"the bunnet" 18 years ago today

[henrik777]

http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Fergus+McCann


The Bunnet

Trivia
The man who saved Celtic!
Nicknamed "The Bunnet" as he liked to wear an old style cloth cap ("Bunnet").
Rebuilt Celtic Park to be the grand stadium it is today.
Revolutionised the structure of the club and the financial basis of the club.
So loved by Jorge Cadete who claimed that Fergus McCann made him too stressed to return to Celtic that he named his new budgie "McCann"!


Fergus McCann - Celtic Executive (March 1994 - April 1999)
"Fergus McCann is the father of the modern day Celtic!"
Andrew H Smith (ex-Celtic View editor)

In March 1994, expatriate businessman and Celtic supporter Fergus McCann took control of a financially-strained club, in the process ousting a board of directors which included members with long family connections with Celtic. Shortly afterwards, Lou Macari was replaced as team manager by another ex-Celt Tommy Burns. Later that same year, in accordance with Fergus McCann's Five-Year Plan, the club was reconstituted as a plc, a development quickly followed by the most successful share-issue in the history of British football with 10,000 taking up the offer of investing a minimum of £620, thus contributing £14 million towards the re-financing of the club. In April 1999, Fergus McCann departed at the completion of his five-year stint. Allan MacDonald, a former British Aerospace managing director, succeeded him as chief executive.

Only Celtic could ever have a saviour like Fergus McCann. A unique character if ever there was one, and a stand-out with his "bunnet" (cloth cap) in an increasingly Hugo Boss and Armani clad business world. He was both a moderniser yet a throwback to an earlier era of almost Scottish Presbyterian thrift (despite being devoutly Roman Catholic). Obsessive about generating money but not about necessarily spending it. Not someone that will be easy to convey in what he was really like and this article likely only scratches the surface. In many ways that's how he would prefer it.

In our history, our great men have included pillars of the community such as Brother Walfrid, but in many way Fergus was and wasn't the antithesis of Brother Walfrid. Both had ideas and visions of how they wanted Celtic to be, both were strong single minded men and both had a strong religious sense. However, Brother Walfrid was guided by his sense of duty for the church and religion, Fergus by financial and business rationale. What couldn't be argued was their commitment to the club.

In his youth, Fergus McCann was a regular Celtic supporter going to matches on the local supporters' bus before emigrating to Canada. There he settled down and made his riches in the lucrative golfing holiday market. This made him very comfortable, although not as wealthy as Ranger's chairman David Murray, but proved that he was an astute businessman nevertheless. Celtic was an opportunity for Fergus, so his old home of Scotland was where his next venture lay.

As a character he could be quite strange. Brian Dempsey (ex-board member) recalls meeting him and seeing him doing stretching exercises on the floor in his office! A bit funny. Many people just found him too obtuse and difficult to communicate with. Others liked his no nonsense attitude but he was here to do a job in five years (his plan) and nothing was to stop him.

The Takeover
His first approach to Celtic on a business basis was in the early 1990s. The government endorsed "Taylor Report" enforced a requirement for all top division stadia to be all seated from 1994 onwards. For Celtic this was a major jolt, as Parkhead had probably one of the biggest terracing around, and so redevelopment and investment was required fast. Fergus approached Celtic with an investment proposition of funding to rebuild the stadium in return for a 3-year right to marketing season-tickets, but he was quickly rebuffed. This was a separate proposal from the "Rebel" group of investors at the time (i.e. Brian Dempsey et al).

This didn't put Fergus off, and with renewed vigour he later took up the mantle again with the "Rebel" shareholders for control of Celtic, succeeding after a torrid time saw him ultimately take control of the club with a consortium in 1994 in what was a very bitter battle. At one point during the takeover battle, Fergus was not even allowed into Parkhead and had to do a radio interview in a trailer outside the ground. On the day of the eventual takeover, he stated that the old board would not get "one thin dime" but for commercial reasons the former share holders had to be paid off. Ex-director Michael Kelly departed as bitter as can be and the "Sack the Board" days were now over. As a measure of Fergus' commitment, he put in £9.4m of his money to help rebuild the club and that was the beginning of the new phase for Celtic.

The Business
Things were never going to be easy and change themselves overnight. Many were too rose-tinted after the takeover, but not for Fergus who was always a realist and kept his feet on the ground. That in itself was the basic foundation that underpinned his managerial style.

His promise was simple: to rebuild the stadium, get the club back on its feet and win the league, and then to be judged in five years.

So what did he do? Well, it would take a huge book in itself to be able to go through all of his achievements and below is a listing of some of the major achievements:

The share issue, and the successful switch from a private limited company to a PLC
The rebuilding of the stadium
The Season Tickets sales success
Overtaking Rangers on an attendance basis
Expansion of the commercial base of the Club
The "Bhoys Against Bigotry" campaign
Overtaking Rangers on a revenue basis
Planning for the youth academy (donating £1.5m)
Taking on the SFA and UEFA publicly in the Courts
Even if Fergus had only achieved only one of the above successes he'd have been lauded for it, but under his management the list of achievements above is a milestone. For fans brought up post-1994, it is hard for them to fully fathom the poor state that the club was in. The transformation under Fergus has left a legacy that has set a path for the club that should not be diverted from.

In the early days, Fergus had sat himself in the hot seat realising that the whole place needed more than just a dust down. Following a clear-out of the deadwood (i.e. the remaining board members from the old regime and later the manager (Lou Macari)), the priority was to get the financial base of the club up fixed and then to get a new manager (Tommy Burns) which he did in relatively heated circumstances from Kilmarnock.

