The scandal in which Scottish football has become embroiled is neither equivocal nor complicated. It happened. It is easily seen to have happened. It is certainly not a degree course in nuclear physics. Why then, are simple facts ignored day after day, week after week, by not just the so called purveyors of truth in the media, but the body of the SFA itself, the clubs?
Five years or so ago, systematic cheating by a club involved in Scottish football was uncovered as a consequence of the club slipping into liquidation. This is easily established as fact.
It soon became clear that the authorities had been aware of the situation for as long as it had been going on, but instead of applying their own rules, which would have saved that club from it’s ultimate demise, they chose to enable it and cover it up. Also, backed up by documentary evidence.
As a consequence of the slide towards liquidation, the authorities went into cover-up overdrive to protect their own position. Inquiries based on rhetorical “you’ll have had your tea!” questions were set up to arrive at predetermined conclusions. The post-truth era in Scottish football had begun in earnest.
The claims of corruption which subsequently emerged were dismissed out of hand by the authorities and the press; first by accusations that it was only Paranoid Celtic fans looking to put the boot into Rangers who were behind the claims, then, when it became clear that it was not only Celtic fans who were angered by the way the integrity of the sport had been shattered, the “mad Celtic fans” epithet was amended to “mad online conspiracy theorists”.
The tactic was clear. NEVER address the issue. Attack the messengers. Ridicule them, mock them, demonise them. Despite that, the message of SFM and others was gaining traction and dangerously for the authorities, becoming difficult to ignore.
Last Autumn SFM was approached in confidence by senior figures in two print media outlets. The request was for us to provide them with the facts we had in bullet points – to make it easier for them to reach their audience, an audience they claimed was not sophisticated enough to absorb the detail and minutiae of the story.
The role of journalists is to do exactly that of course. They had access to the same documentary evidence we had (we know this because we gave it to them), but they wanted us to do their job for them? Leaving aside the scant regard I have for football journalists in this country, I don’t believe they are incapable of carrying out that simple task – but we humoured them anyway and provided them with the “SFA Corruption for Dummies” guide that they asked for.
But what were they really up to?
Remembering the RTC thread where he pointed out that genuine whistle-blowers in this saga were reluctant to come forward because of trust issues – they feared any contact with the MSM would result in their details being provided to those they were exposing – we proceeded with some caution. Amusingly, the same three questions was asked at each meeting; “You must know who Rangers Tax Case is?”, “any idea who John James is?” and, “what team do you support?”. (FYI, my answers were, “No”, “No”, and “Celtic” respectively).
Interestingly, for people who needed clarification by bullet-point, they were well enough versed in the minutiae to attempt to argue the flat-earth case and try to sell us the “it has been established legally that <insert something that hasn’t been established legally here>”
Our only conjecture was that they were trying to convince us we were wrong, or ascertain how firm a grasp we actually had on the facts to better see who and what they were dealing with, or (most probably) they were reacting aimlessly to online pressure and not really following any plan at all. Perhaps they were seeking to reassure themselves that it was just Celtic fans who were angry – although I fail to see how Celtic or their fans have less credibility when asking legitimate questions about the running of the game just because Rangers were involved.
Subsequently, despite the platitudes of “print and social media should work together” and the like, and despite being furnished with the aforementioned bullet points, no further contact was made with SFM other than a couple of childish comments about SFM on Twitter.
Facts might be facts to us all, but in the case of the print media, they can be ignored on the basis that mad internet bampots are not a credible source, although metaphysical hypotheses are clearly thought to be a far more sensible line of inquiry!
However, facts ARE indeed facts, and in the hands of real journalists like Alec Thomson and those in The Offshore Game (TOG), they are given the credence they merit. Since TOG published the report on the SFA (see below), the facts have emerged from not just the so-called internet bampots. Those facts have survived the scrutiny of several reputable journalists involved in TOG – and their legal advisers.
Accusations more blunt and unequivocal than we have ever made have been published. The genie is most definitely out of the bottle, but the prodigious MSM Twitterati, so meticulous in their investigations into the occupation of Craig Whyte’s female companions, appear to have run out of batteries on their keyboards. “No answer” is the loud reply, since TOG cannot be ridiculed quite so easily without exposing themselves to the same scrutiny they have failed to apply to the SFA.
If I can be as unequivocal about this as possible. Senior journalists in at least two MSM print outlets KNOW there has been a cover up, and that systematic cheating took place. They knew that before the TOG report, long before it, but still they did nothing. Even now they do nothing. They are now playing a reactionary role – as counterpoint to the accessible online truth – involved in actively concealing that truth from the offline public. An Offline Game if you like.
Of course we are not surprised by that, and as the falling-off-a-cliff circulation figures show, fewer and fewer people are playing their game. Even those who still purchase newspapers believe little of what they read.
The clubs are a different matter. Fans of every single club in this country – and that includes TRFC – will benefit from an inquiry into the handling of this matter. In the light of the TOG report, there is no excuse for the clubs to ignore calls for an inquiry to be set up. In fact by doing so, they are actively embracing corruption.
As we have said time and time again, this is no longer about Rangers. It is about institutionalised mal-governance at Hampden. By assisting the cover-up, the clubs are ensuring that the same corrupt practices are in place, ready to go again when necessary. Those practices which saw journalists and SFA officials cede editorial control (both statements backed up by documentary evidence) of their output to one club, and allow damaging conflicts of interest to circumvent rules.
The Offshore Game has thrown a media spotlight onto a cover-up. The MSM have attempted to bury it in the offline domain, but corruption, however well established,is not unbeatable. We can beat it if we work together – and here is how.
Season ticket renewals are dropping through letterboxes as I write this. If we do nothing other than protest, the clubs will do – just like Stewart Regan says he will – NOTHING!
There is only one way to establish the Independent Inquiry that is demanded in the wake of TOG report. Ask your club if they will vote for an Independent Inquiry to be set up.
If they agree, there is no problem. They are doing the right thing and will be deserving of our support.
Otherwise, send their renewal forms back to them unsigned.
It really is that simple.
http://www.theoffshoregame.net/475-2/
JIMBOMAY 26, 2016 at 13:13
I should have added that I pilfered it from a videocelts link, (which I tried to add) last night, and it failed to load. But getting back to the article, He does seem to be a good fit to address Celtic’s failings of last season.
I for one had no idea of the complexities involved or the particular skill sets required of a No 2. …Or at least, this No 2.
What a cracking job though being a No 2 at the top end of the game.
Mark Warburton comes across as a fairly affable, respectful sort of fellow.
What I can’t get my head around is, that given the amount of information available to those who wished to acknowledge it, why, given his public persona, did he throw his hat, magic or otherwise, into the ring.
Are we to believe that he is the only non spiv, non criminal. non conflicted officer of that club?
For me, given his claimed knowledge of matters banking and fiscal, the question is, “what is in it for him”?
He has no emotional connection to either club, old or new.
The only tenuous link is having worked with Davie Weir.
So, the question remains, “Why, Mark?”
