UF1872

After his Director’s Box pass was rescinded, and having been ostracised to the point where he was unable to carry out his duties as Boys Club chairman, Hugh Birt announced his resignation at the 1986 Celtic Boys Club Annual Awards Dinner. Shortly after his enforced resignation, Birt was interviewed by Gavin Goodwin of the Sunday Mail. ‘The chairman of the famous Celtic Boys Club sensationally resigned last week. He quit at a special 20th Anniversary celebration because, he said, the Celtic board were ignoring complaints from parents of some of the boys. Last night, Glasgow businessman Mr Hugh Birt (50) - who has been chairman for 12 years - said, “It was the board’s duty to investigate these complaints. Instead, nothing happened and I was more or less told not to rock the boat. Faced with that, I had no alternative but to resign.” Complaints from parents are recorded in the Boys Club Committee meetings of last November. They include complaints about - Boys being taken out socially when no games were involved, Boys arriving late back home, and Boys going away on weekends to non-existent tournaments. Mr Birt said the complaints were so serious he took them to Celtic vice-chairman Kevin Kelly. Later, he raised the matter with Celtic manager David Hay. Mr Birt was then asked to resign. When he refused, Celtic withheld his season ticket to the Parkhead director’s box. He has not been back at Parkhead since. Mr Birt said, “It appears the Celtic board want to look in the other direction in the hope the troubles will go away.” Leading Scots solicitor Joe Beltrami has been advising Mr Birt on the issue over the last nine months. Mr Beltrami said, “Mr Birt is a man of unquestionable integrity and his loyalty to Celtic and the Boys Club is total. He has taken the proper decision.” The Boys Club has five teams with almost 160 youngsters aged 12 to 16. It has produced such stars as Paul McStay, Roy Aitken, Charlie Nicholas and Tommy Burns. It is run by general manager Frank Cairney, his assistant Jim Torbett and a large group of helpers. At The Trophy Shop in Shawlands, Glasgow, where he works for Torbett, Kevin Kelly said, “It is correct that various complaints were raised and discussed at a meeting last November. But there was no concrete evidence to pursue it further. I did, however, take that opportunity to remind all officials of their responsibilities to the boys and their parents.” On the resignation request to Mr Birt, Kelly said, “I was upset that he had bothered Mr Hay on a matter that was not the manager’s concern. Along with Cairney and Torbett, we asked him to resign. He refused, and we thought things would settle down. None of us expected his resignation and, when it came, it was a bit of a shock.”’ Sunday Mail - 30 Nov 1986

Celtic FC chairman Jack McGinn’s rebuttal (below) was published in the Celtic View, on 10 Dec 1986. This would be a watershed moment, not only for the paedophiles already associated with Celtic Boys Club, but for those still to come. It was a clear indication, from the highest level of Celtic FC, that the safeguarding of the 160 young boys who made up the five teams of Celtic Boys Club (aged from 12 to 16), would not be their highest priority. Why else would two known paedophiles be ‘investigated’ and exonerated, without informing the police?

November 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the worst paedophile ring in world sporting history. In November 1966, Celtic FC chairman Robert Kelly and Celtic FC manager Jock Stein granted an unknown, 19-year-old Jim Torbett permission to name his youth football team 'Celtic Boys Club'. It was given on the understanding that 'the aims and objectives of the fledgling club should, in no way, conflict with those of Celtic FC, and that its activities on and off the field should never bring the Celtic name into disrepute.' This quote was taken from the 20 Nov 1974 edition of the official club magazine, The Celtic View, founded in 1965 by Jack McGinn. Later posts will show the cynicism behind the quote.