It gets dafter and dafter. It is just over a year since the ridiculous and embarrassing – but failed – attempts by those in charge of Scottish Football to blackmail the SFL clubs and force them to parachute the shiny new Rangers into the SFL First Division.
A year where the new era of “transparency” heralded by a huge drum roll, gave way to secret agreements (which were never adhered to); panic-stricken measures to rush through change in the structure of the game without ANY delay or meaningful consultation – despite a hitherto intransigent approach to any kind of change; non-denial denials of the charge that Rangers were given a football licence without due process.
By the way, the SFA sent an official to an SPL Tribunal with a new convoluted interpretation of a rule which had been used to penalise clubs in the past, and ignored compelling evidence that one club had been economical with the truth on matters regarding banned directors when submitting their application for membership.
I could go on of course, but the incredulity bar is lowered with each ridiculous, contorted and corrupt episode, so that by the time we get to the claims made by several sources that Charles Green was in league with Craig Whyte when he bought some of the old club’s assets, we hardly blink an eye that the SFA appear content to accept the outcome of an internal inquiry ordered by the organisation most likely to be disadvantaged if the claims were true.
Whatever RTC was about, and it was about avarice, corporate malfeasance, theft of public money and the destruction of the integrity of competition in the game, we have moved on from there.
Even if the powers in charge of our game are forced to dispense proper justice in the case of both old Rangers and the new club, there appears to be little prospect that they will have done so because of a Damascene conversion in the ways of sporting integrity, fairness and Corinthianism. They will still be corrupt – just corrupt and bad at it. I am convinced that people have left the game in some numbers this season because of their disgust at the handling of the Rangers fiasco. I see no evidence at all that those people who voted with their feet last year will see a reason to change their tune this time around.
Whatever Rangers were guilty of, there is a general understanding of why they did what they did. They wanted to win – to be the best, and they pushed the envelope as far as they could before tearing the thing up altogether. What they did was 100% in their own self interest. It stinks, but at least it is logical.
What the authorities have done on the other hand is far more gobsmackingly illogical and unintuitive. They have acted in the interest of one club to the continued disadvantage of eleven others (in the case of the SPL, UEFA licences and player registration). They acted against the interests of new aspirants to senior football, and in concert with the interest of just one when they shoehorned Sevco (that’s what they were called then) into the SFL Third Division. I am sure they did that in the belief that a full season of no football at Ibrox would probably kill forever the cash cow that Green and his cohorts were fattening up for slaughter.
Despite the punishment that was accepted by Sevco (the transfer embargo), the SFA have stood by whilst the spirit of that sanction (although admittedly not the letter) was ripped up in their (still silent and impassive) faces as the MSM spun a market day frenzy of transfer activity by a club who were ostensibly proscribed from participating in that market.
Of course there are those who do not want to believe that their club, one of the forty-one good guys, is complicit in this nonsense – and yet ALL of our clubs ARE the SFA or the SPFL. Despite this catalogue of shameful inaction, sabotage and double-dealing, not one voice of dissent emanating from any of our clubs has been heard in print or broadcast media. Instead, huge pay increases and votes of thanks to the bureaucrats who acted out the farce authored by their masters, the clubs.
Is this because they (the clubs) are in agreement with what has transpired? I find it impossible to come to any other conclusion.
There are those who argue compellingly that if clubs, especially those who have a history of rivalry with Rangers tinged with some rancour, were to speak out, the press would have a field day; that allegations of bigotry and Rangers-hating would ensue from the MSM which would wind up the otherwise reasonable chaps who support Rangers.
In my view, if the situation is thus, then we are saying that we all have to keep our thoughts to ourselves, know our place and just take what scraps we get. If fear of violent retribution is the trump card here, then the trick for success in Scottish Football is not to have the most feared football team, but the group of fans which fills others with most dread. That is the death of the game – period.
What crystallises itself for me here is this fear factor. Anonymity has been carefully protected by most of us on this blog for exactly the reasons outlined above. Our desire to remain anonymous has been strengthened by the failure of authority, jointly AND severally, to itself stand up for the sport. The key from day one has been fear. Fear and corruption, which is merely a microcosm of the life in our country.
Whether it’s the media ignoring the wrongdoings of a football club, or a corrupt political system where for £40m donation you can get yourself £400m in tax breaks, we see those with resources pissing all over us from a very prodigious height. And when we do find out about it, we are cautioned to be very afraid of taking any action. Afraid of terrorism, afraid of unemployment, afraid of the mob.
I find myself resigned to the realisation that no matter WHAT evidence is uncovered, it will make absolutely no difference to anyone unless Joe Public keeps his hands in his pockets. People in boardrooms all over the country are betting that football fans are too emotionally invested in their clubs to do so.
The cheats, the spivs and the blazers will in the short and medium term get their own way, many of them aware of the fact that they are not quite as equal as others – and yet happy to go along with that.
We all have to decide whether or not we are as content as they are.
Suspecting as I do that most of us will find that unacceptable, I think there is still a war to be won, even if the battles seem to be going against us time and again. As long as we continue to feel that sense of outrage, that sense of betrayal by the custodians of our sport, we will still be shouting from these pages.
Thanks to the generosity and commitment of our readers, the shouting is about to get louder. We have reached our funding target and we hope to start organising our Podcasts within the next few weeks. The fight goes on, but hopefully it will also have greater reach.
TSFM
Good post – even if it does confirm how frustrated many of us are – when we still can’t observe any behavioural changes at the SFA / SPFL – or even at club level.
What has to happen for the authorities and clubs to push for real change – starting with honesty and transparency, (and not just meaningless bullet points in a glossy presentation) ?
Looks like things are going to get a lot worse in Scottish football before anything does in fact change for the better.
The SMSM have the power to change things for the good of all in the turbulent and distressing world of Scottish football. They choose not to. They’re not the only ones with the gift of choice.
Rightly, or wrongly, it is often argued that what sets us apart from the animal kingdom is that humans have a highly developed and inquisitive brain with the capacity for abstract reasoning/lateral thinking; communication either by vocal language or alternative mediums and problem solving to conclusion. Also often cited is the human capability of making fire and fanning it whilst keeping it controlled and productive.
Further offerings include the ability to blush; the desire to abide in and uphold a society governed by agreed and accepted laws; the ability to propagate and embrace morals and ethics; the ability to appreciate virtues in others especially honesty, and last for this post, but by no means the least, the ability to harbour a conscience.
Now whether you agree or disagree with the above could you do me the favour of reflecting on it for a couple of minutes and then tell me, in your opinion… which side of the divide do the SMSM belong?
DAFT AND DAFTER
JULY 16, 2013 BY TSFM
“… Of course there are those who do not want to believe that their club, one of the forty-one good guys, is complicit in this nonsense – and yet ALL of our clubs ARE the SFA or the SPFL. Despite this catalogue of shameful inaction, sabotage and double-dealing, not one voice of dissent emanating from any of our clubs has been heard in print or broadcast media. Instead, huge pay increases and votes of thanks to the bureaucrats who acted out the farce authored by their masters, the clubs.
Is this because they (the clubs) are in agreement with what has transpired? I find it impossible to come to any other conclusion…”
————–
Possibly a bit harsh to tar all 42 with the same brush? A number of the lower-division clubs seem to have been railroaded into the SPFL.
I reckon the fear factor you speak of is perpetuated by the sports journalists who act as propagandists. The reporters in the print and broadcast media who do not report are at the root of the problem – in that a huge number of people still hang on their every word. But when people realise their watchdog doesn’t bark in the face of danger, they’ll find another, and that’s where the new media, hopefully, is coming into its own. Anyway, if newspapers that are bent on dumbing down, both themselves and their readers, go to the wall, it’s no big loss.
Considering this blog is still something of a niche concept, existing on the fringes of public awareness the DoS that shut the blog down earlier, if not just plain vandalism, is perhaps a badge of honour. Well done TSFM getting the site restored. Any way to trace the actual source or instigator of the attack?
Good post TSFM – why did I have to re-register to be able to comment?
Test
Great post 🙂
Ignore everything,stay silent and wait until it all passes over. That is the MO of the SFA and the SMSM. Meanwhile the fans that are lost to the game for all time are a mere irrelevance. In fact it would seem that all fans are an irrelevance. All that seems to matters is the existance of a team from Govan that ‘The Peepil’ can hang their collective Boggited cap on. As for social unrest, this was put forth by the SFA in this instance in a thinly veiled threat to bully all and sundry into accepting that their inept and corrupt actions to save a footballing dinosaur were in the best interest of all us poor fans who just did not understand the magnitude of events.
Until we the proper people who really do matter here have a louder voice then the corruption will not cease. TSFM have, in my opinion, a huge part to play in ensuring that everyone in the country and beyond are left in no doubt as to the depth that the corruption within the governance of our game has plummeted too. I look forward to the podcast taking the revelations unearthed here by the many learned posters to a whole new audience. This is just the begining.