Next, the subsequent plans for redevelopment of the club hinged on the success of the share club, for which he was much maligned and led to a split from shareholder Brian Dempsey who was it's most vociferous public opponent. It didn't matter. While others pontificated, Fergus just got on with the job, and to his delight the share issue was a huge success, possibly the most successful ever for a football club with the fans pouring in money for investing to re-build the club.

With the finances in place, the next step was the rebuilding of the stadium. Having moved to Hampden temporarily, planning for the stadium itself was contentious. Ideas about moving away from Parkhead were a non-starter due to time constraints imposed by the "Taylor Report" amongst other aspects. Another point was that with crowds at around 30-40k at average, plans to create a 60k seater stadium were ridiculed by many. Fergus was repeatedly advised against such a grand plan, critics fearing large swathes of empty seats if it were built. Fergus simply replied to the critics "They'll come!". Next came the criticisms over season tickets, with former chairman Jack McGinn mocking the idea stating that season tickets were more trouble than they're worth.

Regardless, Fergus persevered, and the successful completion of the stadium and the full-house season ticket sales are testament to his vision and business acumen. His critics were curiously silent after this. Jack McGinn in particular looked as out of touch as he ever was. The stadium has been regularly rated as one of the best in the world for atmosphere, and we have Fergus to thank in large part for this.

An expansion and modernisation of the commercial structure of the club's merchandise also paid dividends. Beforehand, Celtic's merchandising was really a couple of diddy club shops with next to nothing in them (e.g. key chains and rain macs etc). The administration under Fergus McCann really did make a difference and seemed to startle many with the commercial revolution the club was undergoing.

Tackling the SFA
Probably McCann's crowning glory was taking on and defeating the incompetent incumbents of the SFA. Delays led to late registration of new signing Jorge Cadete, and so McCann took the SFA to court over this. Derided for this action by various sections of the media, they were left with egg on their face as McCann won the case leading to the resignation of the then Chief Executive Jimy Farry in disgrace. McCann basically was dragging the SFA into the modern age and giving them a public kicking along the way, and showing that Celtic were not going to accept amateurish second class treatment. It was for the time a magnificent victory and achievement, a landmark case.

[henrik777]

Managers
Everyone has their weaknesses, and Fergus' Achilles heel was his interpersonal skills, and nowhere better or worse was this shown than in his dealings with the team managers and players. In fairness, managers and players are usually just big kids, but he still had to still deal with them. Going through four managers in his short spell at Celtic shows that there was some problem.

A fuller discussion of the in's and out's can be found on the respective manager's pages:

- Lou Macari: Lou Macari was a certain goner from early on (Macari made few friends within Parkhead at any level during his time as manager), and his quick dismissal followed through to an acrimonious court case where no one came out in a good light, the judge describing Fergus as arrogant and selfish. In his biography, Macari spent a whole chapter or two basically scathing about Fergus and the whole court case, citing complete shock on his treatment and the judge's result.

- Tommy Burns: A difficult relationship but the longest reign. Tommy was an emotional guy and got the backing financially with Fergus. In another sense, as it was Fergus' first real experience working with a football manager, there was probably a lot of naivety on Fergus' part on a manager's mentality and ability. Tommy lasted a long time, so in fairness Fergus did give him more than enough support and chances to do the job, and they worked relatively closely together at many times, although Tommy did say that he probably aged 15-20 years in that short period of time. We all love Tommy but a low point for Tommy was his quite frankly sanctimonious double spread article in the papers over his time at Celtic soon after he left, criticising Fergus amongst others, which really was avoidable and not what we expected from a man of his stature.

- Wim Jansen: A very difficult relationship, probably doomed from the start. To ease up the financial/football team relationship, Jock Brown was brought in as a middle man to work on the financial management side leaving the manager to coach, however the situation actually worsened with Wim leaving at the end of his only season at the club. Fergus was frustrated at the manager's inability to work along business management lines with lists of potential buys & sells and so on for the board to plan from for financial and business reasons. Even though we'd won the league, Fergus was adamant that the club should be run as more than as just as a first XI team. On Wim's departure, Fergus stated that if Wim hadn't left he'd have been sacked anyway. Fergus was correct at the end of it all but not all saw it this way and it led to one of the lowest points in Celtic's history when at the unfurling of the league flag the next season, Fergus was booed by sections of the support. An unnecessary action from the sections of fans in question who were being too myopic. Wim Jansen deserved credit for winning the league as manager but he was not going to be a good long-term appointment taking in many of his decisions during his time at the club. Fergus deserved more respect and understanding, as well as more perspective from the support.

- Jozef Venglos: The last manager in charge with Fergus, and there were fewer problems (Fergus rated Venglos as the best of the managers he had to deal with). Venglos seemed to have a better relationship with the board management, but his time at Celtic was short-lived and sadly another managerial appointment failed. Rangers were too far ahead to quickly catch up, and with the press readily attacking Venglos for just about anything, it was not an easy time.

Fergus' only significant management failure in his time was his inability to find the correct club manager/coach and set-up. For a football club this is obviously significant, and he did try to entice big name managers, such as Bobby Robson, but Celtic's slide over the 90s was so bad that it was difficult to attract anyone of major stature to take on the role. Other potential managers were just way out of our ability to pay for them.


