A Blog for Scottish Football Monitor by Stuart Cosgrove
At the height of summer of discontent I was asked to contribute to a BBC radio show with Jim Traynor and Jim Spence. ‘Armageddon’ had just been pronounced and if the media were to be believed Scotland was about to freeze over in a new ice-age: only a cold darkness lay ahead.
To get the radio-show off to a healthy and pretentious start I began by saying that Scottish football was experiencing an “epistemological break”. It was an in-joke with Jim Spence, who I have known since we were both teenage ‘suedeheads.’ I was a mouthy young St Johnstone fan and Jim was an Arabian sand-dancer. But even in those distant days, we shared a mutual distrust of the ‘old firm’ and in our separate ways wanted a better future for our clubs. We both grew up to become products of the fanzine era, Jim as a writer for Dundee United’s ‘The Final Hurdle’ and me as a staff writer for the NME. Without ever having to say it, we had both engaged in a guerrilla-war against what Aberdeen’s Willie Miller once characterised as “West Coast Bias”.
The term ‘epistemological break’ was shamelessly borrowed from French Marxist philosophy. It means a fundamental change in the way we construct and receive knowledge and although I used it on air as a wind-up to test Spencey’s significantly less-reliable Dundee schooling, deep down I meant it.
Social Media has proved to be one of the greatest disruptions in the history of the football supporter – greater than the brake clubs of the 19th century, the football specials on the 1970s; or the fanzine movement of the post-punk era. The pace of change in the way we send, receive and interrogate information has been so dynamic that it has wrong-footed administrators, asset strippers and sports journalists, alike. No matter who you support we are living through media history.
2012 had just witnessed an unprecedented summer of sport. The Olympics provided a snapshot of how sudden and pervasive the shift to social media has become. Over 40% of UK adults claim to have posted comments on websites, blogs or social networking about the Olympics and in younger age-groups that figure tips conclusively to a majority – 61% of 16-24’s posted Olympic comments. Think about that figure for a moment. Well over half of the young people in the UK are now participants in social media and pass comment on sport. The genie is out of the bottle and it will never be forced back. That is the main reason that Armageddon never happened: we no longer live in an age where the media can guarantee our compliance.
On the first day of the 2012-13-season, Rangers were in the deep throes of administration and facing certain liquidation. With no accounts to meet the criteria for SPL membership, one among a body of rules which the old Rangers had themselves been an architect of, the new Rangers could not be granted entry without a wholesale abandonment of the rules. It was not to be.
St Johnstone launched their new season at Tynecastle so I travelled with misplaced hope. We were soundly beaten 2-0 and both Hearts goals were entirely merited. On the day, I did a quick if unscientific survey of two supporters’ buses – the Barossa Saints Club, a more traditional lads-bus and the ‘208 Ladies’ a predominantly female and family-friendly bus. On both buses, over 75% of fans had mobile phones with 3G internet access and the majority of them posted updates or pictures before, during or after the match. They mostly posted via micro-blogging sites such as Facebook or Twitter, many commenting on the game, their day-out and the surroundings. Most were speaking to friends or rival fans. Some were publishing pictures and updating forums or blogs. And when he second a decisive goal went in some were undoubtedly taking stick from Gort, Webby DFC and DeeForLife, the pseudonyms of prominent Dundee fans, who as the newly promoted ‘Club 12’ were suddenly and very temporarily above St Johnstone in the SPL.
By my rough calculations, well over half the St Johnstone support was web-connected. I have no reason to think the Hearts supporters were any different. This small experiment reflects an unprecedented shift in the balance of communication in Scottish football and in the truest sense it is an ‘epistemological break’ with past forms of spectatorship. Social media has been widely misrepresented by old-style radio ‘phone-ins’ and by journalism’s ancien regime. The presumption is that people who are connected to the web are at home, in dingy rooms where they foam at the mouth frustrated by loneliness and mental illness. The term ‘internet bampots’ (coined by Hugh Keevins) and ‘keyboard warriors’ (Gordon Strachan) speaks to a world that is fearful of the web, irked by alternative opinions, and the threat that the new media poses to the traditional exchange of knowledge.
It further assumes that opinion from social networks is naïve, ill-informed, or unreasonable. Whilst some of this may be true, mostly it is not. No one would dispute that there are small enclaves of truly despicable people using social networks and comment sites, but they are overwhelmingly outnumbered by the multitude of fans who simply want to talk about their team and share their dreams and memories.
Social media is porous. By that I mean it has cracks, lacunae and fissures. This inevitably means that information leaks out. It can be shared, released and in some cases becomes so energetic it becomes a virus. It is no longer possible to ‘keep secrets’, to withhold information and to allow indiscretions to pass unnoticed. Newspapers have been caught in a whirlwind of change where views can be instantly challenged, authority quickly questioned and pronouncements easily disproved. Many papers – almost all in decline – have been forced to close down their comments forums. Undoubtedly some of that is due to breaches of the rules, the cost of moderation, and the rise in awareness of hate crimes. But another significant factor is that ordinary fans were consistently challenging the opinions and ‘facts’ that newspapers published.
Talking down to fans no longer works and we now have evidence – Armageddon did not happen. The beast that was supposed to devour us all was a toothless fantasy. In the more abrasive language of the terraces – Armageddon shat-it and didn’t turn up.
In one respect the myth of Armageddon was an entirely predictable one. Tabloid newspapers make money from scaring people – health scares, prisoners on the run, fear of terrorism, anxiety about young people, and most recently ‘fear’ of Scottish independence is their stock in trade. Almost every major subject is raised as a spectre to be fearful of. Most newspapers were desperate to ‘save Rangers’ since they themselves feared the consequences of losing even more readership. It was easier to argue that a hideous financial catastrophe would befall Scottish football unless Rangers were fast-tracked back into the SPL. Newspapers found common cause with frightened administrators who could not imagine a world without Rangers, either.
So we were invited to endorse one of the greatest circumlocutions of all time – unless you save a club that has crashed leaving millions of pounds of debt, the game is financially doomed. You would struggle to encounter this bizarre logic in any other walk of life. Unless Rick Astley brings out a new album music will die. That is what they once argued and many still do. That is how desperately illogical the leadership in Scottish football had become.