ALLYJAMBOMAY 26, 2016 at 10:57
…
MW: That was a BMW I arrived at Ibrox in to negotiated my contract, not a banana boat I’d sailed up the Clyde. I was a City Trader, you know, I know how to negotiate the best deal for me…
====================
That’s a very good point AJ.
This could be where Warburton’s ‘non-footie’ background could give him an edge.
He will not ‘undersell’ himself.
IMO, he is in a very strong negotiating position.
The DR response was very quick – and quite specific – and smacked of a Level42 attempt to quell the questions about Warbs’ whereabouts.
We all know that there is a huge difference between ‘agreeing’ a contract and actually signing a contract.
We also know that lawyers are not the quickest, as they have billable hours to accumulate !
A new contract for Warbs would not have ‘magically’ appeared before he went on his holidays !
So my guess is that he has had words with the Board, and buggered off on holiday leaving them in limbo.
In the meantime, his agent will be furiously touting Warburton’s services to any English club.
No better offer, then return to Ibrox and get more money.
It’s a win/win for Warburton, and he should be able to scr*w RIFC/TRFC into the ground…until the ‘overinvestment’ runs out…
]
[Caveat: of course, I was totally wrong about Barton.
THOMTHETHIMMAY 26, 2016 at 14:36
Yes we all believe the club is a basket case run but some dubious characters but you could say that about a number of clubs down south. Look at the issues McKay and Davis have had to deal with over recent years.
Therefore Warbs is sitting there this time last year twiddling his thumbs. He is in effect a relatively new manager with limited experience. i.e one full time mangers job behind him and a fall out (albeit it civilized) with a club owner.
He is not going to get one of the top jobs in England. Even a reasonably experienced manager like Moyes is having to consider where to go next. They can pick and choose from a world wide talent pool, so someone like Warbs is not even getting a sniff at being on the list.
Blokes like Hughes, Pardew, Allardyce etc are there to go on the merry go round if need be. Hell even Benitez is now managing a Championship side. The likes of Lennon, Coyle and McKay have all had a go and success is variable and futures uncertain.
While he did wellat Brentford other Championship sides could see him as still being a bit of a gamble given there are guys out there who know how to fight and scrape around that division.
In the EPL the clubs with average home gates of 40k and over this year were the two from Manchester, Arsenal & Chelsea, Newcastle & Sunderland and Liverpool. The rest go from 38k to 11k
English Championship sides have crowds of 29k (Derby) to 10k (Brentford and Rotherham)
The chances of being in charge of a team that is going to be playing European football are severely limited.
Therefore T’Rangers are a sleeping giant, with a huge fan base and the opportunity to get into Europe (at some point).
Regardless of what we think on here, in footballing terms, it is a heck of an opportunity for someone like Warbs to show what he has as a manger, if he is independently wealthy and not needing too much cash to keep him and his faimliy in the manner he has become accustomed.
Yes its is a bit of a gamble but giving it a decent go will do his reputation no harm at all.
As someone who worked and gambled on financial deals in the City I am sure he has the ‘board didn’t back me’ Plan B in his back pocket to be used when required.
I’m disappointed (to say the least) with Stewart Robertson’s (MD of TRFC) comments in the Scotsman today.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/rangers/ibrox-md-vows-to-deal-with-misbehaving-rangers-fans-1-4138871
Bang that drum, Stewie, those tickets/memberships won’t sell themselves!
The Honourable Mr Justice Peter Smith may not very honourable, he’s just a very naughty boy.
http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/high-court-judge-will-sit-out-cases-amid-bias-row/5055407.fullarticle
Corrupt officialMay 25, 2016 at 14:04 42 0 i Rate This
Has the blazer kicking out in the technical area been identified yet?
I am surprised that this person has not yet been publicly identified. Two out of 20,000 Hibs fans in court in jig time, whereas he would have been one of maybe 20 .
PADDY MALARKEYMAY 26, 2016 at 17:01
If you are talking about it is the guy taking a swipe a a fan who looks like a player (fully kitted out) just after the horses come on I don’t think he is a blazer.
Although on first look at the time I thought the same.
WOTTPIMAY 26, 2016 at 15:37
***
Thanks for the response.
So, what you are suggesting is that perhaps Mr. W’s desire to carve a managerial career for himself, supersedes any qualms he may have in working for a company/club, whose owner’s character has been described in the terms of which we are all aware.
There are plenty of clubs in England, out with the EPL, who would be glad to have a manager of the reputation we are led to believe he had down south.
Also, working for a club with no banking facilities, no audited accounts, no AIM listing, being funded by unaccounted means.
A city savvy gent ?
Sorry, as I said before, I just can’t get my head round it.
wottpiMay 26, 2016 at 17:16
Cheers
THOMTHETHIMMAY 26, 2016 at 17:44
He most likely knew / knows the financial situation.
My guess is so did Lennon when he went to Bolton and Pressley when he went to Coventry. The poor financial health of those clubs were well publicized but they signed up anyway.
Warbs may have been a City gent but he put that behind him to pursue a desire to be a football coach/manager.
Positions are often hard to come by.
You say many an English club would have been happy to have him but surely the same could be said of a manger with titles under his belt and wins against Barcelona.
The reality it is not as easy to land a position as one would think, so folk end up having to take what is going to keep themselves ticking over or you become yesterday’s forgotten man, like the Govan Gardeners.
So I cant blame Warbs , Lennon or Pressley for taking a calculated punt or Mr Deila for looking to his guardian angels for having the Celtic job dropped in his lap.
WOTTPIMAY 26, 2016 at 18:22
My last word on this.
I think you are being disingenuous.
A club that is badly run and being in debt is one thing.
However, a club that is so constitutionally dysfunctional and overseen by a convicted criminal and a director who was also involved in the previous club entering Liquidation, is a horse of a different hue.
Some managers find themselves at clubs, only to discover that all is not as healthy as they thought.
Unlucky for them.
Mark climbed the marble staircase with both eyes wide open and shook hands with the devil.
I believe that the sooner the thinking wing of your support tell it as it is, the sooner you may have a properly functioning club…..for the good of Scottish football, of course.
Club 1872 (the joint Rangers supporters group I think) have released their statement. I’m assuming Chris Fury) Graham penned it.
———————————————————————————–
Following the shameful scenes which occurred in the aftermath of last Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final, Club 1872 has spent the past few days gathering witness accounts and information from supporters who were present. We have liaised closely with Rangers to pass on the information we have received.
In the first instance, we call on the Scottish FA to request the immediate resignation of Hibernian Chairman and SFA Vice President, Rod Petrie from the SFA board. His comments immediately following the game, and since, have been an absolute disgrace. How can Mr Petrie justify describing the violent acts of his supporters as “exuberance”? How can he justify the lack of any apology to Rangers for the attacks on our players? We welcome the announcement by the SFA of an independent enquiry but Mr Petrie’s comments are entirely at odds with their approach.
Had it not been for the match officials and Rangers own security staff, the assaults on our players could have been considerably worse and they have our heartfelt thanks for their actions.
