The Celtic annual meeting is always an enjoyable piece of theatre.

The suits are up on the podium, the proles down below in the cheap seats. Fittingly, the lowest of the low - the press - are stuck right at the back, downwind and virtually out of sight.

We gathered today to take in this scene once more, when Peter Lawwell, the chief executive, and Ian Bankier, the dapper-smooth chairman, took the usual pleas and brickbats from the floor.

Lawwell is a past-master at this, having seen off many an agm protester over the years. Last year he endeared himself even more to the faithful with his Rory Bremner/Tony Blair joke (or gaffe) about Rangers, which was met with plenty guffaws. Almost grudgingly, the Celtic support appear to believe they have an able CEO.

Lawwell's favourite gambit is to draw the sting out of any situation by telling a questioner/heckler: "Come and see me after this meeting…be happy to talk to you." He did it at least twice today, on each occasion being met with approving applause.

There is another recurring theme on these occasions, which was also heard today. Invariably, either Lawwell or Bankier will say "we care deeply what you, the supporters, think about Celtic" while in the main implementing policies which often ignore the widespread show of hands. The way of it here is that what the punters think - or what the punters want - is generally worth no more than hot air. The Celtic board's concentrated shareholding - by proxy or otherwise - guarantees where the real power lies.

But this 2014 Celtic agm witnessed a head of steam being built up on one particular issue: the Living Wage. This has been a sore point for Celtic, and something of a personal crusade for Jeanette Findlay, a leading light of the Celtic Trust, who has campaigned for at least two years for her club to become an accredited Living Wage employer.

Findlay believes it should be a no-brainer, and is somewhere deep in Celtic's DNA, to adopt the Living Wage. The Living Wage, as opposed to the government's minimum wage, ensures a £7.85 hourly rate of pay for those at the bottom end of the earnings scale. In Celtic's case, this affects those who work in retail, plus their matchday part-time employees.

For the likes of Lawwell and Bankier, Findlay is a thorn in their side, not least because she is an economics lecturer who knows exactly what she is talking about. Today, in introducing her Living Wage resolution to the agenda, it seemed Findlay scored quite a goal on behalf of her campaign.

Lawwell and Celtic have consistently argued that they could not afford the Living Wage, and that it would make their club less financially sound to take up the commitment. Today, however, in a pre-emptive strike, Bankier announced that Celtic intended to introduce a new "minimum rate" for all permanent employees of £7.85 an hour, which is precisely the Living Wage rate.

"I know this is an important issue for some fans, and we care deeply about our employees," said the Celtic chairman. "It is not in the best interests of the club to do this [sign up to the Living Wage]. We cannot hand over [Celtic's finances] to an external agency. We have to do what is best for Celtic.

"That said, our objective now is to consult our employees with the objective of introducing a new minimum rate of £7.85 per hour for all our permanent employees. We want to do right by our employees.

"We are not signing up to the Living Wage but, in seeking a new minimum rate of £7.85, we are going a long way to meeting the spirit of the resolution."

At this, Findlay looked down at the pre-prepared scripts in her hands, and ripped up the one with which she was due to lacerate Lawwell and co for their continued intransigence. But it didn't stop her from goading the top table, and urging the Celtic board to go the whole hog on the issue.

"Okay, this is a positive first step towards a Living Wage, and I welcome that," said Findlay. But then, brandishing a box said to hold the signatures of 10,000 Celtic fans who are demanding the Living Wage on the club, she went on: "Go on…take the next step and make Celtic an accredited Living Wage employer, for ALL employees, regardless of how many hours they work. Let's have a plaque outside this football stadium saying 'Celtic is a Living Wage Employer'."

With that, Findlay promptly sat down to ringing applause. Up top, the suits looked at each other and - you had to believe, pressed into it - promised to pursue their £7.85 minimum rate idea.

A shareholders' show of hands duly showed an overwhelming support in the room for the Living Wage. In shareholding percentage terms, though, it meant nothing. But the score read: Celtic FC 0, Jeanette Findlay 1.

Meanwhile, Lawwell was left to ruminate on a football scene once more in which the ruin of Rangers FC had also badly damaged Celtic. Commenting that "competition is the lifeblood of sport", he pointed out that many Celtic fans were buying season-tickets but then staying away from many matches.

In this fevered atmosphere, Lawwell has previously made perfectly plain where he stands on the old/new Rangers debate. That said, he surely cannot wait for the Ibrox club to attain promotion to the Scottish Premiership.

"We are facing huge challenges at Celtic," said Lawwell. "I've said before that the cost of Rangers not being in the league is about £10m a year. We also have to be prepared for potential liabilities over the next two to three years.

"It is getting more difficult to attract players to come and play in Scottish league football. There are far more lucrative leagues elsewhere. We have lost a lot of money domestically, but Champions League football and the sale of players has made up for this. But it is a very difficult environment."

After two hours of this and more, the meeting dispersed. The business of the famous Hoops, for this year, was done. Ronny Deila, Celtic's still-raw Norwegian manager, had looked pretty bemused throughout.