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 Red was cross-examined on Mr Dartmouth’s transfer (2/17/4,9), and the context was put to him
by the counsel as: ‘It’s a compromise agreement in relation to him leaving the club
40 and giving up his rights’. Mr Red was quick to respond by saying: ‘Where is this
compromise agreement?’; ‘I see no compromise agreement’; ‘I see no written
compromise agreement’ (Day 3/64). Mr Red seemed to be asserting his position all
along that no sight of a document meant no inference of its existence could be drawn.
…………………
Hey! There’s no written agreement, it was shredded with the rest!
RTC site now empty of all archive material. No old posts no trace (hardly). Someone somewhere has the dogs out..
There`s always a silver lining
Fewer peopl,e working in the tax office will get threatened on their way into work
mrgreenwhytebrown says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 14:11
0 0 Rate This
RTC site now empty of all archive material. No old posts no trace (hardly). Someone somewhere has the dogs out..
…………………………………………………………………
Then it’s a simple case of getting raising funds and exposing the lot of them, Murray and his cronies would never go for an open court battle because he will be terrified of what might come out.
ordinaryfan on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 14:04
1 0 Rate This
Mr Red was cross-examined …
———-
Is it the common wisdom that Mr Red is related in name to that Andy Warhol painting of the soup tin?
On English’s RTC comments – he’s right that it was an anti-media blog. That was made very clear by RTC, even describing it as the main interest that drove the writing of the blog.
If Mr English felt this part of it became nasty, that may be because it threatened his profession and livelihood. I’m surprised English has made such a strong comment, as he is one of the few to emerge with some credit in his reporting of this. Those Craig Whyte interviews were awesome, for example.
Chris McLaughlin @BBCchrismclaug
Independent hearing into allegations of dual contracts at #Rangers now to start late Jan or early Feb. decision due shortly after #BBCSport
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite
Regarding Tom English’s tweet, I wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror. Does he see an impartial journalist, unafraid to tell the truth even when the results are unpleasant? Or does he see someone with compromised principles, who decided long ago to “let sleeping dogs lie” and ensure a comfortable life? Wilfull blindness, methinks. People are judged on their actions, not their words, Mr. English. We can all see from your published output the decisions you made and the omissions.
Seriously, this guy has never mentioned “Follow, Follow” or “Rangers Media” with their outright sectarianism, threats and sheer levels of spite but has a go at RTC (who has to remain anonymous due to the threats against his/her person when relating the facts to the world) and his blog. Not to mention, STFM, which tells the truths that that Mr. English choose to avoid. An omission by which he will be judged.
Mr Grey was asked of his understanding of the
termination clause PROVISIONS IN THE SIDE-LETTER, whether the £530,000 was ‘directly
dependent upon the amount of salary that was going to be paid in lieu of notice’ (Day
20 8/76.1-3). Mr Grey’s reply was: ‘I think that’s because RANGERS WERE CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGED TO PAY. I don’t know if it was three months or six months SALARY. … I would
need to see the contract’ (Day 8/76.6-8).
…………
Crooks to a man.
Night Terror on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 14:15
1 0 Rate This
On English’s RTC comments – he’s right that it was an anti-media blog. That was made very clear by RTC, even describing it as the main interest that drove the writing of the blog …
———
Yes, Tom English has been one of the better reporters. To be fair to him, taking a single tweet out of a conversation as I did was perhaps not totally clever. Probably best to see it in the context of what he was discussing, and with whom …
Have been reading the decision in more details but still just half way through Dr Poon’s dissenting decision.
I think someone earlier said Dr Poon saw a bird, heard it quack and had called it a duck.
“2. In making my extra Findings-in-Fact and in-Law, I am guided by ‘the ultimate
question’ posed by Ribeiro PJ: ‘whether the relevant statutory provisions, construed
purposively, were intended to apply to the transaction, viewed realistically’, (quoted
in Mawson at [36] from Collector of Stamp Revenue v Arrowtown Assets Ltd [2003]
HKCFA 46 at [35]). To that end, the facts that inform me regarding the realistic
nature of the transaction are more widely characterised than the legal form of the
transaction. Secondly, in following the edicts for any trier of fact laid down in
Heaton v Bell [1970] AC728 at 748B [Lord Morris], ‘The quest must be to find the
realities of the arrangements that were agreed,’ and at 760E [Lord Upjohn], ‘having
ascertained the real nature of the transaction, you cannot … disguise it by using
camouflaged clothing’, I have highlighted areas of conflicting evidence and drawn my
conclusions as to what I regard as the real nature of the transaction.”
