Good Afternoon.
Announcing outstanding financial successes for Rangers PLC the then Chairman of the club opened his Chairman’s report in the annual financial statements with the following words:
“Last summer I explained that the Club, after many years of significant investment in our playing squad
and more recently in our state of the art facility at Murray Park, had embarked on a three year business
plan to stabilise and improve the Club’s finances. The plan also recognised the need to react to the
challenging economic conditions facing football clubs around the world.
Following a trend over a number of years of increasing year on year losses, I am pleased to report that
in the first year of this plan we have made important progress by reversing this trend. Our trading loss
for last year of £11.2m reflects a £7.9m improvement versus the £19.1m loss for the previous year and
although it will take more time to completely reach our goals, this is a key milestone. We also intend to
make significant further progress by the end of the current financial year. This improvement is the
consequence of having a solid strategy and the commitment and energy to implement the changes it requires”
Later on in the same statement the chairman would add:
“Another key part of our plan is associated with the Rangers brand and our Retail Division goes from strength to strength. Our financial results this year have been significantly enhanced by an outstanding performance in merchandising Rangers products, in particular replica kit, which makes our Retail Division one of the most successful in Europe.”
In the same set of financial reports, the CEO would report:
“To further strengthen Rangers hospitality portfolio, a new dedicated sponsor’s lounge was unveiled this season. The Carling Lounge is a first for the Club and was developed in conjunction with our new sponsor, Carling. ”
and
“Our innovative events programme continues to grow and this year saw a record number of official events including the highly successful annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony, Player of the Year and 50 Championships Gala Dinner, all of which catered for up to 1000 guests.
At Rangers, we continually develop our portfolio of products and as a key area of income for the Club, we evaluate the market for new revenue opportunities on an ongoing basis in order to exceed our existing and potential customer expectations and needs.
Demand for season tickets reached an all time high last season with a record 42,508 season ticket holders in comparison with the previous season`s figure of 40,320. Over 36,000 of these season ticket holders renewed for this season – a record number.
For the new season, we are delighted to welcome brewing giant, Carling on board as our Official Club sponsor. Carling is one of the UK’s leading consumer brands with a proven track record in football sponsorship.
The Club also continues to work with a number of multinational blue chip brands such as National Car Rental, Sony Playstation 2, Bank of Scotland and Coca-Cola. This year, we will also experience the evolution of the Honda deal via Hyndland Honda and welcome the mobile communications giant T-Mobile to our ranks.”.
The year was 2003 and in the previous 24 months Rangers Football Club, owned and operated as a private fiefdom by Sir David Murray, had made operational losses of some £30 million.
Yes – 30 MILLION POUNDS.
Of course the chairman’s report for 2003 was written by John F Mclelland CBE and the CEO was one Martin Bain Esq.
As Mr Mclelland clearly stated, by 2003 the club already had a trend of increasing year on year losses covering a number of years and was losing annual sums which stretched into millions, if not tens of millions, of pounds.
However, the acquisition of Rangers Football Club was absolutely vital to David Murray’s personal business growth, and his complete control of the club as his own private business key was more important than any other business decision he had made before buying Rangers or since.
When he persuaded Gavin Masterton to finance 100% of the purchase price of the club, Murray had his finest business moment.
By getting control of Rangers, Murray was able to offer entertainment, hospitality, seeming privilege and bestow favour on others in a way that was hitherto undreamed of, and he bestowed that largesse on any number of “existing and potential clients” and contacts – be they the clients and contacts related to Rangers Football Club or the existing and potential clients of David Murray, his businesses, his banks, or anyone in any field that he chose to court for the purposes of potential business.
His business.
It wasn’t only journalists who benefited from the succulent lamb treatment.
Accountants,lawyers, surveyors, broadcasters, football officials, people in industry and construction, utilities, financiers and other areas of business were all invited inside the sacred House of Murray and given access to the great man of business “and owner of Rangers” while attending the “record number of official (hospitality) events”.
Twelve months on from when John McLelland made those statements in the 2003 accounts, David Murray was back in the chair at Ibrox and he presented the 2004 financials.
In the intervening 12 months Rangers had gained an additional £10 million from Champions League income and had received £8.6 million in transfer fees from the sale of Messrs Ferguson, Amoruso and McCann. Not only that, the Rangers board had managed to reduce the club’s wage bill by £5 million. Taking all three figures together comes to some £23.6 million in extra income or savings.
Yet, the accounts for 2004 showed that the club made an operational loss of almost £6 million and overall debt had risen by an additional £7 million to £97.4 million.
However, the 2004 accounts were also interesting for another reason.
Rangers PLC had introduced payments “to employees trusts” into their accounts for the first time in 2001 and in that year they had paid £1million into those trusts. Just three years later, the trust payments recorded in the accounts had risen to £7.3 million per annum — or to put it another way to 25% of the annual wage bill though no one in Scottish Football asked any questions about that!
By the following year, the chairman announced that the 2004 operational loss had in fact been £10.4million but that the good news was that the 2005 operational loss was only £7.8 million. However Rangers were able to post a profit before taxation if they included the money obtained from transfers (£8.4 million) and the inclusion of an extraordinary profit of £14,999,999 made on buying back the shares of a subsidiary company for £1 which they had previously sold for £15 million.
All of which added up to a whopping great profit of ……… £12.4 million!
I will leave you to do the maths on 2005.
Oh and of course these accounts included the detail that 3000 Rangers fans had joined David Murray in participating in the November ’94 share issue where the club managed to raise £51,430,995 in fresh capital most of which was provided by Mr Murray… sorry I mean MIH ….. sorry that should read Bank of Scotland …… or their shareholders……. or should that be the public purse?
The notable items in the 2006 accounts included the announcement of a ten year deal with JJB Sports to take over the merchandising operation of the club and increased revenue from an extended run in the Champion’s League. However, the profit before tax was declared at only£0.1 million in comparison to the £12.4 million of the year before but then again that £12.4 million had included player sales of £8.4 million and the £15 million sweety bonus from the repurchase of ones own former subsidiary shares for £1.
Jumping to 2008 Rangers saw a record year in terms of turnover which had risen to £64.5 million which enabled the company to record a profit on ordinary activities before taxation of £6.57 million although it should be pointed out that wages and bonuses were up at 77% of turnover and that a big factor in the Rangers income stream was corporate hospitality and the top line of income was shown as “gate receipts and hospitality”.
However, 2009 saw a calamitous set of figures. Whilst Alastair Johnston tried to put a brave chairman’s face on it, the year saw an operating loss of £17.325 million which was softened only by player disposals leading to a loss before taxation of a mere £14.085 million.
Fortunately Sir David did not have to report these figures as he chose to stand down as chairman in August and so Johnston stepped in and announced that he was deeply honoured to do so.
In 2010, the income stream jumped from £39.7 million to over £56 million with the result that the club showed a profit before taxation of £4.209 million.
However, by that time the corporate hospitality ticket that was Rangers Football Club was done for as a result of matters that had nothing to do with events on the football field in the main.
First, the emergence of the Fergus McCann run Celtic had brought a real business and sporting challenge. This was something that Murray had not previously faced in the football business.
Second,the Bank of Scotland had gone bust and Lloyds could not and would not allow Murray to continually borrow vast sums of money on the basis of revalued assets and outrageous hospitality.
Third, the UEFA fair play rules came into being and demanded that clubs at least act on a semblance of proper corporate governance and fiscal propriety.
Lastly,Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs tightened up the law on the use of EBT’s which meant that Rangers could no longer afford to buy in the players that brought almost guaranteed success against domestic opposition.
On average, since 2002 Rangers PLC had lost between £7 million – £8 million per year – or roughly £650,000 per month if you like – yet for the better part of a decade David Murray had been able to persuade the Bank of Scotland that this was a business that was worthy of ever greater financial support or that he himself and his MIH business was of such value that the Banks should support him in supporting the Ibrox club whilst operating in this fashion.