Having taken time to consider all the facts, our anger over the treatment of our players and supporters has, if anything, increased. We are in receipt of a large number of accounts from supporters with young children, disabled supporters and others who witnessed our players being assaulted, fellow supporters being threatened, spat on and abused and widespread disorder yards from where they were seated. It is absolutely clear from these accounts that many Rangers supporters feared that Hibernian fans were going to enter the Rangers sections of the stands. The narrative being constructed by some – that hundreds of Hibernian fans who charged straight to the Rangers end of Hampden were intent on doing anything other than violently confronting Rangers supporters – is absolutely absurd.
It is clear that for several minutes there was a breakdown of security procedures in the stadium. We are keen to assist Police Scotland and the SFA’s independent enquiry in any way we can to discover why that was and will forward all relevant information to them. It is very important that they understand how the events of Saturday unfolded from the perspective of our supporters.
At the full time whistle, mounted police charged through Rangers supporters leaving the stadium peacefully from the rear of the South and West Stands. Clearly they were attempting to reach the stadium as quickly as possible but why did they do so with what appeared to be little regard for the safety of our supporters, in a confined space and in such an aggressive manner?
From timings taken from those leaving and those who were still in the stadium it then took the mounted police around 5-6 minutes to actually enter the field of play to deal with the chaos caused by Hibernian fans. When they did so, they approached the Hibernian fans, who were engaging in widespread disorder, assault and vandalism, in a much more controlled and respectful manner than was shown to law abiding Rangers supporters outside the ground. We will be seeking a meeting with Police Scotland to understand why this was the case and to ensure there is no repeat.
Club 1872 fully supports the Rangers statements on this matter and commends the restraint shown by our supporters in the face of extreme provocation. This is not the only time recently that Rangers supporters have been subjected to this type of behaviour from rival fans. We still await a proper conclusion to the SPFL investigation into similar scenes from Motherwell fans last year at Fir Park.
A climate is being created within Scottish football, and Scotland as a whole, where Rangers supporters, staff and anyone connected with the club are seen as fair game by an unpleasant and active minority who attach themselves to several Scottish football clubs. The bile generated by these people, which has its root in social media but has moved into areas of the mainstream media and politics, is now translating into acts of violence. Not only were Rangers players assaulted on the field of play but Rangers supporters were attacked as far away as Edinburgh after the game.
The bile, hatred and resulting violence shown towards Rangers needs to stop before someone is more seriously hurt. The Scottish Government, politicians, media, the football authorities and other Scottish clubs all have a responsibility in this regard. It is a responsibility in which they are collectively failing.
Only by standing together can Rangers supporters hope to redress the balance of how we are currently treated. Club 1872 will give our supporters the platform to do exactly that and we ask for the support of each and every Rangers fan in those efforts. The dehumanisation of the Rangers support must stop now.
We all knew this was coming didn’t we? God help us.
Yup, that’s just the kind of statement that will getting folks warming to you!!!!!
Jeez!!!
HOMUNCULUSMAY 26, 2016 at 19:16 Club 1872 (the joint Rangers supporters group I think) have released their statement. I’m assuming Chris Fury) Graham penned it…
=================
So this is the statement supposedly reflecting the ‘majority’ of TRFC fans’ views ?
No point in dissecting the details.
As before, with the initial Hibs’ bland statement, nobody has ALL the full facts, corroborated, validated, reviewed, assessed objectively – and independently.
It’s only today [?] we read a report that TRFC fans supposedly impeded the Police from entering the ground at the end of the match.
That might be true. It might not be true.
Only 5 short days after the game itself, with so much controversy, allegations, counter-allegations etc., it should take several months to produce a comprehensive, definitive assessment of what really happened on Saturday.
Firing out emotive – and again personalised – statements doesn’t help at all.
THOMTHETHIMMAY 26, 2016 at 18:57
You have not been paying attention, have you?
A subtle change in the wind direction…?
Latest p!sh from the DR, and accredited to that highly regarded DR journalist, “Record Sport Online”.
=============
“Rangers vow to pull out all the stops to keep Mark Warburton and Davie Weir at Ibrox for as long as possible
RANGERS have vowed to do everything they can to keep manager Mark Warburton and his assistant Davie Weir at Ibrox….”
=============
Shirley the best PR advice TRFC could get is to just shut up – and for Level42 to stop issuing their copy/paste mince to their lapdogs in the SMSM.
It’s just getting increasingly risible / desperate / attention-seeking / etc…
That Club 1872 statement reads like something out of “12 years a slave” or something! The poor oppressed down trodden rangers fans yearning to be free……
Aye ok lads we get it, you’re not happy!
They do have some valid points in amongst all that drivel. One being that Yes Hibs fans should not have been on the park and engaging in violent/intimidating behaviour. But who is disputing that? No-one from Hibs has said the fans on the pitch were in the right. No-one in the media is saying it and I’ve not read anyone on here saying it. So who exactly do they think they are arguing against?
With all their bluster and bombast it becomes very hard to show them any sort of goodwill or “benefit of the doubt”
Yes, Stewart Petrie was wrong to call it “over-exubarence”. He was wrong with the benefit of hindsight being applied but when he actually said it, he was in the tunnel area around 5 mins after the final whistle. Maybe he was unaware that it had turned sinister at that point? But there you go, thats me giving the guy the benefit of the doubt! In any case he has since backtracked on his “over-exuberance” comment and has confirmed that Hibs will ban any fan found to have committed a crime.
The Reason I am willing to give Rod Petrie the benefit of the doubt for his immediate post match comments is because he hasn’t come across as an arrogant “See you next tuesday” with any other comments and Hibs as a club now appear to be treating the matter very seriously.
In saying that HFC haven’t beheaded any of their supporters in the Edinburgh town square yet, so I can see why the Club1872 guys are still angry at Hibs response so far!
Also there is yet again, not one single mention of rangers fans on the pitch engaging in violent behaviour. So are we to conclude from that, that its only rangers players/staff/fans that are off limits for violent acts in the eyes of the rangers support and that everyone else is fair game?
Finally I find it hard to take seriously that these concerns are genuine and come from an honest desire to “clean up the game” for everyone. When a fanbase can engage in songs about murder, child abuse etc… and not be offended and can watch some of their own fans run amok on the pitch and have nothing to say about it, then its a wee bit rich to be complaining about someone throwing a punch at Lee Wallace or whatever.
No-one should be throwing punches at anyone! Seems like such an obvious statement but for a certain clubs fans its not obvious at all.
Last year, and probably the year before I predicted that the SFA did not know what they had done by re-incarnating “The Rangers” and that their hubristic support would come back twice as strong with twice as much invective and bile.
I cannot remember when exactly I posted but perhaps the mods can call up previous posts.
There were many, many other posters who warned of the same thing.
And so it has come to pass.
They want to attack every decent football fan, content in their fantasist view that everything that happened to them was someone else’s fault.
