Chick Young: The deal was not in the best interest on the fans or shareholders

A club statement said the proposal was "not in the best interests of the ordinary and preference shareholders of Celtic".

The board believes chairman Fergus McCann's majority stake should be offered for sale to existing shareholders and season ticket holders and he is now expected to sell his shares in the middle of next year.

Roddy Forsyth reports (BBC Radio 5 Live)

Celtic stressed that it did not receive a firm offer from the Dalglish consortium, despite press speculation that around £100m was on the table.

"At no time has an offer of any kind been received from the consortium. Further, at no time has the Board received a proposal which in its opinion would provide shareholders with a price of £100m," the statement went on.

The consortium had assured the team it was serious about the bid and had the financial backing from venture capital fund Bankers Trust Capital.

But the board said it could not recommend any bid that was less than the full value of Celtic and which did not provide fair value to Celtic shareholders.

Members agreed that McCann should make his shareholding available to as wide a membership as possible and any proposal should allow shareholders to trade their shares as freely as possible.

"I have not given five years of my life to Celtic, along with my fellow directors, to take it from bankruptcy to a point of strength and then recommedn a proposal which fails to reflect Celtic's values and aspirations," he said.