Now that we are at the end of the league season, and with respect to the job still to be done at Tannadice and McDiarmid Park, it seems like a good time for a post holocaust report.
Fig 1 Average Weekly Attendances SPL 2011-2014
Peppered around this page are three charts and a table* showing the attendance figures for the SPL in the last three seasons. A school kid could tell you that there is a positive trend in those charts and figures, but the people who run our national sport will look you straight in the eye and tell you “that can’t be right – Armageddon is coming!”
It is one of the most ridiculous and mendacious situations I have ever come across. The people who run our national game, aided and abetted by those in the MSM (sans the eye contact though) are actually trying to persuade us of how awful our game is and how unsustainable it will be in the absence of one, just one, club.
Think about that. The SFA and the SPFL trying to talk us out of supporting the game unless we all recognise the unique importance of one, just one, club. That is what has happened, no matter how they try to spin it. And despite evidence to the contrary contained in these figures, not one of them has admitted to an error, never mind the downright lies that they told to support the position they held, the one where anyone speaking of sporting integrity was mocked and ridiculed.
Whilst growing up as football supporter in the 60s, one of things I was constantly bombarded with via the medium of the tabloid newspapers was that football clubs should be grateful for the publicity afforded them via their back pages. These were probably reasonable claims, especially in the light of the relative lack of access to players and officials conceded to the hacks in those days, and the pre-eminent cultural position in which they helped to place football. Alongside that, the broadcast media, particularly Archie Macpherson’s Sportscene and Arthur Montford’s Scotsport could be relied on to talk the game up. Of course, there was something in it for the papers – sales. The more column inches devoted to the national sport, the further northward their sales, and consequently advertising revenues travelled.
Fig 2 Avg. Attendances excl Celtic & Rangers
The situation was further cemented by the fact that the press in that ante-interweb era held a monopoly over the exchange and dissemination of information. That symbiotic, win-win relationship between football and the press was as much a part of football reality as the Hampden Roar. It also endured for decades. The press would talk up the game to such an extent that folk often remarked that they hadn’t realised how much they had enjoyed a particular match until they had read Malky Munro or Hughie Taylor’s report the next day. Archie Macpherson is on record as having said the same thing about legendary commentator David Francey, “It was a much better game to listen to than to see!”
Today that symbiosis is broken. The press themselves, in print and in front of microphones consistently belittle the product, talk of crises and Armageddon, of our own version of the Eisenhower domino effect of clubs going to the wall one after another.
Aided and abetted by the two chief bureaucrats in charge of Scottish football, Stuart Regan and Neil Doncaster, who have consistently helped to hammer home the message that Scottish football is not good enough, and cannot sustain itself financially without Rangers, a club that could not itself sustain itself financially to the extent that it is being liquidated.
At a time when Scottish football was clearly in crisis, and badly in need of sponsorship which could mitigate the effects of that crisis, the press and the authorities sought to strengthen their own negotiating hand by making negative claims about the state of the game which never came to pass, and for which they have never apologised. The actual situation, which would not have been hard to predict had anyone actually bothered to analyse the business of Scottish football, is summarised quite easily by saying this;
- Since Rangers’ liquidation and subsequent absence from the top league, the average home attendance of the other clubs has INCREASED overall (See Fig 2).
- In this season, the other clubs have added 50,000 fans to home attendances compared to 2011-12 (the last year Rangers were in competition).
- In that time the league has been won (twice) by Celtic, and the other honours have been claimed by St, Mirren, Aberdeen, Celtic and (either) Dundee United or St Johnstone.
- In that time, both Dunfermline Athletic and Hearts (who both had historical financial problems) entered – and exited – administration after fan-led buyouts.
- Dundee United have cleared off their bank debt.
- Kilmarnock have restructured their bank debt, freeing the club from a precarious long-term situation.
- League reconstruction has allowed some money to trickle down to the second tier clubs in an attempt to mitigate the immediate effects of relegation and to reward ambitious clubs.
Looking at the table of attendances above, it is pretty clear that immediately upon Rangers exit, the overall figures took a dip. However there was little difference the in the figures if you leave Rangers out of the equation (Fig 3) – despite Celtic’s attendance taking a hit that year (down by around 5,000 per home match).
Taking Celtic out of the calculations, it is clear that there is a 6,000 uplift in this average (Fig 2).
It is still undeniable that less people overall are watching football (Fig 1), but the trend is upward if one leaves the Ibrox club out of the picture.
Furthermore, this statistic exposes the double edged sword that is retention of home gates. The fact that gates are not shared is predicated upon the notion that the bigger clubs do not depend on the smaller clubs for income. And since the smaller clubs are no longer recipients of big club largesse, their fortunes are not affected, at least not as much as was suggested by the Regans, Doncasters and Traynors of this parish. The “Trickle-Down” theory of Reganomics said otherwise – but clearly and demonstrably it was wrong.
The abandonment of gate sharing has made Scottish football less interdependent than it once was, but the irony is that it works both ways. There is hardly a club in the country that depends on Rangers for their own existence, and here is the news; small clubs are no longer financially dependent on the former Old Firm.
Fig 3 Excluding Celtic
The fact, that is F-A-C-T, is that Scottish Football attendances in the top division are on the increase. The absence of Rangers has made no appreciably negative difference to any other club, far less caused a catastrophe of biblical proportions.
Even if the fools who were the harbingers of our doom were simply guilty of making an honest mistake, it is clear that they are uncontaminated with the slightest notion of how the game in this country operates. The Old Firm may be dead, but the OF prism is still being peered through by Stuart Regan, Neil Doncaster and the vast majority of print journalists. The latter who failed to honour that age-old football/press symbiosis because they believed, erroneously that David Murray’s dinner table was the hand that has fed them for over a century.
The irony is that as job opportunities diminish in the print sector, so too will the fine dining and patronage. I think they call that evolution.
Two years ago, in the wake of the fans’ season ticket revolt which saw the new Rangers forced to apply for membership of the league and begin at the bottom, those same MSM hacks taunted fans about putting their money where their mouths were. The fans responded splendidly as our statistics demonstrate, but typically there has been no recognition of this either at Hampden or in the media.
And the message from those fans is this: Scottish football is not dying. Not any more. At least not as surely as it was when David Murray started to choke the life out of it in the late 80s. The supporters are returning in numbers to see a competition untainted by the outrageous liberty-taking and rule-breaking of the last couple of decades, and all but one club has emerged from the mire of the Moonbeam Millennium looking forward to a new era.
If authorities allow the new era to thrive by restoring sporting integrity to the agenda, then the numbers, like the opportunities available to more and more clubs, will grow. The question is … will they?
Admittedly, these figures, like any set of statistics, can be cherry-picked to suit almost any argument that you care to construct. The fact remains though, that whilst it would be fanciful and ridiculously over-optimistic to claim that they bear witness to a burgeoning industry, it is utterly dishonest to conclude that they represent financial Armageddon. Armageddon? Aye right!