Armageddon was a tissue of inaccuracies from the outset. It tried to script a disaster-movie of chaotic failure and financial disaster and at the very moment when senior administrators should have been fighting for the livelihood of the league, they were briefing against their own business.
Armageddon was a big inarticulate beast but it faced a mightier opponent – facts. One by one the clubs published their annual accounts. Although this was against the backdrop of a double-dip recession and fiercely difficult economic circumstances it was not all doom and gloom. The arrival of Club 12 (Dundee) meant higher crowds and the potential for increased income at Aberdeen, Dundee United and St Johnstone. To this day, this simple fact remains unfathomable to many people in the Glasgow-dominated media. The arrival of Ross County meant an exciting new top-tier local derby for Inverness Caley Thistle and a breath of fresh air for the SPL. St Johnstone insisted on the first ever SPL meeting outside Glasgow to reflect the new northern and eastern geo-politics of the Scottish game.
European football meant new income streams for Motherwell. Of course times were tight, football is never free from the ravages of the economy and some clubs predictably showed trading losses. But the underlying reasons were always idiosyncratic and inconsistent never consistent across the board. Inverness had an unprecedented spate of injuries and over-shot their budgets for healthcare and so published a loss £378,000.
Meanwhile Dundee United published healthy accounts having sold David Goodwillie to Blackburn. Celtic reached the Champion’s League group stages with all the new wealth it will bequeath. St Johnstone – led by the ultra-cautious Brown family – had already cut the cost of their squad, bidding farewell to the most expensive players Francisco Sandaza and Lee Croft. The club also benefited from compensation for their departed manager, Derek McInnes and player-coach, Jody Morris. Paradoxically, Bristol City had proven to be more important to the club’s income than Rangers. Again this was not part of the script and proved unfathomable (or more accurately irrelevant) to most in the Glasgow media.
Hearts failed to pay players on time due to serious restraints on squad costs and internal debt. They were duly punished for their repeated misdemeanours. Motherwell and St Mirren despite the economic challenges were navigating different concepts of fan ownership. By November most clubs – with the exception of Celtic – were showing increased SPL attendance on the previous season. Far from the scorched earth failure that we were told was inevitable what has emerged is a more complex eco-system of financial management, in which local dynamics and a more mature cost-efficient reality was being put in place.
It may well be that Armageddon was the last desperate caricature of a form of media that was already in terminal decline. Flash back to 1967 when Scottish football had a so-called ‘golden age’. There was European success, we tamed England at Wembley and names like Law and Baxter brightened dark nights. Back then access to knowledge was a very narrow funnel. Only a small cadre of privileged journalists had access to the managers and players, and so fans waited dutifully for the Daily Record to arrive at their door to tell them what was happening. That system of ‘elite access to knowledge’ was in its last decadent throes nearly thirty years later, when David Murray would dispense wisdom to his favoured journalists. We now know they drank fine wine and ate succulent lamb in Jersey and the most loyal attended Murray’s 50th birthday party at Gleneagles. One journalist was so proud of his invite he danced round the editorial office mocking those who had not been invited. This was the early height of the Rangers EBT era but it is now clear that difficult questions went unasked by either journalists or by football administrators.
Although it may not suit the narrative of this particular blog my first realisation that David Murray’s empire was living on leveraged debt was from a small cadre of Rangers fans. It was around the early years of the Rangers Supporter’s Trust (RST) and they were determined to shake more democracy from the Ibrox boardroom. Whilst real fans of the club argued from the outside, the press took Murray at his loquacious word. He was in many respects their benefactor, their visionary – their moonbeam.
By the 1990s onwards, football journalism had ritualised and festered around the inner sanctums at Ibrox. This was an era where relevance meant being invited to a ‘presser’ at Murray Park, having Ally’s mobile or playing golf with ‘Juke Box,’ ‘Durranty’ or ‘Smudger’. Many journalists, showing a compliant lack of self-awareness, would use these nicknames as if conveyed closeness, familiarity or friendship. It is desperately sad that careers have been built on such paltry notions of access and such demeaning obsequiousness.
Around this period I had become a freelance radio-presenter and was presenting Off the Ball with my friend Tam Cowan, a Motherwell fan. We both wanted to fashion a show which saw football not trough its familiar narratives, but through the lens of the ‘diddy’ teams, a term so demeaning that we tried to reclaim it. Refusing to peddle the inevitability of ‘old firm’ power we sensed that journalistic compliance at Ibrox was now so ingrained that it was ripe for satirising. This was the main reason that Off the Ball branded itself as ‘petty and ill-informed.’ It was a self-mocking antidote to those journalists that could ‘exclusively reveal’ breaking stories from ‘impeccable sources,’ which usually meant they had heard it on the golf-course, from Walter, a man who needed no surname.
Many fans are astonished when I tell them how the journalism of this era actually functioned. On Champions League nights, journalists from opposing papers gathered together to agree what to write. Circulation was in decline, money was tight, agency copy was on the increase and foreign trips were under-scrutiny. No one dared miss the ‘big story’. So sports journalists who commonly boasted about their toughness and who ‘feared no one’ were often so fearful of returning home having missed an angle, that they agreed by consensus to run with variations of the same story. Celtic fans may wish to recoil at the image – but journalists would go into a ‘huddle’ at the end of a press-conference to agree the favoured line.
So the summer of 2012 witnessed an ‘epistemological break’ in how knowledge and information was exchanged. But let me go further and taunt Jim Spence one more time. It was the summer we also witnessed an ‘amygdala-crisis’ exposing the way the media works in Scotland. Amygdala is the nuclei in the brain that manages our tolerance for risk and is the key that often unlocks creative thinking. Many people in relatively high places in the media – a creative industry – demonstrated that they could not conceive of change, nor could they imagine what football would look like if Rangers were not playing in the SPL. They not only resisted change but lacked the imagination to think beyond it. A common language began to emerge that tried to ward off risk and an almost a childlike fear of the dark. ‘Scottish football needs a strong Rangers,’ ‘But there will no competition’; ‘other clubs will suffer’; ‘Draw a line in the sand’; ‘It was one man – Craig Whyte’, ‘They’ve been punished enough’ and of course, the daddy of them all – ‘Armageddon.’
