Tell me all your sweet, sweet little lies
All about the dark places you hide
Tell me all your problems, make them mine
Tell me all your sweet, sweet little lies
The stridency of Scottish journalist/pundits, particularly coming from those on the BBC Sportsound platform from where they cry out for an investigation into what took place behind the scenes before and after the SPFL put forward a resolution to SPFL clubs, subsequently accepted by the majority, that allowed SPFL to pay out needed prize money to sides below the Premier level is, to quote an old saying, “the talk of the steamie”.
Whilst those cries are ostensibly in support of a demand led by The Rangers FC for a need to change the governance at the SPFL, it is not clear if they mean the way the SPFL conduct business or the way individuals inside the SPFL go about the conduct of that business.
During on-air interviews, questions are being put to clubs about the degree of confidence they have in individuals rather than the processes, systems and structures. This suggests it is individuals who are being placed under scrutiny, and not the dysfunctional processes and structures themselves. A pity, since there is little doubt the governance is dysfunctional.
SFM has long been asking questions about the system and processes of governance and in fact tried to elicit the help of a number of journalists (in 2014) after information which had not been made available to the then SPFL lawyers Harper MacLeod during or after the LNS inquiry had surfaced.
Information that had it been made available would have changed the charges of Old Rangers’ mis-registration of players contracts, and to the more recent and unresolved matter of their failing to act in good faith to fellow club members (which the SFA Compliance Officer made in June 2018 in respect of non-compliance with UEFA FFP regulations relating to tax overdue in 2011).
Following the last Celtic AGM a detailed independent investigation by an accountant was provided to Celtic who passed it to the SFA where the matter has been overtaken by world events but not forgotten. That report can be read here.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NeNzADsUAXkcFQ6QtehK5QqNsFa6he8V
It only adds to the mountain of evidence on https://www.res12.uk that suggests the need for reform of both governance bodies, their structures, systems and process.
Instead the media have given us a narrow head hunt to remove individuals for reasons that can only be guessed. This from individuals in the media whose motivations are as questionable now as they were in 2014, when they and their organisations ignored stronger evidence of greater wrong doing than has so far been presented by those currently advocating change.
The current media clamour for heads on a plate carries with it more than a whiff of hypocrisy.
During week commencing 22 September 2014, some volunteer SFM readers posted a bundle of documents that had surfaced to a number of journalists. SFM had previously sent these documents to Harper MacLeod, the then SPL lawyers. These were important documents pertinent to Lord Nimmo Smith’s inquiry into Rangers use of EBTs, documents which had not been made available to Harper MacLeod by Rangers Administrators Duff and Phelps despite being requested in March 2012 as part of the commissioning of LNS.
Earlier SFM blogs provide the details of communications with Harper MacLeod and can be read from the same link(s) provided to 12 Scottish media journalists in the draft below.
Some of the addresses may have received more than one copy but apart from one for whom only an e mail address was known, they should have received at least one hard copy of what Harper MacLeod/SPFL had been provided with which the latter passed to the SFA Compliance Officer in September 2014 according to their last reply to SFM. It is unlikely none were received by the organisations they were addressed to.
The draft to the journalist which the volunteers were at liberty to amend said:
I am a reader of The Scottish Football Monitor web site and attach for your information a set of documents that Duff and Phelps, acting as Rangers Administrators in April 2012, failed to provide to the then Scottish Premier League solicitors Harper MacLeod, who were charged with gathering evidence to investigate the matter of incorrect player registrations from July 1998 involving concealed side letters and employee benefit trusts by Rangers FC as defined in the eventual Lord Nimmo Smith Commission.
The failure to supply the requested information in the form of the attached documents as clearly instructed resulted in incorrect terms of reference being drawn up by Harper Macleod and a consequent serious error of judgement by Lords Nimmo Smith in his Decision as regards sporting advantage.
The information in the attached was provided to Harper MacLeod and the SPL Board in Feb 2014 and it was pointed out in subsequent correspondence that SFA President Campbell Ogilvie had failed to make a distinction in his testimony to Lord Nimmo Smith between the already confirmed as irregular Discount Option Scheme EBTs paid to Craig Moore, Tor Andre Flo and Ronald De Boer from 1999 to 2002/03 under Rangers Employee Benefit Trust (REBT) and the later loan EBTsfrom 2002/03 onwards under the Murray Group Management Remuneration Trust (MGMRT), having initiated the first DOS EBT to Craig Moore (as shown in the attached) and being a beneficiary of a MGMRT EBT as widely reported in national press in March 2012 at the time investigations commenced.
The complete narrative was set out in a series of blogs on The Scottish Football Monitor Web Site that are accessible from
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6uWzxhblAt9dnVHSl9OU3RoWm8/view?usp=sharing
(Edit: The links to the original SFM blogs were listed but some have been lost but original sources have been uploaded to Google Drive accessible from the above link)
However in spite of the correspondence sent to Harper MacLeod, there has been no response from them or the SPFL, save their answer to the original letter. (Edit: There was subsequent correspondence with Harper Macleod after the package and this letter was sent to the journalists which can be read from the above index to the original blogs.)
These points suggests that the SPFL, Harper MacLeod and Lord Nimmo Smith were misled by Duff and Phelps failure to supply the attached documents as instructed as well as Campbell Ogilvie’s failure to correct Lord Nimmo Smiths decision to treat all EBTs as “regular” when the DOS EBTs are not, as the attached evidence clearly demonstrates.
You are one of a number of journalists to whom this letter and attachments is addressed either electronically or hard copy. We are hoping that some journalists will prove themselves worthy of the challenge and investigate the story, even if only to refute it and stop suspicion of a cover up.
A copy of this letter and responses from addressees (or failures) will be published on The Scottish Football Monitor web site for the Scottish football supporting public to note. The e mail address for your reply is press@sfm.scot and we hope that you will investigate what appears to have been the corruption of the very process set up to establish the truth or you will explain why you cannot.
Yours in Sport
Note: The letter above was drafted and distributed with the documentation before a reply from Harper MacLeod was received, but as the reply did not address the issue of the nature of the irregular DOS EBTs, the request to journalists to investigate was even more valid.
The following were the journalists to whom documentation was posted/delivered.
Mr Richard Gordon
Mr Richard Wilson
Mr Tom English all at the BBC.