Well done all on TSFM….cannot wait till the spoken word is heard…..and Stranraer FC voted correctly when asked..
Welcome back.
A wee shock to my system last night.I suppose an attack on the site should be taken as a compliment.
I’d like to think that there’s maybe something about to break that someone didn’t want us to discuss but we’re playing a long game here.
WRT the SFA/SPFL,nothing will happen until we suffer a cataclysmic event,maybe a second failure of Rangers before these folk will brought to account.Even then,they’ll only react to save their own skin and not for the good of the game.
Insightful and hard hitting.
Bang on the money and better than anything appearing in paid for media.
I think we can also usefully add the role of our elected politicians and also suggest two words to sum up where we are.
Complicity and intimidation.
The complicity means those involved have somehow become an unholy alliance who now need to cover their own and each other’s tracks.
The intimidation is just an extra tool to further bind them together and threaten others.
Yes, welcome back indeed.
When one remembers that there are millions of pounds involved in the matters that this blog discusses, and that there are, allegedly, people in the shadowy background who are known to have hoodlum connections, and other be-suited ‘business’ people who might conceivably fear that their collars will be felt, it is no wonder that a concerted attempt to get the blog off the air is attempted.
A sobering thought.
Excellent post. Keep up the good work.
I’m glad TSFM is back. If the game we all loved is to be saved, the battle for truth must continue. We are only bampots, but we can make sure those who seek to bury the truth and pretend none of the bad stuff in TSFM’s post happened receive reminders of the realities of Scottish football now and in the years leading up to where we are today.
Excellent article from The Economist.
————————–
A villain’s guide to football
Welcome to the beautiful game
Football clubs can easily be used as stealing machines. Here is an instruction manual. The stories are real, but most details are concealed
Jul 13th 2013 |From the print edition
A NEW football season approaches, and with it new players, overpriced replica kits and unsavoury club owners. If you are one of them, most observers will wrongly assume that you are laundering only your reputation, and that you are willing to lose millions on a philanthropic sporting folly to do so. That is too kind. Your new asset will not just help you wash your dirty money. It will make more of it too.
It is a good time to enter the football racket. Banks are less generous and sentimental about loans. Tax officials are less lenient, too, as Rangers, a big Glasgow club, discovered: it was forced into liquidation by tax arrears, afterwards being reconstituted under new ownership. But hard times mean clubs are desperate and going cheap. Set up a holding company (or a nest of them) in a discreet jurisdiction, as many owners do, and you have a money-laundering and embezzlement machine at your disposal. The authorities are unlikely to bother you (see article).
Start with ticket revenues. Exaggerating the attendance at matches lets you run some of the dirty takings from your previous career through the turnstiles, turning them into legitimate income (this particular ruse works best if you buy a middling club, where games are not routinely sold out). Conversely, if you need some petty cash you can siphon off the gate receipts—a tactic that some of Brazil’s football kingpins, the cartolas (“top hats”), are rumoured to have employed in the past.
The market in players, between clubs and across national borders, is another golden opportunity. Time was when the scams were simple: bent coaches would take “bungs” (backhanders) to buy a player with the chairman’s wallet. Now the tricks are more complex—and some owners are in on them. One aim is money-laundering. Transfers involve huge and largely subjective sums (since a player is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for him). With agents or other intermediaries involved, payments pass through multiple hands and jurisdictions: perfect for concealing the origin and direction of the cash. Sell a player to a friendly club that publicly overstates the true price, and you can supplement the real fee with a couple of million ill-gotten euros of your own: that money is now clean and in your club’s accounts. Pull the trick in reverse—inflating the value of a player you are buying—and you gain a usefully overvalued asset on your balance-sheet, which will help your club to borrow.
Transfers can also help you privatise club revenues and defraud minority shareholders. With the help of a co-operative agent, the fees, commissions and even parts of players’ salaries can find their way back to you (and away from the taxman). Agents who are personal friends may be safest. The regulations which govern transfer deals are easy to circumvent.
Another wheeze—annoyingly banned by some national football associations—is third-party ownership, where the rights in a player are owned (or part-owned) not by his club but by an outside consortium. So you can secretly invest in players whom you then rent to your club, trousering the proceeds. Or sell your club’s star man to your front company for a depressed fee, then sell him on at full price. Naturally you will award the club’s construction and catering contracts to your own firms.
Matches made in heaven
Most outsiders reckon that, when games are rigged, infiltrators are to blame: Asian criminal gangs and Balkan gangsters are the usual suspects. But the surest fixes are inside jobs. After all, you pay the players’ salaries, so you are in the best position to suborn them. You can decide who is picked or dropped, or who goes on the transfer list (or doesn’t). That gives dodgy owners plenty of scope to influence players’ behaviour. Footballers who are paid badly or erratically, as they often are in eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union (see chart), tend to be most susceptible.
But match-fixing happens in big and supposedly reputable European leagues, too—and because bookies assume the games are clean, you can lay big bets inconspicuously. If you or the players balk at losing on purpose, you can still arrange—and bet on—in-game details, such as the timing of the first corner kick. When the fix is in, consider emulating the Macedonian chairman who sold on the details of a thrown game to mafiosi. Betting syndicates will even buy intelligence on players’ injuries, nervous breakdowns and so on. Happily for you, match-fixing is hard to prove, and most police forces aren’t interested.
These are only the basics: after a season or two you can go in for more extravagant scams. Be inspired by Arkan, the deceased Serbian paramilitary who is said to have used his football club to traffic arms and drugs. It might be best, however, to stay clear of Russia, where the game has an alarming death rate, and where warlords from the North Caucasus (sinister even by football’s standards) have recently started buying into the business. Caution is also advisable in Bulgaria: 15 football club bosses have been murdered in the top football league just over a decade. An American diplomatic cable written in January 2010, and published by WikiLeaks, said “allegations of illegal gambling, match fixing, money laundering, and tax evasion” plague the Bulgarian game.
Some national associations do a spot of due diligence on new owners, but this is unlikely to interfere with your plans. Having a criminal record can be a bar to acquiring a club—but if you made your money in a place where the law was flexible and the courts accommodating, such inconvenient details can be scrubbed from your record. Enjoy the beautiful game!
The SFA et al (and I include Celtic/Lawwell) have committed so many wrongs in the past 2 years that the resentment has grown cancerous amongst the fans who refuse to be treated as inarticulate imbeciles.
Celtic/Lawwell, by their silence, are up to their necks in the scam. They probably think that by going along with it then the long term future of the Scottish game is being protected and that once the dust has settled then it will be business as usual. I wonder when the penny will drop.
Regan is a mere puppet in all of this. He has no power on a personal basis. He is a spokesman for the club chairmen and chief executives who have steered this mess into this cul-de-sac.
As we learned last year the only way to beat them is in the pocket and I for one will not shell out one single penny watching my Club until this cancer has been eroded from Scottish football.
On a separate matter I now see we are getting a Lord Livingston of Parkhead. How out of touch with reality are these people ?
Daft and dafter right enough.
sums up everything we know and knew 👿
SMSM always tell us Scottish football need a strong rangers :slamb:
Could someone,anyone please tell me why ❓ As i was brought up and firmly believe that scottish football needs competitive teams and leagues 😡 Not just 1 club to worship and fear 😥
TSFM
You talk of the ‘fear factor’ as what crystalizes it for you and go onto mention why posters have to remain anonymous as if this is the only case where such precautions are advisable.
I think you´ll find that most posters on football forums do the same and that there have been cases on all sides of individuals being targetted in some way when personal details have been leaked. This includes supporters of Celtic targeting Rangrs supporters, I have a friend from Ayrshire (fellow Rangers supporter) who was a victim of such an attack and it wasn´t pleasant.
By using emotive language and pointing rightously at one set of supporters as if no others would dream of doing it, what do you seek ?
greenockjack says:
i think you will find that its TSFM own opinion of what he thinks gets to him most 🙁
But it was the SFA/SMSM that put the intimidation factor out there in the first place 😡
As for ppl being targeted 🙁 on all sides 🙁 morons will be morons no matter what 🙁
greenockjack says:
July 15, 2013 at 12:24 pm
————————————————–
– Brian Stockbridge
BS, you’re Linkedin profile appears to be not accurate;
😆 🙄
Worthington Nicholls
Holding(s) in Company
Worthington Nicholls Group plc
06 July 2006
Worthington Nicholls Group plc
(the ‘Company’)
The Company has today been notified that Elaine Butterworth has sold 920,000
ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company (‘Ordinary Shares’) through Corporate
Synergy Plc, the Company’s broker. Following this disposal Elaine Butterworth is
now interested in 2,693,000 Ordinary Shares representing 4.07 per cent. of the
issued share capital.