The Players
Tricky one this, as many players are never going to go open on discussions between themselves and the chairman UNLESS the player has an agent trying to cause trouble. Footballers aren't always the most sensible people, and the 90s was a transition time for players moving from normal wages to mega high-earnings (£10k a week for many and so on), and this was something new for Fergus and the board to deal with. It was a difficult transition, and many players were themselves deluded about the realities of the real world in financial terms.

Contractual spats were a regular feature in the press, with Viduka, Cadete, Van Hooijdonk and Di Canio the stand-outs. The contractual situation with Di Canio almost went to court when Di Canio claimed in his autobiography that Fergus went back on his word over financial re-numeration after the first season. The matter was settled out of court. As for Cadette, well it was always in the papers, and the contractual issues with Viduka were no better. The van Hooijdonk situation was a farce. The Dutchman's whinged to and declared that "£10k a year is fine for a homeless person but not for a world class footballer!" What a pathetic excuse for a person, and how is any person supposed to deal with someone who comes out with a remark like that. He was to go, and any criticisms on McCann over this should realise that this was to be repeated by the Dutchman again at his latest clubs.

So how exactly was Fergus to work in these circumstances? Possibly, he didn't handle them all well and should have realised that. His interpersonal skills have not been his forté, and maybe if he was a bit more pragmatic then the deals could have worked out for the better in private without any media intrusion.

One example of poor player management was the treatment of Paul McStay. On renewing his contract, after many long years of great loyal service he was offered a relatively poor roll-over contract. At a time when contract pay levels weren't excessive as they are now, for a player of his quality, it was a bad move by Fergus. When the story hit the public headlines, it didn't make for great reading. In fairness, it was McStay who brought the situation to the press.

On the other hand, maybe it was time the club stood up to some of the whining prima-donna players all clubs including ourselves have had (e.g. Di Canio & van Hooijdonk). The club had no public spats with any of the other players (the majority) so why do the few deserve added attention (McStay excluded)? With the exception of Di Canio & Van Hooijdonk (to a limited extent) none of the rest really went on to reach greater heights at club level after leaving Celtic. We can't be held hostage by players and agents, however we have to work with them as they are the most valuable capital the club has and is the reason why we come to Celtic Park. Not an easy one to work out, and no obvious blueprint.

Public criticism of the man
The many times that he was attacked personally (in the press and elsewhere) was astonishing, especially by people without the knowledge or experience to be able to qualify what they were saying. Criticisms from journalists (much of the Scottish press), ex-players (Cadette), ex-board members (Michael Kelly and Brian Dempsey) and even dinosaur rock stars (Jim Kerr) were non-stop in their attacks. The press lapped up in any way a chance to have a dig at Fergus, something that he complained about as well.

Any incident was deemed to show him as a miser and obtuse. One comical report attacked him for not funding the players when out in Germany for socialising (around 1994). This was daft! Why should well off players have to take money off the chief executive for this. The teams are funded to do well on the pitch, anything beyond that is up to themselves to fund themselves.

Churlishly, he was lampooned for his austere dress sense (e.g. the Bunnet), and he was myopically criticised for having spent money on re-buidling the stadium instead of on the team. When the "Bhoys Against Bigotry" campaign was begun, it was ridiculed and criticised more than supported by sections, with many not admitting now to doing so (esp among the media). David Murray at Rangers was lauded even though he did next-to-nothing on the bigotry debate and just leached onto the good work that Fergus had the guts to begun. Didn't stop David Murray jumping on the bandwagon later on claiming he was some kind of pioneer on this front (total nonsense).

The worst incident was when a press report (Daily Record) likened Fergus McCann to Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi despot & tyrant. Stemmed from a court case (Celtic v Lou Macari) where the judge (Lady Cosgrove) described Fergus McCann as "ever dictatorial" in his dealing with Lou Macari. However, she did not say he was a dictator and in any case, being dictatorial hardly singles out McCann amongst management, something that is trait of practically all major leaders in industry. It's one hell of a leap to jump to then say he is like "Saddam Hussein". It was offensive, crude, pathetic and downright nonsense. Tabloid sewer writing at its lowest.

Why anyone in Fergus' position would have wanted to continue is beyond most of our comprehension, yet he still did and many of us will always respect him for his tenacity.

No one is above criticism and Fergus was easily irritated but with hindsight many of his critics are now eating humble pie. Then again, Fergus didn't exactly make friends easily in the media world and many were always too eager to stick the boot in when they got the opportunity.

Legacy
Unlike players or managers on the pitch, a great Chief Executive's role can never be fully assessed by 90 minute results. The stadium, the financial planning, the business plan and the club's standing are all investments that can only be properly assessed years later in retrospect. Other board members and investors have been made to look foolish for their criticisms of the man for what he did (esp Brian Dempsey and Jack McGinn). Many of them had only a bark but no bite, and Fergus at least put his money where his mouth is. The club was now taken seriously, and was no more an easy target for the press, agents or uptight players. Celtic are now a very seriously professional club and business, run properly rather than for aggrandisement for select families.

For Scottish football, the legacy is a strong forthright egalitarian club that represents all that is best in Scotland, something that Scottish football had lacked since the early 80s. Fergus was also prescient in his willingness to openly criticise the irresponsible profligacy of much of Scottish football, something that in the next decade after his departure has clearly been shown by Rangers financial demise in particular. Eschewing modern financial gambling in favour of prudence and planning, his old fashioned outlook on cash management is something that much of football has to revisit and put into practise for their own sake as much as anything else.