Mr Grant Russell
Mr Peter A Smith. At STV
Mr Andrew Rennie Daily Record Sports Editor
Mr Paul Hutcheon
Mr Graham Speirs
Mr Gerry Braiden at The Herald
Mr Mathew Lindsay Evening Times (belatedly)
Mr Gerry McCulloch Radio Clyde
Ms Jane Hamilton Freelance ex-Sun Sunday Mail (by e mail)
Only three individuals showed an interest but it is inconceivable to think that the media outlets they worked for were ignorant of the information provided or that the Scottish media sports departments are unaware of the narrative and its implications which were subsequently picked up by The Offshore Game but drew no refuting comments with the exception of Tom English.
He opined that the TOG report was ‘flawed’ although he did not specify how he came to that conclusion.
Darren Cooney of the Daily Record did take an interest in November 2015 when he met an SFM representative, who explained the case then sent him a summary to give to his editor but The Daily Record did not publish the story nor give any reason why they didn’t.
Grant Russell was with STV at the time and a meeting with him was arranged with a fellow SFM contributor but he failed to show up.
He subsequently did show an interest when The Court of Session ruled the Big Tax Case unlawful in July 2017, when he was provided with the a note of the consequences for the LNS Commission. However Grant moved jobs to join Motherwell in late October 2017.
Why bring all this his up now?
Because currently, the existence of texts and e-mails and unsubstantiated claims of skullduggery appear to have energised a media (and BBC Sports Department in particular) that had ‘no appetite’ to investigate actual evidence presented to them in 2014. There seems to be little doubt that an agenda is being followed, but as the preceeding paragraphs demonstrate, it casts doubt that their motivation is reform of the governance of Scottish football, and raises a suspicion that replacement of individuals (whose steerage of the good ship Scottish Football into the RFC iceberg was deemed adequate a decade ago) is what is important. A meaningless powerplay. No more no less.
One may jump to the conclusion that the foregoing is a defence of the individuals at the centre of this controversy, and that it defends the SPFL position in respect of the requisitioners review of governance. That would be the wrong conclusion. The point is that a wide-ranging review of the SFA/SPFL governance is way overdue.
The time window covered by any review should the very least cover the tenure of those accused of malfeasance and mis-governance. The media, and the requisitioners are cherry-picking their poor governance. That is poor governance in itself.
All we will hear now is the gnashing and wailing from ra peepul . I would love Celtic to wait a few days and let the wailing build then get up and make a statement along the lines of " This is harming Scottish football lets have the Investigation if you really want one . Let us get back to some form of normality first then have it. To make sure we do it thoroughly lets go back pre 2012 and do it properly and we will once and for all have what every cub wants proper governance. Surely Tom and the BBC would unite everyone round that motion……..Reasonable(chap) suggestion dont you think …….
……Naw ?
And it's statement o'clock.
https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/club-statement-95/
WE note the result of the vote taken at this morning’s General Meeting and wish to thank all clubs for listening to our concerns, giving up their time to read our report and for voting.
We also wish to place on record our thanks to our fellow requisitioners, who showed courage and acted with dignity throughout. Furthermore, to those clubs who voted in favour of the resolution, we appreciate your support and recognise your desire for increased accountability at the top of our national sport.
Today’s vote has erased the false narrative of this issue simply being a conflict between one club and the SPFL. All we sought was urgently required scrutiny, respect for all member clubs, fairness and transparency.
Significantly, support for the Hearts, Stranraer and Rangers requisition spanned the four professional divisions. Member clubs, recognising the need for Scottish football to improve its governance and professionalism, have moved beyond sporting rivalries and it would be unwise to regard this result as any kind of endorsement of the SPFL executive.
A light has been shone on the SPFL’s governance and regardless of the attempts to debunk our report, there is widespread acknowledgment that it highlighted serious issues and failings which remain to be addressed.
A management culture which not only fears accountability and scrutiny, but which actively campaigns against it, is unhealthy and breeds continued mistrust. This culture, so deeply embedded, must be addressed if Scottish football is to flourish.
It is clear that many members have lost confidence in the SPFL leadership and the need for change will not diminish.
The status quo cannot hold.
The ICTFC CEO has been defended by his club chairman following the DR revelation claiming that he didn’t pursue a null and void agenda. This has been followed up by the Morton CEO making it clear that DR exclusive was in fact accurate. Will his position at ICTFC become untenable?
As the source of so much of the information that Tom English, in particular, and BBC Sportsound has used to bad mouth the SPFL will they recognise that they have probably been used?
Homunculus 12th May 2020 at 18:02
Doesn't mention the bits they made up or exaggerated . They don't like democracy , do they ? Same reaction to being outvoted on SPFL board .
Me first.
durrrren da da…….
durrren da da………
durrren da da da deeeedly da….
We , the Rangurs , the bears , ra peepul will now smear and taint the SPFL with the help of oor pals at BBC Scotland and the Meeja and try for a vote of no confidence becoz we are about to go down the plughole . We need our own placemen on the SPFL to help us when we do so that we wont have any points deducted and then we can stop that manky green and white mob winning title number 9 and a half WATP !
Extracted from the emotional TRFC statement;
"…This culture, so deeply embedded, must be addressed if Scottish football is to flourish…"
=======
Totally agree with that,
except it should be directed at the Ibrox club / company itself.
All 41 clubs – and their supporters – will continue to suffer with this abhorrent club in its midst.
IMO, Scottish football can ONLY flourish when the SPFL no longer has an Ibrox member club.
So that’s 2 significant votes in the SPFL that have not gone the way of the rebels (it’s not just The Rangers you know) Neil Doncaster gave a recorded interview to ClydeSSB which was measured and matter of fact. He expressed hope that the more immediate concerns of the SPFL would be addressed and preparations for next season could be arranged. Something tells me the rebels have other ideas.
“reasonablechap 12th May 2020 at 12:55
It’s tribal whataboutery pure and simple.
What this episode clearly reveals on here, is that the supposed common purpose of this community regards holding the Scottish football authorities to account (and not Rangers in particular) isn’t really so, at least for the majority.
The reality for most is that it’s first about Rangers and then comes the rest.
Honourable exceptions like Easyjambo, who try to remain as objective as possible, are thin on the ground.”
Maybe wind you’re neck in, and TBH you know who it was that made a mockery of the game in Scotland 2012 and brought on the mistrust of the associations and without doubt quite right.
