Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson said that three of his colleagues were “assaulted” after Sunday’s Hampden defeat as he declared Peter Lawwell’s resignation a “sad day” for the club.
Outgoing chairman Lawwell cited “intolerable abuse and threats” as he announced the end of his 18-year spell at Celtic Park.
A number of Celtic fans had been campaigning for boardroom change after directors took responsibility for their Champions League qualification failure and inability to achieve their summer transfer window objectives.
Lawwell had come under increasing pressure following his handling of the club’s abandoned annual general meeting and Wilfried Nancy’s torrid start as manager saw some fans gather to protest outside Celtic Park after Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final defeat to St Mirren.
Giving his reaction to Lawwell’s decision, Nicholson told Celtic TV: “I’m hugely disappointed. It’s a sad day for Celtic. I think it’s sad because one of our colleagues has felt the need to stand down from his role.
“Peter’s a Celtic fan first and foremost, but he’s been a great colleague, a great leader for Celtic, both as chief executive and more recently as chairman, as we’ve enjoyed great success on and off the pitch.
“But it’s a sad day for Celtic because of the reasons behind Peter’s decision to stand down.
“I know it’s a decision that weighed heavily on him. It’s not an easy decision, but I think he’s made the decision for himself and for his family because of the abuse and because of the threats that were directed towards him.
“Those are behaviours that we’ve seen from perhaps a very small minority of the Celtic support, but those are behaviours that are completely unacceptable.
“Most recently, we had a situation where three of our colleagues were assaulted at Celtic Park on Sunday night after the match.
“As I say, these behaviours and conduct are completely unacceptable. For me, they’re not Celtic. They don’t sit with the values of Celtic supporters and the Celtic family.
“As a board, it strengthens our resolve to do the right thing for Celtic and to take this club forward together for the future.”
Nicholson declared the board’s resolve to support Nancy as “absolutely solid.”
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s game against Dundee United, he said: “There’s never an easy time to start at Celtic and it has been challenging. We’ve had some disappointing results, not least on Sunday.
“In that respect, I understand that the Celtic support are concerned about where we are.
“I understand and I respect the right of every supporter to express their discontent and to share that with us, but we know where we want to go and step-by-step, all of our job is to support Wilfried, his team and the squad to take us where we want to get to.
“We’ve been working and met with Wilfried this week to discuss recruitment ahead of the January transfer window and also looking ahead to the summer transfer window because we know that we’ve got a project to support here.
“We’re excited about where we’re going to get to. That’s going to take time both, as I say, day-to-day within the training environment, but also month-to-month, window-to-window.”
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