Eddiegoldtop says:
May 31, 2014 at 10:24 am
A few extracts from the 2010 McLeish Report
The governance is inappropriate for the current and future context of football:
– There is a lack of effective formal consultation between the major stakeholders in
the game and a serious lack of respect, confidence and trust
What is the function of the SFA Council? If it is to be representative of the game
why there are such key omissions e.g. fans and spectators, referees, Government,
sponsors, other sports, other stakeholders?
Certain functions should be added include:
– External liaison and the one door approach to a large number of stakeholders
wottpi says:
May 31, 2014 at 10:24 am
‘..It was John Clark, see a few posts back.’
——–
Yes. I posted in February a summary of the reply I received to an email I sent to the office of the minister for the CG and Sport in January.
http://www.thefootballlife.co.uk/post/87274195741/scotland-games-to-be-free-to-air-come-independence
Got it confirmed from Scottish Govt that, in event of independence, they would make Scotland games free to air.
Considering that, last time this debate came around, the SFA claimed that taking internationals from Sky would kill the game, it’d be interesting to see their reaction to this.
Madbhoy24941 @ 12.12pm:
From the Daily Record homepage:
“The Championship is being tagged the new Premiership and it’s not good to see our three biggest clubs outside the highest division.”
That isn’t even what Ferguson said. From the actual article: “The Championship is being tagged the new Premiership and it’s not good to see three of our biggest clubs plying their trade outside the highest division.”
Spot the subtle but important difference.
Bam Potter & Madbhoy
Who are these Taggers,they should be named and shamed
From Twitter-
Phil MacGiollaBhain
@Pmacgiollabhain
I am hearing that all of the major players in the RIFC hierarchy now agree that Murray Park has to go. No Sale & Lease back, but sold.
NEEPHEID says:
May 31, 2014 at 4:28 pm
9 0 Rate This
From Twitter-
Phil MacGiollaBhain
@Pmacgiollabhain
I am hearing that all of the major players in the RIFC hierarchy
now agree that Murray Park has to go. No Sale & Lease back,
but sold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How does that square with the forthcoming Highlands and North American tours?
That could leave them with no football training grounds – where do they train from now on?
Or are they really interested?
Palacio, kinda Masonic behaviour (sorry chaps) but you have mail.
Lord Wobbly says:
May 31, 2014 at 5:15 pm
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NEEPHEID says:
May 31, 2014 at 4:28 pm
9 0 Rate This
From Twitter-
Phil MacGiollaBhain
@Pmacgiollabhain
I am hearing that all of the major players in the RIFC hierarchy
now agree that Murray Park has to go. No Sale & Lease back,
but sold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How does that square with the forthcoming Highlands and North American tours?
============
It should at least make it possible to pay for them. And it might fatally undermine the season ticket boycott as well, if they get a good price.
Talking of boycotts, what has happened to the King across the water? Has he just walked away, leaving Mr Sons of Struth to face the music on his own? Surely King wouldn’t lead his troops to the top of the hill, and then cruelly abandon them. Or would he?
twopanda says:
May 31, 2014 at 5:24 pm
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That could leave them with no football training grounds – where do they train from now on?
Or are they really interested?
—————
Glasgow GREEN???
twopanda says:
May 31, 2014 at 5:24 pm
That could leave them with no football training grounds – where do they train from now on?
Or are they really interested?
==============================
Good question ❗ It’s not just the loss of theoutdoor training areas but all the specialised bits as well. Presumably those can be relocated to Ibrox. I wonder what it would cost to rent adequare training facilities? I suppose we could let them have Westthorn for a small fee but perhaps thery don’t want to benefit from State Aid 😆
It will be interesting to see how long the sale takes when it goes on the market which could be a good indicator of how long they have been putting feelers out to possibly interested parties.
ecobhoy says:
May 30, 2014 at 2:12 pm
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Thinking on the Rangers North America jaunt I wonder – particulalrly in view of the level of clubs involved – whether this could all be a prelude to big moonbeam announcements about their American Academy set-up.
Seems to me that they have already been setting the scene on Bear fan sites with posters warning that the boycotters could lead to Murray Park and Ibrox being lost because STs aren’t being sold.
This for me sets the scenario where the Board can justify the sale of Auchenhowie by blaming it on the rebel supporters. Obviously the Board will raise some dosh and be able to cut costs quite effectively.
So the American Academies will be lauded as the modern way forward with Murray Park an outmoded and now disposable operation. Indeed the American Model after it has been trialled as a test bed will be replicated on a worldwide basis which is great news for the 500 million global support (OK Neepheid 😳 )
The only flaw I see in the system is what is Rangers going to do with all this young talent it’s developing – they certainly are unlikely to get much in the way of first team playing time 🙄
However it will never come to pass but might just prove to be enough of a diversion to justify flogging-off Murray Park which I’m sure will be accompanied by cast-iron or possibly brass-neck assurances that Ibrox is ‘safe’. We’ll see
twopanda says:
May 31, 2014 at 5:24 pm
That could leave them with no football training grounds – where do they train from now on?
Or are they really interested?
==============================
Good question ❗ It’s not just the loss of theoutdoor training areas but all the specialised bits as well. Presumably those can be relocated to Ibrox. I wonder what it would cost to rent adequare training facilities? I suppose we could let them have Westthorn for a small fee but perhaps thery don’t want to benefit from State Aid 😆
It will be interesting to see how long the sale takes when it goes on the market which could be a good indicator of how long they have been putting feelers out to possibly interested parties.
We are all rooting for you Eddiegoldtop. Thanks and best wishes.
ecobhoy says: at 5:46 pm
Yep – and if it happens – perhaps some more watertight `contracts` 😉
Blimey
I take it this never came to anything…
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rangers-hope-to-sell-advertising-space-1503124
😉
Quite astonishing really – MP may close – and not a peep out of the MSM
Billionaires are ok tho :slamb:
ecobhoy says: at 5:45 pm
Seems to me that they have already been setting the scene on Bear fan sites with posters warning that the boycotters could lead to Murray Park and Ibrox being lost because STs aren’t being sold.
__
Effective PR nonsense swallowed entirely is tru Eco – reality check is
– not a question of tickets – that trains going in one direction
They`ve been warned for months – and paid no credit
What can one say
If MP is sold will that once and for all confirm that CW has no case?
Or is he still there lurking in the background amongst the anonymous shareholders?
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
Power to your elbow Eddie!!
Your tenacity has my utmost respect. I will follow your correspondence with the club in question and theirs with Mr Regan’s office with great interest , although with little expectation of a “result” I’m sorry to say……
Lord Wobbly says:
May 31, 2014 at 6:12 pm
I take it this never came to anything…
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rangers-hope-to-sell-advertising-space-1503124
=========================================
I always laugh when I see his Max Bygraves patter line: ‘“I’m a Yorkshireman, I’ve got big hands – God gave them to me so I can grab a lot of money.”
