Podcast Episode 3 – David Low

davidLowDavid Low

represents a highly significant component of the history of Celtic FC and consequently a highly significant component of how Scottish Football has panned out in the last 20 years.

As Fergus McCann’s Aide-de-Camp, Low was instrumental in helping him formulate and implement the plans which ultimately allowed control of the club to be wrested from the Kelly and White families. Low also helped McCann to rebuild and regenerate Celtic as a modern football club.

His views are unsurprisingly Celtic-centred, and this interview reveals his ambition for the club to ultimately leave Scottish Football behind. That may or may not be at odds with many of our readers, but the stark analysis of the realities facing football in this country may resonate.

Podcast LogoHe provides a window on the pragmatism of the likes of McCann, Celtic and many other clubs in respect of the demise of Rangers. He pours scorn on Dave King’s vision of a cash-rich Rangers future, and provides little comfort for those who seek succour for our failing national sport, believing that Scotland will find it impossible to emerge from the football backwater in an increasingly global industry.

Agree or not with Low’s prognosis, it is difficult to deny his compelling analysis of our place in the football world.

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Tom Byrne

About Trisidium

Trisidium is a Dunblane businessman with a keen interest in Scottish Football. He is a Celtic fan, although the demands of modern-day parenting have seen him less at games and more as a taxi service for his kids.

3,066 thoughts on “Podcast Episode 3 – David Low


  1. RyanGosling says:
    May 3, 2014 at 2:22 pm
    10 0 Rate This

    If I could have sold Ibrox and Murray Park to achieve a CVA, or to have avoided going into administration in the first place, I’d have done it without blinking.
    ———-

    I doubt you were alone in that view Ryan. In reality, it should have been done, along with a more Hearts-like admin. Why that did not happen is a question that needs to be answered. Our friends D&P seemed less concerned with saving the club and more interested in transferring assets to the chosen one and his newco.


  2. https://twitter.com/RangersInter

    This twitter account has been active today.

    Why would Charles Green still have access to a Rangers email address on 22 July 2013, some months after he resigned? And why would he be involved in conversations about salary payments with RIFC plc directors?

    All above board I’m sure.


  3. No1 Bob says:
    May 3, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    https://twitter.com/RangersInter

    This twitter account has been active today.

    I liked Craig Mather’s objectives; particularly

    Player wage control – Each player deal agreed with Ally

    He must have failed in that objective because, as we all know, Ally “knew nothing” about player contracts


  4. I had a wee search for the info I referred to the other day provided by CF on an exchange of emails involving a Mr McKenzie and Charles Green, Imran Ahmad, Craig Mather, Brian Stockbridge and Ian Hart.

    Surely the Mr McKenzie involved can’t be the same Mr McKenzie who appeared in the tabloids the other day? I say that because I didn’t think that Mr McKenzie would be demanding a Rangers Directorship guaranteed for three years paying £75K salary + £25K expenses per annum. Another suggestion he made was for his £500K investment in Rangers to repaid in full to him.

    The Mr McKenzie in the emails warned he had taken legal advice and had a demand letter prepared and if he wasn’t repaid within 14 days Rangers faced being served by a Winding-Up Order from him.

    All very confusing given what appeared in the Daily Record from Mr McKenzie especially if the two Mr McKenzies are one and the same person and the emails are genuine. Still, interesting to note that Stockbridge appears to have been trying to financially protect Rangers and apparently regarded Mr McKenzie as making a bad investment decision by paying £1 a time for his shares which were floated at 70p each.

    I wonder who persuaded him to pay over the odds – Surely not super salesman Green? And I wonder if Mr McKenzie ever got his money back which obviously might colour his opinions and certainly dissuade him from carrying out his threat to liquidate Rangers.

    Broken Promises
    Published by CharlotteFakes2

    It appears that this investor subscribed at £1.00 per share on the basis that the company would float on or above that …

    From: Charles Green
    To: Craig Mather; Brian Stockbridge; Ian Hart

    Sent: Thursday, 20 June 2013, 6:55
    Subject: Fwd: RE: Ian this is the man I talked to you about yesterday you can see his frustration,it may be one to put on Pinsent list at a later date to make sure I didn’t get any of the cash. He deserves better treatment! Sent from my iPad

    Begin forwarded message:

    From: Alan Mackenzie
    Date: 20 June 2013 04:15:31 CEST
    To: Charles Green, Imran Ahmad
    Subject: RE: Re: RE: RE:

    Charles/Imran,

    I’m grateful for your valued time and continued efforts to find a solution to this issue, when your former colleagues have turned their backs on it, as they did with you. I’m happy to have a conference call on the condition that Brian listens and simply doesn’t try to talk over everyone. People that do that usually have something to hide or fear of the conversation.

    Further, I think we all know the problem, it’s a solution I want to see tabled.

    Examples:

    1. Obviously the preferred option is payment in full rendering the matter closed.

    2. Failing above, a suitable payment plan. 50% before June 30 (end of our financial year).50% by 31 December. Worst case, 50k now, 50k 31 December, 50k by 30 June 14.

    3. RFC introduce a share buy back scheme and agree to re-purchase 500,000 shares for 500k in December.4. One of the feuding parties agrees to buy them as above.

    5. Additional shares are offered to make up the short fall.

    6. Appointed a Director for 3 years at 75k pa. This constitutes my own money back and 25k a year expenses to return home for Board Meetings. On departure before then, this to be paid in full.

    There must be some clever people on the Board with some ideas??? I’m sure there are a number of other proposals that could be tabled if someone was interested in resolving the matter rather than ignoring it.

    I should advise you that I have taken legal advice and that a letter of demand is ready to be sent to Ibrox.