It wasn’t; it started when they went down the road of cheating and failed to pay their creditors.
The late Ian Archer got it spot on when he called them a permanent disgrace.
The decent football fans must not be intimidated by their statements and our chairmen should now do what they have so far failed to do and that is to have an EGM and clear out the SFA who are Rangersitised and replace them with people who will enforce the rules without fear or favour.
Moreover “The Rangers” should be subject to financial scrutiny and if they cannot prove beyond all doubt that they currently have the funds to last to the end of the season, then they should be consigned to history once and for all.
Operating on soft loans and empty promises are no longer sufficient.
Get this disgrace out of Scottish Football.
FAO JC – Court of Session tomorrow
Friday 27th May 2016
STARRED MOTIONS
60 mins P1015/15 Pet: HMA for Restraint Order re: Craig Whyte – Gildeas – COPFS
TO BE ALLOCATED
Tuesday 31st May 2016
Hearing on Note and Answers
P1140/15 Note: HMA for Order re failure to comply by Craig Whyte – Crown Office – Gildeas
easyJamboMay 26, 2016 at 20:38
‘..FAO JC – Court of Session tomorrow’
_____
Thanks, eJ: I was just about to scan the Rolls to have a look.
I’ll need to keep an eye on the Rolls for the date oif any hearing in the RFC v Green, Ahmad and the other two. I would imagine it won’t be for some yet, but you never know!
John Clark May 26, 2016 at 21:05
———————————
I think Imran Ahmad was given three weeks to respond following the notice in The Times, so that may give an indication of when to expect further action.
What is the significance of ‘1872’ I asked myself. A bit research shows, according to Wikiknowsitall:-
On the 1st September, a group of Icaiche Maya under Marcos Canul attacked Orange Walk Town in British Honduras. Wikipedia reports that British troops were sent against them.
The Wiki report doesn’t say whether cavalry units were employed but the Orange Walkers must have been relieved. I can see why 1st September 1872 is a date to remember for them!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1872_in_the_United_Kingdom
I suppose Marcos Canul and his Icaiche Maya followers were all Hibs supporters!
Just to mention sure Hibs haven’t beheaded any supporters yet however there have been a couple of Hibs supporters who have already been up to court. Of the 15 who have already been arrested will any of them be The rangers supporters do you think or will they be off limits.
WOTTPI,I don’t need anybody to warm to me, thank you. Just saying that next season is going to be very trying with the WATP all wound up and pointed at everyone else in the league. Mayhem is assured IMHO.
easyJamboMay 26, 2016 at 21:10
‘…Imran Ahmad was given three weeks to respond ..’
________
Aye, trouble is: he may decide not to respond at all , so they need to wait the three weeks before they could begin talk about arranging a hearing; or he may already have responded saying either that he does wish to defend or that he doesn’t wish to defend- in either of which cases they could start planning now!
I suspect that he will not notify his intentions until the last minute. If there would be any question of him having to appear in person………I doubt if he would show.
I’ll try to keep a regular eye on the Rolls, being really curious as to the nature of the action, if it’s to do with an attempt to wriggle out of a deal made by a previous Board. I’ve been trying to read up on contract law and on what grounds a legal person can get out of unconscionably unfair contracts or forced contracts.I haven’t yet come across any reference to how the board of a company might wriggle free from, or amend, contracts entered into a few years before by a previous board of the same company.
There’s a lovely Dickensian touch about one parcel of rogues having a go at their predecessors in office, because another very much smarter and strictly legal businessman put one over on them.
If the business is not about MA at all, I cannot imagine what it will be about.Or rather, the imagination runs riot! For example, could our South African golf-caddy-to-the-great actually be challenging the legitimacy of CG and crew to act as Directors of TRFC, and supporting CW as the rightful majority shareholder and purchaser of the assets? This would nullify everything that has happened since Liquidation!
I would love to think that what I think happened, did in fact and law happen.
But, TV is TV, real life is different-and even more fun!
ProhibbyMay 26, 2016 at 21:22
‘… Icaiche Maya followers were all Hibs supporters! ‘
_________
Hmmm, wouldn’t be too sure about that, Prohibby. ‘Icaiche Maya’ is an anagram of
‘A , aye, I am Chic !’
CHARLIE_KELLY
MAY 26, 2016 at 20:28
That Club 1872 statement reads like something out of “12 years a slave” or something! The poor oppressed down trodden rangers fans yearning to be free…… Aye ok lads we get it, you’re not happy!
……………………..
Here’s another view
IMO
The PR reaction of the old RFC (RIP) Board after bad behaviour by fans was generally aimed at minimising the seriousness of the event presumably in the hope of limiting the unavoidable punishment they knew was coming.
At best this reflected a furious response by the Board (articulated in restrained language) to being embarrassed by an element of their fans. People they saw as lesser mortals who shared in the culture but didn’t have the manners or education to express it with dignity.
When RFC died these naughty fans were left leaderless. There were no behavioural role models to follow. Dignity was conspicuous by its absence.
The successor club, TFRC was run by Shysters with zero interest in the long term. They only dipped their toes in those aspects of the previous RFC culture they thought would make them money. They made no effort to behave in a “dignified” manner. Or put another way, the cultural veneer of management restraint imposed by the need to show “dignity” was the first victim of this leadership vacuum.
This veneer soon disintegrated. Overt bigotry and sectarian behaviour by the fans was tacitly accepted by the Board.
It soon became clear to the fans that although their Board, the Police, and the SFA had no problem with bigotry and sectarianism it was being roundly condemned by social media. This response caused many of the fans to develop a genuinely held “victim “culture which is where we are now
This “victim” cult was encouraged by some board members to combat financial problems that could be helped by pressurising other clubs and the governing authorities
. I don`t believe for a minute that these strategies were founded on any sense of injustice at TRFC Board level. Much more likely is the idea that “victimism” could be harnessed for short term gain
So where does that take us?
I fear we are in for many seasons of conflict where a minimum of 50% of TRFC matches are plagued by unpunished bigoted and sectarian behaviour, disorderly conduct and an upsurge in post-match violence.
This cancer could have been excised by the other 41 clubs back in 2012
They could have demanded standards of behaviour that would have driven the loonies out of Ibrox and compelled the rest to behave with restraint. Over time TRFC could have earned the right to be a respected member of the SFA
The SC Final?
Undoubtedly,
.
The TRFC fans who caused damage, taunted, assaulted or intimidated
Hibs, players, staff or fans behaved in a way we have come to expect from a bigoted and sectarian driven mob who support an Ibrox based club
The Hibs fans that caused damage, taunted, assaulted or intimidated TRFC players, staff or fans broke a law that Hibs fans and fans of the vast majority of other clubs have respected for generations
They provided an opportunity for a dysfunctional TRFC Board to reinforce their nonsense “victim” cult
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
From that standpoint perhaps one positive could emerge:
For the first time the verdict of an SFA Enquiry has to be reflective of a Police Enquiry. Any football punishment they dish out has to be mindful not only of the SFA regulations that were broken but also of the criminal laws broken. They will not get away with cherry picking this time.
