Good Evening.
As we ponder the historic vote to create a new Governing body to oversee Scottish League football, I cannot help but wonder what brilliant minds will be employed in the drawing up of its constitution, rules, memorandum and articles of association?
Clearly, Messrs Doncaster, Longmuir and even Mr Regan as the CEO of the SFA will be spending many hours with those dreaded folk known simply as “ The Lawyers” in an attempt to get the whole thing up and running and written down in the course of a few short weeks.
In truth, that scares me.
It scares me because legal documentation written up in a hurry or in a rush is seldom perfect and often needs amendment—especially when the errors start to show! The old adage of beware of the busy fool sadly applies.
It also scares me because the existing rules under which the game is governed are not, in my humble opinion, particularly well written and seem to differ in certain material respects from those of UEFA. Even then, adopting the wording and the approach of other bodies is not necessarily the way to go.
I am all in favour of some original thought– and that most precious and unusual of commodities known as common sense and plain English.
Further, the various licensing and compliance rules are clearly in need of an overhaul as they have of late produced what can only be best described as a lack of clarity when studied for the purposes of interpretation. Either that or those doing the studying and interpreting are afflicted with what might be described as tortuous or even tortured legal and administrative minds.
If it is not by now clear that the notion of self-certification on financial and other essential disclosure criteria necessary to obtain a footballing licence (whether European or domestic) is a total non-starter — then those in charge of the game are truly bonkers.
Whilst no governing body can wholly control the actions of a member club, or those who run a club, surely provisions can be inserted into any constitution or set of rules that allows and brings about greater vigilance and scrutiny than we have at present—all of course designed to do nothing other than alert the authorities as early as possible if matters are not being conducted properly or fairly.
However, the main change that would make a difference to most of the folk involved in the Scottish game – namely the fans— would be to have the new rules incorporate a measure which allowed football fans themselves to be represented on any executive or committee.
Clearly, this would be a somewhat revolutionary step and would be fought against tooth and nail by some for no reason other than that it has simply not been done before—especially as the league body is there to regulate the affairs of a number of limited companies all of whom have shareholders to account to and the clubs themselves would presumably be the shareholders in the new SPFL Ltd.
Then again to my knowledge Neil Doncaster is not a shareholder in The SPL ltd– is he?
I can hear the argument that a fan representative on a league body might not be impartial, might be unprofessional, might be biased, might lack knowledge or experience, and have their own agenda and so on—just like many chairmen and chief executive officers who already sit on the committees of the existing league bodies.
Remember too that the SFA until relatively recently had disciplinary committees made up almost exclusively of referees. I don’t think anyone would argue that the widening of the make up of that committee has been a backward step.
However, we already have fan representation at clubs like St Mirren and Motherwell, and of course there has been an established Tartan Army body for some time now. Clubs other than the two mentioned above have mechanisms whereby they communicate and consult with fans, although they stop short of full fan participation– very often for supposedly insurmountable legal reasons.
As often as not, the fans want a say in the running of their club, but also want to be able to make representations to the governing bodies via their club.
So why not include the fans directly in the new set up for governing the league?
Any fan representative could be someone proposed by a properly registered fan body such as through official supporters clubs, or could be seconded by the clubs acting in concert with their supporters clubs.
Perhaps a committee of fan representatives could be created, with such a committee having a representative on the various committees of the new league body.
In this way, there would be a fan who could report back to the fan committee and who could represent the interests of the ordinary fan in the street in any of the committees. Equally such a committee of fans could ensure that any behind the scenes discussions on any issue were properly reported, openly discussed, and made public with no fear of hidden agendas, secret meetings, and secret collusive agreements and so forth.
Is any of that unreasonable? Surely many companies consider the views of their biggest customer? This idea is no different.
Surely such a situation would go some way towards establishing some badly needed trust between the governing bodies and the fans themselves?
If necessary, I would not even object to the fan representatives being excluded from having a right to vote on certain matters—as long as they had a full right of audience and a full right of access to all discussions and relative papers which affect the running of the game.
In this way at least there would be openness and transparency.
In short, it would be a move towards what is quaintly referred to as Democracy.
Perhaps, those who run the game at present should consider the life and times of the late great Alexander Hamilton- one of the founding fathers of the United States of America and who played a significant role in helping write the constitution of that country.
Hamilton was a decent and brilliant man in many ways—but he was dead set against Democracy and the liberation of rights for the masses. In fact, he stated that the best that can be hoped for the mass populace is that they be properly armed with a gun and so able to protect themselves against injustice!
Sadly, Hamilton became embroiled in a bitter dispute with the then Vice President of the nation Aaron Burr in July 1804. Hamilton had used his influence and ensured that Burr lost the election to become Governor of New York and had made some withering attacks on the Vice President’s character.