Of course, had Murray’s Rangers paid tax on all player remunerations then the losses would have been far larger.
Meanwhile, all the other clubs in Scottish football who banked with the Bank of Scotland faced funding cuts and demands for repayment with the bank publicly proclaiming that it was overexposed to the football market in Scotland.
But no one asked any questions about why the bank should act one way with Murray’s club but another way with all others. No one in football, no one in the media and no one from the world of business.
Looking back,it is hard to imagine a business which has been run on such a consistent loss making basis being allowed to continue by either its owners or by its bankers. However, a successful and funded Rangers was so important to the Murray group that David Murray was clearly willing to lose millions year after year to keep the Gala dinners and corporate hospitality going.
Rangers were Murray’s big PR vehicle and the club was essentially used by him to open the doors which would allow him to make more money elsewhere on a personal basis and if it meant Rangers cutting every corner and accumulating massive losses, unsustainable losses, then so be it.
Today, the new regime at Ibrox run the current business in a way which clocks up the same colossal annual losses whilst the club competes outwith Scotland’s top division. Each day we hear that the wage bill is unsustainable, that the playing staff are overpaid, that the stadium needs massive investment and that the fans are opposed to the stadium itself being mortgaged and the club being in hawk to lenders.
Yet, in the Murray era the Stadium was revalued time and time again and its revaluation was used as the justification for ever greater borrowing on the Rangers accounts. The playing staff were massively overpaid and financially assisted by the EBT’s and most years the Chairman’s annual statement announced huge losses despite regular claims of record season ticket sales, record hospitality income, European income, shirt sponsorship and the outsourcing of all merchandising to JJB sports instead of Sports Direct.
The comparison between the old business and the current one is clear for all to see.
It should be noted, that since the days of Murray, no major banking institution has agreed to provide the Ibrox business with any banking facilities. Not under Whyte, not under Green, not under anyone.
Yet few ask why that should be.
The destruction of the old Rangers business led those in charge of Scottish football to announce that Armageddon was on the horizon if it had not actually arrived, yet today virtually all Scottish clubs are in a better financial and business state than back in the bad old days of the Bank of Scotland financed SPL. Some have succumbed to insolvency, and others have simply cut their cloth, changed their structure, sought, and in some cases attracted, new owners and moved on in terms of business.
In general, Scottish Football has cleaned house at club level.
Now, David Murray has “cleaned house” in that MIH has bitten the dust and walked down insolvency road.
What is interesting is that the Murray brand still has that capacity to get out a good PR message when it needs to. Despite the MIH pension fund being short of money for some inexplicable reason, last week it was announced that the family controlled Murray Estates had approached those in charge of MIH and had agreed to buy some key MIH assets for something in the region of £13.9 million.
The assets concerned are land banks which at some point will be zoned for planning and which will undoubtedly bring the Murray family considerable profit in the future, with some of those assets already looking as if they will produce a return sooner rather than later.
However, what is not commented upon in the mainstream press is the fact that Murray Estates had the ability to pay £13.9 Million for anything at all and that having that amount of money to spend the Murray camp has chosen not to buy any football club down Govan way.
Perhaps, it has been realised that a football club which loses millions of pounds each year is not such a shrewd investment and that the Murray family money would be better spent elsewhere?
Perhaps, it has been realised that the culture of wining, dining, partying and entertaining to the most lavish and extravagant extent will not result in the banks opening their vaults any more?
Perhaps, it has been realised that the Rangers brand has been so badly damaged over the years that it is no longer the key to the golden door in terms of business, finance and banking and that running a football club in 2015 involves a discipline and a set of skills that David Murray and his team do not have experience of?
What is clear, is that the Murray years at Ibrox were not good for the average Rangers fan in the long term and that when you have a football club – any football club – being run for the private benefit of one rich individual, or group of individuals, then the feelings and passions of the ordinary fan will as often as not be forgotten when that individual or his group choose to move on once they have decided that they no longer wish to play with their toy football club.
David Murray did not make money directly out of Rangers Football Club. He used it as a key to open other doors for him and to get him a seat at other tables and into a different type of “club” altogether. He did not run the club in a day to day fashion that was designed to bring stability and prolonged financial, or playing, success to the club. its investors and its fans. He did not preside over Ibrox during a period of sustained financial gain.
Mike Ashley will not subsidise 2015 version of Rangers to anything like the same extent that the Bank of Scotland did in the 90’s and naughties.
However, Ashley, like Murray, will use his control of the Rangers brand to open doors for him elsewhere in the sports retail market, and he will use the Rangers contract with Sports Direct to make a handsome profit. He will also control all the advertising revenue just as he does at Newcastle. In short, Mr Ashley is only interested in The Rangers with a view to using it as a stepping stone to achieve other things elsewhere.
However, don’t take my word for any of this, take the opinion of someone who knows.
Mr Dave King is quoted today as saying the following about the current board of Directors who are in charge of the current Ibrox holding company.
“History will judge this board as one of the worst the club has ever had. There is not one individual who puts the club above personal interest.”
That is an interesting observation from a man who became a non executive director of the old Rangers holding company in 2000 and who had a front row pew for every set of accounts and all the financial statements referred to above.
Whether or not Mr King is a glib and shameless liar is a matter of South African judicial opinion. Whether or not he can spot someone who puts their own self interest ahead of the interests of Rangers Football Club and the supporters of the club is a matter that should be discussed over some fine wine, some succulent lamb and whatever postprandial entertainment you care to imagine.
I wonder if he has ever read the accounts of Rangers PLC and compared them to the corresponding accounts of MIH for the same period?
Just of the phone to sky cancelled my sky sports subscription .Pig sick of subsidising English football .Actually feel a lot better anyone fancy joining me ?
Allyjambo says:
February 12, 2015 at 1:35 pm
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Like you AJ I was expecting a not proven. Isn’t it refreshingly surprising when one’s cynicism proves unfounded!?
On the BBc
The UK as it is now, is a very different country from the UK of even 25 years ago. Many UK institutions, the BBC is an example, have been slow to adapt to the huge changes that we, as a family of nations, have undergone. That process of change is ongoing, and I defy anyone to say with any certainty what the endpoint will be.
That said, I would not ascribe malicious motives to the BEEB, it is a dinosaur, devolution stamped on its toe, and 20 years later it is beginning to respond. It will catch up, messily and with plenty of mis-steps.
We should all be careful, (as on the NHS), of the motives of many of those who cry scrap the BBC, who want to replace it with something more akin to the US system, than the current model, that change would be one that we would all be poorer for.
The BBC is just another causality resulting from asymmetrical devolution.
neepheid says:
February 12, 2015 at 1:10 pm
A wee twitter exchange which highlights the point I tried to make earlier. Smaller leagues than ours, in any terms, negotiate much better TV deals. Why should that be?
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Diagnosis: Easy, more professional administrators promoting a product perceived to be of higher value by a larger audience – and hence more valuable to the TV networks.
Treatment: Change the Hampden culture to compete in a global market instead of obsessively corrupting all aspects of the sport to serve one favoured club.
Prognosis: Not good. The patient does not recognise an illness and so does not accept the diagnosis and refuses the treatment. Suggest referral to first address underlying psychiatric issues.
sickofitall says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Just of the phone to sky cancelled my sky sports subscription .Pig sick of subsidising English football .Actually feel a lot better anyone fancy joining me ?
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I cancelled my Sky subscription a number of years ago after a spell in Russia when I discovered that the equivalent Sky package I had in the UK for £30 or so was something like 50p there. To say I was flabbergasted is an understatement.
When I got back I checked with Sky who explained that Russia was a developing market and that’s was why the terms were so attractive. I cancelled there and then and have never renewed.
But I love watching a lot of the EPL and some Championship matches and get that on my BT Sport.
And NO SKY is a great excuse to toddle off down to the pub to watch a game – she hasn’t figured out yet it would be cheaper to get sky back 😆
Still happy to see that you have joined me after so long 😆
Since we are again discussing TV income, I thought I would repost this blog entry from StevensanPH, a St Johnstone fan in Asia, who used to post on here- much missed, by the way.