And didn’t he just – well he did warn them 😆
If rumours are true and Rangers do have to sell one of the premier training facilities in the country which would then almost certainly be lost to Scottish football, this is not a cause for celebration. It is a tragedy. Murray park has not produced the number of top quality youth products we would have liked to have seen, but there have been some. It would be a sad day in my opinion if the gates were closed forever.
Like anything else in life, if you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t have it, and the truth is that RIFC can’t afford to have Murray Park AND an expensive team playing at Ibrox. In fact Murray Park was never affordable, it has been a money pit from day one. Just another Murray vanity project, I’m afraid, and finally maybe the Repo men are coming to take it away.
RyanGosling says:
May 31, 2014 at 7:12 pm
If rumours are true and Rangers do have to sell one of the premier training facilities in the country which would then almost certainly be lost to Scottish football, this is not a cause for celebration. It is a tragedy. Murray park has not produced the number of top quality youth products we would have liked to have seen, but there have been some. It would be a sad day in my opinion if the gates were closed forever.
=============================
If a united Rangers Board was all about football then in the current financial climate it makes some sense and might mean that Ibrox can be retained.
However I have little doubt that this Board following the instructions of the anonymous controlling shareholders will sell Ibrox in due course. Whether we have another two share issues remains to be seen but they might be wary about going down that route because of the info that would need to be provided. I think a lot of their professional advsors might just get a trifle antsy about signing-off on various things.
An awful lot depends on how many STs have been sold or will be sold and I have always reckoned that if they don’t get a minimum of 20-25K this current incarnation can’t survive.
What comes next I haven’t a clue but it’s all just looking like groundhog day over and over again.
MSM blackout – doesn’t hide the fact that matters could now quickly accelerate
In war there is confusion – and in confusion there is spiv money to be made
I was going to say `watch out Bears` – but there`s no point.
If rumours are true and Murray Park is sold it may be lost to Scottish football but may still be of benefit to Scottish sport depending on the buyer. MP harks back to the if you spend £5 we will spend £10 pound days and a hard nosed board would have got clear of it a long time ago were it not for the baggage that comes with the club that owns it. There is still no proof that MP is on the market but it would be the sensible play but common sense has been in short supply in this saga.
RyanGosling says:
May 31, 2014 at 7:12 pm
If rumours are true and Rangers do have to sell one of the premier training facilities in the country which would then almost certainly be lost to Scottish football, this is not a cause for celebration. It is a tragedy. Murray park has not produced the number of top quality youth products we would have liked to have seen, but there have been some. It would be a sad day in my opinion if the gates were closed forever.
——————————————
In reality it is only a loss to the players who train there or to management trying to persuade other players to come to Ibrox, it is not a loss to the club as it’s not providing worth. As seen at Celtic and other clubs, they have managed to produce top class players without a facility of that nature.
neepheid says:
May 31, 2014 at 4:28 pm
From Twitter-
Phil MacGiollaBhain
@Pmacgiollabhain
I am hearing that all of the major players in the RIFC hierarchy now agree that Murray Park has to go. No Sale & Lease back, but sold.
———————————————–
Sold? – to whom and at what price?
And in any case if MP is the massive drain on resources that has been suggested the costs are running costs so any savings will be offset by redundancy pay offs and they’ll have to train somewhere which won’t be free….
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again MP may have some potential long term land value but I can’t see any short term gain or frankly much in the way of short term savings (without initial costs being incurred).
So Murray Park (still not renamed), if rumours are true, looks to be jettisoned to raise cash.
So for two years we have been told by all and sundry that you couldn’t get a lot of money for the land as you could only use it for leisure facilities. That was one of the reason given for its cheap valuation when Duff & Phelps sold it to Chas Green.
Now watch the valuation sore to “off the radar” digits with Arab sheiks, billionaires, squillionaires queuing up to fight for this incredible opportunity to buy such an important piece of real estate.
Now I’m not for a minute suggesting that a sale could not be made but will it be an open sale or will it be passed on to a company owned by one of the big shareholders.
When it is sold of course it will mean that the huge drain on resources will be gone however the prestige that went with such a facility will damage the club brand even further.
If a sale does go through I assume there will be a bit of work required by the new owners to make it presentable because, like Ibrox itself, maintenance appears to been lacking for some time. Now this should be reflected in the price paid.
If the facility is bought by a leisure chain then it will not be open from day one. Work will have to be done to remove all references to Rangers otherwise the new owners risk, righty or wrongly, alienating half their client base. There may also be a boycott from ‘The Rangers’ fans as they protest at the sale and refuse to use it. All of this, I’m sure, will be factored into the price by any would be buyer.
It will be interesting to see the asking price for this property which after all was sold for approximately £1.5M just over two years. If, after two years of neglect, the asking price is well over that valuation I’m sure the creditors of the former club will be asking if Duff & Phelps really did the best job for them or were they perhaps working to a different agenda.
Apparently last year the trip by Rangers to the Highlands cost Rangers a fortune. I’ve heard it was all paid for by Brora Rangers. I guess it will be the same this year.
NEEPHEID says:
May 31, 2014 at 7:40 pm
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RyanGosling says:
May 31, 2014 at 7:12 pm
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If rumours are true and Rangers do have to sell
one of the premier training facilities in the
country which would then almost certainly be lost
to Scottish football, this is not a cause for
celebration. It is a tragedy. Murray park has not
produced the number of top quality youth
products we would have liked to have seen, but
there have been some. It would be a sad day in
my opinion if the gates were closed forever.
——————————————–
Like anything else in life, if you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t
have it, and the truth is that RIFC can’t afford to have Murray
Park AND an expensive team playing at Ibrox. In fact Murray
Park was never affordable, it has been a money pit from day
one. Just another Murray vanity project, I’m afraid, and finally
maybe the Repo men are coming to take it away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be fair, I think Murray’s vanity project was the 7* hotel, casino and floating pitches….and Dick Advocaat.
Dick wanted a ‘Murray Park’, but even Sir David couldn’t afford everything, so he opted for the training facility so he could hold onto his Dick.
If Murray Park is to be sold, and of course that is just speculation at this point, then my guess is that it will be very quickly purchased by a mysterious offshore company for 3 or 4 million tops. It’s very hard to argue with that sort of price, which is double what was paid for the property a couple of years ago. I will be very surprised if the property is put on the open market.
I’ve been struck by the way Murray Park has been quietly dropped from the list of demands from the fans’ groups in recent weeks. Maybe Bomber is right, and the deal has already been done.