Scotland has a criminal law that is targeted specifically at football fan behaviour. So any criminal punishment for fans breaking the criminal law has to be mirrored in SFA punishment for clubs breaking those rules that intended to comply with this criminal law
And once they start applying their own rules they could find it difficult to ignore future incidents.
Time for my unpopular post of today.
In amongst that long statement, a point worthy of consideration is that this is indeed the second time in two seasons that opposing fans have entered the field of play and charged towards the Rangers fans at the end of the game. Is this as a result of the “dehumanisation” of Rangers fans of which the writer speaks? I don’t know, both cases had extenuating circumstances. But given the constant references to “klan” etc which are widespread, maybe that is a contributing factor. I know well that often posters here and elsewhere do highlight that they refer to a minority of idiots amongst the support, which all supports have, but that may not be a distinction a casual reader makes when reading such comments. It doesn’t take much for such stereotypes to become embedded in widespread views.
wottpiMay 26, 2016 at 17:16
‘…..just after the horses come on.’
________
You’ve just made me think, wottpi, about the access at Hampden for a troop of horse.
Is that end of the ground the only access to the pitch?
As it happened, on Saturday, there were few enough TRFC folk on the pitch to allow the horses fairly quickly to find or create a
baseline for the footmen to be established to push back the celebrating Hibs fans.
But what might have been the possibilities if the pitch invasion had been by victorious TRFC fans celebrating their first Scottish Cup win? The cavalry would have been behind them or at least among them, and, in effect , if they were to try to get ahead of them it would have made it seem as if they were part of a cavalry charge against the other end!
In all seriousness, I think that might be something that the ‘Commission’ should look at, if their brief includes looking at dealing with pitch invasions generally. The point of entry to the pitch of the forces of law and order could be of some significance.
I still think that the Match Commander was too ready to believe ( and in fairness, I think most of us were the same) that extra-time was inevitable.But, people in command must always be ready for the unexpected.
As soon as the winning goal went in, the horses should have been deployed neutrally trackside , ready to amble across the halfway line if the need arose.
But what do I know? other than that a dozen well-drilled horsemen/women ( despite the Red Lion square incident in London) are a match for any ordinary civilian crowd.
JOHN CLARKMAY 26, 2016 at 22:09 7 0 Rate This
ProhibbyMay 26, 2016 at 21:22‘… Icaiche Maya followers were all Hibs supporters! ‘_________Hmmm, wouldn’t be too sure about that, Prohibby. ‘Icaiche Maya’ is an anagram of‘A , aye, I am Chic !’
………………..
JC, are you suggesting that if they were ‘chic’ they couldn’t be hibs followers?
ProhibbyMay 26, 2016 at 23:18
‘..JC, are you suggesting that if they were ‘chic’ they couldn’t be hibs followers’
_______
No, no, no , no!
Only that there would be the possibility that their stated allegiance to one club may have been at variance with their actual allegiance to another club, as is alleged of BBC Scotland’s Chic.. Or something of that sort.
Ryan, two occasions on which opposing fans entered the field of play and charged towards the fans opposite is two occasions too many! It happens and it shouldn’t. You ask whether these events are a result of dehumanisation of rangers fans and that is a good question and the answer may be ‘Yes it is! However, I would like to turn the question back to you, and ask whether the habitual disregard for the feelings and rights of others demonstrated through sectarian and abusive chanting does not dehumanise. I think it dehumanises both the singers and the targets of the abuse. Abuse is dehumanising! It dehumanises both the abuser and the abused. By my reckoning, the Rangers fans who engage or condone abusive behaviour are as guilty of dehumanising themselves as anybody!
Prohibby,
No, not for a second am I suggesting that Rangers fans as a whole are an innocent bunch, and a lot of the songs are disgusting. However, I’m concerned by your response on two levels, as a) Rangers are by no means the only club beset by fans who sing an chant inappropriately, although I’d conceded we are by far the worst affected, but more importantly b) it sounds like you are offering that up as justification for Rangers fans being attacked, which would be a rather dangerous stance to take. I highly doubt that is what you meant, but you are effectively offering justification for fans being attacked, and I can almost 100% guarantee you that if a group of fans attack a group of Rangers fans, the ones who get hurt will not be the ones who “deserve” it, they will be the women, children, disabled and perfectly peaceful attendees who can’t get out of the way.
RYANGOSLINGMAY 26, 2016 at 23:02
While the 1872 is full of nonsense I have to agree that the argument of dehumanising T’Rangers supporters is valid.
When we descend to that level history shows us how inhuman we can be.
The use of The Klan by Phil Mac always seems a bit hypocritical for someone who comes across as being potentially the first to complain if a negative stereotype was directed at all those with Irish heritage.
The fact is I am sure there are a good deal of fans who go to Ibrox just for the Football. End of.
However when the BB.s kicks off, as it did on Saturday, as the first retort to any challenge from others I am still seeing far to many hands being raised skywards for my liking.
Until the wading in others blood is put aside I believe it will be hard to convince others to ease up with the name calling.
When the club and those apparently with the power in the supporters group can crack that one then we may be able to move on.
Unfortunately now they are a bit down on their luck, Rangers as an entity is suffering from the backlash of years where many others in the game were made to feel like second class citizens.
I”d rather it wasn’t the way it is and all a bit more civilised but it does seem like a case of being able to dish it out for decades but not being able to take it in return.
If 1872 want a decent human reaction they need to reach out in friendship as opposed to building even larger walls than those that already exist.
Ryan, I do not discriminate between green abusing fans and blue abusing fans. If I haven’t made myself clear by now, there can never be any justification for any set of fans attacking another set of fans. Those Hibs fans who attacked Rangers fans and intimidated/ assaulted Rangers players on Saturday left their humanity behind on the terraces. I simply make the point, and stand by it, that when crowds engage in shouting and chanting in an abusive way towards others, they are dehumanising themselves as well as those they abuse. If Hibs fans engaged in abusive shouting and chanting towards the Rangers end on Saturday, they were dehumanising themselves and the Rangers fans!
As for women and children being in the firing line, I quite agree. I was horrified to see a distressed child in green being snatched by fans from the Rangers end and being treated as a pawn by those who went on to the field “to protect their own players”. That was child assault, perhaps even attempted abduction! That child was ‘dehumanised’ and became a mere object in those appalling moments! The child should not have been there but that in no way excuses the behaviour of his abductors.
Finally, I cannot, will not and have never tried to excuse the behaviour of the Hibs fans who stepped over the line.
Rant over – I wish you peace my friend.
I think we are descending into “whitabootery” regarding the chaos at the end of the SC final . There is a lot of misinformation flying about . Let’s wait for the enquiry results .
Watching that Hillsborough programme was harrowing . With all due respect, it puts our problems into perspective . Also shows what you are up against with those kind of people in control .
I’ve maybe missed it with all the goings on this week – but wasn’t the advert re Resolution 12 not supposed to be in The Guardian this week?