It was disappointing that Fergus did not come to Seville for the UEFA Cup final in 2003, but after some of the personal abuse that he had to suffer from various sections in Scotland (both within and outwith Celtic FC circles) you can't blame him much. He made his money but he's a sharp man and he is likely to have been able to make the money somewhere else with less headache. He came, he saw and, in his own way, he conquered all barriers in front of him. An unlikely but wonderful saviour.

At time of writing he is managing a business oriented coach and bus service in the US. Only the best and highest standards for our Fergus.

Fergus McCann is a legendary figure for the club and we wish him the very best.







Citizen McCann; Ten years ago the Fergus McCann revolution got under way Sunday Herald Feb 2004

Quotes By McCann
"I want people to judge me on what we have achieved after five years. I will go back to my home in Bermuda, play some golf and live a healthier life."
McCann, Aug 1995 (The Herald)

Brian Dempsey: "I said: 'This is not going to work - you can't come in here and do everything your own way.'
Fergus McCann: 'I'm going to blow my brains out, and when I do that I want to make sure I go out with the right money.'
Recalled by Brian Dempsey in a conversation. McCann, this unique, controversial, little character, did just as he said he would.

"Celtic fans should look forward to my departure as we already have in place a top management team to take the Club forward. I have not dedicated five years of my life to hand the Club over to the wrong people. The Club is on an upward curve. Our target is to have a dominant position in Scottish football followed by being a recognised force on the European scene once again. The quality of people, a first class stadium, substantial finances and a faithful supporter base is the foundation on which future success will be built".
5/12/1997

"Today is my last AGM as Celtic Chairman as I will be leaving the Club as planned before the end of the season. The time has passed very quickly since 4th March 1994, when the Club had reached an all time low with no on-field success, a dilapidated stadium, substantial debt and no money available for new players.
"Over the four years we have made massive progress: winning the League Championship (97/98); building the largest club stadium in the UK (60,000 seats); having the largest support (52,000 season book holders) of any club in Britain. This has been achieved by everyone who cares about Celtic working together towards a shared vision of football success and pride in a club which is part of our culture, open to all and a responsible member of the community working to help others where it can.
"We are now working hard to ensure that the progress that has been made can be sustained into the future. We have begun the search for a new Chairman and a new Chief Executive and we will ensure that we identify the right people to lead Celtic forward into the new millennium once again as a major force in Europe.
"As I have indicated some time ago, I intend to divest my shareholding when I leave the Club. In doing so, my overriding principle is that I shall do what I believe is best for the future of Celtic. I have also indicated my intention that my shareholding will be made available to be held broadly amongst the supporters and existing shareholders of the Club. I believe that this should produce the best structure of ownership for the Club and the Company."
14/09/1998

In response to the current market speculation concerning a proposed takeover bid for Celtic plc, a consortium including Kenny Dalglish and Jim Kerr that is considering a number of options regarding Celtic plc, today announced that the consortium has requested a meeting with the majority shareholder of Celtic plc, which may or may not lead to an offer for his shares and/or an offer for the entire issued share capital of the Company. As of today, no meeting has taken place. The valuation being placed upon Celtic plc by the consortium is substantially below the current market price of Celtic plc
10/11/1998

"I am pleased to announce the details of the sale of 14,400,000 of my shares in Celtic that enables existing shareholders and season book holders to increase substantially their ownership of their Club.
"I am satisfied with the progress the Club has made over the last five years.
I now look forward to once again being a full-time supporter and hopefully watching the team and Club progress to realise its true potential, which I believe is considerable."
20/09/1999

Shareholder: "I tell you that 90% of the people here are not interested in business. They are not interested only in the playing side of things."
McCann: "I tell you that without the business, there would be no club - and NO team."
1997 AGM

“I don’t want to give them one thin dime!”
Fergus McCann correctly stubbornly states his opposition to compensate the deposed board members after the 1994 takeover.

McCann recalls: "The stadium had to be rebuilt and people were saying why don't you just buy the players Fergus? We'll stand in the mud. But the stadium was a tool. We had to have a season-ticket base. Jack McGinn [board member] was saying, "We don't want season-ticket holders, they are nothing but trouble." Well, I just couldn't live with that marketing philosophy at all.The answer is that you have got to fill the park. The average crowd was 28,000 and we built a 60,000- seat stadium. How smart was that? Well, it was the right thing to do."
Fergus McCann highlights Jack McGinn's comment, and illustrates why the old board members' mentality and why they weren't good enough to manage the club.

[henrik777]

Quotes - On McCann
"Fergus McCann is the father of the modern day Celtic!"
Andrew H Smith (ex-Celtic View editor)

"McCann built a stadium. Oh, what a great great thing. Ceaucescu built pretty amazing stadiums, so did Mussolini. I'm in it for the team. It's like building La Scala and having a run of the mill pub-singer perform."
Jim Kerr, May 1999 (shows that not all were respectful of McCann's efforts)

"While other clubs appeared to be able to identify a player they wanted to buy and then just go ahead and buy him, with Celtic it seemed that the process would take roughly the same time as the gestation of an elephant. It seemed that youngish players who are linked with Celtic had become veterans, completed their careers and moved into pub management before Magoo [Fergus McCann] was satisfied enough with the small print to authorise the expenditure."
Alastair McSporran, The Absolute Game Fanzine - 1997

"Some people I know say he's a very nice man once you get to know him. Everyone is entitled to their opinion I suppose!!!"
Mark Viduka on Fergus McCann 1999

"I probably did 15 or 20 years as a manager in those three years."
Tommy Burns on his three years as Celtic manager under Fergus McCann

"Fergus was the most unjustly maligned man in the history of the game, when you consider that he took the club from bankruptcy into the mainstream and built that stadium along the way. NOW, the Celtic board have more financial heavyweights than Rangers, with people like Brian Quinn, Dermot Desmond and Sir Patrick Sheehy."
Hugh Adams (ex-Rangers Development & Pools Chairman)

DICTATOR; One of these men was branded `a devious, arrogant, uncompromising dictator' by a judge yesterday. The other one is Saddam Hussein!
Daily Record 1998

Celtic supremo Fergus McCann was yesterday branded "devious, dictatorial and arrogant" by a High Court judge.