    This demands payment in full in 14 days or face being served with a winding up order. I’m prepared to hold this until I hear a response from you/Ibrox. I think as a lifetime fan that unlike other put my money where my mouth was, that the club has had enough bad PR to last another 140 years.

    I have no wish to add to the misery we have all been exposed to, or have the tabloids given another story to splash across the headlines. There is a principle at stake here and the tradition of the club was always integrity and playing for the jersey.

    I trust we can reach agreement during your proposed conference call. Finally, my wife is still in Scotland and if need be, I’m prepared to fly back this weekend to sign off on any deal, or have her do it on my behalf. Thank you again for your support.

    Regards, Alan.


  5. RyanGosling says:
    May 3, 2014 at 2:22 pm

    Can’t argue with that answer, Ryan. I suppose when we have to consider these choices, when the reality of insolvency hits, what truly matters becomes clearer. Sometimes, it seems, that the reality of insolvency just doesn’t hit home, and so, what really matters, is never clear.


  6. Off topic, but I was looking at the table for the new div2 on sky sports. Was no agreement ever made to put in a promotion place for the lower leagues? Is it still in the works?


  7. Absolutely incredible effort from Hamilton Accies today, if Dundee had ultimately drawn that would have been one of the best promotion stories ever. So unlucky. Keep up that level of performance and the playoffs will be a piece of cake.


  8. RyanGosling says:
    May 3, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    Danish Pastry that appears very fake to me.
    ================================
    The same email has been previously distributed and widely discussed. Of course that doesn’t affect the issue of its provenance one way or t’other. But I think I am right is saying that it didn’t come from the original CF source.


  9. wottpi says:
    May 3, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    wottpi,
    Totally agree with what you say, but I’m sure, like me, you feel the same as every other supporter about your home ground. Our clubs’ history means so much to every supporter of every club, and our history is made at our home grounds. But if our club is forced to move, our history remains intact, and continues to be made, as long as the club continues. But when that football ground is a rallying point for something other than football…perhaps a move does become unacceptable, under any circumstances.


  10. ecobhoy says:
    May 3, 2014 at 5:56 pm
    0 0 Rate This

    RyanGosling says:
    May 3, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    Danish Pastry that appears very fake to me.
    ================================
    The same email has been previously distributed and widely discussed. Of course that doesn’t affect the issue of its provenance one way or t’other. But I think I am right is saying that it didn’t come from the original CF source.
    ———-

    Hard to know isn’t it? Motive could be to send the bampots off on a false trail, or, to discredit certain individuals who’ve outlived their usefulness in the Spivocracy. But why go to so much trouble? If fabricated it should be easy to disprove. There was one of these leaking twitter accounts that had changed ID and the original poster’s ID was still extant.

    It’s hopefully not Bartin again 😀


  11. Selling the park and training ground for a CVA assumes liquidation was not always the plan. LNS had a commission due to the exploits of a dead club, had they survived would a real court be hearing claims for money based on cheating, they were found guilty after all.


  12. Great game at Celtic park today, good to see Aberdeen having a go in the second half rather than parking the bus. A good advert for the Scottish game and normal service resumed :mrgreen:


  13. burghbhoy says:
    May 3, 2014 at 10:20 am

    “I have the impudence to provide new, fact-based insight on a staple discussion of this forum and later that evening I have the site moderator instructing users to “not engage” with me tomorrow.”
    ————————————–
    TSFM sometimes offers advice to posters but rarely censors unless unfortunate phrases like ‘Glib and shameless liar’ are employed. The moderation is reasonably sparse and when it does kick in it can be a bit blunt. Most posters have become comfortable with the regime and have learned the limitations.

    I don’t think it was your ‘fact based insight’ that was being frowned upon but rather the further dissection of a topic that has had so many autopsies that a whole new thread (Bonkers OCNC debate) had to be constructed to accommodate its entrails. I think the debate did take place and some bone and gristle was chewed but I think the moderators have grown wary of topics that are either too esoteric or irreconcilable or both. What’s the point of having a debate that few understand and that is prone to turn into a bad tempered dispute.

    There are lots of topics that could be challenged, that would be equally discomfitting for regular posters but that would be covering fairly new ground. There has been recent discussion about the next (some say first) Old Firm game and its ramifications. There is endless discussion about TRFCL’s financial predicament which could be engaged productively from other viewpoints. There must be dozens of topics an articulate, thoughtful Rangers fan could broach. They would inevitably attract a lot of curiosity and likely opposition. However I have no doubt that they could influence and develop the outlook of the blog. Just because people don’t instantly agree with well thought out and well presented arguments doesn’t mean that will always be the case. Often the opinions we encounter are speculative or may only have limited evidence to back them up. It takes a poster a bit of time to gain traction.

    We can all be a bit curt sometimes (a few exceptions acknowledged) but generally the debate on TSFM is capable of returning to civility. I think if you approach the environment expecting trouble then that is what you are likely to get.


  14. Castofthousands says:
    May 3, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    A very polite response to burghbhoy, but I wonder if you read his response to TSFM’s post outing him! It is noted below; please pay particular attention to the second paragraph, where he clearly indicates that he deliberately came on pretending to be a Celtic supporter, or bhoy. He called this an experiment. I’d suggest he was more intent on creating a situation where he’d be accepted as a respectable poster, of the Celtic persuasion, before deflecting the blog in a more successful way than he has done in his previous guises. I’ll leave it to you to decide if he deserves your very polite defence of the blog.

    From TSFM’s post I am of the understanding that burghbhoy was posting from the same IP address as oldgold and others of a similar bent. Just another in a long list of trolls trying to up their game. The nice gentleman even managed to throw an insult in the way of an honest Rangers man, Ryan Gosling, on his way out the door. Pity he stuck his nose back in 🙄

    “burghbhoy says:
    May 3, 2014 at 8:29 am

    Anyway, I’ll leave you chaps to it.