So it is obvious most of the shambles will revolve round the newest club TheRangers, for without going into the debate it tends to be them with their same crowd who have previous and still bring into disrepute the game, never mind the chill pill as it would be of no use to you, maybe a look at your club of choice and be honest with yourself and look at the complaining and disruption they bring with businesses and football.Jog on.
"It is clear that many members have lost confidence in the SPFL leadership and the need for change will not diminish."
I've been hearing and reading bits and pieces of the significance of 31% votes for. Everybody has to, even reluctantly, admit that the vote was nowhere near what was required for victory. But some are just about saying that it's still significant and nothing to be ashamed of. Listen for it in the next 24 hours!
Imagine this was a general election. Turnout 100%. A result of 31% would be a humiliation. Embarrassing. Resignation time.
It is not almost acceptable. Two thirds voted against!
Jimbo…..Over two thirds voted against…
SFNASA
By way of light relief, let me give you my reply the FCA Complaints Investigator, from whom I received an email response yesterday:
"To: complaints@fca.org.uk Tue, 12 May at 09:54
Ms C…K…..,
Complaints Investigator,
FCA Complaints Team,
Risk and Compliance Oversight Division.
Dear Ms K…….,
Your ref: 206288445
Thank you for your emailed response of 11 May 2020 to my 'complaint'
Of course, my complaint about delay in responding to my original complaint is neither here nor there, given that I was partly responsible for it by not sending all my posted letters by recorded delivery. (That is a mistake I will not make again)
Accordingly, I decline the offer of an 'ex gratia' payment as being in no way necessary or desired.
[I have discovered , however, that it seems that there is such a thing as emails going into 'quarantine' which is some kind of email security function to do with format change in the transmission of emails. Apparently, this can only be discovered if the possibility that it has happened is specifically looked for. Perhaps I can ask you for an assurance that that possibility was considered in relation to my non-received emails? I have always understood that emails once sent ( as mine undoubtedly were!)cannot be lost ]
Of much more importance to me is the question of whether my substantial complaint, namely, that the FCA may have been in breach of its statutory duties in the matter of the authorisation of the IPO Prospectus issued by Rangers International Football Club plc in 2012, is being ,or will be, seriously examined by someone who is independent of the authoriser.
May I take your statement that you have passed my “correspondence to the Hub and they have confirmed that the information you provided will be reviewed and, if necessary, passed onto the relevant team within the FCA to form part of their supervisory work.” as an assurance that it is indeed being so examined?
If it is to be examined, I think I would expect as a complainant to hear the outcome of that examination, else what would ever be the point of raising a query on a serious matter?; but that is something I can take up with my MP, rather than with you.
Thank you again.
Yours sincerely, "
——
[I was offered an ex gratia payment of £50.00]
Having said my stuff had been passed for for review etc, there was this sentence " Due to confidentiality and policy restrictions, I am unable to tell you what action, if any, is taken as a result of this"
Hence my reference to expecting to hear the outcome of investigation, and reference to my MP. What would be the point of complaining about anything if you weren't going to hear something of the outcome?
Redlichtie LOL you wee divil! I've just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out what SFNASA meant. I'm getting old!
JC, A quite determined sounding letter. well done! And very well written.
reasonablechap 12th May 2020 at 08:17 Edit
We have reached a dark place at a particularly difficult and challenging time. The game needs to ensure it has the best possible governmental structure and individuals in place going forward.
The ongoing omnishambles at the SPFL has found that same authroity badly wanting at a crucial time. Why would you trust them in the stormy waters ahead?
We need an Independent Inquiry to shine a light on all pertinent areas so whatever governmental faults, individual responsibilities, etc. that are found, can be addressed with an eye on the future.
The SPFL mistakenly conflated issues within the resolution (infamous Good Friday Vote). Now I see this messageboard looking to conflate their resolution 12 campaign onto the current problems. I’d call the latter, tribal whataboutery.
By all means pursue whatever issues you want but this is seperate matter that needs immediate attention to give us a chance to future proof the game at a time of a real existential threat to Scottish fitbaw.
Any talk of ...but this should of happened 8 years ago and we wouldn’t have been in this mess is predictable but of no material use to the current situation, however you twist it.
===============
You can call it all you like, but the case for including past governance issues has already been well made by others, but for someone steeped in a culture of whataboutery, everything is whataboutery.
It has to be because whataboutery, stops investigation of wrong doing by self, its always the other mobs fault never your own.
On Res12 and LNS sham, shareholders of Celtic have found wrongdoing by Celtic themselves because of their involvement in the 5 Way Agreement that took jurisdiction of matters under the 5 Way away from the SFA to CAS.
Yet Celtic insisted shareholders stick with the SFA judicial process. That was the basis of the most recent resolution to take the matter, where all the evidence points to a licence gained under false pretence to UEFA, yet Celtic insisted it be left with a process rendered functus by a clause they were aware of in the 5 Way Agreement when Res12 first tabled, but refused to press SFA for answers. Poor governance? You bet your life and unlike the current issue all of it backed by evidence meaning more chance of winning the vote just lost, so perfectly valid just from a practical view to raise on SFM and consistent with its pursuit of proper governance.
It is not that covering all bases is of no use to the current situation, it is that the current situation (had it been been supported by majority of clubs) is of no use to the consistent aim of SFM of SFA/SPFL reform if its scope is limited at the start to the current situation that has no evidence to support it.
It would have been useful and more convincing in arguing the case had TRFC, having said it was about proper governace had set out all the documented instances that support an investigation rather than WhatApp conversations.
That trick of limiting scope is one those responsible for governace have been employing from 2012 and you think it appropriate to settle future matters that have been unsettled from 2011 because of limitations set then? Its like putting an elastoplast on a gangrene leg wound and wondering a week later what the smell is.
There seems to have been some commitment by Mclellan to look at the issues around the latest item of poor governace (assuming there is an SPFL left to do it) and I hear the word reconciliation now being touted about and far away that was. So I tweeted to Chris McLaughlin.
@BBCchrismclaug A stinging end to the #Rangers statement following defeat of the resolution to commission an independent investigation into SPFL. Killing off hope of reconciliation anytime soon.
Auldheid replying to
@BBCchrismclaug
Chris. Do you actually know what reconciliation requires? You must know from South Africa and Mandela that Truth is a prerequisite. Not partial truth around latest skullduggery but the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So when SPFL asked SFA to investigate handling of ebts & side letters but SFA denied the request, why is now not the time to include that event & ask SFA why they have stopped pursuing UEFA licence 2011? You cannot have reconciliation without the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth. So for reconciliation truth is needed.”