That is the way I see it.
Dr Poon seems to very easily show how the EBT payments and contractural payments were interchangable when required. I therefore find it difficult to see how it can be said that the payments into the EBT were not linked directly to the players contract and performance.
Mure and Rae, understandably as is the way with those working in the law, appear to have got bogged down in the technical details of certain laws and precedents but to us laymen they appear to fail to consider wider questions.
For example why no questions or reason given to why, if the club (and now our two learned friends) thought it was it was all above board, EBT’s were only offered to those and such as those. By targetting high cost individuals it was clearly a strategy to avoid tax to secure a better quaility of player.
Surely, if applied across the whole playing staff even more savings and more ambitious signings could have been undertaken given the further savings made on the payroll?
The emphasis here being that those young players coming through the ranks and a few ‘short stay journey men’ ended up having to pay full tax and NI when the millionaires around them got even more from the pot.
Nice to know that the ‘Rangers Tradition’ involves looking after the rich and well to do while the younger laddies they had ‘nurtured’ were left to eat cke.
Night Terror says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 13:47
“@TomEnglishSport: @GrahamSpiers @tagsbo @marc15277 It had Graham, but it became an anti-Rangers, anti-media vehicle and a pretty nasty one at that”
Fair comment if it refers to the below the line comments.
—————————————————————————-
Not fair comment apart possibly the anti-Rangers one and that can be countered by the claim it was “pretty nasty”. The latter is just a downright lie. Very occasionally someone might go over the top a little but it was mainly very self controlled.
Ask English for his comments on typical Rangers Fans forums – and ask him how RTC posts compare with that …I doubt you’ll get a fair and honest answer out of him.
And anti-media – only in being anti the fact that our media are (mostly) corrupt, dishonest and often incompetent. I think it’s OK to be anti-that.
ordinaryfan says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 13:51
HMRC opened enquiry into the use of the MGRT in January 2004. The
progress of the enquiry was protracted and chequered due to KEY DOCUMENTS WERE BEING WITHHELD OR ACTIVELY CONCEALED..
(v) It would appear that the side-letters were actively CONCEALED in the course of
25 HMRC’s investigation because they answered the central question raised by
the enquiry regarding the basis of determining the amounts to be contributed
to the main Trust and the sub-trusts. The side-letters also evidence the
existence of some form of contractual agreement between the employer and
the employees.
30 (vi) Mr Red was an incredible witness. It would appear that he was OBSTRUCTIVE in
his conduct during the HMRC’s enquiry, and OBSCURANTIST in the way he gave
evidence on what could be called a ‘virtual reality’, one that conformed to his
own understanding of how the trust scheme should have functioned to stay
within the bounds of legitimacy as a tax-saving scheme. It would also appear
35 that he tried to influence Mrs Crimson (and possibly Mr Scarlet) in their
giving of evidence
And this is being hailed a victory by Jabba the Slug and the rest of the appeasers??
=========================================================
The board of directors in 2004……
Murray..McClelland..Bain..Greig..Johnson..King..Wilson. Finance Director..Jolliffe.
Now, anybody good at colour coding?.
Somebody once said that a good place to start with any case is, “Look for the mischief”.
There was plenty to find.
I forgot….Manager.. Mcleish.
mrgreenwhytebrown says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 14:11
1 0 Rate This
RTC site now empty of all archive material. No old posts no trace (hardly). Someone somewhere has the dogs out..
========================
Yes, I’ve checked, so there we have it, free speech in Bonnie Scotland in 2012.
On RM and FF, certain peepil can post any racist bile they like, in the most poisonous way, and absolutely nothing is done. And certainly never mentioned by Mr English or those of his ilk. Express any criticism whatsoever of the MSM (are you listening, Mr English?) RFC, TRFCor SDM, in even the most reasoned terms, and you are finished. I’m sure the DR churnalists are today, as we speak, absolutely delighted with this piece of business. Back to the word as usual for them now. Boycott the scum is my simple answer. All of them.
I do cry for you, Scotland, land of my birth and my heart. This just sums it up. Corruption and Confliction at every turn. Don’t mention the judiciary. Don’t criticise the press. Don’t even think about anything, just accept that the establishment will look after everything for you. Back to about 1920, where everyone knew their place and said nothing. Or if you didn’t know your place, a good kicking soon put you right. That is the sort of world these peepil want back.