The biggest single barrier to change was the lingering and outmoded notion that Rangers subsidised Scottish football. As a supporter of a club that had spent seven economically stable years in a league that Rangers have never played in made me deeply suspicious and I was in the words of the we-forums ‘seething’ that St Johnstone were portrayed as somehow ‘dependent’ on a club that was already fatefully insolvent. Because so little is known about the experience of the fans of smaller clubs, they are often misrepresented. For seven years my friends and I, travelled home and away in the First Division, often narrowly missing out on promotion as rival clubs like Gretna, Dundee and Livingston all used money they did not have to ‘buy’ success. It remains an incontrovertible fact that St Johnstone FC has been among the most consistent victims of fiscal misdemeanour in Scottish football. That is the irreducible issue. Several clubs have very real reasons to loathe financial mismanagement, rogue-trading and those that gain unfair advantage on the back of unserviceable debt.
Social media has allowed these smaller incremental versions of history to be told when the established media had no interest in telling them. Blogs can dig deeper than the back pages ever can and fans are now more likely to meet on Facebook than on a supporter’s bus. Many players now bypass the press completely and tweet directly with fans. Rio Ferdinand’s recent attack on racism in English football has been conducted entirely via social media, over the heads of the press. In the Rangers Tax Case context, restricted documents are regularly shared online, where they can be analysed and torn apart. Those with specialist skills such as insolvency, tax expertise or accountancy can lend their skills to a web forum and can therefore dispute official versions of events.
Not all social media is good. Open-access has meant a disproportionate rise in victim culture. The ‘easily-offended’ prowl every corner of the web desperate to find a morsel that will upset them but that is a small price to pay for greater transparency and even the most ardent bore is no excuse for limiting the free exchange of information.
We have witnessed a summer of seismic change. A discredited era that largely relied on ‘elite access to knowledge’ has all but passed away and information, however complex or seemingly unpalatable, can no longer be withheld from fans. The days of being ‘dooped’ are over.
It has been a privilege to participate in the summer of discontent and I yearn for even greater change to come. Bring it on.
Stuart Cosgrove
Stuart Cosgrove is a St Johnstone fan. He was previously Media Editor of the NME and is now Director of Creative Diversity at Channel 4, where he recently managed coverage of the Paralympics, London 2012. At the weekend he presents the BBC Scotland football show ‘Off the Ball’ with Tam Cowan. He writes here in a personal capacity.
Mr McCoist should never even be considered for the role of Scotland coach.
No because he is a poor coach, which he clearly is, because of his disgraceful “name names” rabble rousing. For the contempt with which he treated the rules which his club had agreed too, and for putting people who were implementing those rules at risk.
tomtomaswell says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 15:32
=================================
I agree with that as well.
Refreshingly honest piece by Mr Cosgrove. I enjoyed reading it and agree with many of his comments and opinions. I don’t know how journalists are going to make money in the future but they certainly won’t do it by printing lies and spin.
Regarding top level distribution of EBT’s, what if a third party paid himself………say £6 million, then slipped brown manilas into the lockers of prominent employees……… who have a dignified public persona to protect……….just sayin!
ordinaryfan on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 14:26
I wondered if reference to Mr Smith in the documentary was omitted for good reason, as you suggest to protect another story and that the Souness EBT reference was a warning shot across the bow.
Was there not talk of this when the nature of the nuclear option was beeing mooted?
On the nuclear tweets yesterday I was hoping to see some fall out by now – or is this (for good reason) going to be a slow burner?
Has anyone compiled a List of Chuckies promises to date?
With tickboxes alongside……. 😉
Ok, I’ll get a pen and and a toilet roll
Blethering with a friend at work who is a fan of TRFC. Ally is not his friend and he wants rid. He suggests the the vacant Scotland position would be perfect for Super Ally.
I’m not sure. I think that the soup would do a better job.
I see according to Sky news that Stuart McColl has ruled himself out of consideration for the Scotland job. Who in their right mind had ever included him.
bangordub says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 16:14
Has anyone compiled a List of Chuckies promises to date?
With tickboxes alongside…….
Ok, I’ll get a pen and and a toilet roll
——————————————————————————————————————-
Is that because its a long long list or just that his promises are keech?
Bangordub hope you’ve been to Asda to get a 24 roll family pack YOUR GOING TO NEED IT 😉
Another wee thread on follow follow, from a chap with well over 10,000 posts this time.
This one is entitled
SPL attendances are up says Cosgrove…are they?
======================================
Stuart Cosgrove recently embarked on a three thousand word intemperate rant lauding the state of Scottish football, claiming increased attendances and attacking those in the print media who do not agree with him.
Apart from disseminating unsubstantiated rumour ( other than a credit to Hugh Keevins for coining the term ‘internet bampot’ ) the piece did little other than confirm Stuart’s long held prejudices which he freely acknowledges he shares with another equally prejudiced BBC chap, Jim Spence.
Both take to the airwaves every weekend and with Richard Gordon strain every sinew in an effort to convince their listeners of the buoyant nature of the SPL. Unfortunately for the eczema wracked Stuart, the vertically challenged Jim and would be thespian Richard nasty facts conspire to discredit their ramblings.
Excluding newly promoted teams the average attendance at the SPL for the season to date is down by 2907.
The weekly exhortations by the desperate trio for fans to leave their homes in droves and the sell out Saturday efforts have of course had a marginal impact. Aberdeen have added 1,129 to their average gate ( not bad for the cash rich oil capital of Europe ), Dundee United thanks to a derby have added 1,630 and St. Mirren 90. None of which offsets the collapse at Celtic, Kilmarnock and Hearts.
Add to that the dire nature of the product on offer and the festering sore of a National side soon to be ranked at #70 in the world and the trio’s claims become risible.
It is a tragic affair when ingrained hatred of a rival football team makes BBC employees less credible than the late Iraqi Information Minister Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, aka Chemical Ali.