Which takes me back to your ignorant claims about whataboutery. I don’t mean ignorant as in daft or stupid, I just mean not knowing enough.
Reconciliation requires looking at oneself first, admitting with hindsight that had you the chance to go back and start again and knowing the consequences of your errors where for example no one now trusts you, you decide to make amends and if those errors hurt others seek forgiveness but give it to others also for in Scottish football EVERYBODY wronged fellow clubs in pursuing self interest.
Then and only then when the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is recognised and the past undone, can there be reconciliation.
However if you are immersed in whataboutery the last place one looks is oneself.
Homunculus 12th May 2020 at 18:02 Edit
It is clear that many members have lost confidence in the SPFL leadership and the need for change will not diminish.
The status quo cannot hold.
———————-
So it was only a power grab after all, a change in leadership? Who would have thunk it?
Now lets get after real change now TRFC and BBC have whetted the nations appetite.
Auldheid 12th May 2020 at 20:51
'..So it was only a power grab after all, a change in leadership? .'
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For the life of me, I cannot remember what was the precise wording of the TRFC resolution voted upon today? I remember something about people wanting the CEO and possibly the chairman suspended and an inquiry into the Good Friday vote.
But I have no memory of seeing the actual wording of the resolution put before the members for them to vote upon.
Can someone please post it, please?
"The SPFL and by association the SFA have left us with no alternative but to leave Scottish football and seek pastures new where professionalism and integrity are part of the fabric of their structure . We have been in discussions with Berwick Rangers regards a takeover and we are pleased to announce that the purchase of this fine institution by the 3 Bears is imminent. We shall be applying to join the English League set up at tier 12 as required by the English FA rules and work our way up the structure until we reach Premier League status . Agreement has been reached with Berwick Rangers to transfer ownership of all titles and cups won since 1872 for the nominal fee of £1 . Agreement has also been reached that they will drop the Berwick from their name and will simply be known as Rangers* . As the holding company RIFC and its subsidiary TRFC are no longer functional we will place them in the hands of an administration team along with all debts accumulated under the gross mismanagement of Mike Ashley . We intend to play in Berwick only and until we have fitted a new floating pitch and installed a casino to help fund our drive to Premiership stardom. We are sure our loyal supporters will be as excited as we are at this new venture and will as always support us all the way , that's why we are freezing season ticket prices at Ibrox where all games will be available to watch on our special beam back service . So until the new season kicks off we will sign off with our new PR Guru Tom English singing "We'll meet again" , No Surrender WATP GSTQ "
jimbo 12th May 2020 at 20:09
‘..JC, A quite determined sounding letter. .
“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
And I would hope to be as determined as my letter may sound, jimbo.
I am determined to discover whether whoever in the FCA authorised the RIFC plc Prospectus had done so
-in a carelessly unresearched and culpably unprofessionally negligent belief that RFC of 1872 had not been liquidated,
-or had done so in spite of the fact that he may have known the truth but chose for whatever reason to ignore the truth
-or simply had signed the bloody thing off without a thought.
It is a simple legal fact and a football rules fact that RFC of 1872 ceased to exist.
It necessarily follows that any guys trying to market a new club on the basis that it is RFC of 1872 are being economical with the truth.
And the FCA has no business trying to provide validation for such guys.
I would insist on seeing any ‘validation’ they thought they could come up with.
Auldheid 12th May 2020 at 20:51
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Homunculus 12th May 2020 at 18:02 Edit
It is clear that many members have lost confidence in the SPFL leadership and the need for change will not diminish.
The status quo cannot hold.
———————-
So it was only a power grab after all, a change in leadership? Who would have thunk it?
Now lets get after real change now TRFC and BBC have whetted the nations appetite.
……….
One has to wonder why the need for change and the way the ibrox club went about the need for change in leadership in the SPFL after 8 years of being happy with the people in charge at the SPFL.
What happened for this sudden need for change? Aquestion i asked at near the start of this and the second placed prize money evolved into the call for Doncasters and Makenzies head, second place prize money would have paid the electricity bill if given out, but would not have been enough to ask for heads to roll.
It may all come out in the wash in the next few weeks.
Timtim 12th May 2020 at 22:01
'…..drop the Berwick from their name and will simply be known as Rangers..'
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
May I suggest, in light-hearted good humour a la 'Off the Ball' kind', a wee addition :
'.thus expunging from the record books the scurrilous reference to the supposed 1967 defeat by a supposed 'Berwick Rangers' in opposition to itself!'
There is a place for humour in Scottish football.
John Clark 12th May 2020 at 22:01
For the life of me, I cannot remember what was the precise wording of the TRFC resolution voted upon today?
=============================================
Closest I can get to it John. 7 points to consider
https://rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/club-statement-94/
Corrupt official 12th May 2020 at 23:24
'..Closest I can get to it John. 7 points to consider.'
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Thank you, CO.
What I was trying to find out was whether the matters put to the vote specifically included the suspension of Doncaster and McLennan, and/or any vote of no confidence in the 'leadership'.
A request for a vote of that kind would obviously signal that the proposer was looking for a demission from office of the 'leaders', so that fresh election to leadership posts would be required.
Auldheid 12th May 2020 at 20:51
Homunculus 12th May 2020 at 18:02
It is clear that many members have lost confidence in the SPFL leadership and the need for change will not diminish. The status quo cannot hold.
———————-
So it was only a power grab after all, a change in leadership? Who would have thunk it?
=================================
But a power grab by who?…..
Seems to me that Sevco had the notion they could say and do anything they wanted with impunity.
I believe that bringing the game into disrepute is the sole domain of the SFA… Bearing in mind this has been an extremely disreputable episode for Scottish fitba', (probably the worst since 2012), will SFA charges follow?
Thank you, CO.
What I was trying to find out was whether the matters put to the vote specifically included the suspension of Doncaster and McLennan
===========
I think they were telt on that one John. “Lets see the evidence first before we do anything”. Hence the “dossier”.
https://twitter.com/maryhill_fc/status/1259843711946633216?s=21
‘‘Tis the season to make statements fa la la la la la la, la la la
Corrupt official 13th May 2020 at 00:01
I believe that bringing the game into disrepute is the sole domain of the SFA… Bearing in mind this has been an extremely disreputable episode for Scottish fitba’, (probably the worst since 2012), will SFA charges follow?