The dogs are out ok, and they are an especially nasty breed.
We are constantly assured that the law acts without bias and one could not possible question the motives of the those who made this decision. (we are not allowed to anyway)
The problem is that the ordinary Joe looks at this from a common sense prospective and sees very rich people paying very little tax and one section of society always winning. It is impossible to persuade these ordinary Joes that the deck is not stacked. Looking at this decision you can see their point.
TSFM
I have to politely disagree with you on scrutiny of the judiciary.
In the court case which dealt with the sending of parcel bombs to certain individuals, the court first of all had to decide on the ‘viability’ of the devices. That resulted in the court accepting that the perpetrators were avid ‘The A-team’ viewers. The seriousness of the offence was considerably downsized and a paltry sentence was meted out. (I always thought that if you rob a bank using a fake weapon, you get exactly the same sentence that you would have got had the weapon been real. The distress caused to the victims is taken into account – they didn’t know it was a fake.)
In the court case which dealt with an assault on a football manager, the court first of all had to decide whether television footage of the assault was permissable as evidence in court. The court decided it wasn’t and again a paltry sentence was meted out.
Then there was the bizarre decision to allow Rangers to appoint their chosen administrators. Go figure.
We have witnessed delay after delay in the judicial process regarding Rangers(IA) and a ‘you go first’ scenario being played out by the bodies involved.
Conspiracy theorists could be forgiven for crying ‘foul!’ There is a very definite PATTERN emerging, yesterday’s result being the latest in a series of questionable decisions.
Why would anyone now believe that Lord Nimmo-Smith will break that pattern? (Did anyone notice that little gem in the report that Rangers(IA) broke “the spirit of the SPL/SFA rules”???? Another wee downsizing and softening of the actual offences. They BROKE the rules, not the spirit of the rules!)
Some would argue that at least two of those parcel bombs would seem to have had their desired effect. Or is there some other reason that a series of incredulous decisions have been arrived at?
The judiciary needs to be scrutinized.
So am i right in saying Rangers excuse for duel contracts not lodged with SFA will change from “it was in the accounts” to it was a loan.
“@TomEnglishSport: @GrahamSpiers @tagsbo @marc15277 It had Graham, but it became an anti-Rangers, anti-media vehicle and a pretty nasty one at that”
Tom, Tom, Tom, you don’t get it do you.
RTC then and this site now is very pro-media.
It is just the dross that we currently are subjected to that we dislike.
Even intelligent writers such as yourself and Spiers have avoided asking the difficult questions. Fair play to you calliing out Charles Green on Sunday but how long did it take for you to get to that point? Would you have ever got to that point if it wasn’t for site like this one and it’s contributors pointing out all the guff coming from Ibrox, looking at all the connections between the parties involved, trying to actually understand, make sense of and pick holes in a whole range of matters including company business, tax issues, insolvency, floatations, footballing rules etc etc
As you will have seen the other day it is not just issues at Ibrox that comsumes us, the recent league reconstruction proposals were given a fair bashing too.
While there can be a few nutters, the majority of posters to this site and RTC previously are well informed, articulate and intelligent. We will not be spoken down to and are more than capable of holding our own against the more high brow journo’s like yourself or Spiers.
If people on here ever bothered to get on SSB or Your Call it would be a 1st round kncok out in the style of a young Mike Tyson at the height of his powers.
Far too much sports journalism is just repeating the cack sent out in press releases from the powers that be. It is an easy life for some and we just expect a bit more.
Thanks for listening.
wottpi says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 15:04
While there can be a few nutters, the majority of posters to this site and RTC previously are well informed, articulate and intelligent. We will not be spoken down to and are more than capable of holding our own against the more high brow journo’s like yourself or Spiers.
……………………………………………………………………………………
I’m not a nutter : I’m a bampot.
As quoted in the Herald today,
“The source added that there was a feeling among those at Murray International Holdings, including Sir David, that the lengthy legal battle could have been avoided if HMRC had been willing to settle earlier, when the company offered a compromise agreement of £10.5m.
He said: “Two years ago, almost to the week, Mike McGill – who is, and continues to be, the group finance director for Murray International Holdings – met in London the permanent secretary for tax at HMRC and at that time sought to reach an out-of-court settlement.”