When he refused to apologise, the Vice President took a whacky notion and challenged him to a duel! Even more whacky is the fact that Hamilton accepted the challenge and so the contest took place at Weehawken New Jersey on the morning of 11th July 1804.
The night before, Hamilton wrote a letter which heavily suggested that he would contrive to miss Burr with his shot, and indeed when the pistols fired Hamilton’s bullet struck a branch immediately above Burr’s head.
However, he did not follow the proper procedure for duelling which required a warning from the duellist that they are going to throw their shot away. Hamilton gave no such indication despite the terms of his letter and despite his shot clearly missing his opponent.
Burr however fired and hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen with the result that the former secretary to the treasury and founding father of the constitution died at 2pm on the twelfth of July.
The incident ruined Burr’s career (whilst duelling was still technically legal in New jersey, it had already been outlawed in various other states).
In any event, in Hamilton’s time full and open democracy in the United States of America would have met with many cries of outrage and bitter opposition. Yet, today, the descendants of slaves and everyone from all social standings, all ethnic minorities and every social background has the constitutional right to vote and seek entry to corridors of power.
In that light, is it really asking too much to allow football fans to have a say and a presence in the running of a game they pay so much to support?
Two examples of the most regressive individuals in Scotland were given prominence on Twitter today. More Please! [and still ain`t forgetting the HMRC pics round robin suggestion!]
Apols BRTH ! – no advance notice of your dissertation – tp
slimshady61 says:
June 12, 2013 at 9:21 pm
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pilgrim1888 says:
June 12, 2013 at 8:49 pm
——————————-
So you believe everything Darryl Rightfoot says? Have you forgotten that before he entered Blazerdom he was the thinking man’s Richard Wilson?
What has this site and RTC before it taught you?
——————-
They have taught me that if you want to discover the truth or the beginnings of a lie then you need a piece of evidence to begin the hunt. Darryl has delivered this with his reply to my question. Now we can all contact our clubs to confirm if this is indeed the case. If not Darryl is going to have some explaining to do.
BRTH
I enjoy your references and analogies to recent and past history in your pieces, I take it it’s a hobby or a qualification not currently used in your profession. You remind me very much of a friend I shared a beer with last night, a retired History teacher and Headie. The man will wax lyrical about all matter historical and his knowledge of popular music in the earlier part of the last century never fails to impress.
As for the constitution of the SFL ! much like mine after a curry and a few pints of Guinness, thin on substance, all over the place, wet and we often have those finger through the paper moments, utter sh+te really 🙂
Nice piece BRTH. You open up a number of avenues of discussion.
If we were starting a new country, like the formative United States, the constitution would be a reasonably blank sheet of paper. However we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch. A footballing governance edifice already exists.
In engineering and construction, it is much easier to erect a new building than refurbish an existing one. If you build afresh you can adopt the latest techniques and use novel materials. Within the confines of your remit you can use your imagination.
When you refurbish you are restricted by the existing structure. You may not be able to execute your wildest dreams because the structure may just not be capable of accommodating them.
In reality, any edifice will undergo a number of refurbishments before it is demolished and replaced. When demolition occurs it is necessary to find accommodation for the current building residents until the new edifice is created. This is not possible with a governing constitution. At least not that I have witnessed.
So we need to work within the confines of the current footballing constitutions and see if we can democratise them piece by piece. This will not bring people out into the streets in the way that a revolution would. Instead it requires a long term plan. To execute a long term plan you need people who are in it for the long term.
The suggestion of drawing on the supporters clubs is the sensible place to start when evolving such a long term plan. These clubs that have been forever tribal need to consider having a forum of some description, like TSFM but more formal. They can then discuss and thrash out their priorities, possibly taking into account wider opinion such as TSFM and elsewhere. Once they had evolved a set of priorities they could then devise ways in which they might be implemented, bit by bit.
The Romans wrote of the Caledonians that they were a warlike nation with tribe set against tribe. However when the dispirit tribes wre faced with a common enemy they were able to unite and stand their ground. The Romans retreated south and built a wall, the remnants of which are still distinct two thousand years later. However this is not a struggle against a visible enemy. It is a battle against our own helplessness. A far more daunting prospect.
BRTH, good entertaining piece, thank you.
From Ballantine’s comments today, I rather got the impression that the SPL has swallowed up the SFL.
In other words, members of the SFL will join the presently constituted SPL which will simply change its name.
That is, all that will happen is that the The SFL will be dissolved. The SPL will be expanded by the admission of the former SFL members, and will merely change its name to the SPFL, and perhaps amend the odd article or two relating to board membership and perhaps office-bearers.