    I’ve enjoyed the wee experiment of expressing some ideas, not just the TUPE legislation, over the last couple of months, with a celtic moniker and throwing a few “sevcos” and “old Rangers” in, and seeing the thumbs-up roll in.

    Genuine thanks to those willing to engage in the actual discussion, which I always enjoy, as long as it lasts that is, before TSFM rolls in to shut it down (maybe if I’d hung around he’d have start a whole new thread to house my offerings again? Will never forget that compliment “


  15. So
    GW is hired in Nov 2014 on a salary of £325k p.a.
    This means he will have drawn £162.5k out of RIFC when his 6 month anniversary arrives later in May
    He is on a bonus of £325k which is described as 100% for winning the 3rd Div title
    i.e. GW is getting a £325k bonus for 6 months “work” during which he earned £162.5K
    I make that a bonus of 200% since it is payable in May 2014 and not in Dec 2014
    This re-opens a question which has split this blog
    Could GW be considered a Spiv or is he an honest man getting the rate for the job?
    I have no doubt whatsoever
    This guy was hired by Spivs to run a Spiv Co set up by Spivs to benefit Spivs
    So he`s a Spiv getting the Spiv rate for doing a Spiv job
    What`s his future?
    For sure he won’t be on a 200% bonus next season
    If he stays on he will be the second longest serving Spiv CEO in Scottish football
    At best he will agree some funds from the Big Spiv until Admin or liquidation happens later in the year
    But when you think about it
    Why would he want to hang on?
    There is no guarantee he will ever see another bonus
    I was in the camp of a 2 May Administration. Something must have happened to move the goalposts Maybe the Big Spiv`s Fit and Proper Person passport has been rejected. It may have been the points deduction
    With Admin a 25pt deduction is applied next season Unless of course TRFC liquidate and sell the heritage to Sevco2 The SFA might then reduce it to 15pts but still keep Sevco2 in the 2nd Div
    So
    For all we know
    Liquidation not Administration is the card which the Spivs will play next
    A promise to liquidate if a deal can`t be done over STs will focus minds in the close season
    If so
    Will it be GW who utters the threat?
    I doubt it
    As CEO he is in a position to pay himself his £325k bonus now
    That money has probably been sitting in an escrow account for 6 months Once it is safely withdrawn he will be offski
    All that can prevent him leaving is the Spivs reneging on his bonus
    After all
    GW`s only here for the money
    He`s a Spiv after all


  16. GoosyGoosy says:
    May 3, 2014 at 8:40 pm
    ……………………..
    If it turns out to be true GG…an AIM listed Company threatening its customer base to give them cash or they liquidate is a new angle on business inovation….I might suggest that to BP…buy our fuel or we will fold…just see if we don’t!


  17. Allyjambo says:
    May 3, 2014 at 8:30 pm
    —————————————–
    I am in total agreement with your sentiments AJ.
    I am reminded of this quote:

    “Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are
    presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new
    evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is
    extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it
    is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize,
    ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.”
    ― Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks

    Burghbhoy did this with bells on. He/she was pathetic in this attempt to thwart the truth. (IMO)


  18. Re: Burghbhoy

    When I first saw one of his posts I had to do a double take as I thought my name had been nicked. Took me about 10 seconds to realise that he was not a Celtic supporter but a Ger prentending to be one. Whilst his posts may have been well written I quickly gave up the ghost on his olco/newco input and stopped reading any of them, giving them a glance at best. As DP I think alluded to why try to dress yourself up as something you are quite clearly not, a bit like your current team really. 🙂 you ought to be spending most of your considerable efforts as many have stated on here in rectifying all that is wrong at your own club so you have at least one to support.


  19. GoosyGoosy says:
    May 3, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    I’ve said for a few months that I think that RIFC will simply make an announcement one day saying that they are getting out of the football business but retaining the properties in lieu of money already loaned to the club from the IPO cash. The announcement will say that the money will run out by a date two or three weeks in the future and, if a buyer cannot be found to support the ailing business, it will cease trading.
    There will be a call in the statement to Dave King, Jim McColl, and the Blue Knights to now come in and support the club. This will be a game of brinkmanship where the ‘Rangers’ men will then have to buy the club, that has nothing in the bank, and fund it going forward while either renting the property assets or building elsewhere or simply let the club/company die. How much will they be prepared to lose when it is their own money that is being lost is anyone’s guess.

    ‘The Rangers’ fans that I work with are always asking where the money has gone?
    Look at it this way.
    ‘The Rangers’ can sell 38k in season tickets.
    If the average price of a season ticket is £300 it will take 1066 people to pay Mr Wallace’s bonus. That is just his bonus mind you. It will take another 1066 to pay his annual wage.
    Now the Chairman David Somers is probably on at least the same package. There is another 2122 fans season ticket money gone!
    There are another few board members and even if they are on only half of the above salaries and bonuses then there goes another 1066 for each director. I think there are another three directors which makes the total of 3198 season tickets to pay them.
    So to ONLY pay the board their wages and bonuses will take 7462 fans season ticket money.

    This is before you even begin to discuss Ally McCoist’s salary. It will take 1333 to pay his current £400k wage and I’m sure somewhere in there is a bonus clause which will be more money out of the kitty.
    So to pay the board and Ally’s reduced wage currently costs the club 8795 fans season ticket money.
    Out of the 38 thousand season tickets there is now less than 30 thousand. The coaches will also be on bonuses. The players certainly are and their wages are also constantly increasing as they ‘make friends’ moving up the leagues.

    ‘The Rangers’ fans that I work with are always asking where the money has gone?
    As Homer Simpson often says; “DOH !”