This could mark the start of the exit strategy, allowing the controlling interests to get out with anything of value, leaving the “Rangers Men” to pick up the pieces. The main question is whether they can hang on to Ibrox. I personally doubt it.
neepheid says:
May 31, 2014 at 9:57 pm
This could mark the start of the exit strategy, allowing the controlling interests to get out with anything of value, leaving the “Rangers Men” to pick up the pieces. The main question is whether they can hang on to Ibrox. I personally doubt it.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I don`t see Ibrox as the biggest asset left
Ownership of the IPO is the real nugget in the bunker
It determines whether the last club left standing has any heritage
If MP has really been sold
And no rich Bears ponies up enough wonga to buy out the Spivs
Then whoever owns the IPO
Can flog Ibrox to Tesco
And still claim to be the inheritors of RFC
so
If we are approaching anything
I dont think its the final final exit strategy
More like
Enter Stage Left…..The Bottom Feeding Spivs
Guys who would be hard pushed to tell you the name of any current player
Or Manager for that matter
People who know how to fatten a thin dime
justshatered says:
May 31, 2014 at 9:27 pm
‘… but will it be an open sale or will it be passed on to a company owned by one of the big shareholders.’
————–
Or, perhaps, to the former majority shareholder of RFC(IL) , who is quietly and steadily enriching his family fortunes by buying- cheaply- some of the constituent elements of MIH , a big company which he also ran into huge financial trouble, according to reports.
If Murray Park was to be lost, it would be interesting to see if that is the one thing that finally sees the various disparate supporter factions putting aside their differences and start fighting on a united front to save what is left of their football club.
Goosy, IPO or IPR?
Scottish football needs a strong Arbroath.
From the D&P Creditors report dated 10/07/12
4.7 As previously reported, the tangible assets of the Club held limited value and as such the sale consideration received represents the perceived future potential of the business to deliver profit.
Asset Realisations
Goodwill £1
The SPL Share £1
The SFA Membership £1
Leashold Interests £1
Player Contracts & Registrations £2,749,990
Stock £1
Subsidiary Companies Share Capital £5
Heritable Properties £1,500,000
Plant & Machinery £1,250,000
That is the breakdown of what the £5.5M purchase price was spent on.
i.e. Ibrox and Murray Park had a COMBINED value of £1.5M
easyJambo says:
May 31, 2014 at 11:10 pm
‘….i.e. Ibrox and Murray Park had a COMBINED value of £1.5M’
————-
” M’lud, we at P&D stress that that valuation was carefully arrived at after much discussion and consultation with property valuers of the same unquestionably and unquestioned high professional standards as we ourselves possess. On a stack of bibles, korans, talmuds, bagavad ghitas, or Sybilline books, we swear that there was no more nod and wink arrangement with big-handed horse-breeding chateaux owners in respect of that valuation than there was with the mysterious appearance of the word ‘Scotland’ in place of the number ‘5088’ on certain sale and purchase documents.We are ( our professional institute has assured us!) in no way ‘conflicted’. We have performed all our statutory duties entirely to our own satisfaction, and that of our accomplic.. strike that!…the creditors of …..”
The patter merchants at the Barras ,and that South African boy from Castlemilk are, I fancy, made to look like inarticulate oafs in comparison with certain Court-appointed ‘Administrators’!
RyanGosling says:
May 31, 2014 at 7:12 pm
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If rumours are true and Rangers do have to sell one of the premier training facilities in the country which would then almost certainly be lost to Scottish football, this is not a cause for celebration. It is a tragedy. Murray park has not produced the number of top quality youth products we would have liked to have seen, but there have been some. It would be a sad day in my opinion if the gates were closed forever.
_______________________________________________
Ryan, you are falling into the SFA / SMSM trap of “RFC/T’Rangers=Scots football”, here I am afraid.
Unlike TRFC, I can’t speak for the whole of Scots football, but the loss of MP hurts ICT not one iota.
Nada. Zip. Trying to think of an occasion where it helped us?
Complete blank.
And there MP goes now… brace…. Nope. Didn’t feel a thing!
It hurts TRFC. No one else.
Because anyone else using it (e.g. SFA) would pay through the nose. And that would help TRFC.
And who knows, if Celtic or Motherwell’s European opponents are forced to train in Newcastle ahead of CL fixtures, that might even HELP Scots football.
Eddiegoldtop says:
May 31, 2014 at 10:24 am
‘.As I have said previously , if we don’t do anything then nothing will happen. If we do something then something might happen…’
————–
And when it is not only ticket-buying fans but significant sponsors of an individual club ,who are asking serious questions, legitimate questions, our Football Administrators will be made to listen.
Successful business men may be happy, for personal, emotional, reasons to sponsor ‘their’ club. But may quite rightly baulk at sponsoring their club if the very concept of ‘sport’ and ‘sporting integrity’ has been cynically abandoned by the people charged with safeguarding that ‘integrity’! What is there then to sponsor? The continuation of rule-bending, rule-breaking, to accommodate this club rather than that one? The perpetual oiling of the revolving door? The readiness to accept the absurdity of the most senior officer in football administration personally benefiting from what may be the biggest and most disgraceful act of football cheatery in Scottish Football and yet remain in post?
Something will indeed happen.
Those in the 6th Floor bunker know this. It is only a matter of time before they will be forced to own up to their disgraceful readiness to sell the soul of Scottish Football for a mess….and not even a mess of pottage, just a bloody mess!
So … are we going to have a scenario where the Union of Fans said to the board “Give us a guarantee that you won’t sell Murray Park and we will buy season tickets”
Then the board say “We sold Murray Park because you didn’t buy season tickets”
If TSFM did irony ………. 😛
Resin_lab_dog says:
May 31, 2014 at 11:50 pm
‘..Ryan, you are falling into the SFA / SMSM trap of “RFC/T’Rangers=Scots football”,’
———-
To be very, very fair to Ryan G, I took the view that his post was a straightforward observation that a ( by all accounts) splendid sports facility , of which there are not all that many, may be lost to housing or some other non-sports related development.
I think I agree with him.
But I can’t see how it could be meaningfully used by the SPFL/ SFA on behalf of ALL clubs.If such use would be possible, I don’t think I would object purely on the grounds that RIFC would get some dosh! Although, of course, if it was bought solely with the aim of bailing out RIFC …….
John Clark says:
June 1, 2014 at 1:25 am
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Resin_lab_dog says:
May 31, 2014 at 11:50 pm
‘..Ryan, you are falling into the SFA / SMSM trap of “RFC/T’Rangers=Scots football”,’
———-
To be very, very fair to Ryan G, I took the view that his post was a straightforward observation that a ( by all accounts) splendid sports facility , of which there are not all that many, may be lost to housing or some other non-sports related development.
I think I agree with him.
But I can’t see how it could be meaningfully used by the SPFL/ SFA on behalf of ALL clubs.If such use would be possible, I don’t think I would object purely on the grounds that RIFC would get some dosh! Although, of course, if it was bought solely with the aim of bailing out RIFC …….
_______________________________________________
We can’t afford it.
Kids from the favelas have managed without for decades.
The same results can be achieved more cheaply.