A fascinating insight which highlights the total, utter and abject failure that goes by the name of Neil Doncaster. Yet he keeps on getting bonuses and pay rises. Does he know where some bodies are buried, or what?
https://saintinasia.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/the-sfaspl-tv-myth-how-we-compare-to-europe/
andygraham.66 says:
February 12, 2015 at 11:42 am
OT Stat and one to ask in the pub to your pals this weekend
Q: What will happen next weekend that has never happened in the EPL before
A: No Scottish manager
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That is indeed an interesting observation.
In the lifetime of most fellow Bampots, we have moved a long way away from the times when decent Scottish players were transferred to England mostly, as ‘big players’ who made a real impact in England and Europe.
For my own team, the main memory was Dalglish going to LFC in ’77 for GBP440K.
[As a 9 year old, I sent him a personal poem imploring him to stay at Celtic – but at least he sent me back my autograph book signed. 😉 ]
In recent years/decades [?] truly world class Scottish players have become almost extinct. But at least there was pride in the knowledge that when English colleagues/friends/family teased about the quality of Scottish football, there was always the comeback that the EPL needed the Scottish managers to produce good football – with SAF being the obvious example.
So it is disappointing that there will be a period of no Scottish managers in the EPL.
And is this further, long-term evidence that the SFA is failing in protecting and developing the Scottish game ? I would love to hear Regan’s opinion. [I know…]
mcfc says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:46 pm
Well in the case of Norway the SPFL can’t make the excuse of a higher audience as the country’s pop was 5,109,059 people (2014).
I look at the Norwegian deal and simply can’t comprehend how badly we are being stitched-up.
I think we should demand RD becomes our TV negotiator – I know he knows nothing about it but he can’t do any worse than the experts we already have 😆
sickofitall says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Just of the phone to sky cancelled my sky sports subscription .Pig sick of subsidising English football .Actually feel a lot better anyone fancy joining me ?
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I too cancelled mine a few years ago and not missing it one bit. Also feel my club (Celtic), like many other senior clubs is very much part of the pantomime of the last 2-3 years and as such they have not received a penny of mine in the interim. Likewise the National team and not a thin dime to the hampden suits, who continue to insult my intelligence by their actions/inactions.
Found much better things to do with my time and money. 😛
StevieBC says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:58 pm
Stevie – I suspect Darryl would be briefing him to say that no Scottish managers in EPL is a measure of how the Scottish game has grown so much it can now accommodate the aspirations of our managers… (or some such other fertiliser).
Trying to be fair (I know) I think the globalisation of the game, the money in the EPL and the fashion for overseas coaches probably have more weight than the possibility that our standards have slipped.
ecobhoy says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:59 pm
I think we should demand RD becomes our TV negotiator – I know he knows nothing about it but he can’t do any worse than the experts we already have 😆
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RD would have to work very hard to be less competent. Doncaster seems to have drifted in from some sitcom about inept middle management at a run down sports centre.
It may be that Norwegian football is popular in Sweden, Denmark, Finland – giving a bigger audience compared to Scotland where near neighbour are less interested – or maybe Norway just got lucky with timing. However much you stare, squint and peer at the problem, it’s impossible to ever see Doncaster as the answer.
btw on Sky – Mr Murdoch should never build a business plan based on me buying ANY of his products or services.
So Simonsen was let-off lightly because he thought the anti-betting rules in Scotland were the same as England?
Simonsen was signed by Rangers on 13 September 2013. Four days later Ian Black was handed his betting ban by the SFA. Obviously the goalie missed all that and couldn’t have helped add to Ally’s List.
It just shows you the contempt that some players and their club have for the SFA. I wasn’t bothered about his effectively 1 match ban. But I am now – he should be dragged back and dealt with.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-keeper-steve-simonsens-lightly-5151860
After the Rangers debacle, why would anyone pay more than peanuts when your football chiefs talk of Armageddon and give the impression that the tv deal could collapse :-
Neil Doncaster “was unable to confirm” that Sky would still be covering Scottish football next season
If you will dance for peanuts, why would anyone feed you steak.
The whole Scottish TV money recurring debate is a bit puzzling.
Even more so when you look back at stevensanph’s anaysis above.
I am assuming that those at the SPFL are not thick, and that their masters – the senior clubs – know how to squeeze value out of a product.
A prime example is the crazy price charged for a football top when it costs buttons to make. [Agreed, most profit goes to Nike/Adidas etc, but the higher the selling price presumably the better the deal for the club.]
So why would the clubs ‘knowingly’ undersell their TV rights ?
[And I am discounting the current TRFC scenario too, as IIRC the TV money has never been at an appropriate level for Scottish football.]
Confused.com
I seem to remember that N. Doncaster was accompanied by P. Lawwell during these TV negotiations in 2012. The Daily Record reported that there was a possible eight year deal.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/spl-hold-crunch-talks-sky-1167522
ecobhoy says:
February 12, 2015 at 1:56 pm
Yea ban stands. Tomorrow’s game and a cup game next season – which will never happen IMO, However I’m surprised there isn’t an added penalty for not accepting the initial ban.
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I wondered about that too. It was reported that McCulloch and Talbot had each been “offered” a two match ban, the Livingston player accepted and TRFC captain didn’t and chose to appeal. I was under the impression that if the appeal fails a further match or matches is added to the ban. Is that not the precedent?
Otherwise what incentive has any player to accept the ban “offered”? Nothing to lose and everything to gain by appealing the ban. I thought the idea behind this was to discourage automatic knee jerk appeals and appeals designed to allow players to delay bans to appear in important matches.
It seems the system encourages the exact opposite if there is not some form of further sanction on a failed appeal.
Or is this a further variation on the Bryson interpretation…..
StevieBC says:
February 12, 2015 at 4:25 pm
[And I am discounting the current TRFC scenario too, as IIRC the TV money has never been at an appropriate level for Scottish football.]
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It’s hard to sell a produuct for top dollar if you don’t beleive in it. Maybe Dancaster knew the wheels were coming off and wanted to be “nice” so Sky would not drag him through the courts when they realised they’d been sold junk at premium price. After all, there’s not exactly a queue of Sky competitors waiting to step in.
A weak man in a weak position?
normanbatesmumfc says:
February 12, 2015 at 4:02 pm
Also feel my club (Celtic), like many other senior clubs is very much part of the pantomime of the last 2-3 years and as such they have not received a penny of mine in the interim.
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I certainly can’t see Celtic changing their position especially after the clamour for tickets for the recent Celtic/Rangers game. The support voted with their feet on that one.
I’m going the other way – not like me of course – but after a decade of non-attendance at Old Firm Games I have now decided that if Rangers get into the Premiership then I will attend to support my team.
My logic may be twisted to some but as I know it isn’t the same club and I view it as a new club then I see no problem in attending just like every other game on my ST.
I have no wish to open an OCNC debate. My abstention was for personal reasons and if the club had remained the same then my decision would have stood.
But it hasn’t and I will be in my place if the new one ever shows up.
There is no incentive for Sky or BT to offer Scottish Football anything other than a token amount for their product. IMO most subscribers from here would pay their subscription to see live EPL and European games plus the other sports on offer whether SPFL games were part of the package or not.
Doncaster might not be able to get a better deal from broadcasters but a CEO who can’t get a sponsor for a product that is seen on TV by millions and watched live in person by thousands should be sacked.
APPEAL PERIOD NOW PASSED WRT APPEALING EC DECISION CLEARING CELTIC ON STATE AID ALLEGATIONS
I have received a voluminous amount of info from GCC a few days ago in respose to an FOI Request I made to the Council wrt to Westthorn.
Unlike the Bear Land Idiots I waited until the Council was in a position to release the info once it was free from the legal strictures applied to it after malicious and spurious complaints were made to the European Council falsely accusing Celtic of receiving illegal State Aid.