I may, of course, have got it wrong.
pilgrim1888 says:
June 12, 2013 at 9:42 pm
They have taught me that if you want to discover the truth or the beginnings of a lie then you need a piece of evidence to begin the hunt. Darryl has delivered this with his reply to my question. Now we can all contact our clubs to confirm if this is indeed the case. If not Darryl is going to have some explaining to do.
++++++++++++++
Well said, and if Darryl, as official spokesperson for the SFA, is talking nonsense, then someone in the SFA (an organisation headed up by the world’s best football administrator, lest we forget) had better issue a correction pdq.
As regards getting confirmation from your club, a great idea, which I commend to all, but best of luck emailing Celtic. I’ve had no response to my heartfelt request for transparency on this matter, but I think they have written me off as a lost cause (correctly). So someone else may do better.
BRTH,
Again a very relevant and illuminating post. Long after the Rangers scandal has become chip-wrappers the same people who are today tainted by suspicion of corruption will be running the game – and not in the interest of the paying customer.
There will be role for TSFM in any post-SPFA world – if we have the stomach for it.
Castofthousands says:
June 12, 2013 at 9:57 pm
‘..Nice piece BRTH. You open up a number of avenues of discussion….’
———–
And, I might usefully suggest, one of those avenues should take us down the road of asking hard questions of SupportersDirect!
Where is that organisation at a time like this? They must surely have something to say?
“However, the main change that would make a difference to most of the folk involved in the Scottish game – namely the fans— would be to have the new rules incorporate a measure which allowed football fans themselves to be represented on any executive or committee.”
Too right BRTH. Power to the people.
I thought of The Beatles ‘Revolution’ when I read your title, but these lyrics from the lesser-known and rather mysterious, ‘Revolution Nr 9’ are probably more appropriate:
“They may stop the funding
Place your bets
The original
Afraid she’ll die
Great colours for the season”
I obviously lowered the tone judging by the quality or reponses and anaylsis of BRHT’s post 🙂
Democracy, openness and transparency in Scottish Fitba; if only!
You’ll be asking for Fair Play next and for the rules to apply equally to all.
Keep up the good work
“…is it really asking too much to allow football fans to have a say and a presence in the running of a game they pay so much to support?”
=======================================
To state the bleedin’ obvious;
A reasonable person would accept that any business / sport which relied so heavily on the goodwill of its customer base – and especially during a period of reducing disposable incomes – would want to engage with and embrace the fans.
For some reason though, Scottish football, [with a few notable exceptions], wants to keep the fans at arms length.
IMO, the custodians of Scottish football just simply don’t have a Scooby Doo ! 🙄
TSFM says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:04 pm
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BRTH,
Again a very relevant and illuminating post. Long after the Rangers scandal has become chip-wrappers the same people who are today tainted by suspicion of corruption will be running the game – and not in the interest of the paying customer.
There will be role for TSFM in any post-SPFA world – if we have the stomach for it.
=========================================================
I’m sure we’ll have the stomach for it, but the same lack of transparency, arrogance and aloofness will almost certainly intoxicate the SPFL as much as it intoxicated its two predecessors. I really don’t think any group of customers is treated with more contempt by those they pay money to than supporters of Scottish football clubs. On the flip side I don’t think any organisations are mistrusted more by their paying customers than the Scottish Football authorities.
Can there EVER be a resolution that would allow us all to move on with only the good of the game at heart, safe in the knowledge the authorities genuinely exist for the well being of ALL clubs and fans?
If you reflect on how personell have changed or been forced out of office it has (correct me if I’m wrong) been when a chairman of a large club has taken action against what he saw as genuine bias towards his club. Therefore unless chairmen of clubs question or seek change and are supported by SMSM ( that won’t happen) I reckon the incumbents at Hampden are in jobs for life and salaries some only dream of. Who are they answerable to ?
briggsbhoy says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:13 pm
“I obviously lowered the tone judging by the quality or reponses and anaylsis of BRHT’s post 🙂 ”
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A choir is made up of basses, tenors, alto’s and sopranos. The combination of sound provides for the richness of tone.
briggsbhoy says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:13 pm
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I obviously lowered the tone judging by the quality or reponses and anaylsis of BRHT’s post
————
Oh I don’t know, I thought the synchronicity of Guinness and curry summed up the current movements from the bowels of the authorities rather well 😀
I see Charlotte is having trouble with Jack Irvine. He has had one of the earlier documents concerning him removed. It merely draws attention to itself. I’m sure I read a post a week or so back indicating that someone was taking downloads and/or copies so it is of no avail. We will be able to string together the narrative at some point.
I myself have taken copius pencil notes of all her tweets so can provide a record if necessary.