  20. justshatered says:
    May 3, 2014 at 11:31 pm
    9 1 Rate This

    GoosyGoosy says:
    May 3, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    Absolutely, time and time again i have to explain this idea to people.

    The question I often get is …”How can “Rangers” with 38,000 turning up each week be in financial trouble?”

    Then I just take them through the numbers.

    Another often asked question is “who is stealing the money?”

    Then again I take them through the wages the board are on, the wages the coaches are on, the wages the players are on.

    Then escalating player wages, through the leagues. All the while with “only” the match day income, as lots of the other income streams are sold off (e.g. merchandise).

    Then when we compare income to expenses it is understood that there is a substantial loss, approximately 1 million pound a month currently.

    Wage bill about 2.5 million. This then focuses the mind as how a club (any club) gets through the summer? Then precisely how “Rangers” will pay their next few wage bills for May/June without any credit facilities and the Dave King inspired boycott in full swing.

    Interesting times ahead…..

    Buddy


  21. Well now we know that the show will go on as long as there are enough mugs to handover 400 pounds in CASH to the spivs to pay their bloated salaries and bonuses. This is not a business plan. This is just the spivs having a few final laughs as they prove that you can fool some of the people all of the time. To add insult to injury the spivs will then force the club to rent the stadium on along term lease and thus fleece the mugs for years to come. This is a masterclass of spivdom. I am in awe of their ability to extract cash from fans pockets directly into theirs. The fat lady is warming up in the wings and awaits her final aria. No mater which metaphor you choose to use. Titanic, Mr. Micawber, a plughole, My Way, The Last Post, Armageddon itdoes not matter. They will soon no longer be the people.


  22. Great article that one John. Stein’s words and attitude to the game are actually quite impressive (I was born long after that time and given my loyalties am not overly familiar with the man!).

    On reading it I was struck by a question though – how on earth, having produced a team which were fairly dominant in Europe for a few years, did the national team never progress beyond the first group stage of a World Cup?! Beggars belief.


  23. Before retiring for the night I have to say that,footballing-wise, today was a great day!
    In two ways.
    First, there was genuine right-to-the wire kind of excitement ( and compliments to the ‘open-all-mics’ guys).
    Then , and more importantly,there was a recognition that the death of even what had been a major club had NOT resulted in the death of Scottish football.
    The point being that it does not, would not, matter which major club died. There would still be good, strong, football competition.
    No need to rig the ballot, no absolute need of any club’s (new or old) 50 000 gates.
    Of course, any club deserving of death because of its cheating not only OUGHT to die as a matter of moral and sporting principle. But we now know it can be ALLOWED to die, even from the most basic economic and business point of view.
    Which is what happens elsewhere.
    Here, as we know, that kind of thinking did not apply.
    One particular cheating club was held to be exempt from the normal rules. It was deemed to be immortal. It was ‘officially’ not allowed to die.
    Instead, all kinds of nonsense was put about by the ‘authorities’ about clubs not being clubs but ‘holding companies’, and how the ethereal essence of a being is somehow solid enough to bear the weight of ‘trophies and history’ BUT not the weight of the debts and disgrace that caused it to die.
    And all kinds of chicanery was indulged in by the authorities and the hacks of the sporting Press to pretend and maintain that a dead entity that died owing a lot of people a lot of money was somehow still alive, owing nobody anything while claiming to own all the dead entity’s possessions.
    That is the great scandal that even today’s excitement cannot erase.
    ,


  24. Ryan, if you could ever manage to get to see the 3 x 90 mins from the 1974 World Cup you would be even more bemused as to why we never made it past the first stage.


  25. Speaking of World Cups. Which was the only undefeated team at the last World Cup?


  26. Ryan, for some reasoon I always thought we lost to Germany in a qualifer for the 66 World Cup but it would seem it was Italy. Interesting that the team everybody else humped we didn’t which has always been a commom feature for scotland IMHO. Another thing I didn’t know was that Stein apparently took over as caretaker manager after our failure to qualify for the World Cup.

    http://www.rsssf.com/tables/66q.html


  27. Just catching up with the 2nd Off The Ball from yesterday. It seems no-one from the SFA or the former SPL will admit to using the word Armageddon two years ago, with both pointing the finger at each other. Have they no shame at all?

    Imagine the behaviour of Regan and Doncaster had been replicated two years ago among some political scandal. Despite the often murky world of politics would two politicians as publicly exposed as Regan and Doncaster still be holding high office? Interestingly media pressure would play a big part in their demise! Sorry, make that three politicians – I forgot about the Right Honourable R.C Ogilvie.


  28. What has always amazed me about the national team in the late sixties and seventies was that we never made it to the European Championships at all.


  29. RANGERS’ entire board of directors have been reported to police investigating statements made by chief executive Graham Wallace.

    Investment banker Phil Maher made two new allegations to detectives who travelled to London on Wednesday.

    He earlier claimed that Wallace misled Rangers fans over the club’s finances. In a three-hour interview, he alleged Wallace has made other misleading statements.

    Maher – a shareholder and lifelong Rangers fan – also asked police to examine whether the board committed an offence by failing to stop Wallace.

    Last week, we revealed Maher had complained about comments made by Wallace at the club’s annual general meeting in December.

    He claims Wallace misled shareholders when he said the club had enough funds to operate until May before the board took out a £1.5million emergency loan two months later.
    However, a new complaint relates to comments made by Wallace about season ticket sales on Friday, April 25.

    Fans have been told they must pay by cash after payment providers First Data Solutions insisted on full security in return for their services.

    Wallace claimed the firm had made the demand after Dave King, who wants to take over the club, called for a season ticket boycott. Maher, who declined to comment yesterday, told police that is misleading because the credit issue was first raised with Rangers in January, a month before King’s boycott plea.