They continually trumpeted that the Council silence was a sign of their guilt when all along they knew – just like I did – that the Council’s hands were tied.
As we all know the case was thrown-out by the EC but it cost many local authorities and public bodies a helluva lot of time, effort and taxpayers’ money to deal with the madness.
It also brought stress to a lot of individuals and public servants who were simply doing their job – they all came in for the grief and venom we have long come to associate with a section of the Rangers support.
And let’s not forget that Celtic, its staff and individual supporters and shareholders were also subjected to pressure, harassment and being smeared simply because they had a connection to the club or a ‘Timmy’ sounding name.
There are some detailed issues I will be raising with the Council and I may post further in due course but tbh it’s looking very likely that there’s nothing substantial which has emerged which needs to dealt with and that wasn’t effectively dealt with in my previous posts stretching back to January last year.
One thing I wish to reiterate is the incessant claims from the No 1 Bear Land Loony that there had never been any coal mining operations beneath Westthorn. He even declared this had been confirmed by the Coal Board.
As usual, all lies. He ‘fiddled’ the site boundaries to exclude the pit shafts in the report he ordered from the Coal Board. Whereas mine, with the correct boundaries, revealed the shafts as I posted some time ago.
In the FOI material supplied by GCC there is more detailed information by independent professionals and the Coal Board on the mine workings beneath the site. Quite simply pzj is either a liar or deluded or a mixture of both IMO. I will do a post for the record on Westthorn Coal in due course.
However what’s important is that the time to appeal against the EC Decision to trash the pitiful Bear case has now passed.
GCC stated in response to part of my FOI Request:
sickofitall says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:02 pm
……………………
I did it just over 2 years ago….best thing I ever did…saved me money and I only watch Scottish domestic games or international games now…I even watch the games on BBC Alba…
My Italian wife still struggles when I watch a Scottish match in a language I do not speak…and when she asks why…I proudly state…I know every word he is saying…and in my head I’m thinking…I just don’t have a fekin clue what it means
sickofitall says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Just of the phone to sky cancelled my sky sports subscription .Pig sick of subsidising English football .Actually feel a lot better anyone fancy joining me ?
I’m way ahead of you, mine ended last thursday, american football is finished so no reason to continue it. Also I got bt sport through plusnet(my isp) for 5.99 a month, just in time for the baseball season starting(you get espn with it).
Saving £18.00 per month net, and I have no doubt that come august i’ll be able to get sky sports back in time for the american footy at half price. Although i am exploring the possibility of streaming NFL live to my telly.
Scotland does not have ‘too many clubs’. It has far too few clubs of any heft. Outside the OF there are only three that could point to five-figure league att averages (Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs). Dundee United aren’t far behind but then there’s a fair gap to seventh best av att. It’s simply a historical given that Glasgow grew like topsy in the 19th century and into the 20th century its leading sides drew freakishly large – in Scottish terms – supports. If we had a more equitable population distribution, we might have ten clubs with av att shading into five figures. But we don’t. The Elgins and East Stirlingshires (and Buckie Thistles) are generally fine. The top tier’s a mess because it has to accommodate clubs who operate on 10 per cent of the wage budget of Celtic (and Rangers as was).
Why stop at Sky Sports? I ditched the whole shooting match about five years ago over the Cameron/Murdoch deregulation of tv news stitch-up (how’d that work out for them then? 🙂 ).
Never regretted it once. Saved around £60 per month and never missed a thing.
Dutchmul says:
February 12, 2015 at 6:57 pm
OT alert …
Not sure what you pay for the sky package but you will not be disappointed with Gamepass. In fact I would wager, like everyone else who has ever had it, you will wonder how on earth you lived without it and question why all sports are not available in this way.
Considering what one had to do to try and find Armed Force Radio, stare at teletext, wait for First Down to come out etc. Times have certainly changed.
Big Pink says:
February 12, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Why stop at Sky Sports? I ditched the whole shooting match about five years ago over the Cameron/Murdoch deregulation of tv news stitch-up (how’d that work out for them then? 🙂 ).
Never regretted it once. Saved around £60 per month and never missed a thing
I like the cut of your jib Big Pink but the missus would kill me!!! I looked into freesat and downloading everything else that I fancied but the wife likes her satellite telly too much to get rid of it.
On the getting rid of Sky TV thing
I got shot of mine 3 years ago (best thing I ever done)
I trolled the net for links etc for months trying 1 site after another 🙁
Until 1 day while searching for cheats for a Xbox game (I know shame on me) I came across a multi platform miniscule program called XBMC (now changed its name to KODI) I would recommend this to anyone and everyone
Give it a go whether you have Sky or not. You never know you may even thank me 1 day lol
StevieBC says:
February 12, 2015 at 3:58 pm
For my own team, the main memory was Dalglish going to LFC in ’77 for GBP440K.
============================================
I was 15 years old playing in the Junior Golf Medal during the school holidays when I heard Dalglish was leaving. To say I was devastated doesn’t describe it. He’s still my hero to this day (can you have heroes in your 50’s?) and I was so fortunate to meet him in the mid 80’s.
I often think people don’t really grasp the magnitude of that transfer. Liverpool were the European Champions, and were having the greatest period in their history. They came to Scotland and broke the U.K record fee for a player who had never played in any other league. To think of such a scenario today would be laughable, but it’s testimony to just how great a player Dalglish was.
Thought I’d chime in with a few noodlings on some of the recent discussions around finance and franchising. Now different countries have many different nuances of sporting systems, but there are some generalities. I do tend to see a misuse or misrepresentation of franchise in the context of some of these discussions. I would argue that the franchise system is alive and well today within british sporting leagues but with a different name or emphasis. Franchising is the system of giving an individual or company a right to compete with a team in a professional sport. I don’t think it is a stretch to say we already have that, see Airdrie, RFC and SFA memberships etc. (I am sure ecobhoy or auldheid can correct the membership vs license vs registration confusion I have!)
so franchising in and of itself lays no claim to revenue distribution, geographical or community bias, number of teams, league organisation or promotion/relegation etc.
I think the confusion comes from the normal comparison of professional US sports who do operate an explicit franchised system. however some of the particulars of the US leagues are distinct from franchise allocation and can exist without it.
If we take the largest (the NFL) the main elements of that are the following:
Franchise system – allocation of a fixed number of teams to selected companies.
League control over market locations – this is the location of the franchises to minimise fan/TV overlap (note my point here is that this is not an outcome of franchising, but that franchising is the mechanism used to enforce it. They are not interchangeable.)
No Relegation/promotion or pyramid system. (or to be cynical – commercial survival and success takes precedence over sporting success)
Parity – this is the real topic I think most people mean when they use ‘franchise’ Parity is the deliberate and systemic method of enforcing equality, or as they say “on any given sunday” so essentially each NFL season – every team is in with a shout.
Parity can be enforced separately from franchising and vice versa.
Parity in the NFL is achieved by three main elements:
The salary cap – limits on pay to the squad across the league.
Equal distribution of revenue – most centralised NFL revenue ad,TV even merchandising is distributed equally. The teams really only keep what they bring in locally (fans, matchday revenues, sponsorship)
The last one is the draft, this is the strange system where the college leagues act as the pyramid system or reserve league. Every year the teams get an equal selection of the top college players, but selection in the reverse order of performance – ie. worst team picks first, best team picks last.
The problem with parity imho is that it reduces the sport to a short attention span of single year cycles. Good for fan interest perhaps?
So in this country the point is not really franchising but what of these methods would be beneficial – the abolition of a pyramid system is a non starter. I would also say that reduction of teams or forced geographical relocation would also be a non starter. (Scotland needs a strong East Fife and dare I say Arbroath.)