I did try to download her latest. Well you’ve got to move with the times I suppose. The thing asked me to log onto Facebook. As if I would have a Faceache account. I’d rather have a banana stuck up my nostril. I’d imagine you could copy and paste the text to a Word document. The formatting might go awry but that could be easily fixed I’d have thought.
There’s too much hacking goes on in interweb land. You leave the merest trail and some despot will be tracing your activities.
“…legal documentation written up in a hurry or in a rush is seldom perfect and often needs amendment..”.
Sounds as if we’ll be here for some time then.
Btw TSFM. I REALLY dislike the narrow slot allocated for posting comments. It’s VERY restrictive.
Castofthousands says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:34 pm
I have hard copies of all files if required (as I’m sure many others have)
BRTH …. fan representation …. openness and transparancy = good governance …… music to my ears …
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so ….. OT then …
Filling in some blanks from the last audio ….
CW laid his case out that he had received Bad Advice from his legals ….
He also mentioned Saffreys …. and mentioned his surprise that they had’nt had the heat turned on them like everyone else …..
So lets go back to last Oct (2012) following the Daly exposure of the tape recording of the meeting between himself, Grier and D&P (formerly MCR) ….. Whyte was claiming everybody knew … the recording released at the time was a bombshell …. esp for D&P
Grier responded with quite an interesting response ……
“Financial due diligence and other work was provided by Saffery Champness, a firm of chartered accountants who specialise in this area, and our primary role was to provide assistance to Liberty Capital in negotiating a settlement and assignment of the debt due to Lloyds Bank”
So I think that helps glue some of the recent recording together … Saffreys are the ones providing Bad Advice …. etc
Also remember the CW statement and D&P response at the time …..
CW (BBC Interview) ….
“everybody who was involved in the deal team at the time knew about” the Ticketus deal.” ….. “They (Duff and Phelps) knew everything, they attended meetings, they were copied into all the emails, they were there on the day of completion. They knew from the start.”
Paul Clark, ( Duff and Phelps ) responded ….
“The allegations against the administrators, who are officers of the court, are false, malicious and without foundation.
Not so chummy then were they ….. ?
And given that D&P know that he (CW) is fond of taping meetings …… They said some surprising things ……
Re the ,well society director s I’ll be asking them what notice they received of the CO vote I suspect none. I read the agenda of the meeting n never saw this itemise d.
wow ….. now that not posting onto a 5k+ blog …. commenting and posting is sooooo much quicker ……. Take Note TSFM
And Wp login back …. again …. again …. again …. for now !
Can’t post at all!!!!!!!!!!!
How do we influence a governing body that just does not care about fans.
ianagain says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:51 pm
————————————–
i’m using the http://www.sfmonitor.org link ….. moved from the http://www.scottishfootballmonitor.org
………… errrr ….. or was it the other way around ……. ?
Heck, I thought I was on the scottishfootballmonitor link …. emmm …. is there a redirection going on …… wait ………
Bleedin heck ……. yes there is ….. !
At least the WP login is back …. shhhhhh …. don’t tell them ….. maybe they won’t notice !
Ref all allusions to theft of this material by Cf. Today we have screenshot s of Cragies phone with msgs from Traynor.
Plus the fact the Eye published details.
Its Craigie. He owns it.
Was just checking up on Herr Spinmeister, who features quite prominently in CF’s tweets.
He seens to specialize in Spinmeisteraboutery. How do these people sleep at night?
—————
Jack Irvine
Executive Chairman
Jack Irvine founded Media House International in 1991 after a highly successful career in British newspapers.
He trained on regional newspapers in Scotland and England before going on to hold senior editorial and management positions in Mirror Group and News International including that of Editor and CEO.
Irvine has carved out a niche in Crisis Management and in that role deals almost exclusively with Chairmen, Presidents and CEOs both in Europe and the US.
Today Media House has offices in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and New York. Irvine has recently completed three-year stints as a board member of the Scottish North American Business Council and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He was also a member of the Working Party examining public perception of the Scottish Parliament.
Irvine specialises in international litigation and is a founding partner of Tactical Response, a confidential consultancy that advises boards on sensitive matters such as extortion, terrorism, fraud and abduction. They are operational on a global scale.
In the USA, Irvine is a member of The Saint Andrew’s Society of the State of New York and advises The American Scottish Foundation based on Madison Avenue.
http://www.mediahouse.co.uk/jack.htm
I assume that Charlotte has enough information to upset the SFA, but that may also be a bargaining chip for her.
come on Charlotte help Scottish football by revealing what they have been up to !!
Castofthousands says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:25 pm
A choir is made up of basses, tenors, alto’s and sopranos. The combination of sound provides for the richness of tone
++++++
Oddly enough my hobby or passion really after football and the TSFM is singing 4 part male voice harmony, therefore no altos and sopranos in my group 🙂
DP, yes your right there is a lot of wind from Hampden and it’s not sweet smelling.