On 6 June 2006 Elaine Butterworth entered into an orderly market arrangement
pursuant to which she can only sell shares subject to excess demand and through
Corporate Synergy.
Enquiries:
Worthington Nicholls 0870 609 1829
Mark Worthington, Chief Executive
David Levis, Corporate Director
Gresham PR Ltd 020 7404 9000
Neil Boom / Tanya Feness
Corporate Synergy 020 7448 4400
Brian Stockbridge / Romil Patel
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
0 0 i
Rate This
TSFM
You talk of the ‘fear factor’ as what crystalizes it for you and go onto mention why posters have to remain anonymous as if this is the only case where similar measures are advisable.
===========
Did TSFM state that only posters on this site should seek to remain annon.? Did’nt S Regan himself warn us of Social Unrest? Is it not sensible to seek to remain icognito in the face of such a threat? If you have a friend who has been threatened in any way should the Police not be called upon to do their duties?
A great summary of where we are TSFM.
If football were a recognised drug like marijuana it would be criminalised. FIFA and UEFA and national associations like the SFA are the suppliers, the leagues the distributors and the clubs the local dealers.
Now I understand a case can be made for marijuana as a medicine but Scottish football has moved on to the equivalent of ecstacy tablets where no one knows the ingredients but the suppliers cngaf.
This has moved beyond football. The Scottish Government in introducing the Offensive Behaviour at Football bill are aiming at the wrong offensive behavior. Not one word from them on protecting what is part of the social fabric of the country or did I get that wrong? Did the First Minister mean Rangers or did he mean Scottish football?
Has he been asked? Has he been asked if he is content to allow Scottish football to be run by folk who produce a Vision that is 1984esque in terms of being respected and trusted? At the same time as they are producing their glossy their actions scream the truth louder than their words.
But back to the drugs simile what if supporters of all clubs chose one Saturday not to attend or watch a game? Not a continuing boycott but just a day of abstinence to tell the dealers to tell the distributors to tell the suppliers we can walk away and they have a season to restore the trust out game depends on long term.
Carfins Finest. says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:23 am
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
TSFM
You talk of the ‘fear factor’ as what crystalizes it for you and go onto mention why posters have to remain anonymous as if this is the only case where similar measures are advisable.
===========
Did TSFM state that only posters on this site should seek to remain annon.? Did’nt S Regan himself warn us of Social Unrest? Is it not sensible to seek to remain icognito in the face of such a threat? If you have a friend who has been threatened in any way should the Police not be called upon to do their duties?
==================
I rather suspect that greenockjack’s put upon Ayrshire Rangers supporting friend has already been involved with the police on another matter.
Just a hunch.
Sam
Thank´s for that, I´ll add it to the file. 🙂
Danish Pastry says:
July 16, 2013 at 5:22 am
Possibly a bit harsh to tar all 42 with the same brush? A number of the lower-division clubs seem to have been railroaded into the SPFL.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before last month’s AGM of the SFA, I would have agreed entirely. Following the unanimous coronation of Ogilvie, without a single dissenting voice, I couldn’t disagree more. Every single one of the 42 clubs is guilty of collusion in the re-election of Ogilvie, surely one of the most conflicted individuals ever to hold public office anywhere. That is a desperately sad reflection on the state of Scottish football today.
A great article, TSFM, and I would treat last night’s Denial of Service attack as a clear sign that the remarkable “diggers” on this site are very close to hitting pay dirt. A lot of (self) important people must be feeling the heat right now, and it’s nothing to with the weather.
tcup 2012
morons will be morons no matter what
——————————————————————-
Yes and all clubs have them.
Reilly1926
Your assumption is wrong.
Sam says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:22 am
greenockjack says:
July 15, 2013 at 12:24 pm
====================================================
Are Worthington Nicholls anything to do with the Worthington Group,currently,supposedly claiming ownership of Ibrox etc. on behalf of Wee Craigy?.
tcup 2012
morons will be morons no matter what
——————————————————————-
Yes and all clubs have them.
———————————————————————–
exactly 😯
9 July 2013 | 11:17am
StockMarketWire.com – Glasgow football club Rangers [LON:RFC] has appointed Strand Hanson Limited as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Company with immediate effect.
Strand Hanson
Simon Wharmby, Non-Executive Director
Simon has been an institutional and corporate stockbroker for some 35 years with Sheppards, Charles Stanley and Corporate Synergy.
Graduated 1969 University of East Anglia with a degree in economics and sociology. He co-authored a North Sea Oil & Energy review for some 20 years prior to concentration on a broader range of new AIM issues. He is a member of the Securities Institute, a former LSE member As well as being a director of Albany Capital, and Letchworth plc.
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
……………………………..
You are correct…idiotic behaviour affects all clubs…some more than others…
But in the current climate the table lamp has been shone right in the face of the club in Govan…by the SFA and others who have suggested civil unrest if proper action is taken against this particular club…this may or may not be true of course…but non the less the ascertion was made…
There has been a number of Celtic fans who have been murdered over the recent years for who they support…so it doesn’t take to much of a step to realise the current situation could see that escalate…that may sound over stated…sadly I don’t believe it is…I have family members who followed Rangers…they now go and watch Partick Thistle…they could see what was happening…I think I might join them!
Carfins
Did TSFM state that only posters on this site should seek to remain annon.? Did’nt S Regan himself warn us of Social Unrest? Is it not sensible to seek to remain icognito in the face of such a threat? If you have a friend who has been threatened in any way should the Police not be called upon to do their duties?
——————————————————-
IMO it was inferred that posters on this site were under a much greater threat than I presume other messageboards. However, standard precautions were all that was required despite the emotive language used around the issue. Yes, IMO it is sensible to remain incognito on any messageboard.
As for Regan´s quote, back in the day it was generally rubbished on here and classified as scaremongering so as to bring pressure to bear on voting clubs. Surely you can´t use the quote or Regan´s judgement both ways, dependent on a particular situation or argument.
Astaire’s public punishment is a warning to others
The London Stock Exchange is usually reticent about condemning companies that break its rules.
By Peter Taylor
5:44PM BST 28 Jun 2009
CommentsComments
London Stock Exchange – forever walking a fine line between protecting Aim’s reputation as a safe place to invest and damaging its appeal as a market with light-touch regulation – is reticent about attacking publicly companies that break its rules.
That much is evident from a quick glance at the history books: in Aim’s 14-year existence, only four companies quoted on the market have been publicly censured, with just one fined. And until last Monday, only one nominated adviser to an Aim company had been fined and publicly censured.
The exchange’s preferred modus operandi is to deliver disciplinary action behind closed doors, and it does so regularly – every few months.
There are occasions, however, when even if it were to prefer handling a case in private, the exchange has its hands tied – when taking no action publicly would do more harm than good to the market’s reputation.
The remarkable saga of Worthington Nicholls, advised by the broker now known as Astaire Securities, is one such case. Astaire Group, the parent of Astaire Securities, is £225,000 poorer after it was fined and censured by the exchange last week.
When Worthington Nicholls listed midway through 2006, its story was – as much as it could be for a company that specialised in installing air conditioning and ventilation in hotels – a publicity agent’s dream. The company, a family operation that had been founded 33 years earlier by Peter Worthington, initially sought to raise £15m.
But despite a brief collapse in equity markets when investors took fright over US inflation figures several weeks before listing, it instead raised £20m at 50p a share in a float handled by Corporate Synergy, the predecessor to Blue Oar, which was this month rebranded as Astaire.
Mr Worthington, who stayed on as a director, exited the executive ranks with £12.5m and the family kept 42pc of the business – which had an extra £7.5m working and growth capital in the kitty – with Mark Worthington, Peter’s son, serving as chief executive.
By close of trade on the day that the air-conditioning business debuted on Aim, during a heatwave no less, it had a market capitalisation of almost £34m.
The bubbly was doubtlessly flowing thick and fast.
So too, over the next year, flowed a series of upbeat announcements, all of them, in theory, vetted by Corporate Synergy. Shares climbed to 194p and the group’s market value soared to £145.5m.
Then the cracks started to appear. The company put out a correction to its annual results, stating it had understated its business pipeline by half – a bewildering, if positive, revelation. The share price came off the boil, then collapsed to less than 20p in August 2007 after the group said turnover and profit were likely to be materially below market expectations.
The stock exchange’s disciplinary notice, published last week, spells out how Corporate Synergy and Blue Oar broke the rules and lays bare exactly how expectations for Worthington Nicholls’ performance became so removed from reality.
Among the company’s announcements, Peter Worthington said in November 2006 that quality service had led to a “high percentage of reoccuring (sic) revenue with existing customers”, adding that “the quotation register is significantly ahead when compared to the same time last year”. He also said Worthington Nicholls was in discussions for potential deals with “five hotel chains, which, in aggregate, own in excess of 90 hotels”.