…………..
May 8, 2020
Several of us have also been asked by a number of clubs what action the SPFL intends to take in relation to the gross breaches of confidentiality that have been committed by the circulation of the rangers document, including copying and publishing commercially sensitive information from the SPLS’s confidential Board report server.
It is not appropriate, in advance of the EGM, to comment further, but we will return to this important issue in due course.
Add to that the calls for the suspension of Doncaster and McLennan,the alledged calls of bullying. And they may also have a word with Stewart Robinson for ducking out of an SPFL meeting but could attend a few radio and TV interviews.
Would the Compliance officer deal with most of these matters?
Perhaps it would be good if TRFC do try to take the SPFL to court. Firstly they would have to convince the court they have a case, then they would have to prove whatever it is they are trying to prove. I don't think the courts will be interested in an argument that TRFC don't like Celtic supporters having power in Scottish football, and that honest Rangers men of the highest integrity should be in charge instead. That way the honest Rangers men of the highest integrity will always act in an honest way, with the utmost dignity, and do what they know is best for everyone, because they are better people than everyone else.
That's what it's really all about in my opinion.
Another bone of contention about to occupy Tom English? Celtic being declared Champions?
“Of course ‘The Virus Title’ will be disputed by many from hereafter…..”
(Mahe, SC)
So true. LOL ?
I remember some folk saying that the titles Celtic won whilst sevco were in the lower divisions shouldn’t count in the historical tally. Or should at least be asterisked since it was a one horse race! You would think it was said with tongue in cheek.
What is not so funny is the titles won by Rangers using EBTs with side letters. Those titles should be rescinded.
What is also not so funny is the new club being able to claim the titles won by the old club. Doncaster was one of the main spokespersons for this corruption.
He should do himself, and the rest of Scottish football, a favour before he retires back to England and admit he called it wrong at the time. That he thought it was in the best interests of the game financially or some other such shit. He wouldn’t need to go through official channels and due process. Just one interview and get it out there and get the ball rolling! A personal opinion/apology would suffice.
Good Morning
In my opinion, this dossier which was rightly binned was nothing more than a thinly disguised attempt by The Rangers, aided and abetted by a shady character with dubious credentials from a club in the north of the country, and with an eye on a job at the bigot dome, to deny Celtic their 9th title.
Their faux outrage can be seen through. Where was their integrity when they cheated the rest of Scottish Football for years? It was their last throw of the dice to gain control of Scottish Football.
I know that many have been predicting, and maybe wishing, their demise but if current rumours are true then there is a financial tsunami heading towards Govan and they will go under. This time they must not be allowed the Lazarus trick. Their fans are threatening boycotts to bring everyone else down but it won't work. They didn't bring the league down when they weren't there before.
As for Park, I think he had had his Ratner moment. He should have been more circumspect and realised that his business depends on people buying cars. It's not just Rangers supporters who buy cars. I think he has scored a spectacular own goal.
Finally, all the bluster about going to Court is hot air. Next season could be started and finished before they would get a result. On that point is it not the case that disputes must go to the CAS and not the local Courts under FIFA regulations? perhaps someone could confirm.
Time will tell if I have been unfair in my comments regarding the role of ICTFC in the Scottish football coup attempt but the reputation of the club seems to have been severely damaged by the behaviour of their CEO and whilst the support of the Chairman is admirable there must be considerable doubt as to whether he is in possession of all the facts!
A statement acknowledging that they have been used by a rogue employee, apparently with an ulterior motive, may go some way to restoring their reputation and more importantly be part of process of repairing Scottish football.
The role of BBC Sportsound in giving a platform to instigators and supporters of the coup attempt surely must be investigated. Even although the SPFL has admitted mistakes too many BBC Sportsound employees seem to “turn a deaf ear” to what they say whilst reporting other statements without question.
I also need to get a particular bugbear of mine off my chest. My real name has alternative spellings and I have no problem if people get it wrong on occasions. I am disappointed though when it is misspelled in response to an email immediately below the correct spelling. Tom English has read statements directly from Murdoch Maclennan, usually with disdain, and time after time calls him Murdoch Maclellan. He doesn’t have to agree with what is said but saying his name wrong again and again is just disrespectful!
It is being reported today that Peter Lawell called the dossier "Embarrassing", when he took his turn to address the assembled cast…..I wonder if the words "Perrmanent", "Occasional", and "Disgrace", featured also.?…..Well maybe no, "Occasional".
adam812, good point about misspelling people's names, especially in the circumstance you quote. Very disrespectful. Just remember John Clark's name doesn't have an e at the end and you will be fine!
jimbo 13th May 2020 at 09:37
'Just remember John Clark's name doesn't have an e at the end and you will be fine!'
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There was a poster under the name ' Essexbeancounter' who never let anyone forget that fact,jimbo, always referring to John Clark(e).
I do hope he is alive and well and looking in occasionally.
A bit quiet so far, but I was wondering – is Paddy Power giving odds on today's statement(s) from the (awfi') State of Govania ?
Early front runners:-
Tainted title
Further action v SPFL
We are still 'ra peepul'
Bexct67 – plus claimed bullying of Maryhill FC into making a statement?
Scottish Football needs less statements and more social distancing of problem clubs.
Jeezo it aint half quiet today …Rest assured Im sure Mr. Park and his Motley crew at the BBC and the rest of the gang will be beavering away hatching their next cunning plan…..Brace yourselves
From Barcabhoy on Twitter. There’s more details on the twitter thread but the link can’t be copied.
“What if a Football CEO was a former business partner with someone who was fined £75 Million by the Financial Conduct Authority for operating a fraudulent investment scheme
Would you trust his contentious version of events ?
The messenger matters , (almost) everyone knows that”
Now we can see that TRFC is most certainly NOT going to do the decent thing and respect the EGM result, accept it in good grace – and move on with a wee bit of humility.
It’s simply more toys out of the pram: but it’s just words… because that is all the Ibrox has left!
Mibbees it’s Karma for 2012?
TRFC has won hee-haw – both on and off the field – since it was born 8 years ago.
(Excluding the Court of Session opinion and Petrofac Cup.)
All that the Ibrox club has to show for all its noise, anger, disruption and eye-watering losses… is a failed club teetering on the edge of the financial abyss, as always.