The astonishing personal attack came as Lady Cosgrove ruled on the club's cash battle with ex- boss Lou Macari.

She described him as "an amiable man" - but threw out his pounds 430,000 damages claim for unfair dismissal.

Shattered Macari, who now faces a pounds 250,000 legal bill, said last night: "I can't believe it."

He is now considering an appeal against the ruling.

The judge also dismissed Celtic's pounds 250,000 counter claim against Macari.

However, she had some stinging criticism for Parkhead chief McCann, who spoke for the club at a bitter court hearing.

Lady Cosgrove said: "He was frequently reluctant to answer the precise question posed and I formed the impression of a rather devious individual.

"I had the clear impression of an uncompromising and somewhat arrogant employer who expected unquestioning compliance with his instructions and unfailing deference to his views."

She described his dealings with Macari as "extremely demanding and even dictatorial".

The former Celtic striker left Stoke City in October 1993 to take over as Parkhead boss.

In April 1994, McCann took over at the club - and two months later Macari was out on his ear.

In his action at the Court of Session, Macari claimed the club broke his contract which had a clause in it saying he couldn't be sacked in the first year.

But Celtic said they had couldn't be sacked in the first year.

But Celtic said they had every right to dump him as he refused to move his home from Stoke to Glasgow, was often an absentee manager and didn't provide McCann with weekly reports.

Lady Cosgrove said she backed Macari's claim that McCann was out to get him from the outset.

She said: "I formed the impression that he clearly would have preferred to have a manager of his choice as opposed to one who had been appointed by the old board."

But she added: "Macari, who impressed me as an amiable but not particularly astute individual, seemed to appreciate either the nature of the man who had become his employer or his methods."

She said McCann had invested a lot of his cash and the new board had given him full executive powers.

So he was entitled to issue orders which Macari had to obey.

Lady Cosgrove said: "His approach was that there required to be a sharp change of emphasis from family tradition to commercial enterprise if Celtic were to maintain their position as a leading club.

"It appears that Macari unfortunately failed to come to terms with the changing situation and the realisation that the ways of the old board were not the ways of his new employer.

"Whether through understandable anxiety about losing his job or through a stubborn, rather blinkered belief that the way things had been previously was right, he forced the issues to the point of confrontation."

Lady Cosgrove said Macari should have moved home to Glasgow and she described his excuses for not doing so as "shot through with contradictions".

She said he had devoted himself with all his energies to the job during his short spell at Parkhead.

But the question was whether McCann had acted reasonably in demanding he spend more time at the club.

She said: "The fact Macari insisted on carrying on as he saw fit seems to me to be a further example of his attitude and of a rather stubborn refusal to change his ways.

"His view of himself as a professional who would not in any circumstances take instructions from an employer did not allow him to acknowledge the reality of life embodied in the maxim, `He who pays the piper calls the tune'."

Lady Cosgrove's 83-page judgment ruled Macari was "in clear breach of his contract of employment".

But she rejected Celtic's claim they were entitled to recover the pounds 250,000 they paid Stoke for Macari as he had broken his contract.

The club are also facing a pounds 250,000 legal bill, but spokesman Peter McLean said Celtic were "very pleased".

However, the only winners in this case were the lawyers - who between them pocketed something like pounds 500,000.
COPYRIGHT 1998 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1998 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Tax exile McCann ends Celtic era
Sunday, April 4, 1999 Published at 10:00 GMT 11:00 UK
BBC

Fergus McCann (with arms aloft) rejuvenated Celtic

It was the end of an era at Celtic on Saturday as Fergus McCann left Parkhead after stepping down as managing director.

McCann, who has taken the club from the brink of bankruptcy to the top of the Scottish game in five years, plans to live in Bermuda as a tax exile.
But as the Canadian-Scottish entrepreneur walked away from Paradise - as the ground is known by fans - yet another managerial crisis loomed.

Speculation has been mounting that team coach Dr Jozef Venglos will quit at the end of the season, following the lead of Wim Jansen, from whom he took over.

McCann received a standing ovation as he took his seat to watch the champions' 5-0 win over Dundee on Saturday.

It was in marked contrast to last August when he was jeered as the championship flag was unfurled.

His time at Celtic has been marked by a love-hate relationship with the fans, and within recent months Kenny Dalglish and Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr launched a move to wrestle control of the club away from him.

Now the club looks likely to miss out on the Scottish Premiership title to arch-rivals Rangers.

Slovakian team coach Dr Venglos said: "I will make a decision in the next 10 days. It will be up to me but it is not to do with money, or whether I am happy or not.

"Of course I am happy today, with this victory. But you have to look after your health too.

"It is possible under the terms of my contract that I can leave after a season but I am not making any decision at the moment.''