Reply With Quote
thebasharmilesteg says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 14:32
…how much alienation, gratuitous or otherwise is created by “journalists” themselves. My opinion is as good as Jabba’s isn’t it? Why should I pay him, or anyone else for that matter, to tell me what I should think? If that opinion was based on an intimate knowledge of the subject together with a penetrating forensic analysis I wouldn’t mind so much (see Stuart Cosgrove), but when it’s repetition of a press release dictated to him by someone else…
=========================================================
Well put: and to excite the beancounters here, the above could also be summarised as being that in general, the Scottish MSM sports journalists do not ‘add value’.
[With a few notable exceptions of course.]
In fact, for some customers these same journalists are now unwittingly discouraging football fans from buying their paper – via their poor quality output.
Social media is the gift which has enabled us to clearly assess for ourselves how poor the print media output is – and to surmise that in many cases it is just PR guff, regurgitated without comment.
Their lack of value add is transparent to the internet bampots – and should also be painfully apparent to the management of newspapers who cannot reverse the decline of their circulation.
And the management of these papers must, shirley, be aware that their current stable of churnalists are incapable/unwilling to adapt to new media – and to critical analysis.
And in the future, if/when there are only online newspaper versions, the irony will be that some of these discredited journalists will be frantically trying to attract subscription payments from us internet bampots / clueless keyboard clots / etc… !
Some – like HK, JT & CY – can retire, but others such as the ‘Award Winning KJ’, MG and others will be struggling.
Which would be a shame… 🙂
I just heard Davie Provan on radio earlier pushing for the man with no surname to succeed Harry Potter. What is Davie smoking?
How blong before someone mentions Jimmy of Calderwood? 🙂
m8dreamer says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 13:57
Bit unfair – I think most Hearts fans are only too well aware of the mess they are in but, as the other poster said (whose name I forget – sorry!) Romanov holds all the strings, so there’s nothing they can do about it……. yet. This share issue could be their life line, and the fact that they don’t have the ‘There’s too many people with too much money’ mentality that saw the end of Rangers, they’ll be aware that no-one else is going to save them.
Senior says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 15:01pm
chancer67 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 12:48
Bill McMurdo’s boy has been blogging about info he is sitting on, apparently deadco were not alone in the cheating stakes
___________________________________________
Ah for God’s sake, don’t tell me Newco are at it now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why sit on it?
Or is it that he has discovered Killie had 12 players on the park when they beat Celtic a week last Saturday…
The lads a plum and his faithers a trumpet!
Do you think they ever allow for the fact that their home games, the second largest attended in the SPL, produced not one bean of income for other SPL clubs.
So, say average gate of 45,000, 19 home games, that’s over 8.5m customers need to be taken off any figures.
Bottom line, if average attendances are down by less than about 22,000 per week then as far as income to the SPL (excluding Rangers) is concerned the net figure is actually up.
Does that make sense.
SFL Div 2 clubs have demanded that McCoist stays in his present role for at least another season.
iamacant says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 17:22
========================
The treacherous one with no surname already walked away from his country in the middle of a campaign if memory serves.
angus1983 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 13:27
paulmac2 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 12:45
But seriously Ronnie Irani…ALLY McCOIST for Scotland manager…
——
But seriously … would you put it past them?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With Campbell still there you could be right?
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 17:19
“Excluding newly promoted teams the average attendance at the SPL for the season to date is down by 2907”
*sigh* your man on follow follow doesn’t really do statistics, does he? To (mis)quote Ebbe Skovdahl, statistics are like mini-skirts – they give you good ideas, but they hide the really interesting stuff. Funnily enough, Chico was coming out with similar nonsense a few weeks back (taking a break from the coalface, no doubt), and couldn’t seem to understand that average attendance in the league, and average attendance per team are different things entirely. Mmmm…. I wonder if we’ve found the identity of our mystery Follow Follow poster!
Of course average attendances for the SPL are down – you can’t take 50,000 fans from that every 2nd week and hope for them not to be. In fact, given the size of other SPL stadiums, I’m not even sure it would be possible to make up that difference even if every stadium was sold out!But that’s his mini-skirt (as it were) – the really interesting bit is that average attendances per team are up for the majority, meaning not only are they not suffering for Rangers absence, they are actually making more money than when they were there! And that’s before we get to the savings due to reduced stewarding costs, policing costs, vandalism etc.
And as for him scoffing at the ‘small’ increase – he doesn’t seem to realise that even a 300 to 400 fan rise in the average at most stadiums offsets any loss of Rangers fans.
Not only that, but we’ve got a competitive SPL as well! I mean, I fully expect Celtic to outstrip everyone when they eventually lose the distraction of Europe, but that’s a bit off yet, and a UEFA cup might even see them struggle a little more on the domestic front.
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 17:27
…
Bottom line, if average attendances are down by less than about 22,000 per week then as far as income to the SPL (excluding Rangers) is concerned the net figure is actually up.
Does that make sense
==================
Yes, and for consistency, [including Sevco’s ‘world record’ home attendances], any meaningful analysis on the health of Scottish football in general should start by looking at the total attendance of all League games – from SFL3 up to and including the SPL ?
All very quiet down ibrox way, has something (can’t think what tho) put chuck ‘n’ ally’s gas at a peep? Where is the nuclear thingy?? Tomorrow maybe while attention is on the ‘messi’ lot wish it would hurry up 🙂 I know I know but I’m female I want everything done yesterday 🙂
StevieBC says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 17:41
Excellent point.
When adjusted properly and allowing for who keeps the income from home games, then the SPL income has increased. If you allow for Celtic’s gates being down then that means an even biggerincrease for the other clubs.
Add to that increased home gates for SFL3 clubs, New Rangers entering Ramsden’s cup and giving others a good gate, and entering the other cups earlier giving other clubs a good gate (Forres Mechanics would be well pleased) then the income across the board will be up.
Other than New Rangers of course, but it’s their first season so there is nothing to judge it against.
Think i just fell in love with the iceman brilliant keep it up
Just donated feels really good!
Keep seeking the truth boys and girls.
