Bono has denied he is involved with Simple Minds singer JIM KERR in a consortium seeking to gain control of current Scottish Premier League champions and Scottish Cup finalists Glasgow Celtic Football Club.
“It’s rubbish,” the U2 singer (pictured) says. “I’ve been to a couple of games and I’m a fan, but I’ve got no financial connections.”
A report in The Scottish Daily Record on Monday, May 25, quotes Kerr as saying he had joined a consortium led by local property magnate and former Celtic board member Brian Dempsey and would use his “huge influence” on the music industry to attract celebrity investors to the club. He claimed that Bono was interested along with Rod Stewart and comedian Billy Connolly.
Despite reports that Kerr will be investing ’10 million and that his current net worth is around ’40 million, some Scottish football insiders are more cynical. “It’s a middle aged guy’s idea of lending credibility to his bid. He doesn’t carry much weight in Scotland or anywhere else,” an informed commentator told NME.
“Rod Stewart and Billy Connolly both have seats at Parkhead (the Celtic home ground) and have opened stands here. Now they’re talking about Kerr putting up ’10 million, but it’s doubtful that he could come up with money like that these days,” the commentator added.
Jim Kerr, who owns homes in Nice and Dublin as well as a 20-room mansion in Perthshire that entitles him to be known as the Laird Of Ardchullaire has also been co-opted as an advisor to the government’s music industry forum in Scotland.