Scottish Football: An Honest Game, Honestly Governed?

A Guest Blog by Auldheid for TSFM

Honesty requires both transparency and accountability. In pursuit of honest, transparent and accountable governance of Scottish football, and only that objective, the following letter, with attachments, has been sent to SPFL lawyers, CEO and SPFL Board Members.

An honest game free from deception is what football supporters of all clubs want. It is the action the letter and attachments prompt that will tell us if there is any intention of providing it.

It is a response on behalf of readers here on TSFM, but the sentiment which underpins it is almost universally held amongst fans of all clubs.  Importantly it is a response directly to all clubs, especially those with a SPFL Board member, that will make the clubs and the football authorities aware just how seriously supporters take the restoration of trust in an honest game, honestly governed.

The annexes to the letter contain information which may be published at a later date. We thought it appropriate to first await any response from any of the recipients.

Please also draw this to the attention of friends who are not internet using supporters and love their football and their club.

Auldheid

__________________________________________________________________

Harper MacLeod
The Ca’d’oro
45 Gordon Street
Glasgow
G1 3PE
19 Feb 2014
Copy sent to SPFL CEO and Board Members *
Dear Mr McKenzie
We the contributors to The Scottish Football Monitoring web site write to you in your capacity as the legal adviser employed by Harper MacLeod to assist the Scottish Premier League (now the Scottish Professional Football League) to gather evidence and investigate the matter of incorrect player registrations involving concealed side letters and employee benefit trusts as defined in the eventual Lord Nimmo Smith Commission.
We note from the then SPL announcement that set up an enquiry that the initial date range to be covered was from the inception of the SPL in July 1998, but that was changed to 23 November 2000 because, according to our understanding, that is the date of the first side letter supplied by Rangers Administrators Duff and Phelps. It is also our understanding that the SPL asked for all documentation relating to side letters as well as the letters themselves.
It is a matter of public record that Rangers Administrators failed to supply the SPL all relevant documentation. Indeed the seriousness of not complying with SPL requests was the subject of an admonition of Rangers/Duff and Phelps from Lord Nimmo Smith under Issue 4 of his Commission.
Quite how serious that failure to comply or concealment was in terms of misleading the Commission and so Lord Nimmo Smith can now be assessed from the information contained at Annexes 1 to 10 attached.
We think that as legal advisers to the SPL (now the SPFL) you have a responsibility to make them aware that their Commission was misled by the concealment of documents starting on 3 September 1999, and signed by current SFA President Campbell Ogilvie, whose silence on the ebt matters referred to in the attached annexes* is questionable at the very least.
This letter but not attachments is being posted on The Scottish Football Monitor web site as this is matter for all of Scottish football and support for the issue being pursued to establish the truth can be gauged by responses from supporters from all Scottish clubs once the letter has been published there.
A copy of this letter with Annexes has also been sent to the SPFL CEO and members of the SPFL Board.
Acknowledgement of receipt and reply can be sent by e mail to:
(Address supplied)
Yours in sport

On behalf of The Scottish Football Monitor contributors and readers. http://www.tsfm.org.uk/

Addressees copied in
Neil Doncaster CEO
The Scottish Professional Football League
Hampden Park
Glasgow G42 9DE

Eric Riley (Celtic),
The Celtic Football Club
Celtic Park
Glasgow G40 3RE

Stephen Thompson (Dundee United),
Tannadice Park,
Tannadice Street,
Dundee, DD3 7JW

Duncan Fraser (Aberdeen);
Aberdeen Football Club plc
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Street
Aberdeen AB24 5QH

Les Gray (Hamilton),
Hamilton Academical FC
New Douglas Park
Hamilton
ML3 0FT

Mike Mulraney (Alloa)
Alloa Athletic FC
Clackmannan Road
Recreation Park
Alloa FK10 1RY

Bill Darroch (Stenhousemuir).
Stenhousemuir F.C.
Ochilview Park
Gladstone Road
Stenhousemuir
Falkirk
FK5 4QL

This entry was posted in General by Trisidium. Bookmark the permalink.
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.

3,234 thoughts on “Scottish Football: An Honest Game, Honestly Governed?


  1. bogsdollox says:
    March 12, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    …thus the Bunnett collected £40m….
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Either way £40M is a substantial return and it disappeared from the Scottish game never to be seen again. The difference between that and Laxeys is only one of scale.

    Surely though, this particular £40m was nevr actually IN the Scottish game?


  2. One thing you can say about Mr McCann is that there was never the amount of doubt and mistrust towards him and that he was a lot more straightforward than the custodians of rangers have been in the last two years. If you told me now that in a few years we would win the premiership and he’d sell out with a huge profit leaving us on a sound financial footing I’d bite your hand off for it. Not literally, that would be weird.

    Pleased to see the result so far tonight, wasn’t able to attend due to work. I won’t be celebrating a clinched league title however until next season has begun with no liquidation event between now and then and no resultant points deduction.


  3. bailemeanach says:
    March 12, 2014 at 8:41 pm

    1 hattrick, 2 elbows, 2 penalties, 3 goals, I’m losing track of records, let alone friends being made on the journey
    ——

    World Record Potential … first team to beat every other Scottish League club? (Actually, has that ever been done? It may take TRFC a few years yet, right enough, unless historic results were included in the sale of Rangers’ history.)

    Apparently, no-one has won their league this early in the season since Partick in 1976 or so. So a couple of dozen million quid wasn’t entirely wasted, then. I imagine they’ll be delighted with their 3rd Division title. 🙄


  4. Angus1983 says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    4

    2

    Rate This

    ________________________________________________

    World Record Potential … first team to beat every other Scottish League club?