At this stage attendances are sure to fluctuate. With those running/ruining our game spending the past 18 months trying to convince supporters and Club representatives that the whole off Scottish Football would disintegrate in front of their eyes if Tribute Act FC were not allowed in to one of the top 2 leagues. And with corruption, collusion, cheating and lying saturating our game as well as the fact that for the past decade at least, we have all been investing financially and emotionally into an “appeasement fund” for a single Club, is it any wonder Scottish Football is on it’s ar$e??
I’m surprised so many have stuck with it this long, and once Ogilvie and the 2 Doom Merchants are gone, and those responsible are taken to task, things will improve dramatically.
It was never going to be easy clearing up the mess created by Murray and co. But it is a job the likes of Turnbull Hutton, RTC, Cosgrove, TSFM, Daly, Alex Thompson and many, many others are taking on with vigour. It will take time and there is a long way to go.
But I refuse to let those responsible for the shambles talk to me as if it is something new! As if they have the answers and deserve to be listened to. Our game has been struggling for years, at least now we have a fantastic chance to change that.
Worth a read
@BigStuart1888: The Demise Of Rangers FC: Craig Whyte moves “upstairs” at Ibrox. http://t.co/J5ZmxgbM Please read and RT. Thanks.
nowoldandgrumpy says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:16
Worth a read
@BigStuart1888: The Demise Of Rangers FC: Craig Whyte moves “upstairs” at Ibrox. http://t.co/J5ZmxgbM Please read and RT. Thanks.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Well worth a read. 🙂
Ta.
Agrajag – who is that bold FFer?
I and fellow fans of other teams demand to know…
SSB panel (wishart and walker) the usual wealth of knowledge tonight 🙂 5 way agreement tosh getting thrown in ….does anyone actually know what this agreement was?
Graham spiers good article
“Spiers on Sport: SPL is refreshing, even without Old Firm
Spiers on Sport
Graham Spiers
There were quite a few Jeremiahs doing the rounds when the stricken Rangers were lost to the SPL over the summer – and I was among them.
inShare
The SPL will be greatly diminished, we said. It will severely lose its gloss. Assertions were quickly made about Scottish football’s top flight sliding towards a Norwegian or Irish model – in terms of quality and prestige – without the fallen Ibrox club.
Many doubts were also expressed about the willingness of TV companies to shell out cash on a Scottish game which, rightly or wrongly, was viewed purely in terms of its Old Firm appeal.
Some of these gloomy forecasts had a degree of truth in them. By definition, denuded of the Rangers throngs, the SPL crowds will be down this season (though of course, that might not be the most significant way of calculating club attendances.)
It simply stands to reason that, on a lot of bottom lines, figures will show a decrease due to the pulling power of Rangers.
Well, all of that is for the bean-counters to worry about. Because in lots of other ways, this season’s SPL has been refreshingly different and appealing.
Most significant of all, with almost a third of the season played, Celtic have yet to break free of the pack and establish a tedious one-horse race.
At the moment Neil Lennon’s team are level on points with Hibs – though with a game in hand – with Aberdeen, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and St Johnstone all giving chase.
Few doubt that Celtic will win the 2012-13 title; even fewer probably think it won’t be by a comfortable margin in the end. But that doesn’t take away from the novelty value of this SPL so far.
Ask Scottish football fans what they think – obviously omitting those who attend Ibrox – and many will say they are greatly enjoying the current campaign.
Bizarrely, it seems to be supporters of Rangers and Celtic who are the most touchy on the subject – which will surprise no-one who has always viewed the Old Firm tribes with a jaundiced eye.
Many Rangers fans are loath to admit they are missing the SPL. Some of them are genuinely enjoying the new adventure of the Third Division. Other Rangers fans, as one commentator put it recently, “through gritted teeth are saying ‘no, no, we insist, this is great fun down here…’”
Many Celtic supporters, in truth, can be equally obtuse on the subject. While it stands to reason that they have a greater chance of winning the SPL title – and they might have won it anyway – many fans are still missing their rivalry with Rangers.
To them, the fixture-card at Parkhead is lacking its usual spice. What football fans the world over do not savour their city rivalries? Well, Celtic’s are being denied theirs. The sight of the Old Firm derby four times a season, no matter how often it seemed to come round, would thrill supporters, but it is (temporarily) no more.
It is politically touchy to say it, but many Celtic supporters are missing Rangers.
But the rest? Why, they seem to be enjoying it. Personally, I’ve been to many games this season I would not normally attend – at Easter Road, Rugby Park and McDiarmid Park – and have really enjoyed what I’ve seen.
In fact, this season has slightly reminded me of why I loved football in the first place, before Rangers and Celtic grabbed all my attention.
I am minded that football should be competitive, between two eager teams, where an exciting 90-minute narrative unfolds before your eyes.
The current SPL is not perfect. It may even be financially poorer. But a lot of Scottish football supporters are enjoying what they are witnessing.
Night Terror says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:27
=======================
LOL
Agrajag – hold your LOLs – I do actually want to know who it was.
exiledcelt said
“The infighting between Chris and Dingbat has divided the support and has helped DM and CW do what they do best – and CG will continue while these 2 continue to bicker and doff their caps to Mr Green while fawning over his every promise, whilst promising him their support as long as he sees them right too,…..”
There ability to seek graft is second to none but fits with their overall world view that those in authority are right because they are in charge. These two odious individuals make it more difficult for decent Rangers fans to come to the fore and save their team from the likes of these two.
Vote Time.
Question: Should posters always provide the URL to any article they paste?
YES – Thumbs Up
NO – Thumbs Down
looking at you, scapa…
Regarding Chris Graham – I have had some discussion with him, but his insistence on how I should refer to his club if I wanted my post published eventually deterred me from continuing our debate.
Mr Graham does seem to have a very dismissive approach to information emerging from non-Rangers sources that is critical of Rangers’ owners, while being much more credulous of whoever is in charge of Rangers.
I find it curious that he should generally reject the criticisms of people who have no direct influence over the team he supports while suspending critical analysis of those with the power to directly and seriously harm his team.
I wonder what would justify such a peculiar approach in such difficult times?
scapaflow14 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:40
It is politically touchy to say it, but many Celtic supporters are missing Rangers.
The current SPL is not perfect. It may even be financially poorer.