The Draft? – this could be implemented if we ran an age dependent separate league (styled on reserve teams) and the big teams selected the players as they aged with the pick system. however this changes youth scouting and also the team based youth programs, the funding would have to come from the SFA or sponsorship rather than the teams. Possible – but not probable or easily accepted.
salary cap – this is something that should be implemented, maybe not a flat cap but on a fairplay model – salary as %age of revenue, with maybe max upper limits per league, to avoid teams paying millions to win bottom tier (hmm who can that be)
Revenue distribution – again in my view this can be implemented and possibly should, not all revenue but possibly TV rights for example, so club merchandising, sponsorship or fan revenue would rightly belong to the clubs but SFA collected revenue should be equally split, possibly with some proportional bias for the league tiers. (e.g. top tier get more then second etc)
revenue collected by the clubs due to participation in knockout or qualified competitions such as europe should belong to the club.
anyway my rambling contribution to the financial thread. 🙂
Another viewing option for exiles: http://storesatellite.com
Works well.
Ecobhoy do not always agree with your assessments or opinions but you are a star on this site and your work and analysis on the “state aid” is a credit to you and this blog.
Thank you very much
@Ecobhoy
Yes, each club gets the same payment from the governing body and a small additional payment according to where they finish in the league.
Danish Pastry says:
February 12, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Another viewing option for exiles: http://storesatellite.com
Works well
//////////
Yes it does
But also costs for premium channels
Try looking for Android TV on Amazon or eBay
Plenty of different box options
I recommend MX box’s myself work great and plug straight to your TV via HDMI
Edit
IPTV –£25 per month
XBMC– FREE
@tcup I’ll send you PM with some tech questions, looks very interesting.
State Aid
Credit to Ecobhoy for systematically dismantling every contrived, politically manufactured fantasy from pjz . Mcmurdo gave this guy space and promoted his fantasies as credible. That says everything you need to know about McMurdo
Dave King
He didn’t know that Murray was using borrowed money and not his own !!
Where do you start with this. When the SA authorities took his passport off of him, did they also cut his phone lines, block his internet access, intercept his mail and deny him the right to read the accounts of companies of which he was a director, and of the parent company that controlled that business.
The SA Judges comments are being proven accurate every time King opens his mouth. He truly does rival Charles Green and David Murray when it comes to spouting absolute garbage.
SKY
They are becoming as damaging to Scottish football as the unholy trinity mentioned above. They operate the way Tesco and Walmart did and does. They damage smaller brands ( like the SPL) whilst utilising their natural revenue stream against them. Politicians of all shades have proven worse than useless when it comes to protecting and promoting the game and the heritage.
Stop positioning yourselves to figure out how you can leverage it for votes. Do the right thing, call out SKY and BT . Use Parliamentary privelege to lay out the damage they are doing in plain and scathing language. Don’t stay silent because of pressure from whips or party managers to not upset Murdoch
DO THE RIGHT THING
One thing im not sure on is this: Did i just download a bbc podcast (with the implied promise of impartiality) or a hurting bear podcast paid for by your taxes with the additional implied benefit that at the very least it will be impartial. Three employees, 2 self confessed rangers fans and the other chick young, found that the best way to spend our tax payed money to promote the game (which is what a good/savvy media partner should do) was to focus on the fact that a consistently violent player rightly was punished for it. Judgement call – camera angle – not a stamp – even clydes pundits called this without question.
Better call Saul: Saul has been asked by spfl to look at their image…
Imagine Saul is brought in to assess tonights bbc sportsound…
Are you fu**in kiddin me?
“Your job is to promote the game? What was that? You spent the first 26min and 19 seconds of a 41 min podcast discussing the lower divisions of the lg set up? Was there nothing else to talk about? Perhaps a top lg game the night before? Perhaps that in that game two new players scored on there debut? i know it might seem weird but the more positive you are about the product the more i” can ask ask for it!”
Should we perhaps try to put a positive out there now…just to break things up?
Panel: cant we keep talking about our hobby?
Saul: on the tax payers dime? Ok but be quick, im a fixer but you cant get away with this sort of shit for long.
Panel: relax, we’ve done this before
Saul: Really?
Panel proceed to spend more time discussing the things that only apply to one club/entity/ongoing thing…hope its a positive
Panel: So, another player gambling…Yip.
Deserved ban?
Could have been more, as lets face it the SFA have put in a pretty serious no exception policy on this sort of thing.
Panel “Yeah but the penalty seems to reduce with each passing person found guilty.”
Saul: Really? Can i try all my clients in front of you guys?
Thats not the job, can you get us a better deal?
“shit yes! Who did you have doing this before?”
Doncaster: Well me, but you dont understand we lost rangers…
Saul: Thats bad but as long as you didnt go all out in the media and say that without rangers the product is shit and no-one will buy it HAHAHAHA – you know! As long as someone didnt do something as crazy as that…why are you looking at me like that? Ohh, c’mon are you kidding me???
Danish
You have a pm
Barcabhoy,
Very well said.
Nice to see someone talking up the Scottish game….although they’re not Scottish (needless to say) 😀
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31446953
http://kodi.tv/download/
Try this danish
Have just seen footage of young Jay Beattie – a wee lad suffering with Down’s syndrome – being nominated for January’s goal of the month award.
Agree it’s unusual but pays a massive tribute not only to the wee boy and his enduring love for his club (Celtic), but more is shows a fabulously warm and human side from Hamilton Accies who apparently had the wee man and his family at the game as their guests of honour and officially recorded the score as 0-3 with Jay scoring the second goal.
A massive congrats to all involved and a wonderful display of all the wonderful good that can come from sport.
We need more Accies and wee Jay’s.
Ps; would hate to be the player who “wins” the award should wee Jay not succeed.
Big Pink says:
February 12, 2015 at 7:46 pm
Why stop at Sky Sports? I ditched the whole shooting match about five years ago over the Cameron/Murdoch deregulation of tv news stitch-up (how’d that work out for them then? 🙂 ).
Never regretted it once. Saved around £60 per month and never missed a thing.
22
0
___________________________________________
Never had it. Never bought the Sun, nor the Times. Money and Murdoch do not mix in resinland.
I try to practice economic democracy and vote with my wallet.
If there is match I want to see, I go to the pub.
jimmci says:
February 12, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Hi Jimmci, that’s a great post but can I clarify just one thing, and I’m not being pedantic. Jay doesn’t suffer from Downs Syndrome, he was born with it, indeed he’s not suffering at all, and has a great wee life-:)
BTW, I speak as the Father of a Daughter also born with DS, and she’s equally vibrant as well 🙂
tcup 2012 says:
February 12, 2015 at 10:02 pm
Danish
You have a pm
1 1 Rate This
////////!!/!!/!!
I got a TD for telling danish he has a PM
And you think you’re not liked Echo. Lol
Either that or Sky is looking in 😉
Cygnus X-1,
My apologies for the ignorance shown by me towards the condition.
I’m sure you’ll accept my post for what it was – trying to talk up the game in Scotland and the Accies and wee Jay in particular, and clearly no hurt was intended to you or anyone else.
My comment though clearly demonstrates the need for further education for us all on such illnesses and just how crass football people can be with loose / ignorant, comment.
Once again, my apologies for mis-stating the condition.
Has anyone ever mooted that a possible reason or one of the reasons the league has struggled to get a sponsor is due to the fact the senior management of the usual sponsors would be Rangers fans. We are talking Banks and a famous Scottish Brewery which at one time had sectarian employment policy. Just a thought as I know that if I was a Rangers fan and the boss of a large potential sponsor I maybe would out of bitterness or other reasons ditch any request for sponsorship.
jimmci says:
February 12, 2015 at 10:42 pm
Of course, no problem, no damage done & your post was excellent. Congrats to Hamilton as well for this idea and it would be great if the wee man won 😆
Gabby says:
February 12, 2015 at 8:23 pm
@Ecobhoy
Yes, each club gets the same payment from the governing body and a small additional payment according to where they finish in the league.
———————————————
Ta Gabby – that’s interesting.
