to * off.

 

this club and all that it owns came from the working man that supports them, there wouldnt be a club without the celtic fans all monies from the club is a result of the fans investment

celtic football club isnt the catholic church and didnt run this boys club, didnt employ the coaches of that boys club so why are we fans and the club being made to be responsible for the actions of the actual perpetrators! that owned and ran or worked for the celtic boys club

if this would have been maryhill boys club that had been affiliated with celtic i.e. they got to wear celtic branded strips would celtic football club even be getting mentioned ? would they *

 

Therein lies the problem. The perpetrators are skint.

 

They weren’t 20-30 years ago. Why not sue them then

 

I completely understand what you’re saying and I completely agree that the victims should be compensated. I have nothing but sympathy for those victims and anyone who has suffered such horrors.

That said legally accepting responsibility is extremely dangerous for the club and just widens the minefield.

Employees at Celtic being involved with the Boys Club and the club itself being involved are two massively different things though and that’s what the lawyers will have to prove/disprove. For example, if Griffiths was charged for his terrible social media actions earlier this year - would the club be responsible? Of course not.

Should the club have done and should the club be doing more for the victims? Of course they should - 1,000,000%. However they also need to make sure the club’s image isn’t damaged in court (unless, of course, it directly deserves to be).

It’s a horrible situation and I hope the club somehow find a way to come out of it with their head high, while also properly compensating the victims. I fear that may be too much to ask of our current board though.

 

Can just imagine the board absolutely bricking themselves because of the money they may lose.

 

Are we legally responsible doubt it, but morally we are responsible, especially as a kid growing up I saw Celtic Boys Club as Celtic, these kids following their dreams to play for Celtic getting abused by a piece of * is heartbreaking to me.