Mibbees TRFC was always destined to be a perennial loser, because it couldn’t find ‘an edge’ over its competitors this time?
John Clark, Yes I remember the (e) thing from a few years ago. Couldn’t remember it was Essexbeancounter though! He was a terrific poster, like you, I hope he is well.
I blagged the piece below from The Bears' Den . After reading , I sent an email to Private Eye reminding them that the club allegedly disparaged by MacLennan (or Shifty McGifty as he is termed ) in 1990 is a different club to the one presently playing home games at Ibrox , as confirmed by statements in court by its founder , Charles Green . I'll post the response if I get one , but you could always them ask for yourself if you're impatient .
roddybhoy 13th May 2020 at 11:59
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Jeezo it aint half quiet today
………….
Before the storm.
John Clark 13th May 2020 at 10:4
jimbo 13th May 2020 at 09:37
'Just remember John Clark's name doesn't have an e at the end and you will be fine!'
…………………..
I remember well when John Clarke changed to John Clark.
I think it was to shed some debt but my memory might be playing tricks.
Were you allowed to keep your medals John?
Finloch 13th May 2020 at 14:47
‘..I think it was to shed some debt but my memory might be playing tricks.’.
“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
Ha,ha, Finloch!
I’m just off the phone to my friend Neil .
He has very kindly offered to introduce me to one of Her Majesty’s Counsel, especially learned in the law relating to defamation, whom he himsef is presently consulting over some sports matter or other.
Ex Ludo 13th May 2020 at 12:21
From Barcabhoy on Twitter. There’s more details on the twitter thread but the link can’t be copied.
===================
I'm not on twitter ExL, but a quick google search threw up "Keydata". Being as it was a record fine there can be only one offender. Stewart Ford is named as a mentor of Scott Gardiner
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/26/investment-firm-founder-fined-record-75m-fca-stewart-ford-keydata
A further search shows Keydata has had a wee mention on SFM previously
https://sfmarchive.privateland.net/not-in-front-of-the-children/comment-page-19/#comment-58788
DR headline : "Rangers consider legal options as club vow to keep piling pressure on SPFL
The Ibrox club failed to secure the 75 per cent threshold to trigger an independent investigation but are determined to fight on."
"Rangers won support from Premiership clubs Aberdeen and Livingston, while 40 per cent of clubs in Leagues One and Two also sided with them."
To put this extremely skewed analysis in perspective :
– only two Premier clubs supported Rangers*
– 64% overall voted against the Rangers* motion.
– only one Championship club voted in favour.
Embarrassing as someone apparently said.
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
Corrupt official 13th May 2020 at 16:13
'.Stewart Ford is named as a mentor of Scott Gardiner'
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Well done, CO: I was going round in circles trying to find that out.
A very short statement from the SFSA. I feel a bit more explanation of how they came to their findings would be helpful. Personally I don't feel it adds anything new to the debate apart from possibly giving Tom English a nice big percentage (84%) to quote without any explanation of what the figure is based on.
https://twitter.com/scottishfsa/status/1260561264851529729?s=19
John Clark 13th May 2020 at 16:47
Name checked here John.
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/business/north-of-scotland/1902754/i-genuinely-believe-my-greatest-achievement-has-still-to-come/
It would seem that the only legal recourse for TRFC is to allege that the EGM was invalid and/or corrupted in some way?
In other words the Ibrox club is now moaning out of its metaphorical @rse!
Can someone please tell the Blue Room to just give it a rest now?
It's way past embarrassing for them…
CorruptOfficial@16.13
You may say that but I couldn’t possibly comment.
StevieBC 13th May 2020 at 17:18
‘…It would seem that the only legal recourse for TRFC is to allege that the EGM was invalid and/or corrupted in some way?’
“””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
I think they queered their own pitch. By requisitioning a resolution, they self-defeatingly ensured that the membership as a whole by their majority vote, legitimised the Board’s actions and decisions.
I cannot see how they can now seek legal redress just because they lost the vote: no Court in the land would interfere with a business decision made by a poll of the full membership of a private company.
Unless, of course, the reference to going to law is a reference to suing their lawyers!
Phil latest.
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2020/05/13/considerable-chagrin-in-the-blue-room-at-their-championship-thrashing/
There was a poster under the name ‘ Essexbeancounter’ who never let anyone forget that fact,jimbo, always referring to John Clark(e).
I do hope he is alive and well and looking in occasionally.
===========================================
He is indeed alive and well and looking in constantly JC(e)…many thanks for your kind thoughts…especially after all these years…how many did you say…?…Eight?
I would remind all bloggers that I still have blagging rights to the John Clark(e) moniker from all those years ago…
Nice to see Hoopy and NR Cat1 re-appearing and posting…is this a harbinger of some cataclysmic or administration event?
essexbeancounter 13th May 2020 at 20:59
'…He is indeed alive and well and looking in constantly JC(e)…'
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Well, well, well…..I am really, really pleased to hear that, ebc!
On your blagging rights, can I suggest a good QC? ( see my post of 15.08 this afternoon)
Good to have you back.
On your blagging rights, can I suggest a good QC? ( see my post of 15.08 this afternoon)
=========================================================
JC (ok I will stop!!!), you are defaulting to type here…acting as the “barrack room lawyer” as that miscreant poster described you the other day…
Then again, you have probably spent far too much time in the courts over the years on behalf of the site…
The security question pops up again and tbf if I was going to lend 5m to RIFC/TRFC I would want some rock solid security as well . I had considered whether King has security based on future transfer fees but if an admin event occurred then players could be released from their contracts so that wouldn't work and in any case may well be illegal . Could King have done a ticketus on next seasons STs ? would that show up in Companies House records ? The only other thing of value is the stadium which raises the question of the deeds again , now I really am confused …..again.
Corrupt Official posted at 16.13 a link to the archives in 2013. So many good posters no longer around here!
Then I clicked on 'recent comments' on the page and it took me to 2 Jan. 2018 for some reason! I was there so I had a look to see what I was saying. Nothing of importance! But I noticed a poster I really liked. Miss Jean Brodie! I hope she is well too.