=================================
Two things Graham
1, I don’t know who you have been talking to but Celtic supporter I know on the whole disagree. Celtic supporters on forums I visit also disagree. The majority are quite happy to see the back of those games, more importantly everything which surrounds them. I include myself in that, particularly after the CIS final of a couple of seasons ago. You must be talking to different one’s to come to the conclusion that many are missing Rangers.
2, The SPL overall may have less income, however as Rangers are no longer in it then the amount available to the other teams is if anything higher. As a chap pointed out earlier using statistics to prove a point is really an old game. The overall income is not the important thing, it’s the amount available to the remaining clubs which matters.
I’m afraid this is really just an example of part of the problem. Still using glib “facts” to make a point. Not as bad as Mr Keevins talking about Barca’s grandiose charitable gesture and comparing it to Celtic’s situation, but still making stuff up as you go along.
wottpi says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 14:37(Edit)
sections of the ground.
Therefore the ones provided to Police and media on the day should be pretty similar.
_______________________________________________________________________
Not in my experience. The media get informed – usually just after half time – either by PA announcement or a scribble on a piece of paper torn off the corner of the Sporting Life and passed along the media benches ( © Killie!).
The figure they get is commensurate with the club PR department’s figure and not the actual figure which the police get from the turnstiles. In the case of the bigger stadia the difference can run into several thousands.
Normally there is no harm in that, but the capacity for money laundering is great. For example a quick query of a database will tell you whether or not a season book (or several thousand) is used regularly. That query will also tell you if the owner is local, or lives overseas.
That information would give some scope for potential abuse.
ordinaryfan says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 14:26
But does Uncle Walter actually need a Court Injunction to have bad publicity ignored by the MSM ?
——
Stewart McKimmie is recommending Waistcoat for the Scotland job in tonight’s Evening Express.
As mentioned above, the idea has been mooted by Davie Provan too.
Strange.
Stewart and Davie – wise up, min.
Night Terror says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:51
Being boring here, but it is kind of considered proper netiquette to do so. It avoids accusations of plagiarism and allows readers to see material in context if they want to. So people can’t lift a sentence or two out of context in order to support a point.
Some sites are very big on it. Particularly in relation to the plagiarism aspect.
It does have it’s drawbacks, which chaps who understand more about how the inerweb and in particularly searching can explain, but overall I consider it to be a good thing. Not saying I always remember to do it like.
Apologies, carry on.
Brenda says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:39
0 0 Rate This
SSB panel (wishart and walker) the usual wealth of knowledge tonight 5 way agreement tosh getting thrown in ….does anyone actually know what this agreement was?
========
Good question, Brenda, we all forget so quickly! Charles Green produced a draft copy of the agreement at one point, but I think I can safely say that the final agreement has never seen the light of day. I assume that the 5 parties to that agreement (Sevco, Oldco,SFA, SFL, SPL) have seen it, since they signed it
I would very much like to know whether the clubs have seen this mysterious document. Maybe some fans could ask their own clubs what they know about it? How about an email blitz on the chairmen of every club in Scotland. And if the clubs haven’t seen it, why haven’t they seen it?
I don’t think we should let this issue be swept under the carpet, which is clearly what the “authorities” want to happen. The 5-way agreement is an important part of the seedy scam which has allowed TRFC into senior football this year. So we need to know the details.
Anyway the details of the agreement will surely be revealed as part of the LNS enquiry into dual contracts- won’t they? Although I’m not counting on it, personally.
nowoldandgrumpy on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:16
6 0 Rate This
Worth a read
@BigStuart1888: The Demise Of Rangers FC: Craig Whyte moves “upstairs” at Ibrox. http://t.co/J5ZmxgbM Please read and RT. Thanks.
=====================================
It says that minty doesn’t own Edminston House so can’t be selling it to CG. Does anyone know who does own it, is it on the land register, why did CG visit minty if it wasn’t about Edminston House, has CG spoken to the real owner.
Does bomber know who owns it.
Oops!!Fraser wishart just alluded to Levein being offered the sevco managers job in a couple of months? 🙂 said he meant another managers job but definitely flustered 😉
Brenda says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 19:32
===============================
Would that be after the share issue when Mr Green can get away with sacking Mr McCoist. Sorry moving him “upstairs”.
@angus1983
Stewart McKimmie is recommending Waistcoat for the Scotland job in tonight’s Evening Express.
As mentioned above, the idea has been mooted by Davie Provan too.
Strange.
Stewart and Davie – wise up, min.
————————————————————————————————————–
McKimmie spouts some shite though to be controversial-absolute clown
Maybe that’s what happening on 31 Dec lol sorry I forgot that’s a secret!!
Night Terror says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:51
NT guilty as charged m’lord
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/opinion/spiers-on-sport-spl-is-refreshing-even-without-old-firm.1352224316
Question. Does the fact that the the RFC tribute team had to play in the first round of the Scottish Cup confirm that the SFA see them as a brand new club?
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 19:00
7 1 Rate This
scapaflow14 says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 18:40
It is politically touchy to say it, but many Celtic supporters are
missing Rangers.
The current SPL is not perfect. It may even be financially poorer.
=================================
Two things Graham
1, I don’t know who you have been talking to but Celtic supporter I know on the whole disagree. Celtic supporters on forums I visit also disagree. The majority are quite happy to see the back of those games, more importantly everything which surrounds them. I include myself in that, particularly after the CIS final of a couple of seasons ago. You must be talking to different one’s to come to the conclusion that many are missing Rangers.
2, The SPL overall may have less income, however as Rangers are no longer in it then the amount available to the other teams is if anything higher. As a chap pointed out earlier using statistics to prove a point is really an old game. The overall income is not the important thing, it’s the amount available to the remaining clubs which matters.
I’m afraid this is really just an example of part of the problem. Still using glib “facts” to make a point. Not as bad as Mr Keevins
talking about Barca’s grandiose charitable gesture and comparing it to Celtic’s situation, but still making stuff up as you go along.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personally, I’d be happy to wait until TRFC eventually earn the right to play in the top division through legitimate effort, both off and on the park. Not a moment sooner nor by any other means.