    ————————-

    Didn’t we (Caley) do that already?
    I am sure that when we broke our duck against your guys (Aberdeen) a few seasons back that signified the last club in the league that we hadn’t beaten at some point?

    That may be apocryphal, and if its true, I’m not sure that we were the first.


  5. Angus1983,

    TRFC have never beaten Rangers and it is extremely unlikely they ever will.

    You may be saying that Rangers no longer exist therefore they cannot due to that.


  6. Angus1983 says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    Apparently, no-one has won their league this early in the season since Partick in 1976 or so.
    —————————-
    Who is this Partick you refer to? Do you mean Thistle?

    Apologies, but in recent years, the use of “Partick” by the media has done my head in. It has always been Partick Thistle or Thistle.

    Personally, I blame Inverness Caley…


  7. Surely if anyone on the green side of the divide is.going to be accused of.sucking money out of the game it is “the families” who demanded a premium to prevailing market rates FROM Fergus?


  8. Celtic67 says:
    March 12, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    8

    5

    Rate This

    Angus1983,

    TRFC have never beaten Rangers and it is extremely unlikely they ever will.

    You may be saying that Rangers no longer exist therefore they cannot due to that.

    ________________________________________

    TSFM Quiz time:
    Caley and DUFC can go down as an elite few who have beaten both RFC and TRFC.
    Name Any others?

    …that has the makings of a good quiz question “name all the teams that have beaten both pre liquidation and post liquidation Ibrox clubs”

    …Times and dates!
    Imagine the existential angst that this would cause on the radio phone ins?

    And, In my dreams Sue Barker asks this of Ally McCoist on QOS.
    …then I wake up with a stauner…

    Sorry guys… got all misty eyed there…

    As you were.


  9. RyanGosling says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:19 pm

    32

    3

    Rate This

    ______________________________________

    Congratulations Ryan… to the long suffering fans (can’t bring myself to congratulate the club… they bought the title, probably using OPM, or the players, who range between the mercenary and the delusional imho)
    I think you’ll limp on ‘ticketussing it along’ to the end of the season.
    But then the cost cutting will hit hard.
    And it will be left to the bears to stump up for the level of success they are prepared to pay for.
    When TRFC do get to the top flight, you club will be leaner… and probably fitter as a result.

    I don’t think McCoist will figure in anything going forward, and I think the shine has been well and truly taken off the Smith era.
    Laxeys will sweatbox your club.
    But they may make intelligent investment if they see an opportunity. And it could pay off for you in the long run.
    But the type of financial profligacy that persists at Ibrox even today is a dead duck.
    It will not be missed.
    The more arogant element of your support will drift away, disillusioned with mor estraitened circumstances.

    If all this leaves is such as yourself, supporting your club, participating in honest endeavour on a level palying field, we will welcome such as you at the Tulloch, and accept what thrashings come our way with good grace whilst entreating our team to do the same to yours in no small measure.

    But I wouldn’t touch Dave King with a bargepole even if I had gloves on. He is RFC through and through. The one that died. Because it deserved to.


  10. scottc says:
    March 12, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    28

    0

    Rate This

    bogsdollox says:
    March 12, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    …thus the Bunnett collected £40m….
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Either way £40M is a substantial return and it disappeared from the Scottish game never to be seen again. The difference between that and Laxeys is only one of scale.

    Surely though, this particular £40m was nevr actually IN the Scottish game?
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Which is my point. It could have been.


  11. Auldheid says:
    March 12, 2014 at 8:22 pm
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    It may be splitting hairs but the SFA aided and abetted Rangers in the non payment of an agreed liability. That to my mind is not tax evasion. The tax evasion element was what Rangers did to give rise to the tax liability. Other than that we are agreed on all the other points and as it is a glaring example of SFA maladministration it should be pursued..


  12. Resin_lab_dog says: March 13, 2014 at 12:38 am
    TSFM Quiz time:
    Caley and DUFC can go down as an elite few who have beaten both RFC and TRFC.
    Name Any others?
    ===================================
    Stirling Albion 2-0 in season 1953/54 and 1-0 2012/13

    Queen of the South 2-1 1955/56 and 1953/54, and 2-2 (won on pens) 2012/13


  13. TSFM is a channel that is predominantly Celtic-minded although not entirely. Certain styles of comment thereby pass, mostly without censure.
    The two particular areas that have rattled my cage lately are defamation of journalists and special pleading for the innate superiority of groups I cannot name.
    If someone comes on here and kicks off with a rhetorical question about “Journo X once having worked for Rangers” or being a Rangers fan or “being in a relationship with a certain PR company” then the implication is obvious. Journo X is biased at best, corrupt at worst. This is done on a nod and wink basis of course because the bald assertion that “Journo X is being bribed” could bring a metric tonne of legal trouble on TSFM’s head. Also it’s really easy to make that allegation while sitting at a PC but it takes time and effort to do the work that would prove it – or show it was unfounded. So implying that a journalist is bent passes as fair comment. Teasing out the defamatory implications of the statement gets a discussion shut down.
    Similarly with the topic that cannot be named. A casual statement such as, ‘”They” lack a quality but “we” have that quality and it makes us better human beings,’ is repellent. Pointing out the problem takes TSFM into an area of some discomfort so, again, the discussion gets shut down.
    The general effect of this understandable moderation is to let deep-seated prejudices and lazy assumptions pass as acceptable. They’re not – but tackling them in a channel such as this is clearly a problem.
    Note: I don’t mind in the slightest if this post gets moderated off the board. Your space, your rules. Regard it as a direct communication to TSFM.