In reality, the value of the group’s total orders the previous month had fallen to £164,580 from more than £930,000 for the same month a year earlier, and Worthington Nicholls was in contractual negotiations with just one hotel from each of the five chains. The positive but misleading statements continued. As late as June 2007 it said profit margins would remain stable for the year, having already given its adviser figures that painted a far less rosy picture.
The scandal runs deeper. The disciplinary notice also says that Corporate Synergy failed to ensure Worthington Nicholls carried out several “corrective actions” suggested by accountants in a review to prepare it for listing, such as employing a full-time finance director and moving from quarterly to monthly management accounts.
Corporate Synergy also failed to ensure that the company disclosed an orderly market arrangement in its admission document, and did not carry out appropriate due diligence on the company’s directors, the exchange’s notice says.
The intonation is clear. Had the broker now known as Astaire Securities done its job, Worthington Nicholls might not have come to market in the first place, or at least have floated with different management procedures and a different board in place.
Simon Beart, who has served as chief executive at Worthington Nicholls, now known as Managed Support Services, since the company embarked on a management, adviser and boardroom clear-out, says that if the company has any concerns with the disciplinary action, it is over the fine for Astaire. It is too small, he says, in the context of the many millions lost by investors misled into buying Worthington Nicholls shares anywhere near its valuation peak.
Astaire Group says it has markedly changed its procedures to ensure such a saga cannot happen again.
The fall out continues elsewhere, with the Serious Fraud Office running its own investigation into Worthington Nicholls, and Managed Support Services this month announcing it is suing the firm that was its auditors until November 2007, HWCA.
And while it appears to be “case closed” for the exchange, it might be well served to observe how the saga has distilled the concerns that some investors continue to hold about the reliability of companies listed on the growth market.
John Pierce, chief executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance, says of the Worthington Nicholls case that “people will admire them [the exchange] for taking a tough line”. In that context, the case for Paternoster Square to reconsider its reticence to publicly censure the rule breakers is strong.
After all, few things like a good public flogging serve to remind brokerage houses to show a little caution in who they bring to market in the first place – and the importance of never, ever misleading investors.
On CO’s re-election, all that was needed was a (however orchestrated) press release along the lines of “yes Campbell we know you were not proven (kind of) but the point is you are perceived to be conflicted however unfair you feel that is. As such we’ve had a vote and we’re delighted to tell you that you’ve been re-elected, but only by the skin of your teeth” something along those lines. It’s the completely unopposed, unanimous, supportive without condition crap that flies in the face of the opinion that counts – Mine!
Greenock J.
as always I’ve no desire to get into a slanging match. Absolutely, there are morons on all sides. There is a small element within this particular story however where justifiable comment (by officials) has been met with questionable action – Turnbull Hutton and the juduicial panel members to name but one. Receiving a kick when your down is never pleasant. But sometimes it depends on the reasons why you are down, and the way it is reported.
Sorry that went all cryptic, but hopefully you’ll get what I’m trying to say. Its a fine line.
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 10:01 am
Ask Garry Allan. Ask Turnbull Hutton.
Sam says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:53 am
————————————————————————————
I’m maybe looking in the wrong place but if not then Albany Capital PLC were liquidated in 2009 and I can find no trace of Letchworth PLC at all.
Sam
Was Stockbridge involved with Corporate Synergy in 2009 ?
What exactly can we take from the info you have posted his morning ?
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
I think you´ll find that most posters on football forums do the same and that there have been cases on all sides of individuals being targetted in some way when personal details have been leaked. This includes supporters of Celtic targeting Rangrs supporters, I have a friend from Ayrshire (fellow Rangers supporter) who was a victim of such an attack and it wasn´t pleasant.
By using emotive language and pointing rightously at one set of supporters as if no others would dream of doing it, what do you seek ?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The targeting of anyone for expressing their views is indefensible and intolerable. That is the case whatever clubs are involved. People who do that sort of thing are simply pond life (every club has some), and should be dealt with by the police and the courts.
What is more worrying is the “threat of social unrest” being used to excuse or even justify the application of favourable treatment to one club out of 42. That is what TSFM is getting at. Let’s think back to McCoist’s disgraceful and dishonest call for the naming of names in respect of an independent tribunal. That was a clear, and deeply sinister attempt to subvert due process. Or Charles Green being threatened with violence on his arrival in Scotland (before achieving sainthood shortly afterwards). . Or the march on Hampden- what was the purpose of that show of strength, if not intimidation? Green and Mather ranting about their “enemies”, how they know who they are, etc, etc. Do you see nothing sinister in that? How about the photographing of HMRC officers, clearly an attempt to deter them from carrying out their duty, why else?
All of that is a great deal more worrying to me than the actions of individual fans- they are easily dealt with by the police. This is all coming from one club, and one club only. Even worse, a lot of this stuff from Ibrox is coming from right at the top of the club. And isn’t being dealt with at all.
Looks like the gloves are off TSFM. The Denial Of Service attack does indicate a raising of the stakes and I think you’re right to get onto the front foot.
I think many posters have been correct in feeling that if individual clubs make comment on current and recent events then they will find themselves being targetted. There has been a cultural change on TSFM however. A new education; a new training has been undertaken. The previous norms no longer apply. The tactics employed by the various vested interests that have seeped into football need to be countered with an equally robust response.
It was the stated intention of TSFM to make this an all inclusive blog but it has been proven impossible to shake off the Rangers saga. I do feel that some of the more reflexive anti-Rangers posts have been diluted but these have been supplanted by a more considered and forensic criticism of the big Glasgow club. Perhaps we need to go through this process of crucifying the team in blue, or at least their ‘custodians’, if we are to show that governance can be re-established. Perhaps Rangers supporters will inwardly feel that this needs to happen and that it is not a task, understandably, that they would wish to undertake themselves. However we should bear in mind that we should not apply any standard that we are not willing to conform to ourselves.
‘Daft and dafter’ draws on themes that have been condensing over a long period on the blog; that the ailments of football are mirrored in wider society. It was ever thus. It’s almost as if , not a separate thread but a whole new blog is required to air these wider considerations. That is a task too far I suspect but we can possibly form a template for what morals and ethics should look like when shaped around a sporting context.
TSFM, I note your frustration when recognising that football supporters almost undying allegiance to their club leaves them open to abuse. When I was a lot younger I could become very passionate and emotive concerning my thoughts, beliefs and ideas. The grown up world seems to value aloofness and objectivity and I feel personally that I have lost something when adopting these conventions. The highs and lows of human emotion have been replaced by an acceptance of the inevitable. We do need to remain level headed and not allow ourselves to become riled by perceived injustices. At the same time we need to retain our zeal. It is a fine line to negotiate. We need to find a way to accommodate both passion and tolerance.
i’m sick of the crap on here about celtic/lawwell should have done this or that its crap, celtic are 1 club within 42 members of the SFA thats 1 vote, as for speaking up yeah right speak up and get hammered by every single crackpot in scotland, i’ve seen how celtic and our world famous friendly supporters are welcomed by every other team in scotland its disgusting,
keep your powder dry peter your time will come when sevco tributeact finally disappears for ever,
the smsm and all the tax dodging apologist lovers are wanting celtic to step forward to take the blame for the greatest institution in the world [not my words see BFDJ] dieing,
Edward Vandyk has the following past and present directorships:
Current Directorships: The Bryanston Society Limited
Corporate Synergy PLC
Dealstore PLC (Previously Corporate Synergy
Holdings PLC)
Corporate Synergy Holdings PLC (Previously
Dealstore PLC)
M&P Direct PLC (Previously Dealstore I PLC)
Gretbell Limited
izodia PLC
Past Directorships: Dealstore VI PLC
(previous 5 years) izodia PLC
MDA Holdings PLC
Oxford Nanotechnology PLC
Dealstore PLC
Leisure and Retail Consultants Limited
Dealstore II PLC
neepheid says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:38 am
17 0 Rate This
Danish Pastry says:
July 16, 2013 at 5:22 am
Possibly a bit harsh to tar all 42 with the same brush? A number of the lower-division clubs seem to have been railroaded into the SPFL.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before last month’s AGM of the SFA, I would have agreed entirely. Following the unanimous coronation of Ogilvie, without a single dissenting voice, I couldn’t disagree more …
———
Fair enough neepheid, you are probably a lot closer to events that I am, so I respect your view as being more accurate. Just seemed to me that given the time frame of events, smaller clubs fighting for their financial survival and for a workable structure to their league had little energy or inclination to give the mostly anonymous Mr O a thought. After all, some of their budgets would hardly be enough for a couple of EBTs for the current president 🙂
NH
I don´t recall any meaningful “threats of social unrest”. I do remember Regan saying that in his opinion there was a danger of social unrest. IIRC most on this site thought this to be a tactic rather than based on an imminent threat, so as to put added pressure on clubs who were to vote on a related issue.
