Opinion – It’s time Fergus McCann had North Stand renamed in his honour

Fergus McCann is an iconic figure in the history of our illustrious Football Club. He might not have played for or managed the club, but he plays an important role in the fairytale story of our club, a role that will forever be recited in the Celtic history books…

Fergus of course rode to our rescue back in 1994 when we were reportedly hours from plunging into administration, although as Wille Haughey revealed last week Gerald Weisfeld and he had visited the Bank of Scotland HQ in Glasgow before Weisfeld deposited £3m in an account to ensure that the club’s £1m debts were covered. So there was never any chance of an administration of Celtic FC happening.

The savvy Scots Canadian businessman then put up a significant sum of his own cash to give the club a lifeline, and using his years of business experience he revitalised the club’s fortunes on and off the park.

The club we all know and love today is all down to Fergus’s hard work and tremendous vision. Without his major input, it’s not an exaggeration to say we wouldn’t be enjoying the domination and success we currently experience on the park today.

Off the park we are financially stable and streets ahead of any other side in Scottish Football, whilst boasting the biggest and most impressive stadia in the country, again all down to Fergus’s terrific vision.

Fergus, like everyone had his faults, and his time at the club was hardly plain sailing in regard to his relationship with the supporters. Flag day in 1998 is testament to that, and something that those of us who he heckled him now throughly regret.

But ultimately Fergus didn’t give a damn, as he was here to do a job, and that was to make the club successful on and off the park whilst guaranteeing our long term future.

Fergus, of course was a businessman, a very successful one, and a big reason for his input was that he wanted to make a huge profit, something he was forthright about from the very start, he never made his intentions secret, and for that he also deserves great respect.

Fergus walked away in 1999 after five years, just like he said he would. There was no hero’s farewell, maybe that’s just the way he liked it, but looking back he deserved a lot better.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though, and I’m sure the overwhelming majority of us all agree that he deserves to be honoured by the club, and what better way than to rename the North Stand in his honour?

It’s been discussed by supporters on several occasions, but it’s more than a worthy honour for a man who  reinvented the entire structure from the ground up.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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