————————————————————————————————-
This looks like a fairly straightforward admission from within MIH that tax and/or NIC was due in relation to some of those who were paid using the EBT scheme. If that group included players, the logical conclusion is that that these payments did now need to be declared to the SFA and SPL. Why didn’t the group finance director ensure that Rangers FC notified the football authorities of this in November 2010?
paulmc
http://www.scotzine.com/2012/11/the-legal-view-rangers-tax-case/
You can take a site down.That wont stop the vast majority of scottish fans thanking RTC for the tireless work work he/she has done in the last year and abit.
Thanks again RTC .
Will we now see a blanket of law suits (ala Lord Mcalpine) nope thought not.
Will the pack of useless Media Hacks now turn and blame the Fans again. Probably, no change there then.
http://wingsland.podgamer.com/big-tax-case-verdict-the-reality/
mrgreenwhytebrown says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 14:11
RTC site now empty of all archive material. No old posts no trace (hardly). Someone somewhere has the dogs out..
——————————————————————————————————————-
Will RTD publish his/her book? I hope so then maybe the MSM will see what a bunch of lazy PR media led dumbasses they are. You don’t get the truth from Media House, just PR bullshit
I think I may have found the identity of RTC. 🙂
After reading Dr Heidi Poon’s judgement, it’s reads as if it had been written by RTC himself (or herself) as all the arguments used on the RTC blog and more have been alluded to by Dr Poon.
============================
For anyone interested in identifying those involved, the following information is provided in the judgement on the witnesses.
Mr Red – senior member of the group’s tax function and ex inspector of taxes
Mr Yellow – a member of the seniormanagement team of Murray International Holdings
Mr Turquoise – a tax partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers
Mr Green – a senior member of the management team of the Premier Property Group
Mr Violet – A former Rangers Manager (manager at the time of the Famagusta matches)
Mr Grey – solicitor and agent of Mr Violet
Mr Black – his role within the Group is in providing strategic guidance to the individual companies, a group director had been involved in “signing and selling” 350-400 players in 20 years of involvement at Rangers, also owns a villa in France (sub-trust 1)
Mrs Crimson – a director of Trident trustees
Mr Silver – a Spanish football agent who acted for several Rangers players
Mr Gold – former Rangers player, now assistant coach for a national age-group football team, only person not to take out a loan
Mr Purple – a Rangers player and client of Mr Grey, now works in the media, £500k payment into trust at his transfer to another club (sub trust 13) joined Rangers in 1999 left in 2003
Mr Blue – a senior member of the Group’s management team, currently a senior member of the management team of Premier Hytemp
Mr Indigo – a board member of Rangers since 2000, initially non-exec (Subtrust 46)
Mr Magenta – worked in football administration at Rangers, started negotiating player contracts in 2004
Mr Scarlet – a senior official at Rangers
RTC even, where’s the edit button? 🙂
May have already been posted on here. I’m amazed at the spin on this! Well I suppose I’m not! 🙁
Para: 148:
In the course of their enquiry there had been concealment from HMRC of many relevant documents. In footballer employment files volunteered to HMRC sideletters
had been removed apparently. However, in files seized unexpectedly from the
Club side-letters were present. No records had been produced in relation to the
approval of executives’ bonuses. This was highly relevant, Mr Thomson stressed,
particularly as the onus of proof lay on the taxpayers. Mr Red and Rangers had not
been forthcoming in providing all relevant documentation, he suggested.
Mind the shreddit bill? ;
So lets get this straight, am I right in saying RFC accepted responsibility for Tax on over THIRTY of the EBT’s before the Tribunal even set to work? Therefore admitting liability and acknowledging beforehand that they had attempted to evade Tax in over 30 cases and therefore didn’t contest these particular cases?
And on top of that they were found GUILTY of Tax Evasion in around 6 of the cases did contest?
And they were slaughtered throughout the finding for being obstructive, withholding information, and concealing information?
And this is being portrayed at a witch hunt, despite the guilt and acceptance of further guilt by those involved beforehand!?
Only in Scotland.
easyJambo says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 15:50
Any details on the players 95 or 6 I think) who had guaranteed bonuses payed through the trusts.
SPL enquiry certainly has something to start on:
That seems pretty straightforward – Rangers admit that 5 players got contractual payments via an undeclared method.
Tom English?
Well a couple of articles seems to have disappeared from his Journalisted website.
David Murray will be a hard act for new man to follow, says Walter Smith
Scotland on Sunday, Sun 8 May 2011
More about this article
David Murray set to sell his Rangers shares for only £1 to help seal Craig Whyte deal
The Scotsman, Fri 6 May 2011
More about this article
All you get is the 🙁 Sorry page. Looks like people are taking care of what they say.