McCoist made a direct and public request for transparency within due process which proved to be controversial. IIRC it wasn´t directly granted but the names got out via what channel, I can´t recall. I think it can be considered an opportune request within the politics of the day. In retrospect and possibly even at the time, it was inadvisable and there was an SFA sanction.
Do we believe Charles Green now ?
He and his fellow spiv´s have their agenda and they will say anything to further it.
Jack Irvine (Media House) is a facilatator of the spiv´s agenda and his work will reflect those he works for.
The sooner Rangers are free of spiv´s and Media House spin, the sooner the club and it´s support can get back to the business of being a football club.
As for the march, is that not a democratic right ?
What marches or protests don´t seek to influence situations or decisions ?
Legalise marijuana -Criminalise Rfc*
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 10:30 am
Sam
Was Stockbridge involved with Corporate Synergy in 2009 ?
————————————————————————————–
Worthington Nicholls Group plc
06 July 2006
Corporate Synergy 020 7448 4400
Brian Stockbridge / Romil Patel
————————————————————————————–
When Worthington Nicholls listed midway through 2006, its story was – as much as it could be for a company that specialised in installing air conditioning and ventilation in hotels – a publicity agent’s dream. The company, a family operation that had been founded 33 years earlier by Peter Worthington, initially sought to raise £15m.
But despite a brief collapse in equity markets when investors took fright over US inflation figures several weeks before listing, it instead raised £20m at 50p a share in a float handled by Corporate Synergy, the predecessor to Blue Oar, which was this month rebranded as Astaire.
Mr Worthington, who stayed on as a director, exited the executive ranks with £12.5m and the family kept 42pc of the business – which had an extra £7.5m working and growth capital in the kitty – with Mark Worthington, Peter’s son, serving as chief executive.
By close of trade on the day that the air-conditioning business debuted on Aim, during a heatwave no less, it had a market capitalisation of almost £34m.
The bubbly was doubtlessly flowing thick and fast.
So too, over the next year, flowed a series of upbeat announcements, all of them, in theory, vetted by Corporate Synergy. Shares climbed to 194p and the group’s market value soared to £145.5m.
Then the cracks started to appear. The company put out a correction to its annual results, stating it had understated its business pipeline by half – a bewildering, if positive, revelation. The share price came off the boil, then collapsed to less than 20p in August 2007 after the group said turnover and profit were likely to be materially below market expectations.
Astaire Group provides investment banking and wealth management services. Subsidiary Rowan Darlington performs stockbroking and wealth management services for private clients in the southwest of England. Astaire & Partners provides similar services to international clients.
The company sold its Astaire Securities institutional brokerage arm in 2010.
Astaire Group is the company’s fourth name since 2005; it has also been known as Blue Oar, Corporate Synergy Group, and Abingdon Capital. UK buyout consortium Evolve Capital (led by former Blue Oar executives) gained control of the company in a 2007 hostile takeover.
neepheid says:
July 16, 2013 at 10:36 am
How about the photographing of HMRC officers, clearly an attempt to deter them from carrying out their duty, why else?
==========================================================================
Charlotte Fakeovers @CharlotteFakes 16h
@JackIrvine @George_Osborne @Cayman_Islands @tom_watson Simple Question Jack, Are you responsible and why? http://i.imgur.com/KiUhpO7.jpg #HMRC
‘Bearing in mind the shit The Met have got into with The News of the World, HMRC will be horrified if one of their men is supplying The Sun with stories. We can turn this around against HMRC and remember I have pictures of the four HMRC men coming out of Ibrox today.
‘This is a big political story’.
——————————————————————–
This email provided by CF is dated 8/08/2011 and purports to have been sent from Jack Irvine at Media House to Craig Whyte, Gary Withey, Ali (Russell) and Ramsey (Smith).
If CF has got it wrong then no doubt he will post on CF and let us know as he does read her stuff and responds to it.
CF has also copied this email and others, also sent to Irvine, to George Osborne who obviously has a direct interest because HMRC comes under Her Majesty’s Treasury Department.
George really is a popular guy at the moment and, guess what, he’s also had a tweet from Jack Irvine yesterday:
JackIrvine @JackIrvine 15 Jul
http://www.jerseyfinance.je/news/new-report-shows-the-value-of-jersey-to-the-uk#.UeO1_TZwZ8x … @George_Osborne take note and the same goes for @Cayman_Islands
——————————————————————-
The report that Jack brings to the Chancellor’s attention is a lovely tale about how much wonderful little Jersey does for the UK economy and the more it cleans up its act then more it will do to grow the UK economy. However our own newtz tweeted Irvine an alternative link which paints IMO a more factual side as to the role played by ‘shelters’ like Jersey:
http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2013/07/03/tjn-on-jerseys-new-claims-as-to-tis-economic-worth/
——————————————————————————————————————
So what is going on here that links the Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Glasgow PR man who apparently is a Rangers man ‘aye ready’ to help rapeepil and somehow or other appears – according to an email he has yet to deny or discredit – has secret photos of HMRC employees investigating Rangers,
As the Jack Irvine – who may or may not be the real Jack Irvine – said in the email supplied by CF dated 2011: ‘This is a big political story’.
I wonder when the SMSM might actually wake-up to the story. And another curious thing about it is that the MET eventually did the right thing and started investigating alleged criminality of the Murdoch Press and others and Irvine points to the parallels with someone involved in the HMRC investigation into Rangers supplying stories to the SUN.
Have the Met been informed of this as obviously an upstanding Scottish businessman and especially one who loves Rangers would want to assist the forces of Law & Order to put a corrupt civil servant behind bars.
Are police in Glasgow waiting to read about it in the SMSM before they investigate – well that won’t happen will it?
Edward Vandyk = Dr Death…… IZODIA / ORB Scandal, a real city thriller
Thank´s Sam, my mistake.
So Stockbridge was part of the then Corporate Synergy (CS) when they broke the rules and were fined 225K for it. The list of offences being rather long.
Is there any way of establishing what Stockbridge´s role with CS was at that time and what possible part he may or may not have played in the various offences ?
Citibhoy says:
July 16, 2013 at 11:27 am
——————————————–
Dr Death;
Hoodless Brennan
Corporate Synergy
http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/dr-death-vandyk-abandons-stockbroker-consolidation-plans/a402625
Dr Death Vandyk abandons stockbroker consolidation plans
by Drazen Jorgic on May 26, 2010 at 14:30
Dr Death Vandyk abandons stockbroker consolidation plans
The board of Astaire Securities, including chief executive Edward Vandyk, has stepped down as a £4 million compensation claim relating to another subsidiary of parent Evolve is made to the High Court.
Evolve, the parent company that owns 53% of Astaire Securities, was created by Vandyk (pictured above) in the hope of consolidating small cap listed private client stockbrokers.
Vandyk’s involvement in earlier corporate failures – and the fact that he is a trained GP – has earned him the nickname Dr Death in the City. James Noble and Chris Roberts, who were directors on Astaire and Evolve have resigned from the board of the latter but remain on Astaire’s board.
Vandyk’s spokesperson has told Citywire the “Dr Death” nickname and poor reputation in the City had left him with no choice but to step down.
The spokesperson said: ‘This Dr Death thing has dogged the company. Edward feels that he has attracted quite a lot of negative publicity personally recently and he feels it is impacting the businesses. This [resignation] will allow the businesses to recover and he feels it’s best that steps down.’
He succeeded in acquiring the Bristol-based Rowan Dartington business in 2008 but then failed to acquire Hoodless Brennan this year after the discovery of a black hole in his firm’s accounts.
Vandyk has now conceded the consolidation process is no longer possible. Evolve will now look to sell Astaire, or at least create more independence between the two companies.
The company said: ‘In the light of recent unsuccessful corporate activity, the board of Astaire Group…has concluded that it cannot continue to pursue the strategy of consolidation in the financial services sector at the current time and that there is a need to revise this strategy and seek alternatives for delivering value to shareholders.’
Citywire understands Evolve’s most recent acquisition of Hoodless Brennan was scuppered by the FSA after Rowan Dartington, a company owned by Astaire and operating under the Evolve umbrella, found a £1.4 million black hole in its accounts.
Vandyk’s decision to step down comes as he reveals a £4 million compensation claim by lawyers acting on behalf of Izodia plc against Corporate Synergy, another company which falls under the Astaire Group umbrella and a firm that was once run by Vandyk. Astaire Securities, meanwhile, is only liable up to £25,000, though the Group denies any wrongdoing and is seeking legal advice.