JIMBOMAY 27, 2016 at 05:59
Nah, lets not get drawn into that one. Best person for the job is all that should matter for any position – their religion, gender, sexuality, inside leg measurement, shoe size whatever should always be entirely irrelevant. As a fresh faced early 20’s loon coming down to Glasgow from Aberdeen I was truly shocked when I was repeatedly asked about what school I went to etc. I had never even thought about it before, nor do I think about it now – it’s an irrelevance, just one of the unique and downright embarrassing features, if you will, of Glasgow life.
As someone who would gladly see the back of all religions I really don’t care what they get up to in their private life, as long as they apply all rules without any fear or favour. That is the requirement.
P.S. I feel much the same way about any attempt to enforce positive discrimination. Quota filling is just a nonsense. Best person, that should always be the decision.
Quick comment on that statement by club 18-30, or whatever their name is, last night.
The SFA/SPFL need to stamp on this fire raising now. Someone, somewhere is going to get very badly hurt if this isn’t extinguished right now.
Anyone remember a story by Graham Spiers a few months back where he claimed that he’d spoken with an “un-named” RFC director who had privately praised the song the “Billy Boys” – Queue mock outrage from all the usual rangers fan outlets etc… about how he had besmirched the good name of rangers with this clearly made up story etc…
Fast forward to todays Daily Record front page and I think we can now assume who the “un-named” director was.
Charlie_KellyMay 27, 2016 at 09:08
Anyone remember a story by Graham Spiers a few months back where he claimed that he’d spoken with an “un-named” RFC director who had privately praised the song the “Billy Boys” – Queue mock outrage from all the usual rangers fan outlets etc… about how he had besmirched the good name of rangers with this clearly made up story etc… Fast forward to todays Daily Record front page and I think we can now assume who the “un-named” director was.
=================================
I thought the word on the street at the time was that Gilligan was the “unnamed director”
jimboMay 27, 2016 at 05:59
We all know without saying the Masonic influence throughout Scottish Football. We skirt around this poison.
The irony is that outwith Britain Masons tend to be Catholic.
==============
In southern Europe almost everyone is a baptised Catholic, so that’s where the Lodges get their recruits. However Catholics are automatically excommunicated on becoming a freemason, that was certainly the case 50 years ago, and may still be for all I know (or care).
There was a move some years back to legally oblige freemasons in public service, such as Judges, senior police officers, tax inspectors etc, to declare their membership.
Unsurprisingly, that idea was given a hasty burial.
I see there’s a new word entered the realms of Scottish fitba’; ‘dehumanising’.
I wonder who thought that one up? And why?
It appears to be used with regard to one set of supporters entering the field of play, with some going to confront the opposing supporters, making obscene gestures or other gestures that might be classed as challenging, in the most idiotic way – a couple of hundred, at most, challenging a crowd of many thousands.
Dehumanising? Hardly. A display of such stupidity doesn’t dehumanise those who are the target of their abuse, especially when any insults they might be shouting are more than drowned out by the general noise of over 40,000 people either celebrating or just leaving a football ground.
Many people acted in an inhuman (in terms of what’s accepted as proper human behaviour) way, no one was dehumanised.
Someone has plucked a rather emotive word out of thin air and decided to use it to further their own aims. Kosovo, Afghanistan, Syria, and many, many, more countries know the real meaning of dehumanising. In those instances a much larger and powerful force overwhelms the victims and subjugates them, or worse. To use ‘dehumanising’ to describe the effect of opposition gesturing football supporters, even with the odd bout of fisticuffs, is an insult to the victims of true dehumanisation!
Nobody was dehumanised on Saturday, witness the source of the new word to enter our lexicon to realise why it’s been introduced. Deflect and attack at the same time!
While as a non-Rangers fan, it is not really my concern, I have my own thoughts on the missing manager.
There is a lot of talk about selling season tickets and I would suggest that he is gone but no announcements will be made until there is a particular tranche of STs sold at Ibrox. Once they have the cash, they can start to deliver the bad news. At the minute though, it is either good news stories or WATP bluster coming from the boardroom.
Dustin
They would sell far more STs if they did announce his departure and then announced the arrival of Louis van Gaal.
I’m not sure if it counts as dehumanising or not, but when the games’ authorities are proven to be corrupt, self serving and blinded by an outdated model that requires at its core to openly treat me like a mug who is just there to feather their nest and perpetuate their pathetic existence that is still not a reason to charge over any wall. But you will have to excuse me it still makes me mightily p****d off!
I don’t particularly care about songs. I don’t particularly care about good natured pitch invasions. I do care that it is not my sole role in this lifetime to just blindly finance it.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/rangers-fans-warned-club-could-1076693#g7sq678IyydKpSrp.97
The civilised countries of Europe will not tolerate sectarian abuse, nor racist abuse for that matter. They view the matter so seriously, that in all honesty, any displays of such, and they will simply refuse to let you in.
We have the managing director of a Scottish football club jockeying for an SFA board position, admitting that his club partakes in such overt displays. After such an admission, turning down the volume on stadium mics will not cut it anymore.
Is Scotland to become, or make steps to becoming a civilised nation?…The ba’s at your feet Stewart Regan
JJ’S latest https://johnjamessite.com/2016/05/27/a-rangers-song-for-europe/#respond
Corrupt officialMay 27, 2016 at 11:10
The problem with a potential ban from Europe for sectarian singing is that it was RFC who were given the final warning, not TRFC.
RYANGOSLINGMAY 26, 2016 at 23:02
!!
Time for my unpopular post of today.
In amongst that long statement, a point worthy of consideration is that this is indeed the second time in two seasons that opposing fans have entered the field of play and charged towards the Rangers fans at the end of the game. Is this as a result of the “dehumanisation” of Rangers fans of which the writer speaks? I don’t know, both cases had extenuating circumstances. But given the constant references to “klan” etc which are widespread, maybe that is a contributing factor. I know well that often posters here and elsewhere do highlight that they refer to a minority of idiots amongst the support, which all supports have, but that may not be a distinction a casual reader makes when reading such comments. It doesn’t take much for such stereotypes to become embedded in widespread views.
————————————————————————————————————————–
You were right – very unpopular
As far as the Motherwell game is concerned I think you would find that the idiots that ran towards and goaded the Rangers supporters that day, would have done exactly the same thing if it had been Celtic we had been playing – or indeed any perceived “bigger” club. Again in no way condoning their actions and I hope that as many as possible have been identified punished for their actions. They brought shame on the club.
PADDY MALARKEYMAY 27, 2016 at 11:57 Corrupt officialMay 27, 2016 at 11:10
The problem with a potential ban from Europe for sectarian singing is that it was RFC who were given the final warning, not TRFC
======================================================================
OC/NC aside Paddy, it applies through the card to any club. It is just unacceptable and not tolerated, no matter the nations or religions involved.
As regards sectarian singing, UEFA are only interested in policing their own competitions, for which a zero tolerance approach is adopted. UEFA rely entirely on the SFA policing their local tournaments.
