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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Ewan Gennery

Who is Dermot Desmond?

Celtic principal shareholder Dermot Desmond (left) wants Champions League football .

Celtic are enduring a difficult start to the season.

The Bhoys are eight points off Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts, they failed to qualify for the Champions League, they have only picked up four points in their opening three Europa League games and now manager Brendan Rodgers has resigned.

The former Liverpool manager's resignation has been met by a wave of criticism from Dermot Desmond. But who exactly is he? FourFourTwo explains...

Who is Dermot Desmond?

Ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers (Image credit: PA)

Desmond is the current largest individual shareholder in Celtic Football Club and has been since 1995.

Desmond held shares in Manchester United until 2005 when he sold them to Malcom Glazer and he is regarded as the ninth-richest man in Ireland.

When a new manager needs to be appointed, like the current situation, he is the one making the calls and ultimately making the final decision.

He is quite withdrawn and not often spotted in the public eye, but he has lurched into the spotlight in the last few days.

There's been a rift between the board at Celtic and the fans for several years, with the fans dislike often voiced during games with chants aimed at those in charge of making decisions at the club.

Rodgers, it could be argued, has added fuel to the fire in recent years, and it has lead to a fallout with Desmond, and ultimately to his resignation.

Desmond has unleashed a very public attack of Rodgers in the last day, and has accused him of whipping up distain towards the board.

Dermot Desmond and other Celtic board members (Image credit: Getty Images)

In a 551-word statement Desmond stated, "his words and actions since then [private meeting between the two] have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving. They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the Board."

It remains to be seen if Desmond is looking to take a more public facing stance at Celtic now Rodgers has left, especially in the manner of his departure.

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