Sometimes numbers tell a story more clearly than any protest banner ever could and Celtic’s latest accounts contain one number in particular which should make the people sitting in the boardroom pay very close attention.

Retail and e-commerce revenue has fallen by almost £4.9 million, from £23.137 million to £18.206 million. That is a drop of around 21%.

Twenty-one per cent!

Now, before anybody gets carried away, the accounts do not prove that every penny of that reduction was caused by the Not Another Penny campaign. There will be other factors involved, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise.

But the campaign was launched during this financial period, supporters have very deliberately been encouraged to reduce their spending with the club, and the direction of travel is impossible to ignore.

So, I have one very simple question for the Celtic Board.

What exactly did you think was going to happen? Did you think supporters would continue happily handing over our hard-earned money while becoming increasingly angry about the way our football club is being run?

Did you believe we would keep buying merchandise, spending money inside Celtic Park and treating every new product launch as though nothing was wrong?

Because if that was the expectation, somebody badly miscalculated.

Not another penny means exactly what it says.

Not another unnecessary penny until this Board begins to understand that supporters are not simply a permanently available revenue stream which can be taken for granted regardless of how the club is run.

A fall of this size is not a minor wobble. It is not something you simply bury somewhere inside the accounts and forget about. A 21% reduction in retail and e-commerce income is substantial, and those responsible for Celtic’s commercial strategy should be asking themselves some very uncomfortable questions.

But perhaps the most important one is this: Why have so many Celtic supporters reached the point where they are deliberately trying not to give their own football club money?

That should terrify anybody responsible for running Celtic.

For years, supporters have been the financial backbone of this club. We fill Paradise. We buy the merchandise. We purchase season tickets. We subscribe to Celtic TV.

We spend money inside the stadium. We travel across Scotland and Europe. We support Celtic through the good times and the bad.

We have done our bit, and then some.

What have we received in return?

A Board which increasingly appears to believe supporters should simply accept whatever decisions are made behind closed doors. Poor communication. Questionable football decisions. A lack of accountability.

And an increasingly obvious disconnect between the people running Celtic and the people who actually live and breathe this football club.

And now anybody is surprised that supporters are withholding some of their money?

Oh, come on. What did they expect? A standing ovation?

The thing I find particularly amusing is that the people who want supporters to keep spending seem remarkably reluctant to acknowledge the consequences of repeatedly alienating those same supporters.

Perhaps somebody needs to explain a very simple principle. Loyalty is not an unlimited direct debit. It has to be respected. It has to be nurtured.

And occasionally, believe it or not, it even has to be reciprocated.

That 21% reduction should be treated as a message. A very clear one.

And there is another group of people who will pay attention to numbers like these: sponsors, advertisers and commercial partners. Celtic’s commercial value is not created by photographs taken in the boardroom or corporate statements uploaded to the club website.

It comes from the size, passion and purchasing power of the support. Celtic have an enormous fanbase and a remarkable global identity. That is what makes the club attractive to commercial partners in the first place.

But what happens when a substantial part of that support becomes increasingly disillusioned? What happens when supporters decide they will no longer automatically buy merchandise simply because a Celtic badge has been stitched onto it? What happens when organised campaigns begin encouraging people to withhold discretionary spending?

Commercial partners will notice. Of course they will.

A fall of almost £4.9 million does not disappear because somebody in the boardroom would prefer not to discuss why it happened.

It sits there on the page. It is measurable. And that is precisely why Not Another Penny matters. It demonstrates something the Celtic Board has never seemed particularly comfortable acknowledging.

Supporters have leverage. We might not sit around the boardroom table. We might not own the largest shareholding. We might not get invited into every meeting where the important decisions are taken. But we can decide what we do with our own money.

And money talks. This time, a lot of Celtic supporters have decided to stop speaking the language the Board understands best.

I also want to make something absolutely clear. This is not about turning our backs on Celtic. Quite the opposite. I completely reject the idea that challenging the Board somehow means questioning our loyalty to the club.

People are protesting because they care.

Because Celtic means something. Because supporters want the club protected, respected and run with ambition. We want a football club which reflects its history.

One which values the people who sustain it. One which understands the responsibility that comes with representing an institution like Celtic.

What we do not want is a Board which expects unquestioning loyalty while offering very little accountability in return.

So, the Celtic board needs to stop treating supporters as though we are an inconvenience. Stop assuming that loving Celtic means we will hand over money endlessly regardless of what you do and stop confusing the financial strength of Celtic Football Club with proof that you are doing a wonderful job of running it.

The almost £4.9 million fall should be a warning. The 21% reduction should be a wake-up call. Whether they choose to listen is another matter entirely.

But I sincerely hope supporters remain united and continue doing what they reasonably can.

No unnecessary merchandise purchases. No spending simply because the Celtic badge is on something. No pretending everything is perfectly fine when it very clearly isn’t.

Celtic deserves better. Its supporters deserve better.

And until this Board demonstrates that it understands what Celtic means to the generations of people who have stood behind this club, my answer remains exactly the same.

NOT ANOTHER PENNY!

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