    A Rangers spokesman said yesterday: “The club has no knowledge of any erroneous complaints of this nature which, if they are ever put to the football club, will be defended rigorously as they have absolutely no grounds.

    “As these complaints appear to be vexatious, we will consider our legal position with regards to defamation.”

    Some disgruntled Rangers supporters held a red card protest against the board during their League One clash with Dunfermline at East End Park yesterday.
    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-crisis-entire-ibrox-board-3494316


  30. upthehoops says:
    May 4, 2014 at 8:18 am

    Just catching up with the 2nd Off The Ball from yesterday. It seems no-one from the SFA or the former SPL will admit to using the word Armageddon two years ago, with both pointing the finger at each other. Have they no shame at all?

    Imagine the behaviour of Regan and Doncaster had been replicated two years ago among some political scandal. Despite the often murky world of politics would two politicians as publicly exposed as Regan and Doncaster still be holding high office? Interestingly media pressure would play a big part in their demise! Sorry, make that three politicians – I forgot about the Right Honourable R.C Ogilvie.=============================
    The guys on KDS have the answer 😉

    Just got it- Regan

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2168730/Rangers-booted-SPL-Scottish-rivals-reject-newco-appeal.html

    Quote:

    Admitting he can do nothing if Rangers fail to gain promotion from the First Division, Regan nevertheless insisted that the accommodation of a footballing ‘institution’ was in everyone’s interests.
    ‘We are faced with a situation some say is meltdown and some say Armageddon and whichever way you look at it it’s not a healthy future for the game,’ he added.
    ‘Already a number of clubs are saying they would have no alternative other than to go into administration if they can’t see a guaranteed distribution that satisfies their costs for next season.
    ‘We have had dialogue with the broadcasters, through the SPL and we understand what the various stakeholders from Sky television, ESPN, Sport Five and a number of their other commercial partners are likely to do in the event Rangers are not in either of the top two tiers.


  31. briggsbhoy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 8:07 am
    1 1 Rate This

    Ryan, for some reasoon I always thought we lost to Germany in a qualifer for the 66 World Cup but it would seem it was Italy. Interesting that the team everybody else humped we didn’t which has always been a commom feature for scotland IMHO. Another thing I didn’t know was that Stein apparently took over as caretaker manager after our failure to qualify for the World Cup.

    http://www.rsssf.com/tables/66q.html
    ———-

    Never one to miss an opportunity to get my sepia-tinted specs on: the deciding qualifier was shown live at our school on telly. I remember being shepherded down to the new TV room at Ally Parade (where we used to watch innovative French lessons). As I recall, after beating the Italians at Hampden there was the belief that we could do it. On the day, though, it was a bit of a damp squib of a match.

    Turned out the Italians were no greats shakes anyway, as North Korea proved. And in 1967 we all roared with delight as we watched the mighty Inter humbled by ‘my local team’. Braw.


  32. ‘Already a number of clubs are saying they would have no alternative other than to go into administration if they can’t see a guaranteed distribution that satisfies their costs for next season’

    Assuming that was true, what has changed to ensure we don’t have a repeat and that clubs don’t rely on the existence of any one other club? Where is the reassurance that lessons have been learned and contingencies put in place? All I can see is clubs and authorities propping up an ersatz version of a club that collapsed, like a Colditz dummy on the parade ground, and hoping nobody notices. Typical of the short-term thinking prevalent in modern corporate leadership where those responsible are happy to take pay and bonuses for solving immediate issues but not put measures in place for when things they implement or ignore could go wrong after the short time they remain in the job.

    Sixty seven million pounds for the Guy?


  33. torrejohnbhoy(@johnbhoy1958) says:
    May 4, 2014 at 8:39 am

    A Rangers spokesman said yesterday: “The club has no knowledge of any erroneous complaints of this nature which, if they are ever put to the football club, will be defended rigorously as they have absolutely no grounds.”

    ================================
    Whether there is any truth in the allegations or whether the police ever charge anyone is all for the future. And it doesn’t really matter what version of the ‘club’ knows nothing.

    What does matter is that RIFC Plc would be derelict in its legal obligations if it wasn’t aware of the allegations through its Board of Directors and, indeed, I am amazed that the issue hasn’t been deemed ser ious enough to warrant notification on AIM at the instigation of the Board of RIFC Plc or the company’s AIM NOMAD.

    The statement is utter tosh and any resonable person knows that. As to vague legal threats about the allegations being vexatious and defamatory – well if the club actually believed that they would immediately instruct legal action. Oh I forgot 😆 The club has no legal persona and probably can’t instruct any legal action 😳

    Still perhaps the biggest laugh is the spokesperson’s promise that if the allegations are ‘ever put to the football club’ they ‘will be defended rigorously’.

    They must be holding seances at Ibrox these days if they are in contact with a deid club or a new club with no legal personality, members, committee, officials, or even directors. How are they managing the communications and receiving instructions?

    Possibly through a ouija board where the finger on the glass belongs to an SFA official – just for fairness you understand and so that the messages from the other side which are often garbled and contradictory can be interpreted and translated for consumption by the gullible masses and an increasingly pathetic SMSM.

    I wonder if the new PR Guru had anything to do with the wording of this very bizarre official press release from Rangers? If so I think we are in for some interesting times ahead 🙄


  34. “they have absolutely no grounds.”

    Are they finally admitting that Wee Craig has a claim!
    😉 😉


  35. What has always amazed me about the national team in the late sixties and seventies was that we never made it to the European Championships at all.

    There were only 4 teams in the finals until it was expanded to 8 in 1980. In that time, England only qualified in 1968. There will be 24 (!) teams in the 2016 finals.