What with the 10p entry for a game honouring their legends, officially recognising Jay in the match result, the question has to be asked, when will Accies stop besmirching the Scottish Football reputation with their decency and dignity? They’re a disgrace to their league, and go against all it stands for.
paraniodbyexperience says:
February 12, 2015 at 8:19 pm
Ecobhoy do not always agree with your assessments or opinions but you are
a star on this site and your work and analysis on the “state aid” is a credit to you and this blog.
Thank you very much
—————————–
Thank you 😳
What a boring place this would be if we all agreed and we would never advance our understanding of differing points of view and the value that they bring to our own beliefs with the ability to change them through gaining greater knowledge of other equally strongly held positions.
There are many many stars on this site because every poster has something to offer either in specialised knowledge or even just a new way of looking at or approaching a discussion which has stumped everyone else or even in reinforcing the basic human decency we all want for our sport.
And then there are the awkward squad and I am often in that bunch but it’s all part of an eclectic mix that can never be achieved artificially IMO but happens here and helps make the site what it is and of course let’s not forget about TSFM and the role of the Mods that help keep us all in check in our more heated moments 😆
Briggsbhoy, perhaps any potential sponsors are afraid of coughing up only to see the SPFL trouser the dosh then liquidate and re-emerge seeking a new sponsor. All perfectly normal, of course – ‘nothing to see here’.
Resin_lab_dog says:
February 12, 2015 at 10:24 pm
Why stop at Sky Sports? I ditched the whole shooting match about five years ago over the Cameron/Murdoch deregulation of tv news stitch-up (how’d that work out for them then? 🙂 ).
Never regretted it once. Saved around £60 per month and never missed a thing.
Never had it. Never bought the Sun, nor the Times. Money and Murdoch do not mix in resinland.
I try to practice economic democracy and vote with my wallet.
If there is match I want to see, I go to the pub.
—————————————————————-
Too right!
I cannot understand why any thinking person would ever buy/promote/quote/mention anything ever regurgitated by the Murdoch coterie.
His empire is an affront to any rational person.
I’m surprised that East Coast Trains still insist on forcing the ‘Murdoch Times’ on all unsuspecting First Class Passengers.
I feel really bad re goal of the month and Hamilton..Jay. I ignored it to my shame. is there still a vote, can I vote ?
Mabaw,
I don’t think you need to feel bad, if you see the goal of the month vote then take part. Bear in mind a couple of things;
1) He gives the keeper the eyes something rotten, sends him totally the wrong way. Word is the keeper had to pay to get back in for the second half.
2) the goal itself is irrelevant, the celebration alone makes it goal of the season. Even if he is a dirty Celtic fan!
@Ecobhoy
Below is a transcript from a story about the Club Grants for NRL in 2013.
he National Rugby League has today formally advised all clubs of a funding package totaling $7m per club in 2013.
The Australian Rugby League Commission approved the funding model after extensive consultation with the Club Council and confirmed the amounts in accordance with the agreed time-line.
The package includes a direct grant increase of $2m, taking the base grant from $3.85m to $5.85m.
The rest of the funding package will come from the clubs in turn providing commercial assets to the NRL including on-line assets and ground signage as well as commitments around financial systems and reporting, welfare and education and community relations.
Link: http://www.nrl.com/nrl-confirms-club-funding-for-2013-season/tabid/10874/newsid/70319/default.aspx
The only element of the mad TV deal which can and should be questioned is the cost of the BBC highlights package.
This seems an outrageous and unjustified waste of licence payers’ money on two grounds.
Firstly in terms of the BBC sports budget. The BBC by continuing in this overblown market have bought these rights at the cost of other sports which they have a duty to cover. The Open is leaving, Wimbledon being curtailed, horse racing virtually abandoned, no meaningful coverage of boxing, the entire portfolio of sport offered is diminished by chasing premiership football which others could cover were they to depart the scene. It is simply wrong for the BBC to commit very limited funds for an unnecessary commitment. My second complaint is that Premiership football is not a UK or even a GB sport. For the BBC, any money that they choose to spend on this, should be given pro rata (about 7-8 %)to BBC Scotland, and an equivalent ratio to BBC NI for covering sport within Scotland and NI, in other words the spending on the English Premiership should be deemed regional sport rather than National sport.
@iceman63
What do they actually pay for the highlights iceman?
Agree that the other regions should get their fair percentage of the budget.
Another price reduction. Aberdeen entry v St Mirren £20.15 – as 2015 Year of Sheep. Bit contrived but idea is good.
Celtic apparently turned down requested scale of allocation for visiting Aberdeen fans. Suspicion is it is tit for tat for Aberdeen reducing Celtic allocation. Another reason to be annoyed by the doom mongers.
alexander276 says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:10 am
Another price reduction. Aberdeen entry v St Mirren £20.15 – as 2015 Year of Sheep. Bit contrived but idea is good.
—————-
I’m surprised that’s a reduction. How much is it normally for a game up there (in the Premiersheep)?
I havent read any comment picking up on the fact tha Archie MCPH and Hugh Keevins were discussing their approval that “you know what, if they rearranged the league structure and said enough we need Hibs Hearst and rangers back in the top league, I’m ok with it” prety much what was said by Hughie and you could hear Archies agreement….apparently somethign similar happnene din the seventies to protect Motherwell whose chairman said if they went down they were going out of business….anyone else pick that up?
Is this the new point of attack?
Precedence and then “its required or rangers will go bust ! 😯 “??
How bizarre – a very quiet Friday 13th at Ibrox – well at least off the pitch.
I was sort of expecting the MSM to relive their coverage of Valentine’s Day 2012.
You must remember the banner headlines like: “Holding company in financial difficulty, club continues unperturbed”
I’ve bookmarked the DR so see Radar Jackson’s renegade exclusives – still waiitng – must be a big one coming !
alexander276 says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:10 am
“Celtic apparently turned down requested scale of allocation for visiting Aberdeen fans. Suspicion is it is tit for tat for Aberdeen reducing Celtic allocation. ”
Firstly fabulous that Aberdeen have sold out their allocation for this match already. Who knew armageddon could be so much fun!
I’d hope there is a better reason for not increasing the allocation, a bit of cutting off your own nose if that is all it is. Sure Aberdeen cut the Celtic allocation at Pittodrie, but that was still leaving them with 2000 seats in a ground with 20000 capacity. Celtic then give Aberdeen an 1800 allocation in a 60000 capacity ground…
Don’t get me wrong, its a home match for Celtic so they have to look after their own fans, and personally I’d be thrilled to think that we are back to the case where games against the two clubs would be a sell out again (it’s been a while!).
I’m not sure that the home sections of Celtic park will be sold out though – will they? Or is there a security issue meaning segregation beyond 1800 would mean a much larger allocation having to be offered they then will fear would remain largely unsold? (genuine questions)
Out of interest (and I’m not stirring here) what size of allocation did RFC get in Celtic park when they were in existence?
Flocculent Apoidea says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:58am
I’m surprised that’s a reduction. How much is it normally for a game up there (in the Premiersheep?)
———————————–
£26 normally
Bit surprised at Celtic not allowing Aberdeen any more tickets although I’d imagine there will be a big crowd at the game.Ridiculous 12 noon kick off on a Sunday ffs
The South Stand at Aberdeen usually has three sections given over to away supporters: P, Q and R. This will accommodate a given number of visitors. When Celtic, and Rangers as was, came to town, sections S and T were given over to the visiting support as well. Of course this meant that if you were a season ticket holder with a nifty seat on the half-way line in the South Stand (section T for example) you actually got kicked out of it to make way for Old Firm fans four times a season if Aberdeen were top six.
[Let’s just pause now to imagine what would happen if Celtic or Rangers season ticket holders were booted out of their seats to make way for visiting fans from Aberdeen, Dundee or Edinburgh.]
Anyway, at Pittodrie, it’s an either or. Either the away support gets P, Q and R or they get P, Q, R, S and T. With the club doing well lately, I would imagine that there was a fair and reasonable priority given to home supporters for the last Aberdeen v Celtic game so the Celtic allocation was confined to P, Q and R for a change.