I’m RTC 🙂
mrgreenwhytebrown says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 14:11
RTC site now empty of all archive material. No old posts no trace (hardly). Someone somewhere has the dogs out..
===============
Yes, mrgreenwhytebrown – it seems to be a rather depressing indication of what is to come, IMO;
– the MSM will be unbearable in their support of TRFC.
– I have no expectation that anything will happen re: EBT investigation and titles.
– TRFC / Murray has to shut down/intimidate any dissenting voices online to wriggle out of the
investigation though.
– it’s also in the interest of the MSM to discredit online bloggers now with increased venom – to
justify their own existence – and to cover up their own woeful performance in the last couple of
years.
– and any HMRC appeal will be too late: TRFC wil be parachuted into the top tier.
Hope I am wrong. 🙁
=======================================================================
Thanks RTC & TSFM : for me it’s been both fun, interesting and informative on a virtual daily basis over the last 16 months.
We know the result must have been disappointing for you too – but a lot of positives have come out of the blogs.
You have radically improved awareness of MSM bias/misinformation and showed that fans can utilise the internet to influence proposed decisions in Scottish football – as shown during the summer.
Chapeaux to you all ! 🙂
M8Dreamer
While yesterday’s verdict in the FTT case against Rangers Football Club was inconclusive, there are certain issues that should never be forgotten.
1. The FTT result has absolutely nothing to do with Sevco/Rangers Tribute Act.
2. Any statements made by Chuckie with regards to the FTT result are completely irrelevant
3. Rangers Football Club were responsible for the largest fraud and corruption scandal in
Scotland which has resulted in £61 million being due to creditors excluding any HMRC costs
4. The MSM Media within Scotland with a few notable exceptions were completely complicit
in covering up the fraud and corruption carried out by Rangers Football Club
5. The SFA/SPL are also completely complicit in ignoring the fraud and corruption carried out by
Rangers Football Club
6. The success of the “Internet Bampots” in exposing the extent of the fraud and corruption
carried out by Rangers Football Club/MSM Media/SFA/SPL must be continued to ensure
that all guilty parties are dealt with appropriately and Scottish Football is allowed to prosper
in the future
rtc site now directs to sporting life as if rtc never even existed 🙁 iam demoralised and deflated, just look at the papers today the baw is burst and it’s unlikely truth or justice will come about any time soon. The pro rangers forces will be totally emboldened and seek to reassert themselves in every way imagineable. I fear we may have to retreat to our own clubs and try to persuade them to oppose the ruinous forces, ultimately the only weapon we have is our choice to spend money on scottish football or not. A bit gutted tbh.
Tom English: Journalisted, all articles
http://journalisted.com/tom-english?allarticles=yes
“Mr Red in his evidence acknowledged the practice of appearance money being paid
by the trust mechanism, particularly in the latter part of the period (Day 1/60.15).”
I’m struggling with the concept of paying “appearance money” to a player and the purpose not being for playing football. Image of a player off the pitch, mincing up an doon, smoothing back his hair.
On the thirty cases where Rangers(IL) admitted tax liability.Did they have to pay it or not because of the appeal and if not how much did they owe . they tried to settle for 10m and got turned down.So is it conceivable that it is more than this and that would be plus interest.
Will this amount be published as the real reason for the demise of a club unfit for purpose.
Here you go Mr English answer on the back of a fag packet please.
I
Still trying to get my head round this.
Is this right:
Liability admitted in over 30 cases plus found to be liable in six or so.That’s circa 40 EBTsLots of tax due there methinks.(Fag Packets out.50% of EBTs=£12m tax plus interest/penalties)
WTC £4m or so
Cws unpaid PAYE/NIC/VAT at least £16m.
Therefore tax owed could still be in the region of £40m+.
Also RFC admitted that side letters were contractual but were not lodged with SPL/SFA.
The dual contracts case,now due for late January,early february should now find RFC bang to rights and TRFC are liable for any sanctions imposed.these could and should be severe.11years of cheating should normally mean suspension/expulsion,so TRFC are not out of the woods by a long shot.
£40m(possibly)due in tax from oldco and its employees and newco facing severe sanctions from the SPL and almost certainly UEFA/FIFA.
