Celtic issue major update on board 'refreshment', summer plans and reveal new position at club

In an update to supporters, Wilson stated that Celtic now has unity after disharmony from stands for most of the season and he believes that the supporters can push the team over the line in the title race and quest for the Scottish Cup. Celtic are three points behind leaders Hearts with four games to play, while they face Dunfermline Athletic at Hampden on May 23.

Celtic are still searching for a new permanent manager and are expected to be very active in the summer transfer window. Wilson vowed that lessons will be learned from this campaign and said that work continues to “refresh” the board. He also revealed that a new fan engagement role is set to be created in a bid to strengthen ties with supporters.

Praising Martin O’Neill after he was named manager of the month for April, Wilson said: ” I'm very excited [for the rest of the season]. We're in a really strong place. We're maybe in a better place than would have seemed likely a few months ago.

“I think what Martin and the backroom staff and of course the team in the park have done is fantastic to put us into this position. The great thing now is we have unity, which is what we've worked for from the outset of this. Unity is strength and division is weakness.

“So for the rest of the season and hopefully beyond, what we have is a united Celtic Park behind the team to absolutely maximise the opportunities and hopefully to take us across the line. But just on manager of the month, you've got a well-earned recognition for what Martin has done here and will continue to do.”

Wilson reiterated his commitment to improving fan relations and explained the next steps after meeting with a number of supporter groups over the past months.

“When I came into this, we made that commitment that we were going to engage with supporters groups, we were going to talk to everybody, and we've done that,” continued Wilson. “We've listened and we've taken on board an awful lot of what was said.

“Some of that has started to be implemented. For instance, we're about to appoint a new head of supporter engagement, which is a new post, and that will be part of a much more structured approach to engagement. As we committed to, we're going to create a link between the club and supporters in a much more structured way.

Celtic take lead from other clubs

“We're still consulting that, we're still talking, and we'll put out what we think is the way to do it. We've looked at what literally scores of other clubs do throughout Britain. We've seen the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, and we will come up with one of our own in order to have the widest possible range of Celtic supporters with a channel of communication with the club.

“All of that has moved ahead, and it will come to conclusions over the summer. We intend to revive the fans forum, which was successful up to a point for those who attended them, but instead of having a static event in Celtic Park, what we intend to do is to take that out around the country and indeed to the wider Celtic supporter base so that we'll take the fans forum to the fans rather than asking the fans to come to the fans forum. So there's all of that going on.

“We're strengthening our digital offering all the time, more information in the first place you can get it is through the club itself, so it's reliable information coming from the primary source. So lots of things are going on, and obviously the focus of the current time is getting to the end of the season in the best possible place, but everything we've talked about will be delivered.”

Wilson also explained that changes are happening at the top. “We're looking at a refreshment of the board, which was talked about, and now Peter [Lawwell] has resigned, obviously Tom Allison retired, and so there is work to be done there, is being done there on the refreshment of the board. So everything we've talked about we're working on delivering, and we will deliver.

“It's going to be a big summer, and everyone I hope and expect has learned lessons from some things which influence this season, and therefore everyone is up for that challenge, and the work is going on.

“The immediate focus is on getting to the end of this season in the best possible place, but thereafter there is a huge effort assured in the summer so that we face next season in the strongest possible position.

“Everything else is secondary to what happens on the park, and therefore we have to have the best possible chance going into next season based on what transpires over the summer, and that is the absolute commitment to supporters.”