  14. Albion Rovers donate £10,000.00 to Radio Clyde’s cash for kids appeal.

    Just brilliant ❗


  15. Anyone explain why there is no MSM coverage of the Bear on Bear fighting that took place in the Copland Road stand twice last night? A season ticket holding bear friend of mine was there and he was while glad at securing the league, he was appalled by fighting amongst The Rangers fans! Apparently it broke out twice, security bottled it and let them fight it out and it eventually calmed down! All I can see today is swathes of picture galleries in the DR etc. celebrating the completion of “stage two”. Why no news on the fighting? If it was any other club….Make no mistake, lamb is still on the menu and the big con is still rumbling down the track….


  16. Herald article by Kevin Farrie
    The PR machines in Scottish sport are well oiled and increasingly aggressive . . .

    This week’s story about the parting of the ways of Rangers with their public relations advisers caught the eye, not because of the decision itself but because of an accompanying comment that was portrayed as having been related to it.

    “Only two weeks ago, a joint statement by the various official Ibrox fans’ groups included the phrase, ‘before this board once again unleash their PR bulldog, Jack Irvine, whose only function appears to be to attack Rangers fans . . . ‘,” reported The Herald.

    What struck me was that, rightly or wrongly in this case, there had been, at long last, a true realisation of, and reaction to, the role of spin doctors in Scottish sport.

    For the record, let me say that I encountered Jack Irvine professionally a few years ago – I think he was representing Phil Anderton when the internecine troubles at the Scottish Rugby Union flared up in 2004/05 – and can remember having no cause for complaint about his approach.

    The real alarm bells began ringing around that time, however, when one Alistair Campbell was appointed to help Clive Woodward on that year’s British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

    To describe as a disaster the campaign led by a man who had cut a rather smug figure in his role as a media pundit during the previous Lions tour, would be a gross understatement. However, we got a first sample of why Campbell was there the night after the Lions were thrashed in the opening Test in Christchurch, when he employed methods to distract attention from the result by placing maximum attention on what remains, to this day, no more than an allegation of a spear tackle on Brian O’Driscoll.

    For me that marked the start of a trend in an approach to public relations in sport which is increasingly aggressive and nowhere more so than in Scotland.

    Journalists have been dealing with this ever since. Some have resisted manfully, while others take a more passive approach and kow-tow in the often forlorn hope of receiving favours further down the line from those often referred to as media prevention officers.

    The worst example of their tactics emerged a few years back when a colleague found a briefing sheet that had been given to a member of a communications team and left carelessly on a table. It outlined how the organisation in question was taking a scattergun approach to attacking a particular journalist by targeting his sports editor, his editor and his chief executive.

    Many former journalists having been recruited to these roles, these well-oiled (in every sense) PR machines know the media is packed with opinionated folk. That means that, were a communications team to knock on enough doors, they may well find someone in a senior post who has an axe to grind with any writer and is keen to wield it. Apply enough of that sort of pressure and even those with the strongest wills are likely to crack and make a mistake that can be seized upon.

    While that should be exposed, the attitude within the media tends to be that there is no point in journalists complaining about their lot because the wider public will have little sympathy.

    That, in turn, is hardly surprising given the image of the profession that has been generated by the likes of the News International scandal.

    However, rather than focus on journalists themselves, this can also be viewed as an attack on free speech, not least because it is now the case that even the expression of an unfavourable opinion will draw relentless attacks from some of these well-oiled PR machines.

    It has been reported that, in the United States, the ratio of PR professionals to journalists has gone from around 1.2/1 in 1980 to 4/1 in 2014. Given the vast amount of information consequently being churned out from the skewed perspective of those whose job is to see only one side of things, that makes the role of journalists all the more important.

    In the interests of balance it is, then, worth noting that the best sporting example of that in recent times has also come from News International and the support given to David Walsh, even after he was sued successfully by Lance Armstrong.

    What was striking about the Rangers situation, though, is that what seems to have happened, on the basis of the details cited previously, is that there has been a strong reaction from supporters who feel they have been directly subjected to what journalists have had to deal with for years.

    In Scottish sport that could probably only have happened with issues affecting Celtic or Rangers because they are the only organisations backed by large numbers of people willing to complain loudly about the way things are being run.

    There is a huge lesson to be learned here by those who care about other sports but do not have the courage to express their views in sufficient numbers and with sufficient strength of feeling.

    As for committed journalists, we can only continue to keep both eyes open and try to report the bad with the good, without fear or favour, regardless of the efforts of the spin kings and queens.”

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/opinion/the-pr-machines-in-scottish-sport-are-well-oiled-and-increasingly-aggressive.23681372


  17. Angus1983 says:
    March 12, 2014 at 9:54 pm
    26 6 Rate This
    ———

    Apparently, no-one has won their league this early in the season since Partick in 1976 or so. So a couple of dozen million quid wasn’t entirely wasted, then. I imagine they’ll be delighted with their 3rd Division title.
    ————-

    Well, QoS were champions in March last year, a few weeks later, on a much leaner budget and having scored more goals. A far greater achievement in the vast scheme of things; but the vast scheme of things seems terribly far removed from the usual myopic view. As Colin McCredie tweeted earlier:

    Well done to Rangers on winning the League!! They’re marching up the tables like a new Gretna FC!
    8:05am – 13 Mar 14


  18. Charm offensive 2014 – This years MSM campaign for ‘the reinstatement to their rightful place obviously kicks in today. (Beeb Gossip)

    Celtic manager Neil Lennon has conceded he misses the thrill of the Old Firm derby. “There’s four games, it brings in great TV revenue and interest and obviously gate receipts as well,” said Lennon.
    Full story: The Sun (print edition)

    Everton winger Aiden McGeady believes the absence of the Old Firm derby is being keenly felt at former club Celtic and expressed disappointment they won’t face Rangers in this season’s Scottish Cup. (Various)


  19. Sorry, Para Handy. 🙂 Could well be Caley’s (sorry, Caley Thistle’s) fault.

    I do recall something about Caley Thistle’s beating of Aberdeen giving them the World Record of beating other Scottish fitba teams, rightyneff.

