Celtic lose fourth game under Nancy after chair Peter Lawwell stands down citing ‘abuse’

The Scottish champions slumped to a fourth defeat under new manager Wilfried Nancy with a 2-1 loss at Tannadice on the day Peter Lawwell announced his departure

Celtic’s chair, Peter Lawwell, has announced he is to stand down, citing “intolerable” treatment from a section of the club’s support, with the club’s chief executive, Michael Nicholson, revealing that three of their colleagues were “assaulted” after the Scottish League Cup final defeat by St Mirren on Sunday.

Lawwell’s exit will intensify a sense of crisis around the Scottish champions. Sunday’s final marked a third loss in succession for the new manager, Wilfried Nancy. Three became four defeats on Wednesday night when Celtic lost 2-1 at Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.

Lawwell, previously Celtic’s chief executive, and fellow directors have come under fierce criticism from fans. Errors in the transfer window, which triggered the exit of Brendan Rodgers, have fuelled frustration in the stands. Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifying phase by Kairat Almaty. The club have also been in regular conflict with the Green Brigade ultras group.

Lawwell has announced he will leave Celtic at the end of December. “I believe that my 18 years as chief executive and three years as chairman at the club have shown my ability to meet and overcome challenges on many fronts,” he said. “But abuse and threats from some sources have increased and are now intolerable.

“They have dismayed and alarmed my family. At this stage in my life, I don’t need this. I cannot accept this and so I leave the club I have loved all my life. The motivations and aims of these detractors can be investigated by others. I prefer to look back on my career at Celtic with deep gratitude and satisfaction.”

Soon after Nicholson told Celtic TV: “I think he’s made the decision for himself and for his family because of the abuse and because of the threats that were directed towards him. Those are behaviours that we’ve seen from perhaps a very small minority of the Celtic support, but those are behaviours that are completely unacceptable. Most recently, we had a situation where three of our colleagues were assaulted at Celtic Park on Sunday night after the match.

“ As I say, these behaviours and conduct are completely unacceptable. For me, they’re not Celtic. They don’t sit with the values of Celtic supporters and the Celtic family. This is a sad day for Celtic. The abuse and threats directed towards Peter, and the impact on his family, are completely unacceptable.”

Nicholson added that the board’s backing for Nancy is “absolutely solid” despite his difficult start, which continued at Tannadice on Wednesday night.

The Frenchman’s nightmare intensified as Dundee United’s second-half comeback consigned the Hoops to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time since 1978. Two goals in three minutes from Krisztian Keresztes and Zac Sapsford saw United claim their first win in eight Premiership games as they beat the champions 2-1 at Tannadice.

Daizen Maeda had opened the scoring early on and Celtic could have had the game out of sight in the first quarter of an hour as they missed a series of chances. But United turned the game on its head in the second half and some of the visiting fans turned their anger towards Nancy during the latter stages, as well as Nicholson following the resignation of Lawwell.

They also chanted for Martin O’Neill, who won seven out of eight games in interim charge before the new manager’s arrival from Columbus Crew sparked a dramatic collapse in form.