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Brian Quinn – Chairman
Brian Paul Quinn was appointed to the Board in March 1996 as a non-executive Director and vice-chairman of the plc board. His appointment was seen
Born in 1936 in Glasgow of Irish descent, Brian Quinn was educated at Glasgow University graduating with an M.A. (Honours). He continued his education with an M.A. in economics from Manchester University and a PhD. in economics from Cornell University. Between 1964 and 1970 he worked for the International Monetary Fund in West Africa before joining the Bank of England. He rose through the Bank from economist to become acting deputy governor of the Bank of England in 1995. He was awarded a CBE in June 1996.
One of his main responsibilities whilst with the Bank of England was to keep keeping the bank away from scandal. Mr Quinn was the unofficial master of banking policy in Britain, but was dubbed Teflon Man after avoiding any blame for disasters which befell BCCI and Johnson Mathey bank in the 80s and early 90s. He also rejected any criticism over the collapse of Baring’s Bank. Mr Quinn had extensive experience in international finance and economics and held a number of directorships on other bank boards including Bank Gesellschaft Berlin (UK) plc and Britannic Asset Management Limited and was chairman of the Japanese merchant bank Nomura. Mr Quinn was also a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland.
On his appointment to the board, he said: “I am a lifelong Celtic supporter.”
He became Chairman of the Board when Frank O’Callaghan stood down as non-executive Chairman on 1st June 2000. He was seen very much as an ally of principal shareholder Dermot Desmond , and with Quinn and Desmond in control the club could expect to be run on tight and sure economic lines some might say TOO tight. When he took over the chairmanship the club faced a quite bad debt situation following the profligacy achieved under chief executive Allan MacDonald and the Dream Team of John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish. When Martin O’Neill arrived it was clear that the team would need rebuilding and the manager would require funds to do this consistent with MacDonald’s stated view of turning the club around. That first season spending
The result of that attention to the balance sheet is that the Board under the leadership of Brian Quinn turned the financial basis of the club around from an extremely poor set of figures at the start to posting a slight profit followed by a £15million pre-tax profit and an almost debt-free club when he resigned. Speaking of that period he said,
“We ran up cumulative deficits over the years of in excess of £40m and we were funding those deficits ultimately by shareholders’ contributions through rights issues. Although we were achieving a certain success by then on the football field under Martin O’Neill, you can’t go on losing money at the rate of £5m-£7m a year indefinitely.”
Interview in The Herald, 29/9/2007
Costs were cut throughout the club as a business, in the face of increasing wages and high turnover in football. The other side of the action was to increase revenue and this was done through lucrative sponsorships with some of the big names in business such as Nike. Many feel that the club essentially lost something of it’s core value as a club set up by a Marist priest to feed the Irish poor of the east end of Glasgow with the social ethics that this encompassed. The Board and Quinn’s counter-argument would be that there would be no club unless sound business practises had been endorsed when he took over.
It was a black and white view where spending resulted in a Leeds United meltdown scenario. Brian Quinn’s view as chairman less of Celtic as a football club and more of Celtic plc, was that their decisions had to be for the best interests of the shareholders of the plc. Whether those entities are different and whether their differing aims can both result with a healthy winning team could and have been debated many times. As it is, it could be said that nearly the greatest successful achievements, with two last 16 Champions League seasons, have also arrived during this time of financial prudence. Most fans whilst agreeing with these observations would also point to the slow decrease in quality on the park.
In September 2007 he announced his intention to stand down as chairman at the Annual General Meeting on November 17th 2007. He was succeeded as chairman by Dr John Reid.
Quotes
Brian Quinn on Radio 5 (23rd April 2007) day after Celtic won league, asked about a potential huns revival next season:
‘We don’t mind who comes second’.
Chick Young (Interviewer): “Will you have to up your spending with the expected investment in the team by rangers?
Brian Quinn: “We react to no-one.”
“When I heard the fans clapping and cheering there was a lump in my throat. “I came into the ground before the game and I was clapped up the stairs and that was fantastic. The Celtic support are the best in the world.”
(on his attending his last game as Chairman)