Sam
Strand Hanson
Simon Wharmby, Non-Executive Director
Simon has been an institutional and corporate stockbroker for some 35 years with Sheppards, Charles Stanley and Corporate Synergy.
———————————————-
Any way of establishing when SW was at CS ?
ie. Was it in 2006 when they were up to no good and fined for it ?
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
5 10 Rate This
TSFM
“… you and go onto mention why posters have to remain anonymous as if this is the only case where such precautions are advisable.
“I think you´ll find that most posters on football forums do the same and that there have been cases on all sides of individuals being targetted in some way when personal details have been leaked.”
———-
Greenock, I’m honestly not seeing how TSFM is implying this is the only case. That said, I don’t think it’s easy for genuine Ibrox faithful to read this blog at times. I suppose things can be viewed as though everything has passed through an anti-blue filter.
You make a fair point about the problem not being restricted to one or two groups of fans. It happens south of the border and internationally. It’s online thuggery that can reach into the real world.
I’m not particularly anonymous myself, and often login to forums via social media avenues. I have no particular fight with anybody but, as a fan Scottish football, this story is hugely important to me, as is taking a stand for fair play and justice in sporting matters. In that respect, I’m no different from the people who volunteered to sit (anonymously) on that committee to pass a judgement on the former Rangers. Now, they received rather serious threats that merited police protection, not to mention the reported plot to torch Raith’s stadium. There’s also been the photos of the HMRC officials, threats to CG himself and others. You can understand the anger of bluenosed fans about the whole situation, of course, but what I have not understood is the venom against RTC and these others who are digging for the truth, or whose job it is to apply the rules. If Rangers supporters had embraced these efforts to get to bottom of the case instead of fighting it, it could have brought a new day of mutual friendship and respect among genuine fans.
I know there were decent Ibrox fans who, without understanding the nuts and bolts of the story, would immediately have opted for demotion to the 3rd – which was akin to accepting banishment from football for them. There were also those who were ashamed at the sight of the debt mountain and who wanted to do something about it. What seems to have happened though is that an orchestrated PR campaign has portrayed Rangers as victim. It’s been fuelled by Green and others. When questioned on a social media site about the RTC story early last year, one of the leading voices among Rangers supporters replied with the words, ‘Church of Rome.’ I mean, honestly.
Seems to me that half-truths and lies have now created an angry and radicalised group of fans. A very helpful state for the money men to keep the fans in. Does no one feel slightly manipulated? It’s sad that not one person has stepped up as the voice of reason. But maybe the fair-minded souls have turned away as neepheid mentioned and are now helping swell the numbers at other grounds. Good luck to them, the regime in place at Ibrox right now certainly doesn’t deserve them.
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 11:11 am
McCoist made a direct and public request for transparency within due process which proved to be controversial. IIRC it wasn´t directly granted but the names got out via what channel, I can´t recall. I think it can be considered an opportune request within the politics of the day. In retrospect and possibly even at the time, it was inadvisable and there was an SFA sanction.
++++++++++++++
Selective memory loss? Worrying. The agreed due process was that the panel members would not be publicly named. Rangers agreed to that, and knew the names of the panel. So McCoist did not act “within due process”,he totally undermined it. A couple of reminders, just to refresh your memory-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2135281/Police-called-SFA-panel-receive-threats-Rangers-ban.html
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/death-threat-sfa-tribunal-lawyer-1401998
Oh, and here’s the SFA “sanction”-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2195952/Rangers-boss-Ally-McCoist-handed-suspended-ban.html
Stern stuff, eh? Compare and contrast with how managers of other clubs get treated, for what most would consider much less serious offences.
And there, of course is your “social unrest”. Death threats for simply taking part in a tribunal. Could this stuff happen around a football matter in any other country in Western Europe? I sincerely hope not.
Worth noting as I haven’t seen it mentioned yet that James Easdale was made a director of TRFCL on 11 July. Craig Mather had already been added as one on 14 June. Stockbridge is the third director and also company secretary.
The Annual Return is still overdue as it should have been filed at Companies House by 26 June and I’m sure that with two new directors on board they can help Mr Stockbridge with the workload 😳
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 11:11 am
McCoist made a direct and public request for transparency within due process which proved to be controversial. IIRC it wasn´t directly granted but the names got out via what channel, I can´t recall. I think it can be considered an opportune request within the politics of the day. In retrospect and possibly even at the time, it was inadvisable and there was an SFA sanction.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The only excuse I can make for McCoist is that he let his heart rule his head. The process (Disciplinary) he was complaining about was one all clubs, including his own had voted for so why complain?
He also knew who was on the Committee so what was his purpose other than to intimidate? I worked in same place as McCoist in the early 80s, liked him and would speak on his behalf privately but that statement that day made that impossible and I was extremely disappointed in him, hence my opener.
Morning all totally lost track now but live in hope of a decision being made about something, anything!!!!!! No renewal of season tickets in this household Scottish football is corrupt to the core and we’re not playing along any more sorry but we’ve had enough. 🙁
ecobhoy says:
July 16, 2013 at 11:53 am
I can send them that income/expenditure spreadsheet to save them a bit of time. 😉
DP
Wrt all of the perceived threats related to this issue can you give an example of a tangible action resulting from them ?
Who actually made the threats to Raith Rovers FC ?
Do you take Charles Green´s word ?
Media House are not Rangers and are to blame for more than you´d imagine.
Let´s look at context, the main “achievement” of the RTC blog in terms of propaganda proved to be the push start of the “sporting integrity” bandwagon. The focus of the blog switched towards this in January 2012 as the tax tribunal came to an end.
It pushed the right buttons and set off a chain reaction within a leaderless Scottish football. This vacum of leadership (despite conspiracies suspected) allowed the momentum built up on the bandwagon to push home and make reallity much of it´s agenda/aims.
Set that against what was happening at Ibrox and the emotions that were brought into play. Can you really expect understanding from football supporters that are punchdrunk from many months of negative headlines, their club is under threat and at the sametime watching certain forces contributing greatly to maximise damage ?
Now you can go further back and talk about causes etc. but that was the situation and general perception at the time. The idea you expressed of a new day of mutual respect and friendship at that time was as likely as Scotland lifting the World Cup in 2014.
The sooner Green´s kind are out the door the better and yes they did manipulate the situation for their own ends, it´s what spiv´s do and is a small part of a wider and much more important issue for society as a whole.
Another wee script attack on the database folks. I am trying to reverse engineer the source – and with the help of the database vendor, the nature of the exploit.
I’ll babysit the site as much as possible today in the hope of getting a solution.
Thhankyou TSFM. This is the piece that I have been trying to write for the past month.
I do not understand why, in the face of the facts, we have not collectively called for boycotts. We will not remove these people and their subterfuge by any other means. We need to starve them out. The game has already been destroyed. What more damage can we do or conversely what can we achieve?
I said it on a few Celtic websites towards the end of last season and I’ll repeat it here;
After coming to terms with the reality of LNS’ findings I stuck my season book/card in the post and sent it back to Celtic Park. It doesn’t matter what way you slice it; it’s over. The ball, in this country, belongs to them and that’s official.
I have supported Celtic financially for over thirty years. Over that time I was convinced that Scottish Footballs Administrators were in favour of Rangers. From the 28th of February 2013 my suspicions became fact. There are people who will say I’m a coward and that I’m allowing them to win by walking away. And my answer to that is that you’re a mug and you’ve already been beaten but you’re just too soft to get to grips with it. When someone comes up to me in the street and smashes me in the face I respond by attempting to kick their haw maws into the next street. Statements like “we are surprised” is the reply of the complicit and seems disappointingly to be part of the overall choreography of the piece. We’ll make out we’re not very amused type of agreement.
Expecting anyone, never mind Charles Green to pay the LNS fine is hilarious. But it also shows how many within the Celtic support and club are content with the status quo. Content with playing the victim. Charles Green and his monster have made monkeys out of us all. I’m furious that I’ve been forced to turn my back on the only football team I’ve ever supported. But I refuse to be bullied by halfwits like Green and I’m adamant that I will not accept the second class status that Scottish Football has now rubber stamped for all outside of Govan.
If you want to carry on with this charade then fill your boots. But you’ve been warned; this is only a start. The ignominy they have suffered over the past year will be returned in spades. I won’t be around to suffer it.
Very interesting development yesterday regarding Rangers Retail Ltd the joint company formed between TRFCL and SportsDirect. Also interesting that Charles Green remains a director of Rangers Retail Ltd along with Stockbridge and two SportsDirect employees.
Companies House has just published the split in shareholding between the two companies and those with a good memory will remember that great play was made by Rangers and Green when entering into the deal that Rangers would be the majority shareholder.