Scot’s football needs the best facilities it can afford. But no better than that.
MP is part of the 5 star hotel excess. A triumph of ego over affordability.
The RFC(RIP) way things were done.
And if Rangers had been playing by the same financial rules as everyone else for the past 2 decades, Auchenhowie would be a golf course, or flats, or a retail park. It simply would not be the training facility that it is today.
Because – again simply- they couldn’t have afforded it either!! They couldn’t and weren’t able to anyway. This is now a matter of historical fact, rather than subjective opinion. It is unarguable.
Resin_lab_dog says:
June 1, 2014 at 1:42 am
‘.We can’t afford it.’
—————–
You’re probably right, because the facilities could not in practice be made available on a daily training basis to more than a couple of clubs on a shared time basis.I accept that.
The mess that is the club/company in Govan will carry on negatively affecting Scottish football until the day they are no longer there. There seems to be an anxiety to retain at all costs which to my mind, is nuts.
We all enjoyed going to a favourite restaurant but if that restaurant cannot afford to pay its bills, it pays off debts to the best of their ability and closes up. WHY didn’t this happen to this football club? I think we know the answer which brings me back to my original statement.
It is a blight and the best possible scenario would be to close up shop, sell what’s there and pay off creditors. This should have been done two years ago and with the loyal support, this cannot be questioned, build from the bottom with a name with connotations to the old but different, Govan cIty or something like that.
The entity has been poison to Scottish football and the sooner it’s gone, the better for all concerned it will be. Start in the local park, free from spivs and charlatans. Build a new untainted model and Scottish football will no doubt welcome you with open arms. A little apprehensive possibly but in time this new entity will be another club and no doubt welcomed by most.
The Bears are coming out of hibernation and finally asking questions http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/scotland/27651399
Fisiani says:
June 1, 2014 at 5:27 am
The Bears are coming out of hibernation and finally asking questions http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/scotland/27651399
———————————–
Have the ‘Union of season ticket’ bears made an equivalent announcement to say how many season tickets-worth of money they have gathered?
Will the next big news from Ibrox occur while the World Cup preoccupies people’s minds or when Glasgow de-populates for the holidays? It’s all gone very quiet, except for the SoS people — and their communication with ‘the board’ has now become a monologue.
Is Graham off checking out property in France?
REDLICHTIE says,
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
————————————————————
Lichties FYI , your beloved Arbroath were a team I formerly sponsored in the 90’s.
Is Sye Webster still running about that neck of the woods ?
Re Murray Park. I believe it is a valid question to ask if this facility has ever actually been properly paid for. A number of years ago David Murray absorbed £50M of debt attributed to Rangers into other areas of his company. It is a matter of record his company remains deeply in debt to the bank. I know it will be paid for in the sense the contractors will have been settled but is a bank supported by the Government actually carrying the tab?
As for the facility potentially disappearing, I really don’t seen why that would matter to anyone at all not of a Rangers persuasion. Sh*t happens, and they will simply have to find somewhere else to train. However, I’d never rule out the facility as it stands being taken over by a public body and used as some type of Centre of Excellence for the wider community, with Rangers paying a rental to use it for training. Clearly the Scottish Government deemed it to be in the public interest to keep a football entity playing out of Ibrox, so they would have little problem justifying the continuation of an excellent sporting facility being made available for use to the wider public.
In reading the above BBC article I was struck by the following statement:
“Wallace has been adamant that Rangers International Football Club will not fall into administration.”
Now that is the first time I am aware of that distinction being reported. Did someone clarify? When RIFC recovers assets in lieu of monies owed, it will be solvent. However, to remain so it will need to jettison its loss making sporting subsidiary and continue to focus on its core property business. That’s the obligation the directors have to their shareholders.
gamesabogey says:
June 1, 2014 at 8:40 am
A very important point and distinction. I don’t think I can remember any terms being used previously other than amorphouse ones vis: ‘The Club’ and ‘Rangers’.
The original anonymous overseas shareholders – some who may or may not benefit from perpetual onerous contracts – won’t ditch them. They might sell them on but they won’t rely on them continuing through TRFCL.
Seems to me that any such contracts would legally be much safer if they were with with RIFC and that held all the property assets.
Obviously if TRFCL joined its previous ‘cousin’ in liquidation then the options are either a sale and lease of Ibrox as a football operation or, failing any takers, simply selling the site. Eitrher way money is raised.
But one thing’s for sure and that’s that spivs don’t flog a dead horse – they sell it on long before the horrendous vet expenses to keep it on life support kick-in. And long before the final collection and disposal costs of the knackers yard have to be met.
gamesabogey says:
June 1, 2014 at 8:40 am
1 0 Rate This
In reading the above BBC article I was struck by the following statement:
“Wallace has been adamant that Rangers International Football Club will not fall into administration.”
=============
Clever wording by Wallace, to pull the wool over the bears’ eyes. There has never been any suggestion that RIFC could go into administration. It is simply a holding company, owning shares in TRFC and doing nothing else. All the external debt lies with TRFC. When the cash runs out, it is TRFC that goes into administration. RIFC will just collect as much as they can salvage from the wreckage in satisfaction of the £16m plus of IPO money that has been handed to TRFC and then blown in the most spectacular fashion. You really have to assume that a lot of that £16m has already found its way back to the majority shareholders, otherwise the strategy of the last two years just makes no sense at all.
Wallace’s main responsibility is to the shareholders of RIFC. In any other sphere of business, he would have put the loss-making subsidiary into administration just to stop the cash drain.
But this is football, different rules apply- apparently.However I just can’t see how Wallace can meet his responsibilities to shareholders, and keep the football side going, at the same time. TRFC can never turn in a profit as currently configured. So why keep it going? I’m clearly missing something here.
upthehoops says:
June 1, 2014 at 8:34 am
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with the point you are making. But with the current squeeze on local government expenditure I just don’t see this happening.
If it did it would be in a very emasculated form with all of the very expensive specialist services stripped-out. Possibly the SFA could set-up a scheme whereby clubs – at all levels – with no such facilities or current access to them could use Auchenhowie.
Obviously Rangers – like any other team – could book time and pay the rental fee but I doubt if the surfaces would hold-up to one of the major reasons that Murray Park was opened. It was of course to provide an exact replica of the Ibrox Turf so that all the training moves would transfer seamlessly to Ibrox.
I assume that they keep moving the ‘target spot’ for the big punt up the park so as to preserve the hallowed blue grass 😈
At the end of the day I think Auchenhowie might have a use as a commercial sports training facility at a push and of course it could easily be land-banked by a developer for future building. But I don’t actually see it raising a lot of dosh although there are others who might have a better idea on that aspect.