Carfins Finest. (@edunne58) says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:11
Question. Does the fact that the the RFC tribute team had to play in the first round of the Scottish Cup confirm that the SFA see them as a brand new club?
===================================
The top 16 teams from the previous season enter the competition later. All of the SPL teams plus the top 4 from SFL1.
New Rangers entered earlier, Livingston are included as one of the top 16 from the previous season. They were 5th in SFL1
Ergo New Rangers didn’t play in the SPL last season and so are a different club from the one who did.
According to the SFA like.
Lord Wobbly says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:12
=================================
That can’t happen though. They didn’t get into the SFL on merit, so everything subsequent to that is already tarnished anyway.
Team name is followed by 2011 average attendance, 2012 average attendance so far and the difference. Bear in mind we are only about half way through a full round of team visits this year.
Aberdeen 9297 10426 1129
Airdrie United 833 973 140
Albion Rovers 463 368 -95
Alloa Athletic 672 533 -139
Annan Athletic 473 972 499
Arbroath 803 783 -20
Ayr United 1500 1132 -368
Berwick Rangers 396 1258 862
Brechin City 516 510 -6
Celtic 51398 36279 -15119
Clyde 566 2216 1650
Cowdenbeath 469 1110 641
Dumbarton 631 845 214
Dundee 4224 5429 1205
Dundee United 7064 9112 2048
Dunfermline Athletic 4799 3799 -1000
East Fife 599 565 -34
East Stirlingshire 321 387 66
Elgin City 628 778 150
Falkirk 3188 3500 312
Forfar Athletic 513 524 11
Hamilton Academical 1770 1220 -550
Heart of Midlothian 13311 12090 -1221
Hibernian 9909 10446 537
Inverness C T 4181 4432 251
Kilmarnock 5537 5161 -376
Livingston 1774 1311 -463
Montrose 335 290 -45
Morton 1814 2066 252
Motherwell 5946 5775 -171
Partick Thistle 2345 2818 473
Peterhead 488 1299 811
Queen of the South 1551 1451 -100
Queens Park 519 630 111
Raith Rovers 1933 1701 -232
Rangers 46324 47419 1095
Ross County 2874 4862 1988
St Johnstone 4170 4337 167
St Mirren 4493 4583 90
Stenhousemuir 625 604 -21
Stirling Albion 573 1278 705
Stranraer 354 543 189
Rangers’ average home gate is up c1000 in SFL3 as opposed to the SPL.
Now that is interesting. Particularly given that the number of visiting fans is presumably down a good bit (no disrespect intended).
Good on them if that’s the case.
scottc says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:18
Thanks for the figures. Looks like Celtic are the big losers, but with CL money they won’t struggle this year. Otherwise very healthy figures. Could you get overall averages, and then averages overall excluding Rangers and Celtic?
Agrajag says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:18
1 0 Rate This
Lord Wobbly says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:12
=================================
That can’t happen though. They didn’t get into the SFL on merit, so everything subsequent to that is already tarnished anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I believe I said that 😀
Lord Wobbly says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:30
Sorry, I didn’t pick that up from your post if that’s what you intended.
So basically you want this team thrown out of the league and starting again properly, getting into senior football on merit and having the required accounts etc before being allowed to apply.
Or more likely Ranger ver3 doing that.
Does the five way agreement refer to the parties involved or to the manner in which the fans are being screwed? Hopefully, the plot to reinvent Rangers minus the debt will result in a Strangeways agreement.
Just been reminded by an excellent blog by Phil MacGiollaBhain that of course it’s Happy Birthday today to Celtic F.C. The Grand Old Club is 125 years young. Congratulations to one and all. We all seem to have forgotten about that. Bad enough forgetting your wedding anniversary, but CFC’s 125th?
I just want to share the following statement with my fellow TSFM addicts first.
============================================================
“I want to rule myself out of the running for the vacant Scotland manager job: I just feel it has come perhaps a wee bit too early for me in my finance career.
Even though I know bugger all about football really, I really don’t see that as being an obstacle.
Thank you.”
🙄
====================
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/motherwell-boss-stuart-mccall-joins-1419701
willmacufree says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:40
A chum pointed out to me that, in a staggering coincidence, Rangers are 125 days old.
Spooky or what.
Agrajag @ 20:50
Lol 🙂
http://www.thelawyer.com/rangers-fc-liquidators-to-plough-ahead-with-collyer-bristow-conspiracy-trial/1015384.article
Brenda says: at 18:39
SSB panel (wishart and walker) the usual wealth of knowledge tonight 5 way agreement tosh getting thrown in ….does anyone actually know what this agreement was?
________________________________________
In short Brenda – No we don`t – But here’s a series of intuitive guesses to play with:
The 5 -way agreement is a `secret` – mmmmm – here`s a SKETCH DRAFT skeleton frame to work-on guys
• SFA – They wanted CG to provide the financial wherewithal and planning to grant a licence
• SPL – They wanted to reserve the right to investigate the EBT dual contract registrations
• SFL – They wanted a better commercial TV/ Sponsorship deal
• SKY/Sponsors – wanted the season to start with TRFC to maintain contracts but paying less money
• CG – Wanted everything they `demanded` as a `right`- no questions – WATP in other words
SFA requirements were straight-forward by their rules on Fit and Proper Persons, Financials and guarantees to fulfil fixtures, pay the football debts at home and abroad, and unbelievably for TRFC to `accept` the SFA one-year transfer ban – and the authority of the SFA!
SPL wanted the LN Investigation, and needed this or would be discredited in authority with the SFA and more importantly for their DNA with the UEFA money tree. They also wanted to retain the TV franchise to include TRFC rights to maintain TV contracts or be in breach – but could settle for less.
SFL to be fair wanted a better deal to accept TRFC in Division 3 including better TV and sponsorship revenue and probably settled for something [less via the SPL] but wouldn’t rock the boat.
SKY/Sponsors – wanted to maintain their contract but would hold out for breach if TRFC not involved and if they were still involved – wished to adjust the contract to pay less. Money just money stuff.