Please don’t forget the current MSSM EBT recipients in these hard times: and dare not question impartiality:
Alex Rae £569,000.00 Clyde SSB
Neil McCann £500,000.00 BBC Payroll
Billy Dodds £169,000.00 BBC Payroll
Steven Thompson £485,000.00 BBC Payroll
Not to mention the MSSM columnists:
Kris Boyd £215,000.00
Barry F £2,500,000.00
jimbo 13th May 2020 at 22:06
Miss Jean Brodie! I hope she is well too.
……….
If Jean looks in i better get my spelling and punctuation up to date.;-)
Timtim 13th May 2020 at 21:54
Could King have done a ticketus on next seasons STs ? would that show up in Companies House records ?
………………
Something i spoke to someone about the other day when i read about the ibrox fans having issues with their season ticket renewals.
….
Rangers supporters who received emails that their season tickets have been cancelled will still be able to renew after it emerged a mixup with payment procedures caused confusion.
Fans were left angry when the website crashed following renewal emails being sent out and supporters then reported that their tickets had been cancelled despite them already paying.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-season-ticket-mix-up-21983796
………..
Just felt something strange about the whole thing.
Maybe i’m just getting too suspicious these days.
Timtim 13th May 2020 at 21:54
'..Could King have done a ticketus on next seasons STs ?'
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I don't suppose King personally would be legally able to have done that on his own authority, Timtim.
A majority of the Board ( i.e. any combination of two or more individuals whose combined voting power constituted a 'majority' of the total shareholdings) would have to authorise a decision to pawn the stadium for a wee loan to tide them over to a European success pay-day.
These days, any lender to a company whose business is football would probably think they might be on a good thing in lending to any football club on the security of the property and land owned by that club.
There is a fair chance that the industry of football might die the death , or at best survive only as a much reduced and impoverished sport, and that ,in consequence , a borrower may default on its repayments.
But what would Ticketus do with a football stadium and associated appurtenances? Would they lend to a football club these days?
Whereas, perhaps, someone in, say, Japan, interested in a site that might wonderfully and easily be converted into a brilliantly placed location for a transport logistics company may think a wee loan that might very ,very easily be defaulted upon, might be very happy indeed to lend.
And , perhaps, offer some inducements to achieve that lender status.
Deferred wages shouldn’t be a problem for some. VAT has been kicked further down the road for now. Consider it a short term interest free loan.
If you choose to defer paying your VAT
If you choose to defer your VAT payment as a result of coronavirus, you must pay the VAT due on or before 31 March 2021.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deferral-of-vat-payments-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19
stifflersmom 13th May 2020 at 22:50
Please don’t forget the current MSSM EBT recipients in these hard times: and dare not question impartiality:
Alex Rae £569,000.00 Clyde SSB
Neil McCann £500,000.00 BBC Payroll
Billy Dodds £169,000.00 BBC Payroll
Steven Thompson £485,000.00 BBC Payroll
Not to mention the MSSM columnists:
Kris Boyd £215,000.00
Barry F £2,500,000.00
======================
It's worth mentioning that Rae, Boyd, and Ferguson all still contribute to Sportsound from time to time and I think it is fair to assume they will receive licence fee money for doing so. So that is no less than six people, who all illegally withheld tax from HMRC, being paid from the public purse and given a platform for their pro-Rangers views.
This is not a new thing of course with the BBC, and over the past ten years we have been subjected to Gordon Smith, Sandy Clark, Derek Ferguson, Craig Paterson, Walter Smith, Alex McLeish, and also pro-Rangers journalists Kenny MacIntyre, Richard Wilson, James Traynor, Chick Young, Roddy Forsyth, Keith Jackson, Darryl Broadfoot. Such a heavy imbalance towards Rangers can be no co-incidence, it has to be by design.
I once had an e-mail debate with a former Sportsound Producer about this. I got his e-mail when the BBC had not answered a complaint I made for months, and a friend gave me the e-mail address of the head of BBC Scotland at the time. The next day I was contacted by the Sportsound Producer. I have dug the e-mail out and two themes stand out
1) There is no requirement to ensure balance in the way there would be on a BBC Political programme.
2) The pundits Sportsound use can be relied upon to be fair no matter their past affiliations.
Make of those points what you will, but it is undeniable in my view that the policy of Sportsound is to employ more people with an affiliation to Rangers than to any other club, and has been for decades. No matter what any Producer past or present says, that is going to result in a lack of balance. Interestingly he at no time denied they employed more Rangers minded people…well he couldn't could he!
Jock Stein once threw the BBC out of Celtic Park. Archie Macpherson has commented on numerous occasions that pro-Rangers bias existed during his time there. What has ever changed, and if it has when did it happen?
stifflersmom 13th May 2020 at 22:50
Please don’t forget the current MSSM EBT recipients in these hard times: and dare not question impartiality:
Alex Rae £569,000.00 Clyde SSB
Neil McCann £500,000.00 BBC Payroll
Billy Dodds £169,000.00 BBC Payroll
Steven Thompson £485,000.00 BBC Payroll
Not to mention the MSSM columnists:
Kris Boyd £215,000.00
Barry F £2,500,000.00
==========================================
Trying to be helpful to our esteemed SMSM perhaps they could ask this simple question of the above gents?
“With the financial crisis in Scottish Football, can you tell us when you will be repaying your interest free EBT loans?”
Just those named above alone are due to pay back around £4.5m.
What’s the likely deficit at Ibrokes?
Note : I don’t recall what the mechanism was for final repayment. There was some insurance deal I think but it was all a bit hazy. I seem to remember the funds then stayed with the Trust? If not they would probably go back to the OC. A result for the long-suffering creditors?
Scottish Football needs a strong Arbroath.
Timing is everything as they say and to underline that point BBC Scotland have done a wee piece on the 2008 UEFA Cup run by RFC. Several EBT recipients feature prominently in the squad which got the club all the way to Manchester. Needless to say there is no mention of the carnage which was inflicted on that city before, during and after the game. It’s like the unsavoury parts of that particular journey never happened.
https://twitter.com/bbcsportscot/status/1260833909857824770?s=21
Re the EGM vote, this 'pearl of wisdom' from Alan Rough has fair cheered me up:-
" What would they have done if it had been 50 -50? "
Now that the dust has settled on Tuesday’s EGM, which saw Neil Doncaster’s unlikely transformation from devil incarnate to evil-slaying deity, it’s worth noting what he also said a few days ago, but which went virtually unnoticed, on the subject of league reconstruction and broadcasting contracts.