Indeed the Rangers AIM Prospectus stated: 12.1.3 On 31 July 2012 RFCL entered into a joint venture shareholders’ agreement (the “Rangers Retail SHA”) with SDI Retail Services Limited (“SDI”) relating to terms under which the joint venture vehicle Rangers Retail Limited (“Rangers Retail”) would operate with RFCL holding 51% of Rangers Retail. Through Rangers Retail the parties agree to run jointly the production, supply and sale of branded products and carry out retail activity at the Club’s superstore at Ibrox and on the Club’s online webstore.’
The statement of capital published by Companies House on 15/07/13 shows TRFCL has 51 ‘B’ shares and SDI has 49 ‘A’ shares – so that OK then and Rangers is the majority shareholder then? Well YES and NO!
On a show of hands the ‘A’ and ‘B’ shares each count for 1 vote and on a poll they also count for 1 vote so TRFCL will always be able to outvote SDI? Well NO! Howzatt? Well on a vote on ‘financial matters’ then each ‘A’ share counts as 2 votes. So when finance is involved SDI have 98 votes and TRFCL only have 51. Whoops!
The agreement with SDI and TRFCL as shown in the AIM Prospectus also has some very very interesting clauses viz: Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited (an affiliate of SDI) agrees to provide a facility of £1.5 million to Rangers Retail available for drawdown for a period of 5 years at an interest rate of Barclays Bank’s pass through rate from time-to-time and interest is to be capitalised.
Any sums drawn down under the facility would be secured by a debenture to be given by Rangers Retail over all its freehold and leasehold property. This hadn’t been drawn-down when the Prospectus was released but might have been since.
And also: The Rangers Retail SHA contains restrictions on share transfers, reserved matters and other provisions common to joint venture agreements. The agreement contains deadlock provisions which require deadlock matters to be referred to senior management of the shareholders and then to mediation. If the deadlock matter has not been resolved then SDI has the right to acquire RFCL’s shareholding at a set price (50 per cent. of the profits of Rangers Retail in the previous twelve months).
If this buyout takes place, SDI agrees to procure that a royalty according to a formula is paid by Rangers Retail to RFCL in consideration for rights under an intellectual property licence agreement relating to the grant of an exclusive worldwide licence of certain intellectual property rights of RFCL to Rangers Retail in return for Rangers Retail producing kit and branded products (at cost price plus 10 per cent.)
ecobhoy says:
July 16, 2013 at 11:26 am
————————————————–
This Jack Irvine character either taking photographs of HMRC officers, storing, processing. retaining & distributing of same data.
What a fool & a complete liability.
Who in their right mind would store, process & forward emails with dedicated HMRC officials photographs?
These folks are only doing their jobs ffs.
Predications;
Jack Irvine arrested for Public Disorder offences.
Jack Irvine arrested for Bribery offences.
A full Tax & Vat audit by HMRC on Mafia House.
Investigated by ICO.
Note to editors;
Jack Irvine = Corrupt Clown
Sam
Jack Irvine and MH are a good representation of what smells badly and helps facilitate malfeasance in today´s corporate world.
Time he and others like him were held accountable.
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 12:51 pm
Who actually made the threats to Raith Rovers FC ?
Do you take Charles Green´s word ?
Media House are not Rangers and are to blame for more than you´d imagine.
___________________________________________
Do you know who made the threats, GJ? Of course we don’t know who made the threats, but the police took them seriously. Are you suggesting it wasn’t RFC supporters?
None of us on here have ever taken Green’s word. Only RFC/TRFC fans ever have, along with the MSM, SFA, SPL etc etc.
Media House were very closely connected to RFC/TRFC and that connection was very well received and used to advantage by all at Ibrox. Now it’s seen as the cancer it was, you want to distance the club from them.
The rest of your post is just as nonsensical as your earlier suggestion that McCoist was merely requesting transparency, when, in fact, he was ‘demanding’ to know the names of the panel when RFC directors already knew them. His ‘we have a right to know’ clearly included all gathered around him and was taken, as he knew it would be, as a rallying call amongst the most violent group of football fans, with links to terrorist organisations, in Britain.
From memory, the demands for sporting integrity were being sounded on RTC long before the events you suggest, and besides, why should such demands be questionable, no matter when they are demanded? It could only damage those who would see sporting integrity as a stumbling block. Sadly it was no more than that, a stumbling block!
AJ
That was my point, we don´t know who made the threats to RRFC.
That was my point, posters here have never taken Green´s word, why start now ?
MH were retained by Rangers but their MO/remit was to deflect, distract and maintain ignorance within the support, of issues the ownership would rather not be out in the open.
Eg. You had the situation in the summer of 2011 where the RTC blog (if heeded) was of assistance to the Rangers support and MH & others (despite being paid for by the club) were working against the interests of the supporters and club.
Markybhoy says:
July 16, 2013 at 12:57 pm
If you want to carry on with this charade then fill your boots. But you’ve been warned; this is only a start. The ignominy they have suffered over the past year will be returned in spades. I won’t be around to suffer it.
+++++++++++++++
I’m with you on this one, Markybhoy. Unlike you I even sort of swallowed the LNS “verdict”, although I knew it was a grubby fix, but all was revealed to me in a blinding flash when Ogilvie was returned unopposed at last month’s SFA AGM. What is known as a “Eureka moment”. I have supported CFC through thick and thin since 1955. OK, they didn’t see any of my money for 10 years or so since a) I didn’t have any and b) I was getting lifted in. They’ve had a shedload of my cash since, though, but sadly no more. I am not a total and complete moron and absolutely refuse to be treated like one.
What CFC are doing now is simply feeding the beast. They think they can control matters, because right now they are on top. Well just wait a few years, and the beast they are feeding will have them for breakfast. Their magnanimity in allowing Sevco to acquire the RFC membership of the SFA will gain them nothing but a kick in the teeth as soon as the opportunity presents itself. If the Board at Celtic think differently, then they shouldn’t be running a sweetie shop, never mind a multi-million pound business. And if they’re counting on any more money from me, presumably on the basis of my memory not being quite what it was, then they really are delusional. I will never forget, and never forgive what the 42 clubs of the SFA did at that AGM. Which is why Clyde or Partick Thistle aren’t getting my money either.
I just might return if Lawell publishes the 5 way agreement in full and can persuade me, on a line by line basis, that the agreement was in the best interests of his club, and more importantly, in the interests of Scottish football in general. There is more chance of hell freezing over. Because no one will ever freely publish that agreement, and that agreement clearly stinks to high heaven. Which is, of course, why it won’t be published.
neepheid says:
July 16, 2013 at 1:45 pm
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Well said
😎
Auldheid says:
July 16, 2013 at 11:55 am
The only excuse I can make for McCoist is that he let his heart rule his head.
+++++++++++++++
That is no excuse at all. McCoist knew exactly what he was doing, and it had nothing to do with his “heart”. It has to do with him being a sly, nasty, vindictive piece of work. I never saw him as anything else, but plenty seem to have been taken in by his “cheeky chappy” disguise, as paraded on “question of sport” and no doubt in his day to day dealings with acquaintances. Well that mask has well and truly fallen off , never mind slipped. Just an incompetent liability, drawing loads of cash to hasten his beloved Rangers into bankruptcy. That is the real measure of the man.
Markybhoy says:
July 16, 2013 at 12:57 pm
==============================================
We all have individual decisions to make on whether to stay or leave the fight and I won’t denigrate anyone for the decision they make. I know from a lifetime of trade union and political activism that there are many times I’ve wondered if I’m off my head carrying-on with what seems like undending and unwinnable struggles.
But every now and then there is a victory achieved with many others working together that kept me going. What also keeps me going is knowing I’m a better person than the parasites that are not only destroying our game but also continually fomenting sectarian discord in our society through the ‘cover’ of football.
I will not walk away from that – I almost walked away from Celtic once but I still wouldn’t have walked away from Scottish Football as it’s an important bit of our society and despite the struggle involved I will keep working away doing what I can to expose the corruption that exists.
I may fail and I have no fear of failure having been on the losing end more often than not but for me what’s important is the decision to fight and I believe we all have a part to play – no matter how large or small our contribution.
We are only ever finally beaten when we throw in the towel and walk away and allow them the victory IMO. I will never ever give them that satisfaction.
greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 1:38 pm
There you go again, GJ, showing your very reasonable side 🙂 , able to see the wrongdoings of those involved with your club – that you don’t like – while still trying to downplay the part played by those you do like. You seem to me to be doing that which you say MH did for Rangers ie deflect and distract, by suggesting it might not have been RFC supporters who threatened RRFC, that we are now taking Green’s word, and that MH were not Rangers (which no one said they were but have highlighted the very large part they played in the wrongdoings within, and by, Rangers).
Do you have reason to believe the threats to RRFC, and others, were by felons not of a Rangers persuasion?