Murray Park sold(?) and another two fingers to the creditors. Not that sly wee get it up yeh behind the back but a right in yer face nah nah na nah nah .” We’re a different club now…….. apart from the ……..eh…..stadium, the team, the badge, the stars, the fans, the bike, the players, the manager, the morals. Yip, we’re a brand new club now so sorry guys, it wisnae us. Best of luck and thanks for the support you showed us ..I mean them…in the past “
Presumably the first half million form any sale of Murray Park will go to the Sports Council or will the mortgage be sold alongside the property again?
I think the scope of this gambit could be wider. Pure speculation mind as I don`t know. An open sale could flush out the contingent liability – clearing the decks for Ibrox. But it could be a double sided coin. The contingent liability could remain dormant – and at a later date action possibly reclaim the value of the sale [and possibly damages] from the `sellers`.
But who knows – nothing definitive on anything made public.
Some `wild gossip` [and it is rumour on an LSE `blog`]
http://www.lse.co.uk/SharePrice.asp?shareprice=RFC&share=RANGERS_INT
There was a comment earlier on (apologies I can’t remember who) about the benefits of Murray Park to the wider Scottish Football community. Now while players did not make their way through to the first team at Ibrox they did go on to have careers at other clubs, sometimes in Scotland.
That is the nature of these complexes, to nurture talent, hopefully for your own club, but ultimately the game as a whole. Charlie Mulgrew is a perfect example. I think he only played one or two first team games for Celtic as a kid. Perhaps his attitude was wrong, perhaps he was a late developer but for whatever reason he went south, came back to Aberdeen and ultimately ended up back at Celtic.
Now whether Mulgrew would have arrived at Celtic if he had came through a youth set up at another club is open to debate but the fact that if more players are at least given the opportunity to train and progress in the game then surely it is the game itself that benefits.
Players from teams in the top half of the Premiership who fail to make the grade are loaned or sold to other clubs. Players who fail to make it for the teams in the bottom half end up in the Championship and so on.
That’s the sport bit over with but, like in all things sporting nowadays, there is the financial side of the house to consider. Another aspect of the training academies is to generate income for the club to re-invest in the venture or the club as a whole. When the very existence of a club is at stake, and there are hard choices to be made, something simply has to give. The fact that Murray Park seems to be taking huge amounts to run must also be factored into the equation.
It is almost like a patient with a diseased limb. Is the limb sacrificed to save the patient or is the disease allowed to spread until the patient is beyond hope.
I once made a comment about the club eating itself from the inside.
This could actually be the start of this process however if you continue to live under the illusion that money is of no concern then ultimately the grim reaper will show up and his scythe cuts deep.
Re MP
I’m sure East Dunbartonshire Council would not have the funds to buy the facility and with the Allander only 5 mins along the road it wouldn’t make sense. If they could however sell the ground the Allander is on for housing (which has been mooted) then it may provide funds to upgrade MP. If there isn’t space for a swimming pool it would be a non starter. If bought by a private sports company offering top range football and/or other sporting facilities could it make money ? Sevco could of course rent it during the day on annual basis and the public evening and weekends. Not sure there is even enough parking space at MP so what happens to it is the million dollar question. I’ve just had a thought, the SFA will buy it 🙂
The recent disgraceful personal attacks on the MP Margaret Curran are a new low for the Land Bears
The attacks have a sinister sectarian element to them and smack of being organised by someone with a massive chip on their shoulder, at the improvements in and around Celtic Park.
The latest plan of action is recruiting a member of UKIP Scotland with the hope of moving the ‘scandal’ into the mainstream.
The problem for Celtic here is that the longer they remain silent the bolder the land bears become, I know Celtic made a statement when the EC announced they were investigating state aid claims against the club and Glasgow City Council but surely the club needs to take legal action against these morons
chancer67 says:
June 1, 2014 at 10:46 am
8 1 Rate This
The recent disgraceful personal attacks on the MP Margaret Curran are a new low for the Land Bears
The attacks have a sinister sectarian element to them ……………..
I think I have missed this . Who is the UKIP person? I did see someone who obviously doesn’t get irony has had a go at her on a blog he/she has set up called “football tax havens” or something similarly ridiculous for a follower of RFC(IL) to set up.
The sale of Murray Park would make so much sense, even if they don’t make a lot from the sale itself. Regardless of any loss to football in general, neither of the clubs to have played out of Ibrox has any great track record of bringing through talent; for RFC/TRFC it has been a failure. TRFC have no viable scouting system, so how are they going to find the raw talent to utilise MP, even if it was providing value for money. Murray Park can only be a (very) long term project that, if it continues to burn money at it’s current rate, will kill the club before it sees a return. It’s biggest value to TRFC is as a connection between the old and the new club, and that connection, as has often been muted, is part of the WATP mentality that is suffocating the current incumbent of the Rangers’ mantel.
But…sell Murray Park and the mantel starts to get lifted. Many of the bears who haven’t renewed STs will see it as justification for their actions and the sense of Rangersness throughout the support will begin to wain. There will be a realisation that the pipe dream of challenging Celtic will be no more a reality for TRFC than it is for Aberdeen, Dundee United, and all other clubs already in the Premiership. Should the realisation begin to bite into the support, and I can’t see how it wouldn’t, any return to the stock market will be hampered by the reduced crowds as any potential return on investment would be reduced (being kind to suggest there might, at present, be a potential return). And imagine what would happen to the support if any austerity measures impacted on the team, and results and performances were not up to the Rangers’ standard! In short, the dominoes would be falling. And even if my scenario doesn’t come to pass, and TRFC flourish without MP? One day, to actually mount that challenge, they will again need a top quality training facility, quite desperately. They will then have the dilemma of spending money that might well be required to finance the squad and facing the ire of the fans again…
Even more speculation on my part…
It was raised by someone earlier that a successful sale might indicate that CW has dropped his claim against the assets. I wonder if it might not be the case that MP is either being sold to raise the cash to pay him off, or it is being sold (for, say, £1) to CW’s latest venture.
On the other hand, imagine if Murray Park was sold to a farmer to graze… :slamb: :slamb: :slamb: :slamb: and so became a recreation ground for SMSM churnalists 😀
Genuine spurt out mouthful of tea moment. Page 10 in the Sun today
The boomin’ league
How the championship will be good for the Scottish game
By Neil Patey, football finance expert
If Neil Patey ever decides to put his musings together as a one man show at the Edinburgh festival, he’s guaranteed at least one ticket sale to me. To maintain such a high standard of comedic writing over such an extended period is to be applauded, and deserves a wider audience.
Just to get away from the MP debate for a second, I was having a wee think about Doncaster’s ‘We negotiated as best we could in the absence of Rangers/We cacked ourselves and grabbed the first handful of magic beans offered to us’ explanation of the TV deal, and frankly, I now find myself getting slightly angry about how little value is placed on our football by the one person who is supposed to promote it to the hilt.
We’ve all seen Stevie the St Johnstone’s fans analysis of how poorly our TV deal compares to others in Europe, in relation to crowd numbers. However, as appreciated as his analysis was, I don’t even think you have to go that in depth.
