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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
|---|---|---|
| May 5 2008, 3:11 PM EDT | J-Me | 13 words added, 5 words deleted |
| Nov 16 2006, 1:47 PM EST | joebloggscity | 1 word added |
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Tom Grant
1985-19941985-1994 Celtic Board member (ex-Biscuit(ex-Biscuit Tin)Tin) In the history of Celtic, few other characters can be described as ridiculous as this man. Granted he was a Celtic man through and through, but as the saying goes, “with friends like these then who needs enemies!”. Sadly for Celtic he was not just a simple employee, but a member of the board pre-McCann (and for a short time thereafter). A member of the infamous biscuit tin board of the early 90s, it was never understood where he stood. Was he with the “rebels” (sic!) or with the “families” (sic!).
When Chris White along with Michael Kelly decided to oppose Brian Dempsey’s re-election onto the board, Tom Grant along with Farrell opposed the move which led to an EGM by Michael Kelly and Christopher White to depose them. Frantic dealing by both sides saw the then Celtic share price rise sharply to buy each their own way. All ended up a waste of time for the “Rebels” when Tom Grant ended up doing a deal with the families and saw the two of them remain on the board.
Not long after, the “family pact” was born with Michael Kelly,Kelly, Christopher White, Kevin Kelly and Tom Grant signing a binding contract to have a block vote and not to vote against each other in order to push their way on the Cambuslang project. Self-preservation for all was really the primary order of the day. To everyone’s dismay, Tom Grant had seemed to jump ship after all the effort the “Rebels” had made. Stabbed in the back is how most of them must have felt, and definitely set the club back at least a few years in development at a time when real business acumen and experience was needed (hardly there from the inexperienced incumbents).
Anyhow, his tenure at Celtic from there on never get much better. Terry Cassidy stepping into Celtic to practically do their job was as no master stroke for them, and just made the board look ever dafter when they had to ditch him at the end, but surely with the pact they were totally united behind each other. Actually no, one Sunday Jim Traynor on STV announced that a certain board member had said to him that he did not believe that the new stadium (at Cambuslang) was going to be built. Didn’t take a genius to figure out who this was, and finally was revealed what we already knew, it was Tom! The man was now comically frustrating his own board as well as the “Rebels”, the former I’m sure now wishing they’d got rid of him as they first wanted, whilst the latter were likely just getting bemused with his behaviour.
If you think that I’m being unreasonable, then think of it like this, he was the stadium director who decided to put seats in the “Jungle” (the old terracing across from the main stand), in the mistaken belief that it made business sense in case they had to seat the whole stadium if they couldn’t move into Cambuslang in time. Well it wasn’t, as seating in the Jungle was a bit of joke if you ask many of us who were there at the time. Putting seats into the Jungle was simple also so there was no need to do as and when they did it. Well done Tom Grant! Just alienated and frustrated the support further just when you needed them most. He was given the title of Stadium Director (or such), frightening stuff.
Anyhow, the final show in 1993/941993/94 (Celtic Takeover) provided our last piece of entertainment from Tom Grant as he again jumped ship to save Celtic/his own skin (delete as you find appropriate), and backed the “Rebels” in the final showdown that finally blew up the “families” and their pact. Tom Grant lasted a while longer, kept as a token thanks for finally backing the “Rebels”, but thankfully wasn’t kept for long. Laughable as much of it may seem, but he can’t take any solace in that he finally did what was right, as he could have done that years back by not jumping ship and simply staying put with the "Rebels". He helped to hinder and hold the club back years and is part responsible for near bankruptcy of our club.
No loss to see him go. I’m sure he was maybe a nice man personally, but his time at Celtic is something that needs reminding and telling to all just so that it is never again repeated.
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