Now if there are security issues at Celtic Park over accommodating away fans, if Celtic are looking after their own support by prioritising their fans, if Celtic Park is heading for a sellout for the Celtic v Aberdeen game, then Aberdeen only get 1,800 tickets and that’s fair enough. If Celtic are just being snarky however, that’s daft. And as someone has pointed out, even with Celtic fans confined to the smaller portion of the South Stand at Pittodrie, they still make up a larger proportion of the crowd than Dons fans ever do at Celtic Park. It was ever thus. As Alex Ferguson worked out a long time ago, if you want to get anywhere in Scottish football you have to go to Glasgow (where the power base is) and beat the Old Firm in front of a hostile crowd of home supporters at Celtic Park, Hampden or Ibrox. The Glasgow teams have always enjoyed that structural advantage but attitude plays a massive part. Fergie certainly had it and so did players like Miller, McLeish, Strachan, Rougvie. Celtic certainly have far more money so remain favourites (for everything) but I do wonder whether McInnes is just edging the Dons into a position where they think they really could do it – rather than being happy with runners-up spot. I was at the Motherwell game on the last day of last season and the players were obviously gutted to lose that last-minute goal and league position to Motherwell. We shall see…
tayred says:
February 13, 2015 at 9:25 am
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7000
Haywire says:
February 12, 2015 at 11:21 pm
I cannot understand why any thinking person would ever buy/promote/quote/mention anything ever regurgitated by the Murdoch coterie.
—————————————————————-
I’m afraid that wrt news manipulation Murdoch media organs aren’t the sole culprits. Self censorship of what others think or are attempting to propogate isn’t for me. I don’t intentionally blinker myself and threw the blindfolds off a long time ago. You need to know what those in power are up to and planning for us minnions and there are valuable clues in the Murdoch Press and elsewhere wrt The Master Plan.
I will tell you a story which I hope isn’t too boring but hopefully illustrates what I’m getting at.
My first job had certain very important duties attached to it 🙄 I had to climb-up a rickety ladder to wind-up the office clock as required; I had to drop everything at a moment’s notice whenever the Boss needed his fags – flat-top not flip-top – and woe betide any error and me a non-smoker who could never work-out why the packet seemed more important than the contents.
I had to wind-up the clock daily on the archaic heating boiler down in a deep, dark and scary basement and I had to make the daily bank run by myself.
But most important was to pick-up a selection of daily papers and display them in a rigidly devised system on a table in the holy of holy – the private office of the Boss – before his daily arrival which I had to greet with fresh coffee.
I was always puzzled by the selection of papers which included the: FT, Times of London, Lloyds List, DT, GH, Scotsman, Guardian, DR and Morning Star although it might have still been the Daily Worker back then.
Having been raised in a politically active family – the first-ever to have a white collar job – I couldn’t understand why the DR and Daily Worker was included. The Guardian I didn’t really understand and wasn’t sure about it and to be fair that has persisted to the present day 😆
So one day I got the courage up to ask the Boss why? He laughed and replied along the lines: ‘You should always know what your enemies are plotting and how they think. But more importantly you should always be interested in what your friends are up to as they can be much more dangerous.’
I didn’t fully understand the message at that time and got the ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ the wrong way round. But I asked him if I could take the papers home when he was finished with them and was allowed to on Saturday lunchtime – although no papers were purchased that day.
The papers were eagerly received for lighting fires up the close after I read them. But I noticed many had stories cut-out of them which puzzled me. So I started going to the library and checking what was missing. That took me on a treasure trove of info as to companies and sectors that my company was interested in and I shamelessly flaunted my knowledge in front of the boss.
My predecessor was transferred back to continue his former duties which I taken-over on arrival and I was made Keeper of the Scrap Books with the added duty of compiling a weekly report of news items I felt affected the company. I then learnt that ‘friends’ were our commercial competitors and ‘enemies’ basically organised manual labour who were my ‘friends’.
Becoming the Scrap Book Keeper took me totally outwith the normal office hierarchy and I suppose today it would be more akin to a PA role.
And I totally deny that getting the wrong ‘top’ of cigarettes – Capstan I think; getting the papers wet, overwinding the office clock which caused the expense of an electric replacement; flooding the basement by allegedly overwinding the boiler; and demanding a companion to go on the bank run which consisted only of cheques weren’t the reasons for my promotion 🙂
I should add that I had correctly deduced that my bank run companion would be a very attractive wench and many were the stolen moments if the coffee houses of the time and even a bit of discrete hand-holding. Ah Innocence – a wonderful thing.
I later realised that all the tasks involved were actually quite intricate ‘tests’ but I won’t bore you with the details. There’s no doubt the training I was given in winding-up has stood me in good stead to this day and still causes the odd springs to pop.
So no matter my opinion of the current Sun proprietor I do still read some of his titles because I like to know what my ‘enemies’ are all about.
The whole experience of my first job – which also consisted of doing my professional apprenticeship – taught me that you either just put in your minimum 9 to 5 or 8 till 6 as it was then or you dug deeper into understanding your industry/sector and how it was affected by a wide variety of external factors.
It was a good lesson in life and as Captain Booth used to say IIRC: ‘Why should the Devil have all the best tunes?’.
BBC rights package – it’s 200million + for three years ( about 68 million a year).I think a regional split pro rata would add about 5 million a year for BBC sport in Scotland – they could do a lot with that.
iceman63 says:
February 13, 2015 at 10:09 am
BBC rights package – it’s 200million + for three years ( about 68 million a year).I think a regional split pro rata would add about 5 million a year for BBC sport in Scotland – they could do a lot with that.
——————————————————
Personally I think Scotland gains more from the quality and breadth of BBC UK and International coverage than Scotland would – whether independent or not – achieve on a budget allocated on a per capita basis or more correctly IMO per paying licence holder.
If we focus narrowly on football the evidence of my eyes all over Central Scotland is that most pub audiences are more likely to watch EPL than most Scottish games other than say if a local team is being televised although – depending on the team – that isn’t always the case.
There is another problem in any split: Surely it wouldn’t be equitable if the annual £5 million goes simply to football. It would surely have to be split between all sports and at all levels.
When that’s done the amount going to football wouldn’t even be as much as a mid-level SPFL Sponsorship Deal.
The SPFL is a Scottish organisation and the trade body for an important Scottish Sport so I personally think getting SPFL officials and office bearers in place who can negotiate a sponsorship deal should be our priority.
I have previously posted on the resposnibilities of the Scottish Government to give more support to football clubs – especially those running community programmes and also which encourage general physical fitness among their community ‘reach’ and especially wrt children. Again this is something we can and should be doing rather than howling at the moon so to speak.
In any case even if the extra payment went all to football do fans who actually go to home and away games want kick-off times and match nights further controlled by the TV sceduling requirements. I know I don’t – it’s bad enough as it is and all to suit pub and home viewing fans who might never actually attend a live match.
I really think we need to get our actual priorities sorted out and I know mine isn’t whinging at the BBC having travelled and worked abroad I really struggle to think of anything that beats it. But then I am not simply applying a football lens to its output which despite the Tory Government’s vicious assault on the organisation still produces some brilliant programmes.
And why doesn’t the SPFL do its own TV coverage – it’s never been cheaper or easier to do this although professional both in production and presenting would be required.
Why is the SPFL so lacking in confidence in the Scottish Game and in their ability as an organisation to raise funds? That’s where the real problem lies.
It won’t be solved trying to scrounge crumbs from the rich man’s table. We can have the whole cake but it appears we simply don’t have the drive and vision to do so.
iceman63 says:
February 13, 2015 at 10:09 am
BBC rights package – it’s 200million + for three years ( about 68 million a year).I think a regional split pro rata would add about 5 million a year for BBC sport in Scotland – they could do a lot with that.