  36. A mischievous journalist could get some mileage from focussing on – “The club has no knowledge of any erroneous complaints…”. Any takers?


  37. Last time, the yarn was spun about the club and the holding company. We were told it was the holding company that went bust.

    This time, what is clear, is that there is a club and there is a holding company. It is also clear that it is the club that is in financial trouble.

    The same yarn will be more difficult to spin this time.


  38. Two things.

    Re the sycophantic pap in the Mail from Maher. This is a story steeped in the best traditions of A big boy done it and run away. The Mail needs to learn, and I suspect they know this, the story doesn’t fly if the money belongs to the big boy. The fact the money was given to him by the wee boys really doesn’t matter.

    Secondly, thanks for the memories. We also used to ‘borrow’ our school’s new video (VHS or Betamax, can’t recall) for what I will euphamistically and very loosely call ‘innovative french lessons.’


  39. y4rmy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 9:55 am
    ————

    Surely there was 8 teams qualified in the 60, 70s for the Euro Championships?


  40. John Clark

    “Instead, all kinds of nonsense was put about by the ‘authorities’ about clubs not being clubs but ‘holding companies’, and how the ethereal essence of a being is somehow solid enough to bear the weight of ‘trophies and history’ BUT not the weight of the debts and disgrace that caused it to die.”
    ——————
    JC you have managed to sum up the whole farce in one sentence.


  41. Quite interesting development seems to be gathering traction on FF. Apparently posters there believe that Rangers currently makes only 75p profit on a shirt sale and came up with the idea of designing, making and selling their own alternative tops.

    They have whittled the designs down to 2 and are now having a poll to see which gets the most votes and are apparently in talks with kit manufactureres who have previously been associated with Rangers on an official basis.

    Quite an interesting step and I wonder if we are actually seeing the building blocks being put in place to put an alternative Rangers on a park somewhere?

    Obviously the ST boycott is a huge threat to income and profit from kit sales is another important revenue source although is it possible Rangers are only getting 75p a shirt. Sounds helluva low but is that one of the contracts that Wallace was moaning about which might be impossible to break?

    This really could be the ground getting cleared for a new Rangers and it’s another way of getting rid of the big playing and management staff contracts. I have no wish to re-ignite a Tupe argument but I have always thought that part of the spiv deal to rent Ibrox could involve transferring responsibility for the team wages to the renters of the stadium.

    The only other possibility of cutting those costs is admin/liquidation of TRFCL if Tupe is to be avoided I would have thought as I doubt there will be the moeny any time soon to buy-out the unexpoired portions of a large number of the players’ contracts.


  42. Presumably those alternative kits can’t have the RFC logo or someone will threaten legal action. Mr Green bought that logo, as I’m sure manufacturers will know so they’ll need written permission from TRIFC/TRFCL (or is it owned by Rangers Retail Ltd?) Can’t imagine them being amenable to that loss of income/cash cow.


  43. Ecobhoy surely this another example of things not being thought through by supporters from down Govan way. I would be surpised if whoever holds the current contracts for shirts and Sevco itself wouldn’t make a copyright or breach of copyright claim against anyone attempting such. We may of course find that there could be a legal case to establish if Mr Green did in fact buy all this alleged history, logos etc. Nothing currently in the wrought iron works at Ibrox reflects the current full name of the club that plays there ! You buy the old logo, dumped the debt and carry on apparently


  44. Could the board be loathe to go down the admin/liquidation route as this would finally answer the ownership of assets problem?.
    Just asking as there are wee hints on twitter that Whyte is about to reappear.Add that to Imran back at court,King launching his trust(remember the Zurich meeting),could we be about to witness the perfect storm?.


  45. y4rmy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 9:55 am

    There were only 4 teams in the finals until it was expanded to 8 in 1980. In that time, England only qualified in 1968.
    ——-

    And they qualified at Scotland’s expense.
    The Home Championships of 1966-67 and 1967-68 also served as qualifiers for the 1968 European Championship. Despite the famous victory at Wembley in 1967, Scotland could only draw 1-1 with England at Hampden in 1968 and, also having lost to N.Ireland, failed to top the group.

    @EKBhoy:
    Prior to 1980, the quarter-finals were played on a home-and-away basis, with only the semifinals and final being staged at the ‘finals’ tournament.


  46. ecobhoy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Are they sticking with 5 stars? They did earn them after all……………Oh, that right, they didn’t!


  47. Re the FF shirts. There should not be any copyright issues. The two shirts have a lion rampant logo and three segments in red, white and blue, curving round the bottom. You can see images on RM.

    I wonder if this might be the start of a ‘new’ club forming?


  48. ecobhoy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 9:47 am
    ‘…. notification on AIM at the instigation of the Board of RIFC Plc or the company’s AIM NOMAD.’
    ———–
    Just in case AIM don’t read the papers, I let them know.
    This is the email I got in reply on 1st May.