Since TRFC won’t be participating in any UEFA tournaments next year, they have a free pass for at least another season of “the songbook”. And that’s exactly what I expect we will hear. If the SFA were ever going to clamp down on this nonsense, 2012 would have been a good time to start. Those poor BBC Alba viewers must have their ears burning. But seriously, a firm approach back then would have nipped this in the bud. By now, the sense of impunity and entitlement has completely taken over the support.
And by voting against strict liability, the other clubs don’t have much a moral high ground to stand on.
After the events of the last week I am almost (but not quite) lost for words.
Firstly, belated congratulations to Hibs, a tremendous performance and from the highlights I have seen a very good game, played in the right spirit with both teams playing their part.
Sadly, a number of Hibs supporters got carried away and entered the field, inevitably taking some of the gloss from the occasion. Worse, within that number a few behaved in a quite disgraceful manner towards a some of the Rangers players.
In all my years attending sporting events I’ve never once felt the need to enter the filed of play. What is so difficult about this concept for some to grasp. The stands are for fans and the pitch is for players.
Clearly some rangers supporters reacted and likewise crossed onto the pitch looking for a fight.
What is needed now is for the law to take it’s course and for a thorough enquiry into the events of the day to learn the necessary lessons for the future.
At a time when everybody needed to take a deep breath and calm down my flabber has been ghasted by the PR offensive (in both senses of the word) being employed by TRFC.
The Big Statement has been analysed by others already but reads like it was written by a fifteen year old after their first proper drink. This has been followed by today’s interview given by Stewart Robertson.
What is so hard about saying, “Pitch invasion wrong, singing sectarian songs, wrong”. If he doesn’t realise that certain sections of his support will see his moral equivalence as a green light for The Billy Boys he is very stupid indeed. And I don’t believe for one minute that he is.
Let me repeat that some Rangers players were undoubtedly treated very badly as they left the pitch. But, we have seen a concerted campaign to try and play up what happened beyond what actually did happen. Why so?
Rangers IL systematically cheated the taxpayer and their completion over a period of many years and a compliant MSM and footballing authorities have done everything humanly possible to minimise, deflect and brush this under the carpet. Playing the victim card will just put peoples backs up.
Almost un-noticed and uncommented on another journalist has been targeted for online abuse yesterday and has had to abandon their Twitter account in the face of the hostility directed towards her. It is as if this is now accepted as the norm. I notice that Mr Robertson was not asked about this.
This brings to he bit about his interview that intrigues me the most. The beyond softball nature of the questions. They really do read like a PR release, “So tell me Mr MD, why is your revolutionary new product so superior to your competitors?” I can only assume that someone on the level produced the Q & A and forwarded it on for publication verbatim.
I despair, I really do.
Whatever about the deficiencies of the match Commander last Saturday, I am most irked by the deficiencies of the Scottish Courts administration. They schedule cases when they don’t know whether there’s a lordship available to hear them, or when a lordship might be available!
I was in parliament house at 9.45 a.m. There on the Notice Board is the bald entry re HMA’s Restraint Order against Craig Whyte, scheduled ( as per the Rolls of court) for today. No judge allocated or Court room specified.You have to sit an hope you might hear (over a rubbishy Tannoy system) the case you might be interested in being called. By 12 not a dickie bird, and none of the usual legal folk seemed to be about. So I went to the Keeper of the Record to ask. They said I would just have to wait for an announcement.
Well, I had lost patience , so I just came home.
While I was waiting, though, I was not at all bored. There was a case due to be called, and there were about half a dozen polis there, and a fair crowd of about twenty folk, several in kilts and such,which aroused my curiosity enough to prompt me to ask about it. Turns it it is a case where the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body is trying to get the ‘protesters’ encamped on ground beside the parliament building in Holyrood evicted.
I learned that , apparently, that Body corporate had sold that land to the Crown Estates for £30K! and that it was private land and the protesters had no right to occupy it. The counter-argument seems to be that it was land that had been designated as an area for peaceful protest, and that the European Human rights stuff enshrines the right of public protest etc etc.
I do still try to keep up to speed with news, but all of that had passed me by, I have to say. I’m beginning to wish I had flaming well gone into that courtroom when the case was called.
Latest from TOG
http://www.theoffshoregame.net/anonymous-bampottery/
Having read the TOG report (thanks for posting) and of course, the voluminous input on the same subject by one of our community previously could someone answer me a hopefully fairly simple question. If I understand the timeline correctly RFC by-passed the 31st March deadline by describing the WTC tax due as ‘potential’ (whether accurately or otherwise). I believe the Sharp-Olverman Email referred to is discussing the follow-on report required for overdue payables as at 30th June? If I am reading the latest TOG report correctly UEFA then pick up 31 cases from the 30th June return and ask for a further report on the 30th Sept. This I think then prompts further correspondence with the SFA making reference to “recent press” or similar referring, of course, to the Sherriff’s unseasonal August first footing. As RFC weren’t picked up from the June return they subsequently weren’t required to report as at 30th Sept. And finally, (without quick access to the Emails in question) I understand that either no submission was made as at June 30th or, presumably given that RFC were not included in ‘the 31’ that the return still supported, by this time unquestionably wrongly, the outstanding payable’s “potential” nature.
I’ve no wish to dig up old ground but, without the info to hand the reports on this key encounter seem to jump between 31st March which I consider fully described with the “potential” smoking gun and the 30th Sept return that RFC weren’t apparently involved in. What I am not clear on is what information/email chains exist purely relating to that 30th June return?
I don’t do twitter but this was apparently posted
Graham Spiers @GrahamSpiers
Dear Stewart Robertson:Bigoted chanting has haunted Rangers FC for decades.Pluck up the courage: condemn it outright. Offer no excuses.
His tense is wrong obviously, it should be “Bigoted chanting haunted Rangers FC for decades.”
However his sentiment is accurate with regards it being condemned in relation to the fans of the new club continuing the tradition of the old.
SMUGASMAY 27, 2016 at 14:37
I am going purely on my erratic memory here, but I seem to recall the SFA issuing a statement, after March, to the effect that all was in order with the RFC Licence application and that there was no further need for UEFA to be involved.
This may have been issued after the exchange of E mails between Regan and the Ibrox official, when the SFA man was told to amend his original intended statement, to suit RFC.
In effect, in my opinion, UEFA were lied to and it is this that will come back to bite the collective bums!
I think all that he/she/it have done is to give fresh impetus to the TOG report and also to mark UEFA’s card ,in case they may have been inclined to play the Appalling Vista card.
Apologies, my post above should have read “Whyte Olverman Email” with the further correspondence referred to actually being the Sharp Olverman” email.
Still more than a few holes though, namely what did the SFA say in their declaration of June 2011 that prompted UEFA not to cite RFC as one of the 31 for further consideration at Sept (when apparently, and crucially one must assume separately, headlines were enough according to Sharp) which, with the club then going into administration not 7 months later resulted in no, none, zero, nada, nilch feedback either to the awarding body SFA nor to the club who of course by this time had entered and exited the competition (with, one would have thought obvious financial implications).