CG might well have been looking for a sort of EPL “Parachute” Payment. CG wanted oldco SPL money Uefa Euro Moneys, and didn’t want to pay football debts. This was not in the SFA or SPL remit as the creditors would have some choice words on that as would UEFA. CG wanted a bigger slice of TV money than they deserved as a Div 3 team and couldn’t give two figs what SFL 3 2 1 prior agreements were in place. They weren`t keen on the SFA transfer ban – “punished enough” thing. CG didn’t want the SPL LN Inquiry or any talk on titles. CG could have pressed for league restructuring. CG didn`t want to present all the financial and company requirements primarily as he didn`t have them because if he did the whole matter should have straightforward and no fuss at all if everything properly in place. CG was playing to the WATP audience which a silly strategy at a critical juncture.
But CGs Achilles heel was they needed SFA `membership` to gain a playing license – without which their entire revenue streams would evaporate for 12 months and, with players under contract.
It would seem SKY/Sponsors/SPL/SFL cobbled together a `deal` – clearing the TV stuff
It was then locked horns with SFA and CG. SFA needed the CG financials – but they weren’t there – in the proper order or with sufficient guarantees to be credible to SFA requirements. The SPL/SFA couldn’t hand over creditor’s money – and they were underwhelmed by the Fit and proper on show
CG was caught with a busted flush – the SFA could not grant a membership license till CG caved into a least some SFA requirements. So CG `caved in` to demands the SFA / SPL couldn`t deliver anyway and SFA caved in to proper rules and financial standards requirement – and bumping it through on some specious `conditional` membership that morphed to a license by the time they played Brechin a few hours later – under their powers of `discretion` by the SFA Board. But at improper risks.
It would seem that if TRFC had – not – got the SFA clearance / 5-way agreement in time – they would have folded. The question remains on the “going concern` sale agreement by D+P as was it viable in Licences? It would seem if the above even remotely true there was no “going concern” with CG.
That this was `forced` remains a major concern – It should have been straightforward if everything was in order. It should be subject to legal and technical challenge or new challenges to the agreements which seems the case. But they all wanted a cover-up to avoid egg on faces – hence the secrecy.
First stab at this one guys – HELP!
liveinhop says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:59
============================
Very interesting, I was wondering about that.
I was also working on the basis that one of the reasons Collyer Bristow wanted the administration to continue was to discourage the action, as they had tried to join Mr Grier to it. Meaning that if that happened Duff and Phelps would be less inclined to continue, and effectively act against one of their own.
BDO of course will have no problem with that.
It would be nice if the London lawyers who worked for Craig Whyte and were being sued by the financial people who worked for Craig Whyte were forced to pay money to BDO which could then be paid to the creditors shafted by Craig Whyte.
Let’s face it they were all almost certainly in it together with the escrow accounts, proof of funds, Ticketus funding, emails re quick administration and celebratory dinners.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/400xY/2012/5/17710290.JPG
Grier Withey Whyte if I remember correctly. Financials, Lawyers, Conman.
I too would like, with deep regret, to rule myself out of the running for the job of Scotland manager. I am standing aside in favour of Walter Smith, certainly the greatest manager this planet has ever seen, and holder of many world records. Ask me again (well ok, just ask me) in 10 years or so, and I may then be ready to take on the challenge myself.
But now it’s Walter’s time. All the SFA need to do is create a richly funded EBT scheme, which Walter will then use to lure top players from around the world to Scotland’s cause. So long as Walter can pay more to his players than any other country in the world can afford, then success will follow as night follows day. His track record speaks for itself. Come on SFA, open that biscuit tin, give Walter the cash, and watch the transformation! He’s done it before, he can do it for you!
Twopanda,
Good analysis, except I thought that RFC were also involved, and I don’t remember Sky or sponsors being involved (directly anyway).
If I’m right, I’ d agree with the thoughts on the others, but RFC would agree to …what? I’m sure we questioned this at the time. Some jiggery pokery no doubt. I think CG was acting for both Sevco and RFC at that time although D&P were also involved. Probably something to do with player registrations I suspect.
neepheid says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 21:09
==============================
I think you will find he will take legal advice which will tell him that the course of action you propose is perfectly legal, so long as he does it properly and doesn’t do anything stupid like put any of it on paper. It all needs done on a nod and a wink, with the occasional handshake.
That legal advice will be from a struck off lawyer, working as a pornstar, and in the process of trying to sell the idea to him. Who better to go to for such important advice. So important as to put the entire future of the Country at risk.
I wonder what World Scotland ver2 will get to play in. No that’s stupid, Scotland is too big to fail, World football would collapse without us.
Twopanda,
Good analysis, except I thought that RFC were also involved, and I don’t remember Sky or sponsors being involved (directly anyway).
If I’m right, I’ d agree with the thoughts on the others, but RFC would agree to …what? I’m sure we questioned this at the time. Something dodgy no doubt. I think CG was acting for both Sevco and RFC at that time although D&P were also involved. Probably something to do with player registrations I suspect.
Sorry mate but your figures are Way off the mark 🙁
The Rangers FC Didn’t play in any league last year So can’t be counted 😉
Captain Haddock says: at 21:20
Thx CH – Yep – threw in the TV/ Sponsors as the paymasters in any major decision making thing – money talks etc. True also dual contract registrations irregularity at play in this
Paddy Power upsetting the sevconians!!
http://www.paddypower.com/football/football-specials/manager-specials?ev_oc_grp_ids=713655
Harry Redknapp odds for wihich team he will manage next, see column 3, line 3. LOL
Agrajag says: Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:50
willmacufree says:
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 20:40
A chum pointed out to me that, in a staggering coincidence, Rangers are 125 days old.
Spooky or what.
============
So The Rangers are by far the youngest. They’re doing OK for nippers. I think the Accies are the oldest.
Slightly off topic, but may be of interest . Accountancy as a profession has seriously lost its way
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9659646/Accounting-standards-organisation-in-HMRC-tax-probe.html
Queen’s Park then Killie I think. Accies formed in 1874.
Sevco holding 140 year press conference tommorow
Andrew Dickson@rfc_dickson
Some news, Rangers fans. We’re having a press conference tomorrow to celebrate the club’s 140th anniversary. Unbroken history and all that!