    Old Rangers don’t count, in the same way as Third Lanark don’t. Not sure whether beating Clydebank counts as beating the current Airdrie, though. 😉


  20. Spot the lazy mistake in the BBC Sport website’s reporting of last night’s TRFC game:

    “Ranger are attempting to reclaim their place in the top flight after a torrid few years off the pitch. They were placed in the bottom rung of Scottish league football after lapsing into administration and then liquidation in 2012.”

    Clue: it has more to do with the definition of “liquidation” and how that relates to the ability of a terminated entity to “reclaim” anything – let alone be placed on any rung at all – than the reference to a singular “Ranger” or the physical possibility of being placed “in” a rung. 😉


  21. Can’t wait for McCoist telling Wallace, McCulloch deserves a new 3 yr contract based on that title winning 2 pen hattrick (from CENTRE-BACK!) 😀

    In all seriousness a good manager would give youth a chance in the last 8 games as a challenge to get into the team for next season…


  22. Angus1983
    “Ranger are attempting to reclaim their place in the top flight after a torrid few years off the pitch. They were placed in the bottom rung of Scottish league football after lapsing into administration and then liquidation in 2012.”
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    BBC sports page could have read ‘demoted’ instead of ‘placed’ I suppose, wouldn’t be the first time.


  23. There’s an obvious difference between the bunnet and those running Sevco.
    If the figure was 40million then that’s because he increased the value of the club and his shares increased in value accordingly. At Ibrox the spivs are taking their money despite the value of the club going from over 22 million to basically zero. Is anyone suggesting McCann would have still taken that much if he had failed to turn it around and Celtic had become insolvent?
    Phil keeps saying King needs to buy shares. None of that cash will go towards the club/company and the principle with the 40 mill is the same.
    If there is a suggestion that McCann should have donated the cash, then that’s just cloudcuckooland stuff. I can’t think of too many examples where that has happened. If anyone had a moral problem with the amount, then I can’t see how they can stomach any kind of football now with Its financial excesses. Also on moral grounds there are thousands of charities that would be much more deserving of immoral earnings that a football club.
    Finally, Ferguson wasn’t stupid. He didn’t turn Celtic around on a sixpence. He took his time because he understood the business model. Celtic might be a giant of Scottish football, but it is still restricted in the size it can grow to. Throwing 40 mill at the club would buy what exactly? A couple of years better CL performances and a few more league titles? Long term, 40 mill would not have meant Celtic were much different now with or without it. It might even have caused the type of entitlement problem among the fanbase that Rangers have now. McCann knew all that back then. He was all about the long term.
    Can we move on now? This subject is really for a Celtic only site and it’s whataboutery anyway.


  24. JimBhoy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 9:20 am
    1 0 Rate This

    Can’t wait for McCoist telling Wallace, McCulloch deserves a new 3 yr contract based on that title winning 2 pen hattrick (from CENTRE-BACK!)

    In all seriousness a good manager would give youth a chance in the last 8 games as a challenge to get into the team for next season…
    ———-

    A caller to SSB yesterday asked who would employ AM if he was sacked or resigned. Which clubs would actually be lining up to sign him? The question was deftly avoided, more than once.

    I suppose any club south of the border in League 1 or the Championship, that could outrageously outspend all others in the league 30 or 40 times over, would be an ideal stepping stone for Ally M.

    In the real world, though, what an impressive gesture by Albion Rovers giving a huge chunk of their recent earnings to a real charity. Who says decency in Scottish football is dead? Onwards and upwards The Rovers!


  25. rabtdog says: March 13, 2014 at 7:51 am
    I disagree mate, people have sent clearly and plainly that certain journalists had eaten the succulent lamb and supped finest reds at Rangers’ expense and treated Rangers better accordingly. They have been named & (if they were capable of such an emotion) they have been shamed.

    The rest of your post – well your veiled attackis so veiled I’m not even sure who you are talking about…


  26. rabtdog says:
    March 13, 2014 at 7:51 am
    ‘…The two particular areas that have rattled my cage lately are defamation of journalists and special pleading for the innate superiority of groups I cannot name.’
    ——–
    That, I’m afraid, is just a piece of specious nonsense.

    There is evidence in abundance that the general run of press hacks have been guilty of non-reporting, mis-reporting, intentional misdirection (eg one particular defender of a convicted fraudster) ,maintaining a pure fiction, denying the truth, failing to investigate the biased and conflicted approach of the Football authorities,etc etc etc.
    Our commenting on that is scarcely defamation!
    And the only special pleading on this blog is for the return to honesty and integrity of those who run our game,and those who call themselves and are paid as ‘football journalists’.
    Facts are chiels that winna ding,rabtdog:
    RFC died as a football club: its history died with it
    A new club was created, and by more than one fiddle, was allowed into the SFA, by corrupt officials, blind to their duties both to football and to the taxpaying public.

    And the newspaper hacks, with a track record of slavering over succulent lamb, have wholly accepted, and continue to accept and propagate, like someone suffering from the runs,an unending stream of unadulterated and nauseating crap.
    The wholly base Board of RFC (IL) tried for years to con the rest of us,,and HMRC ,and died in consequence of its greed and megalomaniacal hubris, in spite of the deceitful efforts of the authorities and its lickspittle supporters in the print press and the BBC.
    What more is there to say? Nada! Niente! Nihil!