Before doing so, I’d suggest that most football supporters would agree with me that we, the fans, are the most important group of people involved in football, not least because without us, there would be no game. Maybe somebody on SFM will prove me wrong but I have yet to meet (or read of) even one supporter who is in favour of either a ten or twelve team top league. Most people seem to favour sixteen teams in the Premiership, while fourteen or even eighteen seem preferable to ten or twelve in most people’s minds, at least according to my admittedly limited and less-than-scientific study.
Club owners come and go, as do Chairmen, CEOs, managers, coaches and players, and while they’re all important, every single one of them is expendable. Fans on the other hand?
Once match attendances start to decline, as they have been doing for decades now, it is all but impossible to reverse the trend, an important factor when you consider that Scottish clubs are heavily reliant on matchday income compared to other nations.
It would probably be worth investigating if there is a direct correlation between the decline in match attendances, the quality of home-produced players and the abject failure of our national team since the advent of matches kicking off at times and on days other than the traditional 3pm on a Saturday.
What has all of this got to do with Doncaster you might ask? Well, he has openly admitted that broadcasters dictate the size of our league – the sixteen team set up that most fans would prefer, in order to avoid repetitively playing the same old teams over and over again, four times a season – isn’t feasible because broadcasters apparently insist on four Celtic/Rangers* league matches per season. As I alluded to in a previous post, what happens if either of these two clubs finish in the bottom half of the league post-split, have a poor season and are relegated, or maybe just lose their <cough> operating company to liquidation? Would the SPFL have to reimburse the broadcaster? Has Doncaster given broadcasters assurances that none of these scenarios will happen? How could he, without 'fixing' the game?
I’m not so naïve as to think that money isn’t essential to the Scottish game, but in an era where we critisise UEFA for creating and maintaining a clique of elite clubs driven purely by money-creating motivation, isn’t it time that Doncaster and the SPFL were told who their ultimate customers are – who they represent – without whom they wouldn’t exist – and that money is secondary to integrity?
If all that Doncaster and the SPFL have in their defence is that they can’t do what the fans want because their hands are tied by contracts they negotiated, contracts worth a pittance compared to those of other countries of a similar size and standard of play, let’s bring in somebody on a £360k salary who is capable of negotiating favourable contracts.
Is it beyond the wit of a football authority to start from a position of optimal league size and set up, before negotiating contracts utilising a professional negotiator with a proven track record, rather than having the league set up dictated to you by a broadcaster whose primary concerns are viewing figures and match scheduling?
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/18441736.spfl-chief-executive-neil-doncaster-legal-threats-reconstruction-sky-deal-healing-wounds/
Highlander 14th May 2020 at 12:16
All these broadcasting contracts. and league sponserships seem to be up for renewal everytime an ibrox club is at deaths door.
A wee bit of a distraction, this amazing puff-piece appeared in the England-shire edition of the Times on the 5th of May. Not sure if it made the Scottish edition. But looks like we have the ideal candidate to replace Doncaster as he has been a striker, and actor, now a radio pundit but hes also not a bad dad.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ally-mccoist-i-had-a-wicked-relationship-with-sue-barker-she-was-more-than-a-match-for-me-z8ck3hrpg.
It is written by Henry Winter, ex of the Telegraph and now Chief Football Writer at the Times. It contains this gem……. on 2011 when taking over from Walter Smith. McCoist '……It all went pear-shaped with the sale to Craig Whyte.' The bold Henry then informs his readers……
The Scottish businessman bought the controlling interest from Sir David Murray in 2011 but under his financial mismanagement Rangers tumbled into administration and into the Third Divison.
Interestingly Winters studied at Edinburgh University so should have a good grounding in Scottish fitba, he was also the ghost writer of Steven Ge55ards autobiography.
According to this article admittedly coming from the Daily Record, The Rangers have been given a license to play in Europe by the SFA?
#Hmmm #Really
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-sfa-rates-your-club-16498008?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar
Cygnus X-1, the article you refer to is dated 11.06.19. It’s 2020 now, in case you hadn’t noticed…
‘By Record Sport Online
08:37, 11 JUN 2019 UPDATED 08:42, 11 JUN 2019’
Haha sorry Jimbo seen on twitter and posted it while working at the same time
Just ignore please
Not guilty cygnus!
Was interesting reading anyhow
Fitba' may resume, but that is no indication of club health in Scotland. Being more reliant on bums on seats than other nations, that can only be determined to be the primary indicator. Bums on seats will be dictated by safety factors, from a starting point of zero, progressing at a pace and percentage increase unknown.
Under such a scenario, it is feasible that although clubs may be available at the starting blocks, some may fall a few hurdles down the track, throwing a fixture list spanner into an already rickety meccanno tower, the likes of which may be catastrophic.
Like it or not, smaller clubs budget provides for the arrivals of visiting fans from larger clubs. Should this not happen we may witness a domino event if a larger club trips up. However all is not lost and precautions can be implemented to mitigate such a scene. Emergency rulings can be made if need be. As it is the cash rich portion of the season a bond can be posted, (as per Livingstone),pro-rata priced from large clubs to small, being that the visit of a couple of hundred fans will have little impact comparatively with a budget plan expecting a couple of thousand.
Clubs should be ordered to submit club accounts to the SPFL for independent confidential audit before inclusion in the fixture lists, with the league provided only simple yes or no by the auditors.
Clubs may have thought they had a business plan, but with an unknown starting date, bums on seats figures, and disposable income levels unknown, they really don't and must not be permitted to gamble with the future of fellow club's season.
While there is time, help must be provided to all clubs, (by the league),whatever, and wherever possible, whether it be re-structuring advice, budgeting, even partial bond claw-backs as the season progresses.
This bond, or entrance fee, places clubs in the exact same position as their fans. If you don't have a ticket, you don't get in.
Fitba' without fans is nothing, but fitba' without clubs is also nothing, especially if they bugger off before the 2nd hauf. Its no biggee if watching fans witnessing a pumping do it. They have already paid their entrance fee. Clubs should too.
To hell with what the clubs say, and I am not fooled by the argument that clubs don't want any form of FFP. The SPFL is a members club. Try wearing studded golf shoes into the 19th hole.
There are rules attached to membership imposed by the golf club. Standards if you will.
Scottish fitba' which is still in a precarious position, cannot absorb another crisis on top. There is time to take precautionary measures to if not avoid a club falling, at least to limit the fall-out.