Its almost as though the club were all but cited but the SFA chose not to pass it on, choosing instead firstly to defer on the grounds that the daily record said that Whyte had agreed to pay (the WTC) and then subsequently relying on the relative clean break that liquidation would give them…..oops!
Edit: Thanks TtT our posts crossed. No, again from my further reading the Reegan input re everything being fine comes, bizarrely, after the March, June AND Sep returns but only makes reference to the March one. As I say, the June one and its subsequent implications just seems to be a black hole!
Corrupt official May 27, 2016 at 14:00
Smugas May 27, 2016 at 14:37
===================
In summary, it looks like TOG has responded to “The Lawman’s” claims.
The Lawman claimed the Rangers advised the SFA of the Overdue Payables on 30 June and that was sufficient to obtain a licence.
TOG claims that the tax bill was both overdue at 31 March and 30 June, but even if the “potential liability” claimed at 31 March was the correct status, then the submission at 30 June (postponed – awaiting scheduling) was misleading and leaves the club (oldco?) still open to sanction.
Thanks EJ
But given the (whether accurate or not) deferred status applied to the debt as at the June return why would RFC not then be cited as one of the clubs for follow up at Sep if, as I said above, newspaper speculation (and of course there was nothing speculative about it) was enough to pique their (UEFA’s) interest.
Rumours are terrible and must be acted on immediately but a form saying Awaiting Schedule should just be taken at face value with no requirement for someone to ask “how long for?” Really?
Don’t think anyone has posted this article in two hundredpercent. Sums up my thoughts pretty well.
http://twohundredpercent.net/2016-scottish-cup-moral/
Seeing as how the subject of 2011 UEFA license is back in play can I just extrapolate a little.
I shall discard the March date as there is some dubiety over it even though the odds are that it was a wrong declaration. The June date, if at the time the SFA had been reassured by the club that all was OK, could be filed by the the SFA in the “We wis lied tae.” folder. It is either that or they helped RFC with the lie because the visit of the sheriff officers in earlier August and the time needed for HMRC to arrange the court hearing and execute their will would not be counted in days but weeks suggests that a lie had been told. If SFA were not involved in the lie then why did they not come down on RFC like a ton(or the metric equivalent) of bricks for their deception. They had lied about side contracts and then lied about overdue payables so any association in any country should have been hell bent on putting a stop to it. It is not up to the association to consider their members’ financial state when it comes to discipline so the fact that there was no action taken really has to be questioned. More importantly that question has to be answered.
Now matter how you stir up the events of the summer of 2011 and then read the resulting outcome it appears that something is wrong and silence can only be viewed as an admission of guilt.
REIVERMAY 27, 2016 at 16:27
Whichever way you look at it the SFA allowed the application to go through with the lightest of touches when you consider what was going on in the public arena and what is included in the Uefa documents re what is expected of their member associations and clubs re the declaration and definition of overdue payables.
I fully understand why individual clubs will want to sail as close to the wnd as possible (if required) to gain entry to Euro competition.
I fully understand why each nations own association may be keen to assist and look after their member clubs by getting them through some of the hoops for Euro competition.
However the point comes where a club goes to far and an association overstepping the mark and ‘assistance’ and turning a blind eye goes above and beyond the call of duty. Then it becomes cheating at the expense of other member clubs and the integrity of the individual competition and the sport n general.
This is why the SFA needs to explain themselves.
If they have nothing to hide this could all be resolved in an afternoon with the issuing of a clear press statement telling us their side of the story.
wottpiMay 27, 2016 at 17:28
‘…If they have nothing to hide this could all be resolved in an afternoon with the issuing of a clear press statement telling us their side of the story.’
_____
And, of course, the providing of authentic, documented evidence to back up their side of the story, including records and notes of all little dinner-party meetings and phone calls and emails and nods and winks and mutual assurances at which the de facto decision on what the SFA should tell UEFA was made not by the SFA but by conmen.
To use a phrase I heard today you and I and every club and supporter in this country ‘has skin in this game’. We strongly suspect a fix was in, and that we were all lied to. Serious stuff. If the evidence of innocence is there, why indeed don’t the SFA simply shut us up for good by merely producing it in open forum?
It appears that the biggest story in Scottish football this evening is the new Ayr United strip.
The Compliance Officer is poised to throw the book at the Honest Men for not ensuring that the female model was wearing a suitable liberty bodice, according to STV.
TRFC & Hibs breathe a huge sigh of relief
It just strikes me that for RFC to ‘win’ i.e. to retain their licence then with the potential money stream that enabled and/or not to have to face a similar sanction at the next point of entry a la (was it?) Boavista then the SFA had to lose – i.e. they had to force through a seemingly false declaration either at June or September against all their members better interests AND therefore take responsibility for any fall out for so doing (which of course ran the risk of not being ‘club limited’ either).
But apparently no. Neither party needs to face any sort of culpability whatsoever just as long as everyone else (and we’re now talking Europe wide) is prepared to accept that the wrongdoing (and there clearly is) is for the greater good but on an unquantifiable, non-demonstrable, completely unauthorised, undemocratic basis? Just everyone run along, nothing to see ya de ya….oh, but be sure and buy your season tickets folks!
Jimsie,
A case, not for the first time where the strip was not the problem but rather the diddies within it!
(Or not within it, as I understand was the case)
New blog from JJ. https://johnjamessite.com/2016/05/27/assessing-the-hibs-fine/#comments
JINGSO.JIMSIEMAY 27, 2016 at 19:17
“It appears that the biggest story in Scottish football this evening is the new Ayr United strip
===============================================================
A storm in a D-cup Jingso !
The Betfred league cup is organised in groups for this season.
The four teams with European places do not compete in the groups so Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian are automatically in the knock out stages.
Hopefully this will bring much needed income to some of the clubs lower down.
The groups are as follows
Group A
Dundee
Dumbarton
Peterhead
Forfar Athletic
East Fife
Group B
St Johnstone
Falkirk
Brechin City
Stirling Albion
Elgin City
Group C
Inverness Caley Thistle
Dundee United
Dunfermline Athletic
Arbroath
Cowdenbeath
Group D
Ross County
Raith Rovers
Alloa Athletic
Cove Rangers
Montrose
Group E
Partick Thistle
Queen of the South
Stenhousemuir
Queen’s Park
Airdrieonians
Group F
Motherwell
Rangers
Stranraer
East Stirlingshire
Annan Athletic
Group G
Hamilton Accies
St Mirren
Edinburgh City
Livingston
Ayr United
Group H
Kilmarnock
Morton
Berwick Rangers
Albion Rovers
Clyde
Picked this up on another forum from an ex-Bear who moved on to support another team.
Glad I found it as it restores some faith in a strange way, I always wondered why the “decent majority” stick it when they see what some people are determined to make RFC stand for. I know I wouldn’t stick around if my club and fans went down the same road.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sonppj