  27. I wonder if the “history” of the team currently playing in the league under the soubriquet “Airdrieonians” includes games played (1965-2002) against Clydebank FC.

    I note that the website under “Club History” mentions both the club going out of business (describing it as the first in Scotland to do so since Third Lanark) and also “full liquidation”.

    No attempt is made to hide what happened in that website – what there is, is a (not unnatural in my view) attempt to claim a continuity of a limited sort between “old Airdrie” and “new Airdrie”.

    What does the real record (The Wee Red Book) show I wonder?


  28. Angus1983 says:
    March 13, 2014 at 9:15 am
    JimBhoy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 9:23 am

    I think, at least, the use of the description ‘placed’ is as accurate as we could expect from any member of the SMSM. Neither RFC nor TRFC were demoted, relegated or any other description suggesting the club that today plays in the 1st Division has previously played at a higher level. I wonder if the use of ‘placed’ is no more than a chance use of a more correct verb, or the signs that BBC Scotland have a reporter who doesn’t like lamb, or better still, that the BBC have instilled a ‘tell the truth or at least be accurate’ policy or similar. Might be interesting to monitor whether BBC reports continue to avoid using terms like ‘relegated’ or ‘demoted’ whenever describing the disappearance of a ‘Rangers’ from the top tier of Scottish football.


  29. easyJambo says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:52 am

    21

    0

    Rate This

    Resin_lab_dog says: March 13, 2014 at 12:38 am
    TSFM Quiz time:
    Caley and DUFC can go down as an elite few who have beaten both RFC and TRFC.
    Name Any others?
    ===================================
    Stirling Albion 2-0 in season 1953/54 and 1-0 2012/13

    Queen of the South 2-1 1955/56 and 1953/54, and 2-2 (won on pens) 2012/13

    _______________________________

    nice one statto!


  30. Campbellsmoney says:
    March 13, 2014 at 10:22 am
    ‘….What does the real record (The Wee Red Book) show I wonder?’

    ———
    The most recent edition of the Wee Red Book that I have to hand is 2011/12. It gives the foundation date of Airdrie United as 2002.
    And does not include any reference to titles, trophies, record victories over Rangers ( 1886, 2-10) that were won by the dead Airdrie.
    There’s a wee lesson there for some people in the SFA and the Press: liquidated clubs die and their triumphs and disasters die with them.


  31. john clarke says:
    March 13, 2014 at 11:05 am
    5 0 i
    Rate This

    Campbellsmoney says:
    March 13, 2014 at 10:22 am
    ‘….What does the real record (The Wee Red Book) show I wonder?’

    ———
    The most recent edition of the Wee Red Book that I have to hand is 2011/12. It gives the foundation date of Airdrie United as 2002.
    And does not include any reference to titles, trophies, record victories over Rangers ( 1886, 2-10) that were won by the dead Airdrie.
    There’s a wee lesson there for some people in the SFA and the Press: liquidated clubs die and their triumphs and disasters die with them.

    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

    Why only 2002 I wonder? I thought Airdrie United was “old Clydebank” and that that went back to 1965. Seems a bit odd.

    PS – brilliant work at that tax appeal thingymahoo btw. Astonishing what you did there. I would like to propose you are made Lifetime Honorary TSFM court stenographer. I think we are going to need one 😀


  32. Sorry to be pedantic JC but I agree with your post except for “..and their triumphs and disasters die with them.” The record books will always show the wins and losses of a liquidated club and their fans will always remember them with pride or, indeed, hurt. That’s not a problem, the problem at the moment is this institutionalised make-believe of continuity of a liquidated team for reasons that only the those in the big two camp can comprehend or even discuss without seeing how pathetic it is.


  33. rabtdog says:
    March 13, 2014 at 7:51 am

    Note: I don’t mind in the slightest if this post gets moderated off the board. Your space, your rules. Regard it as a direct communication to TSFM.
    ==========================================================
    Personally there are issues raised in your post that I would have no issues discussing but I can usually understand why TSFM sets certain parameters even though some I don’t agree with. However after having posted publicly it’s a bit rich to then say treat it as a direct communication and I think you are well aware of that.

    As to the issue of defamation then there’s absolutely no problem in making a defamatory statement as long as its true but I would strongly advise that the necessary back-up evidence is to hand.

    Unfortunately the internet has created a sort of information ‘Klondyke’ with a lot of rubbish having to be excavated and examined to find a few nuggets. I see lots of signs on many sites that posters are becoming more professional in approach and they are building successful sites which rival and are replacing many traditional media offerings.

    The recent dispatches from the UTT coal-face by JC is a shining example of what is happening and I am still left in awe of what he achieved.

    However some posters – including on here – make comments that make me shudder and I have no doubt that TSFM is even more ‘shuddered’ 🙄 Hopefully many will mature and become more objective and reflective and find a wider vision rather than merely one which focuses purely on their own team – that is IMO what Scottish Football desperately needs given the total lack of principled leadership and direction currently emerging from Hampden.

    On the issue of why some groups feel superior to others well that’s as old as time and will continue until the end of time and there are many differing beliefs held which give rise to that feeling of entitlement. Some might be acceptable to even the majority of a population although others aren’t and indeed could well be abhorrent to many.

    The case you refer to on here IMO has been seized upon and my attitude towards it is a bit like the one I have to journos. I try to look at a broad sweep of their writings to reach what I consider a balanced view of their offerings. Most of us have personal foibles as well as likes and dislikes and few are perfect in my experience.

    In Scotland there are many areas which live with a slow-burning but very short fuse and most of us have had to become very adept at living with the consequences of the odd flare-up and generally keeping the lid on. I doubt if a football blog is the ideal place to discuss such issues and I think TSFM usually calls it right on these subjects and it seems to me he acts not to stifle discussion but to preserve and protect the things this blog is all about.

