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Straight Talk · 1 September 2026
Celtic fan Matt McGlone looks back over the madness of 'Celts for Change' and their quest to remove the old board. Thirty-three years on, Matt discusses the current board, death threats, an encounter with the KGB, love lost and many happy memories watching Celtic at home and abroad.
Celtic fan and activist Matt McGlone looks back on the madness of 'Celts for Change', the supporters' movement that helped force out Celtic's old board in 1994. Thirty-three years on, Matt reflects on the campaign, the current Celtic board, the death threats he received, an unlikely encounter with the KGB, love lost along the way, and a lifetime of happy memories following Celtic home and abroad.
WHAT WAS 'CELTS FOR CHANGE'?
'Celts for Change' was the fan pressure group that mobilised Celtic supporters in the early 1990s to remove the club's old board, at a time when Celtic were in financial crisis. Matt McGlone was at the heart of it, and here he tells the inside story of how ordinary fans took on the boardroom and won.
WHY DOES MATT McGLONE MENTION THE KGB?
Among the more surreal chapters of the campaign, Matt recounts an unexpected encounter with the KGB, one of the stranger episodes in a period of Celtic's history that mixed genuine danger, including death threats, with moments that now sound almost unbelievable.
WHAT DOES McGLONE MAKE OF THE CURRENT CELTIC BOARD?
Matt draws a line from the battles of 1994 to today, giving his view on the current Celtic board and whether the lessons of 'Celts for Change' still apply to how supporters hold their club to account.
Straight Talk Highlights:
00:00 Who is Matt McGlone and what was 'Celts for Change'?
02:16 33 years on:Celtic fans discontent, a very different problem
03:27 What Celtic fans actually want from the board
05:24 Is there a route to change? The shareholding plan
07:52 A frail Martin O'Neill and a squad that's all front-foot
10:20 Is O'Neill's legacy in danger?
11:34 Six European exits in a row: 'gross negligence'
14:11 Ruthlessly exposed: four signings and £77m in the bank
17:41 The 'stronger machine' that wears every manager down
19:18 Can Celtic ever be ambitious in Europe again?
22:05 Dermot Desmond and who could actually force change
25:38 The personal cost: lost friendships and a relationship
28:33 The death-threat letter and being hunted in the street
32:00 The joy: London Road, the pylons and falling for Celtic
39:16 His idol: Jimmy Johnstone, the magician
41:02 Honouring the Lisbon Lions and the Jim Craig statue
46:50 Should Fergus McCann get a statue?
49:25 Matt's all-time Celtic dream team
51:28 The KGB, Dynamo Kiev 1986: the maddest story of all
57:21 How Matt McGlone wants to be remembered
This is a PLZ Vault feature: the long-form stories, memories and characters behind Scottish football.
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