Dermot Desmond 'sadly mistaken' as Celtic fan group hit back over club response to Dunhill protest

Desmond was playing golf as part of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship when his round was interrupted on the 15th green by protesters throwing tennis balls at the 76-year-old with pictures of his face crossed out. The Irishman was escorted off the course and a police presence was called upon to deal with the latest demonstration against the billionaire Celtic Park tycoon.

The club officially commented on the incident on Saturday night, laying the finger of blame at the Celtic Fans Collective and saying that a line has been crossed.

The statement read: "Celtic Football Club has never sought to prevent supporters from expressing criticism of the club, its board or its shareholders. Supporters are entitled to disagree with decisions, to make their views known and to protest peacefully. What occurred at St Andrews represents a significant and unacceptable escalation. Those responsible have brought shame upon the name of Celtic Football Club and upon a reputation which generations of Celtic supporters have spent more than a century building.

“The club no longer accepts that the Celtic Fans Collective can credibly claim to represent the wider Celtic support. Those responsible for today’s events certainly do not speak for the many thousands of Celtic supporters who express their views passionately, peacefully and responsibly.”

Celtic Fans Collective, an umbrella coalition claiming to represent more than 400 supporter groups, responded on Sunday with a statement hitting back. They posted: “In yet another rash late-night statement, Celtic Football Club, almost certainly at the behest of minority shareholder Dermot Desmond, sought to attack the Celtic Fans Collective.

“Similar interventions in recent years have tended to appear whenever the notoriously thin-skinned Desmond feels personally slighted.

“Yet when Celtic endure disastrous transfer windows, failed managerial appointments, supporters being attacked or kettled by police, or humiliating performances on the park that have actually damaged Celtic’s reputation, the same urgency is nowhere to be seen.

“This tells Celtic supporters everything they need to know about Dermot Desmond and his priorities.

“He appears furious that ordinary working-class fans have dared to air their grievances in the safe, elitist world of golf, embarrassing him in front of the network of people whose opinions he appears to value far more than those of Celtic supporters.

“We will respond in greater detail to the disgraceful mischaracterisation of our organisation, and of Celtic supporters who have lost confidence in this board, in due course.

“For now, if Dermot Desmond believes threats and bluster will silence opposition and allow him to return to presiding over Celtic’s decline undisturbed from the golf course, he is sadly mistaken.”