Celtic’s largest shareholder Dermot Desmond was targeted by a protest at the Alfred Dunhill Links golf tournament in St Andrews, where tennis balls were thrown towards him. Tennis balls with pictures of the 76-year-old’s face scored out were thrown onto the green of the 15th hole of the pro-am competition. Desmond had to be escorted off the course by security.
The Celtic Fans Collective later issued a statement about the incident. It said: “Dermot Desmond has essentially been allowed to run Celtic Football Club whilst using his wealth to hide from supporters and accountability. Fans took the chance today to send a message that this arrangement cannot continue.”
Desmond is the largest individual shareholder of the Scottish Premiership club, but he has been criticised in recent seasons for the club’s lack of progress in Europe and underwhelming transfer business.
In the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ resignation at the beginning of last season, Desmond blamed the former manager for much of the problems that marred the beginning of the 2025/26 campaign.
At Celtic’s annual general meeting last November, which had to be abandoned due to fan unrest, Desmond’s son Ross read out a statement on his behalf. He began by defending his father, describing him as a “lifelong and passionate” Celtic supporter, and vowed that the board would not be “bullied by aggressive and irrational” criticism.
In that statement, Desmond defended Lawwell and chief executive Michael Nicholson and claimed attempts to “dehumanise and vilify them are shameful”. He also criticised a section of fans over a recent incident that led to the Green Brigade ultras group being banned, adding: “Those people are bullies.”