But Dr Venglos, 63, has found strong support from striker Mark Viduka: "He is a great coach and the one who brought me to this club.

Five-year plan

''He has not spoken to the players about this. I am sure he will do in his own time but I would be sorry to see him leave."

Wim Jansen was the third coach to part with some acrimony from McCann but the first to have achieved genuine on-field success.

McCann's side of the story in all three instances is strongly put. Lou Macari was rarely at Parkhead, Tommy Burns was prone to emotion swaying his judgement, while Jansen was apparently a law unto himself, he said.

McCann always said it was his five-year plan to depart a club operating at a profit.

Rangers director Hugh Adam said: "Fergus McCann came in and I think people have already forgotten this, he came in when the club was on the verge of bankruptcy.

"From there he has built a European class stadium, you just cannot argue with that. His football team won the league after a period they hadn't looked like winning anything so you just cannot fault the man."

[henrik777]

Celtic share sale 'delights' Fergus McCann

(BBC Oct 99)
Former Celtic managing director Fergus McCann says the sale of his 51% stake in the club has been a resounding success.

And the former Parkhead chief applauded fans for seizing their opportunity to buy into the club.

Mr McCann confirmed, as expected, that Irish businessman Dermot Desmond now has just under 20% of the holdings to become the club's new main shareholder.

Of the 9,997,728 ordinary shares put up for sale last month, a total of 7,525,880 valid acceptances have been received - just over 75% - generating a sum of £21,072,464.

But with the shares being underwritten it means none are unsold and all went for the same price, £2.80 each, with Mr Desmond upping his 13.8% stake by 6% to 19.8%.

Mr McCann said that about 17% of the share total has been taken up by city institutions, which was lower than anticipated, but he stressed that the fans will collectively own more than half the Glasgow club.

After saving the club from bankruptcy in 1994 it was always his intention to distribute his shares among supporters and on Friday Mr McCann said he was delighted with what he called an "overwhelming" response.

"I am pleased with the overall result of my share offer and placing, especially with the take-up by supporters who have invested more heavily than in the initial offer by the club in 1994-5," he said.

'Great potential'
"Although the actual number of shareholders, 5,300, is lower than expected, the average investment per person was higher which shows their great confidence in Celtic's future and satisfaction with the share performance up to now.

"Shareholder supporters will now own approximately 63% of the share total.

"Institutions will own approximately 17% of the overall share total, their strong interest in the placing and offer reflects the strength and great potential of the company.

"Dermot Desmond will own 19.8% of the share total.

"I was happy with how I was able to assist over 3,000 subscribers through the interest free payment plan.

"This helped to ensure that a solid majority of the shareholders of Celtic will be supporters.

"I would like to thank them and the supporters in general for responding and backing my plan over the last five years."

The disposal, which was underwritten by institutions for £40m, gave current shareholders an opportunity to increase their portfolios and allowed season ticket holders and staff an opportunity to purchase a stake.

Current shareholders were able to buy one new share for every three currently held.

Mr McCann has agreed to gift a potential £1.5m of the profit to help fund a Celtic football academy.

The man who changed Celtic so radically also had a lighter side
(The Herald Oct 2008)
The Official History of Celtic Football Club weighs in at four DVDs and more than seven hours. It is an impressive piece of journalism, a claim which cannot always be made for merchandisewith an official club stamp on it.

This is not the usual attempt to bathe a club's history in a rosy glow. History' delves into periods of turmoil and gives a platform to thosewhose contributions to the club are mired in controversy.

Michael Kelly, the former director eventually ousted by Fergus McCann, is allowed his say. Kelly's arguments defy logic but, as a leading protagonist, his inclusion remains justified. So, too, that of Jock Brown,who had a short but controversial spell as general manager in 1997-98. At one point, Brown rhymes off the successful 97-98 squad, most of whom arrived at the club during his time there, before adding: "Now, don't mistake me, I'm not taking credit for that ..."

It is gold. Comedy gold.

However, it is the documenting of the McCann era which makes for the most fascinating viewing.

The Scots-Canadian emerges as the key figure in the club's history, along with Jock Stein and Brother Walfrid. In fact, McCann should be remembered as an important figure in British football. His five-year plan was the perfect template for the development of a modern club. He was first to introduce the season ticket culture on a grand scale, which proved to be the platform for the club's prosperous future.

McCann recalls: "The stadium had to be rebuilt and peoplewere saying why don't you just buy the players Fergus? We'll stand in the mud.
But the stadium was a tool. We had to have a season-ticket base.

"Jack McGinn was saying, We don't want season-ticket holders, they are nothing but trouble.'Well, I just couldn't live with that marketing philosophy at all.The answer is that you have got to fill the park. The average crowd was 28,000 and we built a 60,000- seat stadium. How smart was that?
Well, it was the right thing to do."

McCann also pushed through football's first really successful share flotation. He did so shortly after the club's defeat to Raith Rovers in the 1994 Coca-Cola Cup final, hardly the ideal market conditions.

"I had many doomsayers saying you won't raise money from supporters'," he recalls. "They will talk a lot but they won't put their hands in their pockets'. I remember the night before the deadline I was standing looking out of the window of my office in the Jock Stein lounge. It was a Friday night, pouring rain and there were people lined up waiting to invest before the deadline. It was such a daunting moment that I felt I can never let these people down'. Twelve thousand fans came up with cash. No other club has had that happen."

That McCann was a visionary is well documented. That he possessed an acerbic wit is less so.

