Celtic will be given access to the tax records of two coaches who sexually abused young football players in a bid to prove they never worked for the club.
Lawyers for the Parkhead side asked for permission to scrutinise private Inland Revenue information for the disgraced coaches.
A judge granted the request during a hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Thursday.
The hearing forms part of the US-style ‘class action’ lawsuit brought by around 25 survivors of historical abuse at Celtic Boys Club.
Celtic has repeatedly claimed the boys club was a separate entity from the senior side.
But players who turned out for the feeder side say they are intrinsically linked as they pursue a multi-million pound damages claim against Celtic.
Four men associated with Celtic Boys Club or Celtic have been convicted of sex abuse crimes.
Roddy Dunlop KC, acting for Celtic, told the hearing their legal team wanted to check the tax records for ex-boys club manager Frank Cairney and its founder Jim Torbett.
Mr Dunlop said the Inland Revenue files would allow them to determine if the pair were “employed by Celtic or indeed anyone else”.
He added: “We are just trying to square off everything.
“We need to do everything we can and this is part of doing everything we can.”
Ian Mackay KC, acting for the survivors, said Celtic were seeking the “confidential” tax records of “two witnesses” without their consent.
Mr Mackay said it was their position that Cairney was “employed” by Celtic and cited a letter of resignation the shamed coach allegedly sent.
He said Cairney “resigned from his part-time employment” in the letter.
Mr Mackay said Celtic deny Cairney worked for the club and contend it was “a fantasy on behalf of Cairney”.
He told the court the survivors’ legal team were not even alleging that Torbett was an employee of Celtic, adding: “He was akin to an employee.”
Judge Lord Arthurson granted Celtic’s request to see the tax records as Cairney and Torbett’s employment status was “clearly relevant”.
Mr Mackay also told the hearing that efforts had been made to track down back issues of the Celtic View newspaper from The Mitchell Library in Glasgow.
He said library bosses would not allow them to make copies of the “relevant entries”.
But he said Celtic had now agreed to hand over originals of the newspaper to them.
Cairney was jailed in 2019 for abusing seven boys. Most recently he was found to have assaulted another three youngsters but escaped jail as he had been deemed unfit to stand trial due to health reasons.
In April Torbett was found guilty of sexually abusing a 13-year-old player with Celtic Boy’s Club.
Torbett was also jailed for six years at the High Court in 2018 for sex assaults involving another six Boy’s Club teenagers which occurred between 1970 and 1994.
He was convicted in 1998 of shameless indecency involving three boys who were also Celtic Boy’s club members.
Former Celtic youth coach Jim McCafferty, who died last year, admitted 10 charges of indecent assault and one of lewd and libidinous behaviour against boys as young as 11 stretching back to 1972.
Gerald King, a former Celtic Boys’ Club chairman, was convicted of child sex offences but avoided jail.
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