looking to the future with optimism

Paul Cuddihy
CELTIC’S new chairman, Dr John Reid, spoke at a press conference after yesterday’s AGM at Celtic Park.
And, as well as praising Brian Quinn for everything he had done for the club, he also spoke about how much he is looking forward to his new role at Celtic.

Did you think for a moment of declining the invitation to become chairman because of any controversy that it might spark?
No, I didn’t think of it for that but I did consider this very carefully. On the one hand, it was a huge honour. Brian spoke to me about it and it’s no secret that I think Brian has been a great chairman and if I had my way he would have stayed on a bit longer but he had made his mind up to go and he made that plain to me.

What I had to consider was that, effectively, it meant me giving up my political career. It meant me stepping down from the Cabinet and stepping down from Parliament, so that was, naturally, a bit of a wrench for me and there are very few things apart from my family that would have made me do that, but one of them was the chance to be part of Celtic Football Club.

You might wonder whether I’m saying that in retrospect, but I commend to you an interview I did earlier this year on the Pat Kenny Show in Ireland where he asked me the straight question, ‘If you had to choose between your seat at Celtic Park and your seat at the Cabinet table, which one would you choose?’

And I said, ‘No question, I would choose my seat at Celtic Park,’ and I would do that because that has been part of me virtually from birth, since I sat on my mother’s knee and will be part of me long after I leave the Cabinet and politics. So that’s how I consider it.

People have their own strong views on issues of life and death. Sometimes they will agree with me in helping to get people into work, in helping to resolve the terrible tragedy in Northern Ireland – I’m quite proud of that, that we brought that to an end. It would be worth having government for, on its own.

Others will feel angry or opposed to other things I’ve done, including decisions to go to wars. Sometimes it saves a lot of lives, like in Kosovo or Sierra Leone. At other times it’s more difficult.

The point I’m making is, whatever the merits of that, then I do not believe the vast majority of Celtic supporters want that to be debated within Celtic Football Club. We leave those difference at the door, and the great strength of this club over the years has been precisely that it will not allow sectarian or other divisions to impede the unity of purpose behind those of us who want to see Celtic succeed.

What sort of reception do you think you’ll get at Saturday’s game against Aberdeen?
You have to judge that at the Aberdeen game but I’ve had a great reception every time I’ve come here. It’s not as if I’ve just stepped into Celtic Park. I’ve been coming here for many years.

I will not take anybody’s views for granted. I will never accuse anyone of insincerity. I think everyone is entitled to their views but the vast majority of Celtic supporters want political views left outside the club and I had a hugely warm reception after the AGM.

Given your feelings for the club did it hurt you to hear some of the things at the AGM from fellow supporters?

Getting the sort of majority I got today (just over 99% in favour) – I’ve been in elections since I’ve been 12 years of age when I was first elected class captain at St. Patrick’s, Coatbridge, and I have never ever had 99.1% of the vote so, it hurts me that there is a 0.9% there, I would obviously love 100% but I understand that this is not possible in a lively, democratic, vibrant club.

Has this been an ambition of yours for a long time and what are you most looking forward to?

I can’t honestly say it was an ambition. It was a surprise when people came to me. I’ve followed Celtic, as Brian has, all of my life. For the past few years, because of the jobs I’ve had, I’ve come to the Directors’ Box because when you take certain Government positions there are certain risks attached to them. But throughout that period I did maintain my season tickets here. My two seats are actually at the other side (North Stand) and have been there all the time I’ve been in the Directors’ Box.

Celtic did me the great honour of making me their guest of honour, and it has been declared in the Members’ interests, at the UEFA Cup final in Seville where I was there with the then Prime Minister of Portugal.

So I’ve always been associated with the club. The day I stepped down from the Cabinet I said I wanted to spend more with my friends, my family and football. I didn’t anticipate it would be this way but I did think I would be spending more time at Celtic Park.

Will you be standing down as an MP and do you think you’ve got a hard act to follow in Brian Quinn?
Yes, to both those points. The truth is, when I said I would step down I thought the General Election might have been rather quicker than it’s turned out to be because, if you remember, there were all sorts of people telling us it was going to be very quick and I thought I might just be redundant within a few weeks. But that now looks as though it isn’t the case.

It was around that time that there was a great deal of speculation about whether I would go for the top job and I’m sorry Gordon Brown couldn’t get it because they didn’t put him on the short-list here, so I’m delighted that I got it.

But it did mean that I had to ask the question – ‘Do I think it’s better that I step down from politics in terms of balancing the two things, not in terms of work-rate, but in terms of representing a broad swathe of constituents.’

My own view was that if I wanted to do the Celtic job then I had to give up my political career and I made that decision. In the interim, and I think it’s the right thing, the question is can you do the Celtic job and be a Member of Parliament, in terms of time.

I have held nine ministerial posts, including posts that have taken me abroad or taken me to Northern Ireland four or five days a week, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. I have a constituency set-up and people who work for me, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

With regards my own career, I had always made the decision that I would control my own destiny, that I would never have to be pushed out, that I would go at the right time for me and, hopefully, at the top of my career, and I tried to do that when I stepped down from the Cabinet.

The one thing I didn’t think about was that I might move into a job where the guy who is moving out has done exactly the same. He’s moved out when Celtic Football Club are in better shape financially than they have been for many years, they’re performing better on the park than for many years, morale is high, the status of Celtic is very high and that is what Brian Quinn has left. He is a very, very hard act to follow indeed.

He has my enormous respect, not least because the destination at which he has now arrived wasn’t pre-determined and it wasn’t achieved without coming through some very difficult times and making some very difficult decisions which required a strength of character and leadership which could have been met by very few people so, therefore, Brian is a very hard to follow.

That is to the benefit of Celtic Football Club and their millions of supporters throughout the world but for me it’s a challenge.

What’s your vision of Celtic Football Club for the future?
As I said earlier, we have to have a tremendous will to win and an optimism to go with it, but a degree of realism, which means sustaining the present, successful experience that Gordon has introduced to the club following on from Martin but at the same time recognising that if you are going to sustain that in the long run, it means keeping a successful financial basis - which Brian has contributed so much towards –first-class development facilities, and Lennoxtown helps us in developing young players, better scouting than anyone else and value added in coaching and sports science.

If there is one disadvantage in following Brian Quinn, which is how successful he’s been, there is one huge advantage by virtue of his contribution, and that is he has left a team in place that will help me, and I will need help to get through the early stages and to learn a lot, because in Peter Lawwell and his officials, and Gordon Strachan and his coaching staff, and in everyone else who is developing the players, there is a great team there.

How much are you looking forward to working with Gordon Strachan?

I think he’s a tremendous character. He has been an enormously successful coach and he has achieved things with limited resources that very few managers and coaches in Europe could have achieved.

I come here to make a contribution to the club and that is to try and run the board and to give a sense of purpose, direction, leadership and so on, but Peter Lawwell runs the company and Gordon runs the team so when I say I’m looking forward to working with them I don’t want you to misinterpret that.

When it comes to what happens on the field Gordon is the boss but I am looking forward to working with him. I find him an entertaining and fascinating character.