Andrew Smith, the former editor of the Celtic View and an entertaining contributor to 'History', was a witness to many of the millionaire's eccentricities.

Such was McCann's parsimony that he would frequently admonish Smith for scoffing toast in the player's lounge and even administered a toaster' ban. "No one ever worked with Fergus. You worked for him," recalled Smith.

McCann had a nice turn of phrase and Smith, a respected football writer onThe Scotland on Sunday, has included some of his favourite McCann quotations in his newbook, The Celtic Miscellany', a splendid stocking filler. Here are some of his best lines:

"The Three Amigos."
On the big screen, they were the hapless bandits. To McCann they were Celtic strikers Pierre van Hooijdonk, Jorge Cadete and Paolo di Canio,who attempted to extort salary increases by crying to the press that the club's owners had reneged on (fictitious) verbal promises to improve their contracts.

"Principles, sir? Sorry, I can't afford them."
From George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, McCann scoffingly recited this whenever it was suggested he occupied the moral high ground by not giving in to monetary demands.

"And all the stars that never were, are parking cars and pumping gas."
The lyric from the Bacharach and David song Do You Know the Way to San Jose,which McCann offered as a retort to a press man who asked if he was worried about losing stars' on pre-contract agreements.

"The dog barks but the caravan moves."
After the club's share issue was an outstanding success, McCann offered the old Eastern proverb as a retort to critics, chief among them ousted director Kelly, who predicted it was doomed to fail spectacularly.

"Do you believe that stuff the old man was saying the other night at the Oso Negro about gold changin' a man's soul so's he ain't the sort of man as he was before findin' it?"
A line from The Treasure of Sierre Madre McCann would recite when despairing at the greed of footballers and their agents.

During the building of the stand on the site of the old Rangers end, the increased height of the new structure brought complaints from residents in the council houses behind it.They claimed the stand was causing interference with their television pictures and demanded compensation. McCann said he would make a payment to all those who brought their TV licences up to the club. No-one ever did.

Saturday 18th October 2008

By MARTIN GREIG

Celtic, the house that McCann built
Patrick Glenn
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 February 2004 01.28 GMT
Considering the nature and number of anniversaries that cause generations of Celtic supporters to drool with nostalgia, it is curious that the one that falls this week is, in the main, unlikely to trigger an emotional outburst in the masses.

Yet, apart from the actual founding 116 years ago, it commemorates the most significant event - and the arrival of the most important figure - in the history of the club. If the appointment of Jock Stein as manager in 1965 and the capture of the European Cup two years later are, in the context of achievement on the field of play, unarguably the high-water marks of that entire period, the arrival 10 years ago of Fergus McCann as owner/managing director led to ramifications that have been wider-ranging and certainly more crucial.

The Scots-Canadian millionaire's first act, to rescue Celtic from bankruptcy and closure, would be enough in itself to mark him as the most influential player since the earliest days. His subsequent achievements and legacy led directly to the team's present pre-eminence and to widespread recognition among business analysts that Celtic are one of Britain's most efficiently run clubs.

In Frank Capra's film It's A Wonderful Life, George Bailey (James Stewart) is given a fairy-tale opportunity to see how life in his small town would be if he had never been born. A series of misfortunes - including a decrepit Bedford Falls in the hands of a plutocrat with its people impoverished and miserable - remind him of the enormous contribution he has made. McCann can claim a similar distinction. His resolute financial prudence, forceful execution of his business plan and refusal to wilt in the hurricane of criticism he had to face throughout his five-year tenure transformed Celtic Park itself from a midden into a 60,000-seat palace and his genius for marketing brought in 53,000 season-ticket holders.

Without McCann, there would have been no renaissance, no Martin O'Neill as manager, no Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson or John Hartson to help lift two championships, with a third on the way, no run to the Uefa Cup final last season to confirm Celtic's re-emergence as a credible presence in Europe.

It was he who assembled a plc board of financial heavyweights such as Brian Quinn, former deputy governor of the Bank of England, Sir Patrick Sheehy, ex-chairman of BAT Industries, and Dermot Desmond, the Irish money machine. And it was they who continued his policies and, ultimately, appointed O'Neill.

McCann's qualities also made him a serious amount of money, his original £9 million investment making five times that amount when, as promised, he sold up at the end of his five-year scheme. McCann never tried to conceal his intention to capitalise, claiming from the moment of accession that he expected a healthy return.

He also knew that, in the event of failure, he could lose a substantial percentage - around half, it was said - of the fortune he made as an entrepreneur in the 25 years since he left Scotland for Canada aged 24. Curiously, there remain any number of people ready to paint him as some fly-by-night who ran off with the club's money. This is a failure to understand how capitalism works.

But to mention McCann in the same breath as Stein, far less to argue that he was more important to the club (as opposed to the team) is, to a substantial number, to commit sacrilege. The most extraordinary aspect of McCann's extraordinary achievements is that he was vilified almost throughout his time at Parkhead.

Rangers' predominance, founded on a willingness to spend untold millions that led to their present economic difficulties, blinded the majority of fans to the long-term wisdom of McCann's policies. They were not helped by a disgracefully hostile majority in the media, who portrayed the managing director as a tight-fisted, bumbling, dithering, selfseeking capitalist who knew nothing of football.

When some tried to explain why Celtic could not afford to spend fortunes on players - for example, McCann was in the process of rebuilding a dilapidated stadium at a cost of £40m - they were largely ignored.