BTW In the company I was with last night was a mate who was a one point in his career worked in newspapers. When I mentioned if he knew our friend Jack at Media House his words were ” what a bag of monkeys he is, Scotland’s answer to Max Clifford”
Iamacant:
Do you have a full copy of Irvine’s email to Whyte which makes reference to FTP.
I wish to pursue this. But of course, solicitors Levy & McRae have persuaded Scrib’d to take it down.
My email is coloursoutofspace@icloud.com
Troyblain says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:58 pm
How do we influence a governing body that just does not care about fans.
—————————————————————————————————–
Been racking my brains for a few mo’s ……. then it came to me in a flash ……. !
We genertate a proposal …..
Send it to the RIFC board for approval ……
Hey Presto ………. !
Sorry …… just so pished awf ……
maybe i just email this to the SFA ….
TSFM says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:04 pm
‘..There will be role for TSFM in any post-SPFA world – if we have the stomach for it.’
——
Certainly there will be a continuing role for TSFM.
There is absolutely no doubt about that.
I wonder, though, whether that role might be enhanced if TSFM( the blog!) took on real, corporeal existence?
It is perhaps too early to do anything more than think about the desirability/possibility of those who would wish to do so actually
a) abandoning our anonymity
b) setting ourselves up as a physical, corporeal legal entity with a defined aim or aims, governed by a constitution and some rules,and open to all who were happy to sign up to work towards those aims ( and pay any small membership dues!)
No one currently posting, or with a posting history, would need to declare that fact. For example, if a call went out inviting people to join, then I might join, under my real name and address, without being required to tell anyone that I am a wee koala.
There has been a huge raising of awareness across the entire fan spectrum that we have been ill-served both by the SFA, and ,perhaps even more shamefully, by our newspapers and football media generally.
We know that, anonymous as we are, we have had a fairly powerful effect.
I think that as a corporeal entity, with recognised, elected office-bearers, what we might collectively have to say on the administration of our game would be more profound, and would make it very difficult for our Administrators or individual clubs ever to work a flanker on us.
There is so much energy , interest , talent and general honesty on this blog!
John MacLean @JohnMcLean_HS67 5h
THE SPFL! The Scottish Peter Francis Lawwell!
Mission accomplished!
john clarke says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:22 pm
Ooh deep thinking there, heavy stuff. I could never drink in the Crow again if my mug was recognised and God forbid I have to go back to Quin’s 🙂
Paul Brennan 5088 @CQN 3m
@RealPaulMurray @unseenhand1888 Totally misleading. There was not even a vote as there was only one candidate. Check that out with Broadfoot
briggsbhoy says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:10 pm
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… I mentioned if he knew our friend Jack at Media House his words were ” what a bag of monkeys he is, Scotland’s answer to Max Clifford”
————
Haha, a bag of monkeys, great description briggsy, a veritable brammer. Mr Jack is the sort of person who seems to have thrived since the advent of St Tony of the Blairites. These types have me reaching for life’s on-board sick bag.
Anyway, nighty nighty all, too many typos from me at this hour. Europe sleeps.
32. Other than as provided in Article 32.1, at any general meeting a resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided on a show of hands.
32.1 Notwithstanding the terms of Articles 32 and 33 if voting is required at the Annual General Meeting for the election or re-election as the case may be of the Honorary Office-Bearers or Office-Bearers, it shall be by ballot.
33. A declaration by the chairman of the meeting that a resolution has been carried or carried unanimously or by a particular majority or lost or not carried by a particular majority and an entry to that effect in the minute book of the Association shall be conclusive evidence of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded in favour of or against that resolution.
Well Darryl, was there a ballot carried out?
Paul thought as much. Your insurance has been renewed job. A week later you read the mail. Shysters.
briggsbhoy says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:27 pm
‘..Ooh deep thinking there, heavy stuff…’
—–
From other biographical hints that you have dropped, I reckon that when I last had a drink in the Crow and in Quin’s, you might have been about 5 years old!
How are those establishments these days? Yuppified to any great extent?
She’s away again HMRC offer de Boer et
http://www.scribd.com/doc/146504920/Licence-Issues
Small tax case detailMoore Flo Due Boer
On the matter of rewriting the rules and the need to strenghthen and police them an early opportunity to see which way the wind is blowing will be to see if the cut off for the stricter SPL standard ( UEFA FFP) will stay at that level or move down any divisions.
At present all SFL clubs have to comply with the less strict Nation Club licence standard.
It would be a sign football was cleaning up its act if the clubs in the top two tier had to comply to the UEFA standard with maybe a year or two to up their compliance game.