Do you think that, even if we are being selective of what we believe from Green, that it makes much difference in the grand scheme of things? Though even habitual liars will tell the truth when it suits their purposes.
Do you think that MH’s only remit was to deflect and distract the supporters of RFC, or, like most on here, accept that it was to do those very same things to the rest of Scottish football, including the SFA and SPL, and also HMRC? What’s more, that it was doing it for the benefit, and at the behest, of Rangers Football Club and it’s board?
test
15. greenockjack says:
July 16, 2013 at 9:12 am
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Every fan base, or very many of them anyway, has a small number of nutters in it. However I’m sure what TSFM was referring to are statements made by representatives of government and Scottish Footballing authorities that there is a specific threat to society if the fans of one particular team are not placated. I can’t imagine this applying to any other team, including Celtic (who I am no lover of and of course they have numbers of nutter followers too).
They certainly have given some justification for this belief for instance by what happened in Manchester, and it may be that their unfortunate association with Ulster “traditions” has also something to do with the perceived threat. This may be an exaggeration but it’s a general perception among many fans and even the general public (though maybe seen as an “OF” problem as much as anything by some).
I know my last comment will annoy Celtic fans here but I’m talking about preception out there and the public does see a lot of the footbal violence in West Scotland as something that is a Rangers/Celtic problem with each team representing one side of an Glasgow version of the Ulster troubles, How do the clubs disassociate from this without upsetting sections of their supporter base?
Pheww! Thanks for the edit function guys! 🙂
This Jack Irvine character either taking photographs of HMRC officers, storing, processing. retaining & distributing of same data.
What a fool & a complete liability.
Who in their right mind would store, process & forward emails with dedicated HMRC officials photographs?
These folks are only doing their jobs ffs.
Predications;
Jack Irvine arrested for Public Disorder offences.
Jack Irvine arrested for Bribery offences.
A full Tax & Vat audit by HMRC on MH.
Investigated by ICO.
Note to editors;
[Removed]
Danish Pastry @ 5.22am:
“Possibly a bit harsh to tar all 42 with the same brush? A number of the lower-division clubs seem to have been railroaded into the SPFL.”
From the most recent Clyde FC Owners’ Communication:
“This summer was dominated by league reconstruction, a lengthy, vastly time consuming, and wholly unsatisfactory process that went right to the wire, culminated in two directors sharing a 16 hour shift at Hampden to see the proposals signed off. No matter the pain of the process and the financial uncertainty that follows, there is nothing to do but work towards making the SPFL a success in whatever way we can.
The new league structure, albeit identical in appearance, offers greater reward for success and supports those teams who are on the margins of attempting to sustain full time football. The price is paid in the bottom half of the structure where clubs will have significantly lower income from central distributions and will face the prospect of dropping into a yet untested regional pyramid structure.”
It’s clear to me that the Clyde board are pretty deeply frustrated with the entire situation – remember their website statements during the Summer of Discontent – but feel that there’s simply no alternative.
I’m particularly interested in the assertion that the price for buying off the old First Division clubs has been paid not by the SPL, but by the old Second and Third Division clubs. Does anybody have figures for that?
It seems to me that Markybhoy and Neepheid ,having thrown in (as, of course, they are entitled to do) their own personal towels, still want to remain in the fight.
But as fifth columnists encouraging others to desert!
This blog is essentially neither an ‘anti-Rangers’ nor a ‘pro-Celtic’ blog ( give or take the stances of some individual posters who mistake it for one or the other).
But it is also not the place to try to make Peter Lawwell into some kind of whipping boy, or to demand that he be a martyr, or to expect Celtic to do the equivalent of a Sandy Jardine or Bomber Brown and dog-whistle the general run of SFA members into a charge into war!
Have you any idea what that would entail?
On Ogilvie’s ‘election’:
I’ve asked before: how reasonable is it to expect that, in the absence of any other ‘candidate’, Peter L should have jumped to his feet and declared his opposition?
He would have been instantly, and properly, ruled out of order, and then slated in the MSM for deliberately sectarianising the matter.
Where there is only one candidate, that candidate wins by default, unopposed.
If fault there be ( and, indeed, there do be!), it lies with the other members of the SFA for not putting up a candidate or candidates in opposition to Ogilvie. ( It would have been ‘politically’ impossible for a Celtic man to have stood as a candidate, of course. That is the reality, and there would have been no gain in doing so.)
I would suggest that the ‘fifth columnists’ desist from targeting Celtic/Peter L unless in the same breath they similarly target and name every other member of the SFA clubs.
Keep a proper sense of balance: the SFA is the enemy collectively, particularly those intimately involved in constructing the devious 5-way deal, who so weakened and compromised their authority by ‘negotiating’ with a baddy wearing two hats who treated them with contempt, and by refusing to bury a dead club and by letting a brand new club illicitly into the Association.
And we know who pulls all the strings at the SFA
And it is most definitely NOT PL.
I recently had a few interesting conversations over several beers with someone who works in one of our premier league clubs.
He knows what is going on at his club, in his club and through his club.
He is in one or other boardroom every Saturday with his wee blazer.
He said that one of the frustrations of a year ago was the uncertainty.
His club was constantly finding stuff out from the media rather than from their paid administrators.
He confirms there are definitely clubs in the know and clubs who aren’t at the real top table.
He was not complimentary about the people who run our game and he also feels the big three or four clubs think they are much better and more important than the rest- even the ones they play every week.
Its a divided community of SPL heads.
He personally was aware of the 5 way agreement but hadn’t seen it and wasn’t particularly interested.
He thought it was “just business” and for the common good going forward from a mess.
He totally supported and agreed with Sevco being given a berth in the SFL because he is convinced it is in his clubs and his chairman’s interest to keep the Rangers spend and more importantly the tv money from Rangers playing football in the game.
“What would Spartans or Preston bring financially to our coffers next year when Rangers have such a massive support and tv audience”.
He told me to get real – the SPL clubs have wages to pay and need all the ammunition they can get.
He also painted a picture of the finances at the clubs that is scary and while he acknowledged that the situation had been caused and exacerbated by the historic testosterone-driven spending by SDM and the other alpha male club heads he said that was then and survival was about now and looking forward.
He sees Celtic as profitable but landlocked and in danger of not selling out as they have no real competition. (It is inevitable the fans will get bored and last year they took less supporters to his club for the first time in years)
He sees others like DUFC and Aberdeen as way overspent and probably trading on the edge of their own fiduciary duty but with a friendly owner, for now. Friendly owners who are probably looking for exits and certainly not increasing OD’s.
He sees others like Killie who are way overspent but with no rich owner in the background. He doesn’t think they are in a nice place.
And he admires from a distance the skinflint clubs who remember what it is like to be poor and where every pound is a prisoner – teams like the Saints and Caley.
Clubs that are at the heart of their communities.
He doesn’t think Hearts and Dunfermline will be the last to wobble then fall.
When asked about why Ogilvie was re-elected unopposed and why Doncaster got the top job he said its because in the absence of any vision the clubs have circled the wagons.
When asked about whether Celtic and Hearts could sue for losing their prize money and European spots to the cheating club he said something that amazed me.
He was absolutely certain there had already been an agreement reached over this between the administrators and the clubs and that “compensatory money” had already been agreed and changed hands.
If that is true….
Hmmnn….
Brian Stockbridge of Corporate Synergy………;
[newtz, map this pls]
Corporate Synergy plc
12 Nicholas Lane
London
EC4N 7BN
England
12 October 2004
Dear Sirs,
RE: CIRCLE OIL PLC
We report on the financial information of Circle Oil Plc (the “Company”) as set out below. This financial
information has been prepared for inclusion in the AIM Admission Document dated 12 October 2004 (“AIM Admission Document”) relating to the Company’s proposed admission to the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Markybhoy & Neepheid
Your posts echo many of my sentiments. I did not renew my season tickets last season. I had hoped to be able to renew this season but the unopposed re-election of Campbell Ogilvie really was the last (of many) straw(s). I nearly smashed the telly when I seen him giving out the gongs at the Scottish Cup Final, talk about a GIRFUY to Scottish football supporters. My son, who was originally gutted at my non-renewal couldn’t care less now; he has found better things to do. I have to say I am hanging on by a fingertip, if only because of a desire to see all the perpetrators of this scam exposed. I said months ago on here that every campaign needs a focal point. Ogilvie should be that focus, he is an easy target. He should be vociferously derided at every live Scottish game on Sky/BT in the forthcoming season. A concerted effort might even get noticed by Sky/BT commentators who may just ask a few questions. I live in England these days and sadly the average football fan is blissfully unaware about the many machinations of the Rangers scandal. Use the power of live TV to spread the story and start with the brazen Campbell. ‘We want Ogilvie OOT!