In simple terms, if an SPFL football channel had been set up, and charged £15 a month subscription, even with as little as 100,000 subscribers (the viewing figure that the least high profile games generally get with Sky/BT), and even if every one of those viewers terminated their deal during the close season, you’d still be pulling in £15 million in TV money, WHICH IS STILL BETTER THAN THE CURRENT £13 MILLION MINUS THE RANGERS SUBSIDY!!!!!!!
I think more realistically, you’d be looking at at least a half million subsribers, which would result in 75 million a season. I accept that there will be set up costs, and on going costs, so the actual figure would be a little lower, but come on, I’m not that far off, surely? I’d even go as far as to say half a million would be on the conservative side.
chancer67 says:
June 1, 2014 at 10:46 am
The recent disgraceful personal attacks on the MP Margaret Curran are a new low for the Land Bears
The attacks have a sinister sectarian element to them and smack of being organised by someone with a massive chip on their shoulder, at the improvements in and around Celtic Park.
The latest plan of action is recruiting a member of UKIP Scotland with the hope of moving the ‘scandal’ into the mainstream.
The problem for Celtic here is that the longer they remain silent the bolder the land bears become, I know Celtic made a statement when the EC announced they were investigating state aid claims against the club and Glasgow City Council but surely the club needs to take legal action against these morons.
==================================
I was wondering when you would publicise the latest Land Bear Campaign as you have done so often in the past.
As I have frequently pointed out to you in PMs you probably do more than anyone else to draw attention to those involved and their insane campaign.
I have explained to you in more detail than I actually post publicly as to why it is better to ignore the utter nonsense with a decided sectarian slant that is peddled by the so-called Land Experts.
I have made a number of posts where I have thought it useful to destroy the ‘facts’ advanced by this rather sad but bitter group of people. They have learnt from this and no longer advance ‘facts’ but an absolute mish-mash of rumour, distortion and innuendo based on a hatred of Celtic and all that it stands for.
There was no need for you to name the MP and in doing so you are helping the vicious campaign being waged and I have repeatedly made this point to you.
As to legal action being taken by Celtic – again as I have pointed out they have answered the ludicrous allegations of illegal State Aid and provided the necessary evidence to the EC and until that body comes to a decision I wouldn’t expect Celtic to issue any further statement.
Why should Celtic pay the slightest attention to a twisted loon-ball and a couple of demented mates fighting a fantasy war from their bedrooms while their football club collapses in flames around them.
As usual in the latest garbage they have resorted to their normal bully-boy tactics against office staff and receptionists with email/telephone campaigns.
This is the element of the Rangers support that is driving decent Bears away from their club – they don’t want to be associated with those who are trying to import alien politics to Scotland and I’m not talking about Ukip on this one. Be interesting to see if anyone there is daft enough to get into bed with them but I reckon they’ll be left – as usual – with political support solely from predictable Ulster politicians or members of the Rangers Supporters Club in the HoC 😆
As to the MP currently under attack for simply carrying out her duties as a constituency MP I have no doubt that she is way more than capable of seeing-off the anonymous internet campaign.
Throughout this Land Bear comedy the most important question asked repeatedly of anyone thought to be an ‘enemy’ is: Do they support Celtic; Do they have a season ticket for Parkhead; Are they a Celtic shareholders; and are any of their family any of the aforementioned. They are obviously obsessed with Celtic and its success on every front.
These people are living in the past and every day that passes they become part of a disappearing history as – like Sunday Post readers – they simply die-off.
These will not be the people required to build a new Rangers which hopefully will earn its place in Scottish Football based on sporting merit and with no outmoded psychoses that they have any right to win or are any better supporters than those at any other club – no matter the level – anywhere else in Scotland.
Shooperb says:
June 1, 2014 at 12:00 pm
In simple terms, if an SPFL football channel had been set up, and charged £15 a month subscription, even with as little as 100,000 subscribers (the viewing figure that the least high profile games generally get with Sky/BT), and even if every one of those viewers terminated their deal during the close season, you’d still be pulling in £15 million in TV money, WHICH IS STILL BETTER THAN THE CURRENT £13 MILLION MINUS THE RANGERS SUBSIDY!!!!!!!
===============
I remember when this was proposed, maybe 3 years ago, and it seemed a certainty to go ahead at one point. The advantages are enormous- no more negotiations, for a start, and much less impact on kick-off times, hopefully.
Can anyone help with the costs side of this idea? Would the SPFL have to provide the equipment, the cameramen, the sound equipment, etc? Or would all that be contracted out? On the income side, would the SPFL be able to sell the advertising slots before, after, and at half-time? If so, that could be another fair chunk of income.
andygraham.66 says:
June 1, 2014 at 11:35 am
Genuine spurt out mouthful of tea moment. Page 10 in the Sun today
The boomin’ league
How the championship will be good for the Scottish game
By Neil Patey, football finance expert
============================================
Perhaps some of our accountants could clarify but surely there is nothing different about football finances compared to the finances of other organisations. Income, outgoings, turnover, profit, loss, debt is surely not a black art when related to a football club. Which brings me to ask what makes Mr Patey a ‘football finance expert’ compared to any other accountant?’
Perhaps it would be better if such articles said ‘…by Neil Patey, the accountant who says what Rangers fans and their media backers want to hear’.
Congrats to Hamilton Caley Thistle for lifting the league cup and winning the B league. They beat the winners of the A league in the final and take on Kilsyth next Sunday in the regional… Johnnie, the Kilsyth striker is a talent, he broke two of my ribs this season, my big captain and he full pelt jostling for the ball me on the side to cushion his blow… Ah the precarious days of a coach…Under 15s but some of these boys, mine included could play U21..Hope for the future, some great teams out there some great talent even out of pro-youth…Good luck to them all…
Shout out to all the coaches of youth football whose enthusiasm, optimism, dedication to giving young guys a game of fitba’ and a good life experience free of charge, is second to none…. Kudos..!
scottc says:
June 1, 2014 at 9:50 am
Presumably the first half million form any sale of Murray Park will go to the Sports Council or will the mortgage be sold alongside the property again?
================================
Not sure what you mean by ‘mortgage’. The £500K charge on Murray Park relates to the Sports Council funding – from Lottery money IIRC – because there was to be limited public access. How much public access was actually provided though?
JimBhoy says:
June 1, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Shout out to all the coaches of youth football whose enthusiasm, optimism, dedication to giving young guys a game of fitba’ and a good life experience free of charge, is second to none…. Kudos..!
===========================
@JimBhoy
I’m recommending you for a place on the Rangerrs Narsa tour to help Ally spot some talent 😎
The statement by the Ayr Chairman in full at
http://www.ayrunitedfc.co.uk/to-our-support/
covers all that is unfair in how delinquent clubs are treated.
It is added to by this article by Joe McHugh on Video Celts and copied below.
Supporters of League One clubs are again feeling the effect of the football authorities relaxed views on administration and liquidation.