========================================================================
Silly pro-rata equivalence argument. The BBC is never going to spend £5mil / yr for highlights of SPFL. The value of the SPFL is not a proportion of the value of the EPL based on population. How much does the BBC pay for English League Football coverage ?
http://www.tsfm.scot/spot-the-difference/comment-page-40/#comment-46569
mcfc says:
February 11, 2015 at 5:14 pm
The Cat NR1 says:
February 11, 2015 at 5:05 pm
The liquidator’s report will contain recommendations as to whether a DDO (or criminal proceedings) is warranted.
The liquidation is ongoing, and as yet that report has not been issued.
That is a separate report from the periodic creditors reports of which we have seen extracts on here.
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As you can see, I’m struggling with my Spiv NVQ homework. Is it usual to wait so long. There is no dispute that HMRC were owed the Wee Tax Case settlement plus the PAYE and VAT that Whyte withheld so they were “not paying tax owed by the company”. And logically they were also “allowing a company to continue trading when it can’t pay its debts”
At https://www.gov.uk/company-director-disqualification it says “Anyone can report a company director’s conduct as being ‘unfit’.” using https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-a-limited-company
Would a complaint now accelerate matters or are we doomed to wait forever until BDO get around to it?
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Sorry for delay in responding MCFC.
Patience is a virtue in these things.
It will all come out in the wash in due course.
If DK gets anywhere near the boardroom of RIFC PLC, I expect it would be a pyrrhic victory, as it would then initiate proper scrutiny from AIM, the other RIFC PLC directors, even the SFA (no sniggering at the back).
If DK wins the vote (unlikely) and then gets on the board (even more unlikely), RIFC PLC shares would very quickly be suspended from AIM as the NomAd would resign, which would set a governance train in motion.
MA has played a blinder by doing nothing whilst allowing the others to keep on keeping on with a stategy doomed to failure. Napoleon Bonaparte would be a proud man indeed.
The Scottish TV rights issue is something that needs a heightened level of intelligence from all parties, from fans through to governing bodies- and there at the first hurdle it fails.
I see in some media outlets – Charlie Nick mentioning that a deal was rejected by our authorities re coverage of summer football. i.e. would we move our season, in line with some of the Scandinavian Leagues. So when the broadcasters are looking for something to show in the EPL close season and there’s an opportunity there to have your own slot broadcasting UK wide without competing against EPL games – we wouldn’t even consider this. So when Scandinavian teams are doing well in Europe because they’re generally hitting our teams while they’re mid season and we’re just back from 3 weeks in the sun – we wouldn’t even consider it.
Our administrators, public figures and media have the opportunity to throw the debate / issues out there – raise the profile of the problem of lower funding – without necessarily biting the hand by criticising the broadcasters – but just putting them under a bit of mild constant pressure – some uncomfortable news bubbling away denting their public profile.
Sky made a conscious decision many years ago to fund the entirety of the EPL product. Their millions have funded the playing budgets, the stadia and infrastructure enabling significant additional sponsorship and advertising deals ensuring that the game down there is a sought out commodity world wide. This long term high level TV funding has ensured that the top players, play in the best teams, in the best stadia, on the best surfaces in front of full houses beamed to huge TV audiences (even the transfer market is a global TV phenomenon now). The English clubs haven’t achieved this – Sky TV have. The selected English football as a pet project and have funded the thing from top to bottom.
The incredible truth is that in the coming season, one weekends EPL coverage will be of more value than the entire Scottish deal for the season. If we didn’t know better we would think that their (lack of) funding of the Scottish game – with it’s poorer pitches, lower crowds, poorer stadia, lower playing budgets was deliberately held at that level to make the comparison between us and the EPL starker year on year.
In the face of the above combined obviously with ‘Armageddon’ (TM) – I believe our clubs are doing a magnificent job. But I believe we could do even better by showing a bit of courage / fight.
We need to stop supporting the EPL and Sky / BT through subscriptions until they up the ante.
We need to stop trying to emulate the English league and every initiative they take.
We need to start thinking for ourselves.
We need innovative marketing and thinking out the box.
We need to stop discussing our game as a two club package with numerous hangers on.
And if we achieve higher levels of funding we need to be intelligent about where it goes. Do we fund 2nd rate continental mercenaries and agents or do we fund the infrastructure, the playing surfaces across the board, reduce admission prices (like they do in France & Germany), do we fund the youth game etc etc.
It’s of course far broader and deeper than that – but for me that’s just a couple of the basics.
I see LINDSELL TRAIN LIMITED bought shares in Celtic yesterday, taking them to 10.05%. The shareholders are
The BNY (OCS) Nominees
JPMS Limited
Morstan Nominees
NT Nominees
Who?
tayred says:
February 13, 2015 at 9:25 am
alexander276 says:
February 13, 2015 at 8:10 am
“Celtic apparently turned down requested scale of allocation for visiting Aberdeen fans. Suspicion is it is tit for tat for Aberdeen reducing Celtic allocation. ”
Firstly fabulous that Aberdeen have sold out their allocation for this match already. Who knew armageddon could be so much fun!
I’d hope there is a better reason for not increasing the allocation, a bit of cutting off your own nose if that is all it is. Sure Aberdeen cut the Celtic allocation at Pittodrie, but that was still leaving them with 2000 seats in a ground with 20000 capacity. Celtic then give Aberdeen an 1800 allocation in a 60000 capacity ground…
Don’t get me wrong, its a home match for Celtic so they have to look after their own fans, and personally I’d be thrilled to think that we are back to the case where games against the two clubs would be a sell out again (it’s been a while!).
I’m not sure that the home sections of Celtic park will be sold out though – will they? Or is there a security issue meaning segregation beyond 1800 would mean a much larger allocation having to be offered they then will fear would remain largely unsold? (genuine questions)
Out of interest (and I’m not stirring here) what size of allocation did RFC get in Celtic park when they were in existence?
15 3 Rate This
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The allocation thing is a complete none story
Celtic have already sold season tickets for the area they would need to expand the allocation which would be the family section (I used to hold tickets there for me and my son)
The rangers point is completely mute as the season tickets were cheaper because they never included those games
Gabby says:
February 13, 2015 at 5:30 am
@Ecobhoy
The rest of the funding package will come from the clubs in turn providing commercial assets to the NRL including on-line assets and ground signage as well as commitments around financial systems and reporting, welfare and education and community relations.
Interesting but I see shades of what Ashley has done at Newcastle and Ibrox where the commercial assets are going to SD rather than the league governing body.
I have difficulty seeing Scottish clubs going down that route especially in the Premiership and also some Championship teams.
And there’s also the total fuds at the SPFL who are only good for raising a laugh. If they can’t get a sponsorship deal how will they raise money on ground signage and online activities.
As to ‘welfare and education and community relations’ you might have noticed that I am a long proponent of the Scottish Government supporting clubs involved in their community in these areas as being socially useful for all sorts of reasons stretching from inclusiveness to promoting health through physical activities – not just football – and nutrition.
However it’s a very complex area and in Scotland I think we are too embedded in the ‘old ways’ to embrace what amounts to a franchise-style operation.
I also think the demographics of the country and its geography don’t help and the vast range of abilities that exists between teams even in the same division. However we should never rule things out and that’s why it’s interesting to see what other countries and other sports are doing.
mcfc says:
February 13, 2015 at 10:53 am
iceman63 says:
February 13, 2015 at 10:09 am
Silly pro-rata equivalence argument. The BBC is never going to spend £5mil / yr for highlights of SPFL. The value of the SPFL is not a proportion of the value of the EPL based on population. How much does the BBC pay for English League Football coverage ?
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I agree the equivalence is not an argument that stands up. The question remains though is £68 million a year good value for the TV licence payer? I’d suggest there are many other things that could be done with some of that money. How many individual so-called minority supports could you buy access rights for for that, probably enough to fill a channel 24/7 for the year!
I would also wager that it wouldn’t take long for Parliament to be called to do something should there be no terrestrial TV coverage of the EPL, so really the BBC are paying way over the odds.
Don’t forget that doesn’t include the cost of employing Lineker, Savage or that god awful Neville (yawn) on small fortunes to watch and talk about football – it must be hell to have a job like that..