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Address: Blue Lagoon Fish & Chip Shop, Bath St/West Nile Street
Reference: Offices above the chippy were used to manage Celtic
Closure: 2020
Desmond White and the Mismanagement of Celtic
Celtic is one of the world’s great sporting names, with the hoops being one of the most iconic and well loved shirts in all of sport. During the heyday of Celtic’s European heights under Jock Stein you’d have thought the club would be treated with the upmost respect. However, you don’t need to go far to see that there were those who never paid the due respect the club deserved, and we’re not talking about external parties.
The lack of respect and due seriousness that needed to be paid attention to the business & professional affairs of the club can be strangely best symbolised by a ‘chippy’.
The old Celtic board was headed by Desmond White during much of the 1970s. Not denying his commitment & love for the club, but one of his most frustrating traits was that despite the success of the club on-field, he and his board never took much advantage of this to build on the success (either on or off-field). To illustrate the ineptitude, this high revenue generating club (with the potential to generate more) was run no better than a carry out.
Incredibly, the financial matters of Celtic were actually all managed and run from a small office above a Fish & Chips shop in central Glasgow. The Blue Lagoon is a locally popular & famous chain of a handful of shops around the centre well known to all Glaswegians. Many had bought a fish supper in the Bath Street/West Nile Street branch only to pass through not knowing that their club’s most important decisions were taking place right above their heads.
Supporters were even directed to this fish & chip shop (to find the Celtic office) from the Celtic Store to get a season-ticket back in the olden days (circa 1980s).
So, this curious landmark has made itself a mark in Celtic’s history. Thankfully without the salt ‘n sauce favoured by our peers in Edinburgh, but still stained with all the vinegar. A pickled onion though can’t take away the unwanted taste of this old unprofessional arrangement.
Most fans back then mocked that the club was financially run with biscuit tins, but actually that was not far off the truth. The finances and receipts of the club were managed instead with shoe boxes. In fairness, before computerisation many firms were managed little better, although Celtic seemed to drag their heels on this for longer than others it seems.
Thankfully, things have progressed, but it’s a curious and humorous point to look back on just how things have finally moved on at the club. Celtic are now properly an internationally respected entity, and thankfully the finances are managed in a relatively more appropriate and professional way.
Regardless of the old board’s archaic management methods, we’d still recommend everyone to try a fish supper from one of the Blue Lagoon’s shops.
Post-Note
It was announced in January 2020 that the buildings were planned to be demolished to be replaced by a new hotel development. This would mean the loss of this Blue Lagoon chippy and the offices above it, so sadly another piece of Celtic history was to physically disappear.
Daily Record (Jan 2020): “Glasgow’s oldest Italian restaurant, one of the city’s oldest pubs and the famous Blue Lagoon chippy are set to close – making way for a new £30million hotel.”