The most embarrassing consequence of the tabloid spin occurred on the day in 1998 that McCann unfurled the league championship flag, Celtic having ended Rangers' run of titles at nine in May of that year under the managership of Wim Jansen. The managing director was loudly booed at the ceremony before the start of the first match of the new season because he was held to be responsible for Jansen's rancorous departure within a few days of the triumph three months earlier.

He was some ditherer. In the present climate of financial meltdown, with clubs going into administration in bunches, every group of benighted supporters in the game will wish they had one like him.

The Final Say…James Traynor;
(1998, An article that was to prove to be prophetically wrong esp in light of Rangers combustion in 2012)

GET OUT NOW FERGUS OR YOU'LL BE HATED FOREVER

FERGUS McCANN has basked long enough in the warmth of his deeds.

Today most of the goodwill once commanded by Celtic’s managing director has been blown away by an ill wind which swirls around Celtic Park.

In fact, Celtic’s irksome managing director has overstayed his welcome. Mr McCann, it is time for you to be somewhere else. Anywhere will do because Celtic’s fans are tired of your posturing and disgusted by your parsimony.

McCann did give Celtic fresh hope but now his grip is choking the life out of the old club.

He should get out and take Jock Brownand Jozef Venglos with him.

As football rushes towards the millennium this trio might just be a little out of their depth. One is committed to maximising profit, apparently at the expense of the team’s ambitions, another keeps returning empty- handed from searches for new talent, and the third is a kindly old uncle figure unable to stand up to the club’s masters.

In the beginning McCann’s methods seemed quaint, and for a while most of us made excuses for his confrontational and abrasive style because he was unaware of the football business’s unwritten rules.

McCann could have adjusted but he hasn’t and comes across as a stubborn little man who will do it his way no matter what. It’s his train set and if he wants to run it right off the rails then so be it.

If McCann really were a supporter, someone out of the same mould as the thousands of foot soldiers who bought into the dream almost five years ago, he would be able to lift his eyes from his ledgers and see the damage his refusal to break his pay structure is causing.

Pretty soon his stock among the rank and file will be so low he may be allocated a place in the club’s hall of infamy alongside those directors who ruled before him. If he is not careful the mere mention of his name in crowded Celtic strongholds, like Bairds Bar in the Gallowgate, might cause a silence to fall over the places.

It would be a great pity if it should come to that but McCann and his disciples within the club have only themselves and their egos to blame.

They behave as though they and only they know better and that is an arrogance which has alienated each one of them and which now prevents the club from making progress.

Celtic, who lost again on Saturday, are a club without trusted leadership on and off the pitch, and it is pointless for McCann to emerge only occasionally either to patronise the fans or to toss verbal hand grenades in the direction of the media, sometimes his own players, and sundry snipers. It seems every time he speaks he makes more enemies, and Celtic don’t need to be isolated.

Apart from last season’s premier-division championship win, Celtic have known only trouble and misery. The last 10 years or so have been fraught with problems, manufactured mostly in-house, and the fans are bewildered and anxious.

They want genuine stability and a reason still to believe, but under McCann, whose allies would have the fans grovelling in appreciation until the end of time because he delivered the new stadium, this club has courted controversy.

How often have we witnessed the managing director rage at the world when he should have been building bridges? These outbursts are not laudable, they are laughable and his stand-alone policy is not bold, it is boring.

Even so, the fans would still be behind him if he had provided a team to take on all-comers.

Yet, Celtic are still waiting for the player who could strike a blow for them and strengthen their hope of retaining their title. That, Mr McCann is what is most important to your customers, yet you and your people have failed miserably to provide.

Celtic are still without a top-quality striker because they will not put themselves into the big-pay league. It is that simple and it is also where McCann lets the fans down.

Listen to this Fergus and try to take it in. You insult your club’s fans when they are told they don’t understand the economics of the business or the workings of the transfer market. And stop telling them players are too greedy and make enormous demands.

These are not newly-uncovered secrets, Fergus. The supporters could have told you how much would have to be spent to keep Celtic on top. The fact is fans don’t give a damn about how much money players want to grab for themselves and unlike McCann they don’t spend too much time fretting about the profit margin.

No one is greatly impressed either that McCann appears to have embarked on some kind of holy crusade to bring football’s expenditure under control, and his season- ticket holders would rather have the title with some debt run up on the transfer market than no title and no borrowings.

These fans are willing to gamble, and remember they, too, are shareholders.

They still find it difficult to believe Celtic didn’t sign reinforcements during the close season and they are appalled that a top-class striker has not yet been secured.

If anything the signing of Lubomir Moravcik at a cut price has merely caused them further embarrassment.

If you analyse Celtic’s behaviour since the title was won, you come to the conclusion this club are guilty of misjudging the mood of the fans and also their needs, but McCann is not the only culprit.

Recently Murdo MacLeod, who was Wim Jansen’s assistant, suggested Brown had come up with a possible signing target, and if the general manager now believes he is qualified to do that then Celtic’s problems are worse than any of us might have suspected.

Brown isn’t remotely qualified for such a specialised task. This man’s function is to close deals and run a smooth operation.

Can we honestly say he has succeeded in his remit?

Enough has been said about the lawyer-turned-television-commentator-turned- whatever- it-is he and McCann see him as now, but what are we to make of the good doctor?

He is a charming and thoroughly decent man, but that isn’t enough. Managing either half of the Old Firm requires steel as well as tactical know-how and I just don’t believe Venglos has enough left in his armoury.

He has been successful in the past but he is older now and I fear he is a gentle man out of his time.



Sandy