As regards the SFA if I were the leagues I’d look for an alternative organisational culture not to govern thr game as a master but as a servant who did what it said on tin and could demonstrate that it could.
paulsatim says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:30 pm
Paul Brennan 5088 @CQN 3m
@RealPaulMurray @unseenhand1888 Totally misleading. There was not even a vote as there was only one candidate. Check that out with Broadfoot
====================
I did ask that a wee while ago.
Were there any other candidates, and if not was there a vote.
If there is only one candidate for a post it is normally the case that they are simply elected unopposed. Why even have a vote if there is only one candidate.
newtz says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:48 pm
“CW laid his case out that he had received Bad Advice from his legals”.
—————
Is your conclusion that Saffrey Champness could have been the fulcrum in a sting?
=========
Danish Pastry says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:07 pm
“He seems to specialize in Spinmeisteraboutery. How do these people sleep at night?”
————–
Have a squint at his incisors. He sleeps during the day. The natural light would shrivel him up.
=========
briggsbhoy says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:10 pm
“Oddly enough my hobby or passion really after football and the TSFM is singing 4 part male voice harmony…”.
————–
Ah so not only do we have a common affinity for the finer female form but also in vocal gymnastics 😉 .
=========
john clarke says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:22 pm
“There is so much energy , interest , talent and general honesty on this blog!”
————–
Is that because the mask of anonymity allows our speculation to flourish. The problem with being an authority is that you have a reputation to protect. In our current form we are incredible.
BRTH
The emergence of the SPL 2 is a good thing for the game and even more so a pyramid structure which would breath some interest into the semi-professional game. Rules are always tricky however given the behaviour of Rangers the SPL could not afford the army of Philidelphia lawyers to keep that lot in order
A rewrite of the registration rule a must and FFP rules strictly adhered to with quarterly reporting of accounts.
If Rangers go bust again then I suspect there will be a coming together of the clubs and fans whilst Rangers sort themselves out and the SFA are marginalised from the full time game.
Good day for football
john clarke says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:40 pm
Me only 5 when you last drank in the Briggs, that would have been the 60’s then, 🙂 that long eh!
Castofthousands says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:34 pm
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______________________________________
Perplexed…
Interesting that he had ONE of the documents removed…?
Did he try and remove more and striggle/fail?
Or did he just consider the remainder as free advertising?
Or was the takedown instigated by someone else?
Hmmm….
Bawsman
I have that. It is a cracker although it is after the licencing issue has ceased to matter. By 7th December 2011 Rangers were well out of Europe.
What in particular prompted Regan to draft I do not know but it caused consternation at Rangers and even an indication on page 2 that the SFA could be causing problems for themselves if Regan draft was issued. Now why would the media guy think that if licence was properly issued?
I know the wee unpaid tax bill is a hobby horse of mine but it is for a reason. There is something very seriously wrong at the heart of it and if it can be teased out it has the potential to bring down the house of cads.
Thursday’s DR back page. Some guy called Prior, hailed as ready to splash cash with you know who! http://t.co/JppKYxNKn5
Auldheid says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:12 am
Love your Freudian slip there!!
And that was not a typo btw.
Front of DR, re “new saviour”. http://t.co/BZx6ClKxDr
Can’t stop laughing @corsica1968 7m
@stevendoyle75 @CharlotteFakes Keiran Prior; I know him. Nice guy. No idea he’s sevconian. Founded Priory Trust (Brother Walfrid is patron)
This will endear him to the hordes, http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2010/08/05/%e2%80%98religion-and-the-city-go-hand-in-hand%e2%80%99/
Auldheid says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:15 am
I never thought for a second it was.
ianagain says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:48 pm
‘.Small tax case detailMoore Flo Due Boer’
—-
Just about to go to bed when I saw your post, ianagain.
And then, of course, I went to visit Charlotte.(scribd.com/doc/147470165/RFC-Discounted-Option-Scheme-Docs-23-03-11 …)
I give top marks to the HMRC drafter of the letter. I could scarcely have written a better letter myself!
It seems to me that RFC ( the now dead club) were singularly ill-advised to appeal to the FTTT, unless it was a desperate attempt not so much to avoid paying tax, as to avoid criminal prosecution.
HMRC had them bang to rights, without serious question.
Which makes the FTTT decision a patently absurd,feeble and, frankly, amateurish, attempt to save the now dead club, rather than a serious attempt at impartial interpretation and application of the law.
I am prepared to be charitable, and am ready to accept that the majority of that tribunal, having been seen to bat for the team, were secretly glad (in conscience) that Dr Poon put up such a wonderful set of counter-arguments.