Clubs can shred all of their debts in exchange for a 15 point deduction while liquidation comes with an invite into the second tier for a newco or place in the bottom division where they can act like the oldco mounting new debt with the club owners kept a closely guarded secret. No audited accounts are required.
A few months after agreeing a CVA Dunfermline have been cherry picking the best players in League One raiding Ayr United, Stranraer and Airdrie United for new recruits.
While those clubs live within their means they must be wondering why they don’t burst the bank to hold onto players knowing that the worst footballing punishment is a 15 point deduction.
Last season Michael Moffat scored 27 goals for Ayr United, despite suffering an SFA ban for betting on football matches, but next season he’ll be wearing the black and white of Dunfermline.
Wages of around £700 a week have been suggested, alongside a welcoming signing on fee, which his old club couldn’t begin to compete with without screwing creditors.
Ayr chairman Lachlan Cameron didn’t miss the target when he was asked about the economics and morals of the move saying: “We were all disappointed to lose Michael period, never mind to a competitor, but the fact is there was no way we would be able to compete with the financial package they put on the table for him.
“It baffles me how a team, that a year ago were on the brink of extinction with no assets and debts far outweighing any reasonable chance of getting out of, can offer such a rewarding package to a single player.
“There was no way, given our goal of playing within the financial fair play rules, that we would have been able to match it and still put together a supporting cast behind him.
“With the catalogue of teams that have gone into administration or out of the game in the last eight years, it disappoints me that there seems to be no real consequences for financial misbehaviour.
“If I had no moral compass, I would suggest that Ayr United should screw the creditors, tax payers and everyone else and end up debt free with a shiny bank balance.
“It may be viewed as a fault by some, but I am unwilling to play the game that way.”
In 2012 following the administration and liquidation of Rangers the SPL changed their rules to inflict a penalty of one third of the previous season’s points penalty on a club rather than the 10 point deduction.
The merger with the SFL saw the penalty for first time administration become 15 points with a 25 point penalty for a second administration.
As well as Moffat Dunfermline have signed Gregor Buchanan from Airdrie United and Andy Stirling from Stranraer.
After signing Stirling Dunfermline boss Jim Jefferies said: “I told the board that we are looking for a central defender, two strikers and a wide player. I have got one striker and the central defender and we are close to getting another player. That’s all we want.
“If we get the other boys that we have targeted we will have strengthened well. We are very comfortably off in midfield and I am happy with the rest of the boys.”
In May 2012, between the administration and liquidation of Rangers, Neil Doncaster openly encouraged clubs to dump their debt saying: “Clubs can theoretically shed £100m of debt, agree a CVA at a penny in the pound and come back in with all that debt shed. Clubs can do that now within the rules.
“Oddly enough you might end up with more money going to creditors through the newco route than through a CVA.”
Doncaster added: “In Scotland we have never had a newco at any time but in England, whenever a club goes into administration, a newco is the natural consequence.
“So the likes of Crystal Palace recently and Plymouth in the last few years took their points deduction for going into administration but in terms of coming out the newco was the preferred route.
“Clubs continue over a course of many, many years. The fact that those clubs happen to exist within several different corporate structures over the period of their life frankly doesn’t seem to concern people south of the border.”
For Doncaster’s benefit a newco isn’t the natural consequence when a club goes into administration. A newco comes to life when a club is liquidated.
After last year’s fiasco in League One it seems that the same supporters are paying money in which it is clear every club that lives with it’s means and pays HMRC are being disadvantaged.
In England Orient chief Barry Hearn is scathing about the treatment of club’s using administration to obtain success without paying their dues.
In 2010 commenting on the administration of Portsmouth Hearn said: “Clubs that spend more money than they can afford, that go into administration, have been guilty of cheating, nothing less. ‘They are fielding a team they couldn’t afford to field in a level playing field situation.
“It is a horrible thing to say because no one wants to be accused of cheating, but we have allowed a system within football to evolve where clubs are almost incentivised to gamble.
“They are gambling with the future of their club and they are gambling with the future of the game. ‘In June, at the chairman’s conference, I am proposing a rule change. ‘I am saying that any club that goes into administration should be relegated two divisions.
“It is draconian as a penalty but it has to be. We have to show the world we have the ability of governance, that we are not prepared to put up with cheating at any level.”
Four years after Hearn’s attempts to properly punish clubs that go into administration First Division supporters in Scotland are still being cheated.
By Joe McHugh
I think it is a good thing that a groundswell requiring FFP in the Scottish league is beginning to grow in smaller clubs because it is their votes that will be needed for change to happen.
In the Video Celts article there is a mention of current arrangement giving clubs an incentive to gamble.
That happened at Rangers in 2008 when rather than make provision for the potential liability from the Big Tax Case Sir David Murray took a punt on getting at CL money.
That is something that FFP would discourage but only if it is policed by honest governors who since 2011 have not only aided and abetted in the cover up but seem he’ll bent on maintaining the incentive.
Why is Scottish football so reluctant to even look at introducing FFP principles in Scotland or would that scupper TRFC ‘ s chances, particularly with Hearts and Hibs in the same division next season, of a quick rise into the top tier?
If I were the latter I would be laying down a marker with the SPFL and SFA.(unless of course they are drawn into taking the same punt which begs the question just how honest will therace to the top be next season.
I see trouble ahead, honestly, or am I mistaken?
neepheid says:
June 1, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Can anyone help with the costs side of this idea? Would the SPFL have to provide the equipment, the cameramen, the sound equipment, etc? Or would all that be contracted out? On the income side, would the SPFL be able to sell the advertising slots before, after, and at half-time? If so, that could be another fair chunk of income.
==================================
The costs have already all been done when IMG were the consultants to the SPL 3-years-ago – the deal which was mysteriously ditched despite the clubs voting for it. I still can’t find the CF emails on that shady episode. If anything costs will have reduced because of technology advances.
The SPFL just don’t have the in-house expertise to even set this up let alobe run it and it would cost a fortune to establish it.
They would probably need to contract it out – perhaps to IMG. But as noted in the Rangers AIM Prospectus back in 2012 IMG apparently held the rights to SFL games – do they still have rights to anything?
Auldheid says:
June 1, 2014 at 12:41 pm
An excellent piece from Auldheid combining the Ayr United Chairman thoughts and a response from Video Celts.
Piece by Gordon Waddell in the DR also worth a read but it looks as though the Ayr United Epistle to the SFA is still a giant step too far for the SMSM to digest.
A year too late Gordon – pity there was no comment about a toothless CO before his re-election. Still I suppose we creep forward 🙁
Gordon Waddell: Under fire clubs should follow the lead of Roy MacGregor
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-waddell–under-fire-3632520
Apart from public funding which is a shame I don’t see what the fuss is about Murray Park. A Championship team can get by perfectly well without such a facility as can, and do, most Premiership clubs. End of.