    Dear Mr Clark,
    Thank you for your e-mails dated 28 and 29 April 2014 addressed to London Stock Exchange plc’s (“the Exchange”) RNS Mailbox regarding Rangers International Football Club plc (“the Company”). Given that your concerns relate to an AIM Company, your e-mails have been referred to the Exchange’s AIM Regulation team.
    As you may already know, AIM Regulation is the department within the Exchange that is responsible for the regulation of AIM. AIM Regulation investigates all complaints made as regards the conduct of AIM companies and nominated advisers in respect of their compliance with the AIM Rules for Companies (“AIM Rules”) and for Nominated Advisers (“Nomad Rules”). We can assure you that where concerns arise in relation to a company or a nominated adviser’s compliance with the AIM Rules or Nomad Rules, AIM Regulation investigates any potential breaches of those rules and takes action where appropriate. Please note that AIM Regulation’s remit does not extend beyond the AIM Rules and Nomad Rules.
    We note your comments relating to reports that the Company’s CEO, Graham Wallace, is the subject of a Police investigation.
    As indicated above, we can assure you that AIM Regulation investigates all complaints that relate to potential breaches of the AIM Rules or Nomad Rules. However, please note that, for reasons of confidentiality, we are unable to update you on how matters are subsequently dealt with, nor can we provide you with information on the outcome of any work that is undertaken pursuant to your concerns. You will appreciate that confidentiality is essential in maintaining the integrity of our work.
    Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.
    Kind regards,”


  49. Flocculent Apoidea says:
    May 4, 2014 at 10:45 am

    Presumably those alternative kits can’t have the RFC logo or someone will threaten legal action. Mr Green bought that logo, as I’m sure manufacturers will know so they’ll need written permission from TRIFC/TRFCL (or is it owned by Rangers Retail Ltd?) Can’t imagine them being amenable to that loss of income/cash cow.
    ================================
    These aren’t official products and don’t have the official logo and that’s really the point I reckon. This might not simply be a means of exerting/threatening financial pressure but could be the beginnings of a Trojan Horse being constructed.

    We have all heard a camel is a horse designed by a committee so who knows what this could end-up as. But at least it’s showing some initiative if nothing else.


  50. No1 Bob says:
    May 4, 2014 at 10:55 am
    ecobhoy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 10:33 am

    Are they sticking with 5 stars? They did earn them after all……………Oh, that right, they didn’t!
    ===============================
    No Stars – which Tbh is possibly one of the most encouraging signs I have seen coming from the Bears – of course being a bit of a cynic it might be an oversight 😕


  51. John Clark says:
    May 4, 2014 at 11:10 am
    ecobhoy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 9:47 am
    ‘…. notification on AIM at the instigation of the Board of RIFC Plc or the company’s AIM NOMAD.’
    ———–
    Just in case AIM don’t read the papers, I let them know.
    =================================
    That’s the easy bit – but how are you going to tell the deid club? However, if you get a response from beyond I would love to hear it 😆


  52. I’m not sure how many of you will have seen the excellent film Angel’s Share. It opens with one of the funniest sequences I’ve ever watched as a guy is more than confused as he stands on a station platform.

    It has struck me that this scene is almost an allegory for Rangers fans (the guy on the platform/rails) and RTC/TSFM (the station announcer).

    Of course RTC/TSFM wouldn’t descend to the language used no matter how frustrated they might have become with the hard of thinking.

    😆

    Scottish Football needs more weekends like this one.


  53. I can imagine the Ibrox club putting out a warning about counterfeit merchandise and that the proceeds don’t go to the club! They wouldn’t, would they?

    Probably.


  54. briggsbhoy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 10:49 am

    Ecobhoy surely this another example of things not being thought through by supporters from down Govan way. I would be surpised if whoever holds the current contracts for shirts and Sevco itself wouldn’t make a copyright or breach of copyright claim against anyone attempting such. We may of course find that there could be a legal case to establish if Mr Green did in fact buy all this alleged history, logos etc.
    =======================================
    I think they have been thought through because no official logos are used and that includes the stars. From what I have seen of the shirts there is nothing that TRFCL could legally do and win.

    Oh a dead club might huff and puff but you put your finger on an important point that could cause Rangers difficulty. Even if they could get a case into court what else might emerge in evidence and enter the public domain?

    I think that’s a risk too far for them and I really don’t see how they could win their case. I seem to remember that not long after DM came to Ibrox he claimed the Follow Follow Trademark for Rangers and was told where to go and despite rumblings of court action it never happened because FF or possibly Mark Dingwall own the Follow Follow Tm.

    Indeed if the new shirt is produced I think ‘Follow Follow’ would be a very apt statement on the new shirts for ‘new’ supporters buying them. The other design elements are the Lion Rampant and basically use of the colours red, white and blue. Possible there could be an argument for ‘passing-off’ but it’s a weak one IMO if it exists at all.

    But


  55. Flocculent Apoidea says:
    May 4, 2014 at 11:28 am

    I can imagine the Ibrox club putting out a warning about counterfeit merchandise and that the proceeds don’t go to the club! They wouldn’t, would they?
    ============================
    Certainly Bears continually moan about shoddy merchandise wrt to their current ‘offishal’ kit 🙄

    However if the club is really only getting 75p per shirt could they really argue with any force that significant proceeds are being lost to the club?


  56. I always thought it odd that with two club sides (R and C) stuffed with Scottish players who were doing well in European competitions (occasionally doing brilliantly), lots of Scots playing for English sides (particularly Leeds in the early seventies) and a national time that qualified for 16 team world cups in 1974 and 1978 that missing out in 68,72 and 76 seemed very surprising. In fact although I can remember watching the 74 world cup reasonably well, I didn’t even know the Euros existed until France won it in 84!!!


  57. Alex O’Henley@OHenleyAlex
    I understand Rangers have told staff they are looking for a number of voluntary redundancies among non-playing personnel.
    3 May 14 ReplyRetweetFavorite


  58. The Sunderland unregistered player issue has resurfaced as the teams affected are starting to drop out the gravy train league

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/03/sunderland-face-legal-fight-points-deduction

    As a Norwich fan I have to say it’s a bit daft (if not pathetic) complaining about this now and I’m not sure what it’s meant to achieve. Sunderland will likely finish quite a few points above the last relegation spot, so the removal of the point they gained wouldn’t make a difference.

    That’s not to say the original decision was right. It was wrong and, worse, it was made in secrecy. But the time to appeal was when the story broke in the papers, not now.