Vivat veritas. Vivat iustitia. Vivat integritas.
resin_lab_dogH says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:11 am
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Castofthousands says:
June 12, 2013 at 10:34 pm
——————
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_
1rkpml2http://www.scribd.com/word/removal/147330559
Castofthousands says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:08 am
————————————–
Linking what CW said on latest audio …… and what GW stated (direct quote)
CW (allegedly) suggested that SC where bigger players than had been highlighted in media (all media) ….. an observation
CW probably did not envisage (at the time) that his recordings would become public, and it was what others would be saying that he wanted … as his ….. ‘save my ass’ ….. cut no doubt as required whenever/if ever needed ……
complete whataboutery of course ….
Have I successfully tuped? I think I met Edward Snowden during that log-in process. He says hello and is asking for stunney with the papers.
Remember the formation of the S.D.P.? By 1987 they had joined up with the Liberal Party to become The Alliance. They were still also-rans ( although a godsend for Spitting Image ), so they rebranded again to become the S.D.L.P.
By the 2010 election they were known as the Liberal Party again and holding the balance of power.
That tortured analogy refers to the failed experiment that was the S.P.L., a misguided ideology which has served only to line individual pockets and pander to egos. And now we rebrand again to come full circle.
Auldheid mentioned earlier the thought process of the Mobius strip :
” Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip? To get to the same side “.
Exactly, JC.
The brethren on the FTT know the convenient verdict will be overturned.”We tried but them English B+++++++s were just too strong and didn’t understand, probably because HMRC only employs workers who can sing Paddy McGinty’s Goat”
briggsbhoy says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:10 am
‘..that would have been the 60′s then, 🙂 that long eh!’
——
Well, 1971/72.
And on that occasion I was discussing T S Eliot’s ” Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock” with it’s line ” I grow old, I grow old….”
I was still young enough then for those words not to impinge on me in any meaningful way.
But, byjaysus, they’re true enough now.
I have, quite mysteriously, grown old! But still as tarp as a shark, all my cafulties itnact!
resin_lab_dogH says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:11 am
“Interesting that he had ONE of the documents removed…?”
—————-
This was the original link which is no longer working.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/147330559/Jack-Irvine-Media-House-Advice
Just as well I took detailed notes and a photo of my computer screen. Here is my painstaking reconstruction of the document.
Subject: BBC documentary ————————
From: Jack Irvine
Date: 9 May 2011
To: “Craig Whyte (craigwhyte@merchanthousegroup.com)”
Craig
1.See message below from Ramsay. Let me know how you want to proceed or contact Ramsay directly -ramsay@mediahouse.co.uk
2. I gather you have been meeting the staff today. It might be an idea if Martin Bain or Donald McIntyre put round an email from you to everybody saying the following :-
Xx Hello to all the staff. Hope you’ll get to know all of them before long.
Xx There’s been lots of uncertainty over the last few months but a clearer picture and strategic vision will emerge in the close season
Xx You look forward to working with them all.
Xx Thanks for putting up with all the drama
It’s just basic, good, internal PR but lots of chairman/CEOs tend to forget about it when things are busy. The ship needs steadying.
Yours aye Jack
—–Original Message—–
From: Ramsay Smith
Sent: 09 May 2011
To: Jack Irvine
Subject: BBC documentary
Jack The BBC in Scotland are making a documentary for transmission on May 18 on bombs, bigotry and football off the back of the recent Lennon/UEFA hullabaloo. I met the BBC team this morning and have sorted out the club’s response. The BBC asked if Craig would participate and would we deal with the request. Obviously, my strong advice is no. If however, CW felt he wanted something from him included then I would suggest referring them to his comments in his weekend press conference.
Ramsay
———-
From: Craig Whyte
Date: 10 May 2011 01:27
To: Jack Irvine
Thanks Jack. I also made some brief comments on sectarianism on an interview with Rangers TVtoday so Ramsay could refer them to that also.
Craig
———-
From: Jack Irvine
Date: 10 May 2011
To: Craig Whyte
Were you statesmanlike on Rangers TV re sectarianism or did you go for the FTP line as outlined at our boozy dinner in Mayfair?
Jack
From: ctw@libertycapital.biz [mailto:ctw@libertycapital.biz] On Behalf Of Craig Whyte Sent: 10 May 2011
To: Jack Irvine
Subject: Re: BBC documentary
———-
From: Craig Whyte
Date: 10 May 2011
To: Jack Irvine
Lol!! I thought I’d better behave and be statesmanlike!
———-
From: Jack Irvine
Date: 10 May 2011 03:42
To: Craig Whyte
You’re boring! The Bears will now hate you. Hero to zero to 48 hours.