    Some of the bigger things really are much too big for us to tackle but there are plenty of other smaller things we can be getting on with and it all helps to eventually change the bigger picture – of course not everyone has the patience for this approach but it starts to come with age for most of us 😎


  34. rabtdog says:
    March 13, 2014 at 7:51 am

    “The two particular areas that have rattled my cage lately are defamation of journalists and special pleading for the innate superiority of groups I cannot name.”
    ———————————
    In all things it should be welcomed to hear an opposing opinion. It adds to the debate and a little bit of jeopardy brings interest.

    On journalists, it has been an unfolding exposition to scrutinise main stream offerings and hold them up to the light for examination. This is right at the heart of the ‘Asking the questions the media won’t ask’ mission statement of the blog. I suspect many of us existed in the miasma that journalism would seek to get at some version of the truth with only the occasional ‘understandable mistake’ distorting this aim. However the process of revising one’s outlook does require that all sorts of challenges are made, even one’s that eventually prove to be ill-founded. All of us tend to keep on message in our personal lives since to undermine our own credibility will undoubtedly result in all sorts of sticks being poked at our perspective, even at aspects that turn out to be unimpeachable. If the SMSM had been beyond reproach then no forensic examination of their motives would likely have occurred.

    On the question of the ‘Scottish Play’, it is a sticky topic and yesterdays discussion will have reminded us why venturing onto such territory should only be done with extreme caution and a handful of caveats.


  35. wildwood says:
    March 13, 2014 at 8:58 am
    ‘…Celtic manager Neil Lennon has conceded he misses the thrill of the Old Firm derby…’
    ———-
    Is this the ‘McCoisting’ of Lennon? Is he metamorphosing into some kind cheer leader for the ‘Old Firm’? For support for recognition that the new club is really the old club? That he, too, is swallowing the excrement and toeing the party line?
    I shall check whether the ‘Sun’ is ’embellishing’, in its fanciful way, rather than ‘reporting’. But if the report is accurate, I shall be writing to Lennon, beseeching him to keep his mouth shut about the ‘Old Firm’ and how he misses it. The man can be a blo.dy eejit sometimes.


  36. As to the issue of defamation then there’s absolutely no problem in making a defamatory statement as long as its true but I would strongly advise that the necessary back-up evidence is to hand.

    ————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    If its true it’s not defamatory.


  37. Rabtdog – the level of trust amongst British population for Journalists on red- top tabloid newspapers (e.g. Sun, Mirror) is 10%. Upmarket & mid-market journalists are better trusted but they have shown huge falls in trust in the past decade (down by 40% for upmarekt and by half for mid-market).

    One of the key things that is required in a defamation case is for the written material to lower the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally. If 9 out of 10 members of the public don’t trust tabloid journalists to tell the truth anyway, it’s going to be hard to prove damage to reputation.

    And then you can add the “fair comment” defence – that it is an expression of opinion on a matter of public interest and not a statement of fact – hence the liberal use of “IMO” or “IMHO”.

    But as always, the best defence is that or TRUTH – or at least substantially truthful… with regard to the previous regime’s liberal use of lamb, reds and planes to French vineyards over a sustained period of time, it can clearly be argued that, on the balance of probabilities, the allegation is more likely than not to be true. Why would a failing company/club be offering journalists such inducements and benefits over an extended period of time if not to generate favourable copy?


  38. Celtic manager Neil Lennon has conceded he misses the thrill of the Old Firm derby. “There’s four games, it brings in great TV revenue and interest and obviously gate receipts as well,” said Lennon.
    Full story: The Sun (print edition)

    Edited

    ******
    In the follow up question, on RTE’s Second Captains programme, he was asked, “Do you miss them?”, he answered, ” I didn’t say that! ”

    What he had said prior to that is true, the thrill, the gate receipts to the club, etc.


  39. ernie says:
    March 13, 2014 at 11:33 am
    ‘….Sorry to be pedantic JC …’
    ——-
    No, no, you’re right. Honours and titles etc that a club achieved in its lifetime cannot be expunged. But they have not to be attributed to a new club that did not exist and had no part in the achieving of them!
    The record books will, and must, show that the club that was RFC achieved, one way or another, lots of things. And then went out of business, like Third Lanark, Gretna and many others.
    What they ought not to show, as a matter of incontrovertible fact, is that these achievements in any sense belong to Sevco/ the new Club/The Rangers FC/RIFC or whatever.


  40. JC 11.44

    I saw that interview with Lennon last night on Second Captains Live on RTE2 he was asked if he missed the old firm matches and agreed that he did, he was then asked if he missed Rangers and he said “I didn’t say that”.

    He also admitted that with Rangers gone from the top flight the level of abuse that he has personally had to suffer (Aberdeen fans at that semi aside) has gone down and that this was welcome also.


  41. Bogsdollox

    How about?

    The SFA aided and abetted Rangers to evade paying £2.8m of tax due to the taxpayer as a result of tax evasion, by failing to apply UEFA rules on payments to tax authorities with the due diligence the rules required?

    My real point here is to draw people’s attention to how football puts itself above its responsibilities to the wider civil community.

    In that respect football is aided and abetted by the wider civil community’s reluctance to interfere in the governance of football by introducing civil laws that make the said aiding and abetting a crime against the tax payer.

    Football exists as the outlaw territory that it is because of the grace granted to it by the population.

    It is is danger of overdrawing that grace account.