  59. y4rmy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    Wouldnt a 3 point deduction per affected game be better? Surely they still “broke the rules” even when they lost and drew matches? Now that would be a game changer.


  60. James Doleman says:
    May 4, 2014 at 1:14 pm

    Jings crivens help ma boab!!!!
    Whaur are the 5 stars??

    The above joking aside the strip designing thing is a good laugh for fans of all clubs.
    You can come up with some right bobby dazzlers


  61. y4rmy says:
    May 4, 2014 at 1:20 pm

    1

    0

    Rate This

    The Sunderland unregistered player issue has resurfaced as the teams affected are starting to drop out the gravy train league

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/03/sunderland-face-legal-fight-points-deduction

    As a Norwich fan I have to say it’s a bit daft (if not pathetic) complaining about this now and I’m not sure what it’s meant to achieve. Sunderland will likely finish quite a few points above the last relegation spot, so the removal of the point they gained wouldn’t make a difference.

    That’s not to say the original decision was right. It was wrong and, worse, it was made in secrecy. But
    the time to appeal was when the story broke in the papers, not now.

    ______________________________________________

    As you say, removal of the single point they gained as a result of fielding teh inelegible player would make no difference to things. Assuming the error was honest, this is the penalty that sporting integrity would superficially require, since it would equate to restitution, but without any element of a penalty. The penalty handed out was a fine.
    But the application of a points penalty instead might have made a significant difference.
    In some of the precedents which exists is a 3 point deduction for every match in which an ineligible player was fielded, win lose or draw has been levied.
    This would equate to -12 and see Sunderland down.
    It would seem to be quite harsh.
    But there are arguments on both sides.
    Its a difficult one because it is a situation where ‘without fear or favour’ is a very hard call to make. Whochever way it comes out, it is going to be harsh on one club.


  62. As things stand. Can an Administration event be avoided at Ibrox? Surely if only approx 3K season tickets have been sold then something has to give, and give soon.


  63. Smugas says:
    May 4, 2014 at 10:12 am
    12 0 Rate This

    Secondly, thanks for the memories. We also used to ‘borrow’ our school’s new video (VHS or Betamax, can’t recall) for what I will euphamistically and very loosely call ‘innovative french lessons.’
    ======================================================================
    Smugas…and before such ground-breaking technology was available, we modern language students had to make do with the Cosmo cinema, just off Sauchiehall St…particularly on wet Wednesday afternoons which were designated “sports days” at Strathclyde University (Echobhoy will back me up…won’t you Echobhoy?)


  64. briggsbhoy says:

    May 4, 2014 at 8:07 am (Edit)

    Ryan, for some reasoon I always thought we lost to Germany in a qualifer for the 66 World Cup but it would seem it was Italy. Interesting that the team everybody else humped we didn’t which has always been a commom feature for scotland IMHO. Another thing I didn’t know was that Stein apparently took over as caretaker manager after our failure to qualify for the World Cup.
    ____________________________________________________________

    BB
    Stein took over as caretaker manager after Ian McColl left – during the 1966 World Cup campaign. Scotland had just two games left, both against Italy, and had to win both to qualify.

    They won the first game at Hampden with a John Grieg goal set up as Jim Baxter picked him out on an overlap.
    They lost the game that was televised in loads of schools, including my own and DP’s, by three goals to nil.

    Stein’s master stroke that day was to play big Ron Yeats (“My God! Look at the size of YOU! You’re a MOUNTAIN!!” © Bill Shankly) at centre-forward.


  65. Just seen the picture on twitter of the Aberdeen supporters Flag ( Ogilvie Out ) outside Celtic Park yesterday. The Police I believe Confiscated it before they could tale it into the Stadium. Are things really that bad that we cannot at least try to protest about the corruption in our game? Have the Police been briefed?
    Sorry I cannot do the linky the pic ( Maybe someone else can)
    And well done to the Dons fans, they are doing more than my Clubs fans.


  66. Teams shouldn’t be allowed to bring out new strips unless they win something wearing the old ones.


  67. TSFM says:

    May 4, 2014 at 2:07 pm
    BB
    Stein took over as caretaker manager after Ian McColl left – during the 1966 World Cup campaign. Scotland had just two games left, both against Italy, and had to win both to qualify.

    They won the first game at Hampden with a John Grieg goal set up as Jim Baxter picked him out on an overlap.
    They lost the game that was televised in loads of schools, including my own and DP’s, by three goals to nil.

    Stein’s master stroke that day was to play big Ron Yeats (“My God! Look at the size of YOU! You’re a MOUNTAIN!!” © Bill Shankly) at centre-forward.
    ==========================================================================
    I also recall, too vividly, the second game, played in Naples, to avoid the frozen grounds in Northern Italy.
    The game was watched by my class mates on a television screen we had all been led to believe would only show “piped” programmes from the old Glasgow Corporation Education Department…however, try as I might, I cannot recall any “French lessons”…!
    Ps the highlights of all these World Cup disasters are readily available to watch on You Tube…the best being Hansen & Miller versus Russia in 1982…get yer hankies out!


  68. Aquinas says:
    May 4, 2014 at 2:39 pm

    Just wondering why I never saw this in our media.
    Just while fitba tops are being mentioned.
    http://www.footy-boots.com/europes-top-selling-club-football-shirts-28163/
    =========================================
    Firstly my thoughts were that even if one in every ten Rangers fans bought a strip then they would top the list with 50 million sales! Then I noticed they don’t even get a mention. In terms of why the media haven’t ‘noticed’ it is probably because having to say Celtic are just outside the top ten just doesn’t fit their view that Rangers are the biggest Scottish Club. I suppose we should know by now that facts are the last thing the Scottish media would look to when they are presenting a story.

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