Delbhoy says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:48 am
‘ I think I met Edward Snowden during that log-in process. He says hello and is asking for stunney with the papers…’
——-
I love it! and where the he.l is said stunney, anyway? Did he tupe over? Don’t think I’ve seen any posts from him on TSFM.
paulsatim says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:29 am
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This will endear him to the hordes, http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2010/08/05/%e2%80%98religion-and-the-city-go-hand-in-hand%e2%80%99/
_______________________________________________
You know what… I hope this is true!
It will take a genius – preferably a wealthy one at that – to sort out the mess at basket case FC. Goldman sachs are hardly shining beacons of virtue, but assuming this guy is no crook himself, this could end up good all ways up.
Corsica 1968 says he’s a decent guy. Herald Article suggests he’s got a brain and a conscience. 2 elements that have been notable by their absence down Edmiston drive these past 2 decades. With Prior running the show, I suspect the most hardened bigots would have to look deep within themselves or else head to the hills – which creates the possibility for lessons to be learned, and a decent club for the decent bears, that builds bridges to emerge, – with maybe a few overdue Damascus moments for the Govan faithful along the way.
And the decent bears will get their Fergus McCann figure to lead them out of the wilderness: Brain. Conscience. Cash. They are past the point where 2 out of 3 is enough, and have been living on- at best 1 out of the 3 – for 2 decades, so have some catching up to do.
It Sounds too good to be true. But if it is ,.. with the usual caveats, I’d really have to welcome it in all seriouslness.
The fact that it is printed in the daily record means story is probably pish. But even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, and if this was served to Jackson’s shower on a plate in a manner which aligned with their agenda, I don’t see them having the instincts to suddenly get journalistic and start asking pertinent questions. So if there is substance to this, it could finally be a genuine welcome development for everyone in Scottish football -except the ‘master race’/bigoted minority of TRFC fans who wouldn’t welcome it , and they can go and do to themsleves what they have conspired to do to everyone around them, frankly!
And onward into the wild speculation.
2+2=5
and…
I remember Corsica (RIP) hinting at bids for RFC(IA) being rejected by D&D on RTC, from people that the bears may not like. Corsica 1968 endoresement of Prior is forcing me to join some dots that may be coincidental…
john clarke says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:01 am
“…asking for stunney with the papers…Did he tupe over?”
————–
Stunney was a male!.
What dastardly spin allowed that injustice to perpetrate?
1. Rule Change 6.8 SFA AGM . If there are members which, at the date of adoption of these Articles, are associate members
2. SFA RULE CHANGE 6.8 SFA AGM such members shall automatically be deemed to have acquired full membership of the Scottish FA
Sevco full members already eh that was quick from the brothers.
thoughts….
A Goldman Sachs alumnus as saviour?
My aching sides!
schottie59 says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:17 am
———————————–
These changes were Proposed …. Passed and SFA Autorisation rubber stamped at the last RIFC board (Blue Room) meeting ….. (allegedly) …… no doubt !
astofthousands says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:57 am
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resin_lab_dogH says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:11 am
“Interesting that he had ONE of the documents removed…?”
_______________________________________
Thanks. I never imagined that Craig and Jack were so interested in and appraised of internet server ‘file transfer protocols’ to an extent that they would discuss such esoteric elements during their leisure time, let alone assume that the Govan masses would share their IT obsessions. I had them down as more ‘spiv; than ‘geek’, but there you go. We live & We learn. (Deadco excepted!)
Cortes says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:31 am
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A Goldman Sachs alumnus as saviour?
My aching sides!
_____________________________
My brain is still nagging at me. Corsica (RIP) of RTC mentioned a manchester connection. Prior is from Salford.
Help me out here guys… ? anyone else remember any of this?
Castofthousands says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:10 am
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john clarke says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:01 am
“…asking for stunney with the papers…Did he tupe over?”
————–
Stunney was a male!.
What dastardly spin allowed that injustice to perpetrate?
___________________
Yes. I feel dirty too!
But Pinsent masons measured the length of the hair and found no absence of penis there.
Upon this basis, the SFA have confidently declared that Stunney is male. Her children are probably distraught.
resin_lab_dogH says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:44 am
————————–
CG said …. I met him once …. in Manchester …. been trying to find the quote ……. no luck yet
also been nagging me for a while !
hottie59 says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:17 am
1. Rule Change 6.8 SFA AGM . If there are members which, at the date of adoption of these Articles, are associate members
2. SFA RULE CHANGE 6.8 SFA AGM such members shall automatically be deemed to have acquired full membership of the Scottish FA
Sevco full members already eh that was quick from the brothers.
thoughts….
+++++++++++++++++++
I think The Rangers already have full membership of the SFA. It is the SFL they have Associate Membership of but with that gone the SPFL might amend its rules to grant them full SPFL membership. Depends on why Associate Memberships were thought necessary and if that still applies.