  42. Just a thought and it may have come up before, but have the SFA created a Frankenstein club and are there enough pitchforks in the football village? 🙂


  43. Allyjambo says:
    March 13, 2014 at 10:23 am

    We need more vegetarian journos mate.. 😀


  44. Campbellsmoney

    “If its true it is not defamatory”

    I find that reassuring as well as explaining total silence on the letter and evidence sent to the lawyers of the SPFL.

    If what is provided is not true why no response to that effect?

    The charge is Rangers cheated Scottish football and then covered up that cheating with concealment of the evidence and SFA silence.

    If that is not true why do the authorities at Hampden not say so?


  45. Pressing issue posted on the bearsden…

    “The Blue Order and Union Bears better decide between them who starts GSTQ, because that was shocking tonight. ”

    30,000 leaflets handed out by SoS, supposed fighting in the stands between various factions… Whose gonna start the national anthem..!! 😯


  46. Suppose there was a federation of countries. Could be in Eastern Europe or anywhere else for that matter. Then suppose that there was a well known organisation in one of those federated countries that espoused the perfectly legitimate values of that federated principle, even if in some peoples opinions the point was laboured a little too much. Then suppose one of those federated countries considered the possibility of loosening the political ties with its neighbours. Might there be an argument for the federation to support said organisation if it existed in that country, even if it were to suffer some personal difficulties?

    It’s an obvious point but may bear repetition.


  47. I’ve noticed over time that Blog headlines tend towards the subtle if not downright cryptic.

    Auldheid’s post above states:

    “The SFA aided and abetted Rangers to evade paying £2.8m of tax due to the taxpayer as a result of tax evasion, by failing to apply UEFA rules on payments to tax authorities with the due diligence the rules required?”

    There have been many blogs in the past containing accusations but one with an accusation.

    If a Blog is in this vein I’d like to see it’s headline one that confronts the authorities.

    For example if Auldheid’s were a blog the the headline would be”

    “The SFA Aided and Abetted Rangers to Avoid Paying £2.8m of Tax”

    Now that would raise interest outwith TSFM.


  48. A wee reminder, from a guy who had the chance to count some of the skeletons in some of the cupboards.

    “If Charles Green is not willing to face the fans, explain the economics and risk the torrent of abuse that will follow in the short term, then Rangers will find themselves shortly back in the same place. Green must embrace change, cut back and then reshape the business plan, invest on a long term basis by accepting short term failure in order to remain relevant.

    “Like any insolvent business, Rangers needs to cut costs, reign in salaries, demand better quality commercial revenues and build a business that is lean, profitable and produces attractive, vibrant, talented players that, over time, will take it back into European football.”

    Jon Pritchett, Forbes Magazine, August 2012.


  49. There’s only 2 Glasgow rangers…!!!!

    Playing with the scenario below…

    Let’s say TRFC was liquidated as the majority of bears did not re-invest in SB sales. Kingy continues his crusade to be king of the bears. The split amongst the fans is not mended Laxey/Easdales get/keep the stadium and Kingy sets up his vision of rangers run out of Hampden. Both rangers apply for a license to play next season…I could honestly imagine a scenario where both teams are granted a license to avoid armageddon..Kings rangers and L/E rangers…

    It would just be absolutely fantastic to see how the SFA dealt with that scenario..


  50. Resin_lab_dog says:
    March 12, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    ecobhoy says:
    March 12, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    It will also be interesting to see in 20 years where TRFC have ended-up.
    ________________________________________

    Fixed that for you.
    How ‘Rangers’ have ‘ended up’ is already a matter of record. (Nipples skyward.)
    ___________________

    😀


  51. JimBhoy says:

    March 13, 2014 at 12:18 pm
    Allyjambo says:
    March 13, 2014 at 10:23 am

    We need more vegetarian journos mate.. 😀
    ————————————————————-

    Don’t you think there are enough vegetables masquerading as journalists already 😉


  52. Auldheid says:
    March 13, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    If that is not true why do the authorities at Hampden not say so?
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    The main reasons people do not sue in respect of, or rebut, defamatory statements are (i) costs; and (ii) they are unwilling to give the defamatory statement the oxygen of publicity.


  53. For anyone who is interested, I recently asked the SFA about their commitment to transparency by sharing financial information on all members. Having failed to receive a response to previous questions, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply. It advised that “…we are looking at this in relation to our confidentiality provisions. We hope to resolve the matter soon.”


  54. moo ‏@moo_ted 4m
    And a third mortgage charge on TRFC showing at Co Ho ? pic.twitter.com/oz12UPsygu

    Now what could that be?

    Also half a million shares traded today?


  55. Interesting to see Hampden become an athletic stadium on stilts.
    Cost a few bob.
    Shame not to leave it like that.
    All future internationals and cup semis and finals can be shared between Govan and the East End.
    Nice little earner too.

    Scotland needs a permanent International Athletics Stadium


  56. Finloch says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:45 pm

    … All future internationals and cup semis and finals can be shared between Govan and the East End. Nice little earner too.
    ——

    I quite agree. Actually, all Premiership games should probably be played in Glasgow – in the same way that semi-finals between teams from, say, Perth and Aberdeen or Inverness and Dundee are played there.

    Given the “demands of television”, there could be a game every night at either Parkhead or Ibrox. The SFA and SPFL, of course, care little for the travelling arrangements of fans from outwith the city. I am led to believe that train arrival times in Glasgow even for this Sunday’s Final are not ideal for fans who wish to see the whole game.


  57. nowoldandgrumpy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    moo ‏@moo_ted 4m
    And a third mortgage charge on TRFC showing at Co Ho ? pic.twitter.com/oz12UPsygu

    Now what could that be?

    Also half a million shares traded today?

