Had it not been for his infamous headline-making "jibe" at Rangers last Friday, Peter Lawwell and Celtic might still be simmering in a controversy of a different sort.

Imagine football embracing the concept of the "living wage", eh? When this topic arose at last week's Celtic AGM it confirmed again that the green and white hoops of Glasgow are a sporting institution steeped in history, social values and, dare I say it, a degree of myth as well.

Lawwell's comment to Celtic shareholders - that the current Rangers are to the pre-liquidated Rangers what Rory Bremner is to Tony Blair - went down a predictable storm with the gathered punters.

The comment was either funny or pathetic, depending on which colours you wear round your neck. We've heard plenty hot air on the subject - I've contributed some of it myself - so let's leave it at that.

What discomfited Lawwell and his Celtic board far more was their AGM's Resolution 11, put forward by Jeanette Findlay and the Celtic Trust, urging the club to embrace the living wage for all Celtic employees, full-time or part-time.

This has been a fascinating development at Celtic, denoting a group of fans who, high-mindedly or otherwise, brought their social conscience to the fore of their club's business and demanded that the board act upon it.

The history of almost every football club is steeped in myth, and Celtic are no different. The club's origins in Brother Walfrid, the Marist brother who fed the poor of Glasgow's poverty-stricken east end in the 1880s, makes for impressive reading, even if it has sometimes been edited for effect.

The main point, though, persists. Celtic have charity and social welfare written through the club's ethos. This was the context of Findlay and the Celtic Trust's petition to the board last Friday.

Except…it is complicated. The living wage is a step up from the minimum wage in Britain, but is not legally enforceable. There is currently a £1.34 per hour difference (outside London) between the minimum wage of £6.31 and the 2013 recommended living wage of £7.65

At a time when child poverty is said to be becoming rife in Britain, and with five million workers currently being paid below the living wage recommendation, the Celtic Trust's proposal seemed both timely and typical of the often-colourful business of this football club.

Celtic, Findlay argued passionately, should take a stance on the issue. The club's most recent accounts showed a pre-tax profit of £10 million, with turnover rocketing to £76 million. In short, Celtic FC is currently very comfortable financially.

A Celtic fans' poll was conducted on the matter, with 95% of the respondents saying "yes" to the living wage, with just four percent dissenting. This represented an impressive feeling on the subject.

Nonetheless, as laudable as the proposal was, nor was it a clear black-or-white case. For one thing, as Peter Lawwell pointed out, the vast majority of Celtic employees who were paid below the living wage are part-time match day personnel - stewards, bar staff, people attending the catering stalls - working on the side to top-up their main incomes.

That won't always be the case - some of Celtic's match-day employees will be unemployed during the week. But, in the main, is there a moral onus to pay a living wage to someone who already has a main income?

I've thought about this and, mistaken or not, can't convince myself that it is a moral necessity.

What would be right - though I'm not sure if it is practicable - would be for Celtic to determine which of its match-day employees are unemployed, and guarantee them a £7.65 per hour living wage. This, though, would inevitably be interpreted as a fudge, a cop-out by the club.

Regardless, in the style of the 1970s union block votes, the Celtic board kicked out the Celtic Trust's proposal, flexing their sufficient shareholding to do so. Lawwell and Co claimed it would cost up to £500,000 a year to implement, and quoted this figure prohibitively.

Becoming a "living wage employer" is something being encouraged all over Britain today. You don't often hear about it in football, and it is to Jeanette Findlay's credit that she harangued the Celtic board on the subject.

I'm guessing that Findlay won't easily give up on it. And that Peter Lawwell will ponder it further.