    Laxeys, Sandy Easdale and the Scottish Sports Federation (Murray Park)


  58. Campbellsmoney says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    1

    0

    Rate This

    Auldheid says:
    March 13, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    If that is not true why do the authorities at Hampden not say so?
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    The main reasons people do not sue in respect of, or rebut, defamatory statements are (i) costs; and (ii) they are unwilling to give the defamatory statement the oxygen of publicity.

    Or (iii) the statement isn’tdefamatory (ie. untrue)

    Happy to help. 😆


  59. Angus1983 says:
    March 13, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    I like it Angus. There’s nothing more fans of all the provincial clubs would like but to play all their games in Scotland’s footballing capital.
    Perhaps the diddy clubs could play their games at Partick 😉 though!


  60. JC, I noted your namesake celebrates his 73rd birthday today, He looks well.


  61. jockybhoy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 2:22 pm
    2 0 i
    Rate This

    Campbellsmoney says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    1

    0

    Rate This

    Auldheid says:
    March 13, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    If that is not true why do the authorities at Hampden not say so?
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    The main reasons people do not sue in respect of, or rebut, defamatory statements are (i) costs; and (ii) they are unwilling to give the defamatory statement the oxygen of publicity.

    Or (iii) the statement isn’tdefamatory (ie. untrue)

    Happy to help.

    —————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    That’s not a reason in respect of a defamatory statement tho’ JockyBhoy 🙂

    happy to help 😉

    But you are absolutely right of course.


  62. nowoldandgrumpy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:42 pm
    9 0 i
    Rate This

    moo ‏@moo_ted 4m
    And a third mortgage charge on TRFC showing at Co Ho ? pic.twitter.com/oz12UPsygu

    —————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

    I don’t see that at Companies House. Anyone enlighten me?


  63. I don’t understand the 20 TUs and 0 TDs for Sky’s ‘Rangers Record Since Liquidation’.

    Surely it’s P0 W0 D0 L0 F0 A0 Pts 0 Titles 0?

    Or am I missing something?


  64. nowoldandgrumpy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 3:24 pm
    0 0 i
    Rate This

    Campbellsmoney says:
    March 13, 2014 at 3:05 pm
    0 0 Rate This

    hope this works
    https://twitter.com/moo_ted/status/444104524689858560/photo/1/large
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————————–
    Cheers. Ah I see – stupidly I was looking at the page that actually shows what has been filed!

    In which case, Scottc will be right (as if they was any doubt).


  65. iamacant says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:45 pm
    40 0 Rate This

    Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeness condemned to stay in prison for 3 years and 6 months for tax evasion.

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/13/uli-hoeness-sentenced-three-and-a-half-years-prison-tax-evasion-germany

    Pity our wee country didn’t have same standards.
    ———

    Was just reading about the judgement. And to think he alerted the authorities himself when he saw what was coming.

    A German legend treated without fear or favour.

    How cringeworthy and embarrassing is Scotland’s national association president, ‘EBT Ogilvie’ and the uncritical system that allows him to remain in office grinning like the cat that got the cream.


  66. Danish Pastry says:

    March 13, 2014 at 5:17 pm
    iamacant says:
    March 13, 2014 at 1:45 pm
    40 0 Rate This

    Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeness condemned to stay in prison for 3 years and 6 months for tax evasion.

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/13/uli-hoeness-sentenced-three-and-a-half-years-prison-tax-evasion-germany

    Pity our wee country didn’t have same standards.
    ———

    Was just reading about the judgement. And to think he alerted the authorities himself when he saw what was coming.

    A German legend treated without fear or favour.

    How cringeworthy and embarrassing is Scotland’s national association president, ‘EBT Ogilvie’ and the uncritical system that allows him to remain in office grinning like the cat that got the cream.
    =============================================================================
    Gents, our “conflicted One” only amassed enough for a “good night out”…so fair do’s…!

    Tragic to see a figurehead go in such a way…(Hoeness, not Ogilvie!) and look at the reaction from other German taxpayers…rushing to make “voluntary disclosures”. I wonder how closely HMRC are watching…?


  67. S5088 still going
    admin speculation
    Accounts due two weeks re SFA FFP etc
    Tempus Fugit
    Wonder perchance if these related?


  68. Even though it is likely that Rangers will be declared the league winners we will not be settling just yet for obvious reasons

    — McBookie (@McBookie) March 12, 2014


  69. paulsatim says:
    March 13, 2014 at 5:53 pm
    JimBhoy says:
    March 13, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/the-enemy-within/

    Things turning out not so bad, McMurdo will do no more blogs on The Rangers!!
    =============================================================
    Funnily enough it was maybe a month ago or so that he said he would be cutting back on Rangers blogging and I wondered then what was happening behind the blue veil at Ibrox.

    McMurdo backs the current Board and seems to have been a ‘transmitter’ for the PR drivel emanating from Ibrox. Interestingly he makes no reference in his blog to the fact that the objectionable bit in the banner to quite a lot of Bears, I would imagine, is the: ‘Support the Board’ slogan.

    Personally given how deep feelings are running at the moment in various Bear factions against the Board it would be a brave soul to wave a banner supporting them and if he had kids with him as claimed then he certainly was a very foolish Bear.

    So JI walks and so does McMurdo – I wonder who might be next? Ach well dreams of a PR/journo role turned to dust for yet another aspiring Rangers media star.


  70. A couple of marks to Michael Grant on Sportsound for at least making some kind of apology for the extraordinary amount of air time given to a lower division title-winning club this evening. But an apology after the event is not quite the same as sound editorial consistency of hallowed practice which keeps the lesser divisions in a modest place when it comes to air-time.
    But that’s good old BBC Radio Scotland, always on-side.

Comments are closed.