Looks like a win to me!
redetin says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 16:25
0 0 Rate This
Tom English: Journalisted, all articles
http://journalisted.com/tom-english?allarticles=yes
===================
A lot of “redaction” going on here. Well spotted, redetin, Our fearless press running scared? Surely not!
Charlie Brown says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 16:23
“just look at the papers”
_____________________________
My advice is don’t look at the papers. Not sure who is reading that guff these days. Leveson, the demise of NOTW, illegal payments to authorities, perjury charges against journos, falling circulation on virtually all titles, the desparation of journalists is now evidenced by their dislike for bloggers.
Ignore the journalists, they no longer even attempt to be objective investigators, they ate the lamb.
Can Someone ask Mr Doncaster if these thirty tax liable cases are the ones they are looking at ,as these are the ones that have the Side Letters still stapled to the contracts received from HMRC following their lightning raid. Before Edward Scissor Hands got handed the rest.
Agrajag says: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 16:00
easyJambo says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 15:50
Any details on the players 95 or 6 I think) who had guaranteed bonuses payed through the trusts.
=================================
Sub-trust 95 was unused according to Dr Poon’s judgement. Sub-trust 96 was allocated to Mr Warwick. There is no detail as to Mr Warwick or his arrangements other than to note that there was a termination agreement in his contract that was structured to include Trust payments.
The detailed argument for both the majority and minority dissenting decisions of the FTT are absolutely fascinating in terms of what they disagree on and what they agree on and why.
The detailed evidence set out in the dissenting decision is fascinating as it shows the inner mindset and the workings of those at Rangers PLC.
One or two come out well— others certainly don’t.
The legal position that is left behind may well be very uncomfortable for the Directors going forward.
Will Lord NS have access to the documents that were used at the FTT? Anyone know?
Can you believe Alistair Johnston .
“In the report yesterday, there were references to one or two instances where, indeed, the principle of dual contracts might have been applied and might indeed have existed.
“But it was very minor and related, as I understand it, to bonus payments or whatever.
“The SPL can can conduct an investigation and, if their investigation is consistent with the option of the tax tribunal, there could technically be a breach of their rules and regulations based on their interpretation”
Look Mr Doncaster an Admission.Guilty I tell you..Can you please define “Technically” in your “Interpretation” of course..
Charlie Brown says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 16:23
2 2 Rate This
rtc site now directs to sporting life as if rtc never even existed iam demoralised and deflated, just look at the papers today the baw is burst and it’s unlikely truth or justice will come about any time soon. The pro rangers forces will be totally emboldened and seek to reassert themselves in every way imagineable. I fear we may have to retreat to our own clubs and try to persuade them to oppose the ruinous forces, ultimately the only weapon we have is our choice to spend money on scottish football or not. A bit gutted tbh.
======
Cheer up, Charlie. So long as TSFM remains open, we still have a voice. And if TSFM is closed for legal reasons, I’ll open a blog myself, and SDM can sue me til the cows come home, if his lawyers can find me, because a) quite frankly, I don’t give a damn and b) I’ll enjoy my day in court if I ever get there.
Alistair Johnson’s has just been on radio pressurising for the dual contacts SPL procedure to be stopped because the liquidated team were only a wee bit bad.
I laughed out loud.
I wonder what Spartans would think about that having been thrown out of a competition with the statute book 3-0 result for having the second page of Keith McLeod’s contract unsigned.
Or how about the Annan Youth team more recently for something equally culpable like a player who was too old or whatever other heinous crime it was.
Hold the faith guys.
We’re in the midst of a co-ordinated media bullshit storm. Jack has had weeks to prepare it but it will run out of steam if we keep the honest analysis of the facts.
Keep the real issues in the public domain and discuss the real issues not what they feed us.
That is what they cannot handle.
Honest dispassionate analysis.
All we’ve ever wanted is the rules to be followed in football.
And in life.
This is a setback on a long journey, nothing more.
So, as we stand, RFC went tonto owing the honest taxpayers of this country, and a large number of other creditors, a huge sum of money which we’ll never see again. As of yesterday, the precise sum involved was reduced. Their malfeasance in the matter of their sporting obligations was simultaneously laid bare. This is presented in today’s Sun and DR (the two which I’ve seen), as some sort of triumph. A triumph?
finloch says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 17:19
That is what they cannot handle.
Honest dispassionate analysis.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Well spoken Finloch!
You sound like you know where we’re going and how to get there.
New RTC blog
http://rangerstaxcase.wordpress.com/
The tax case result released yesterday afternoon was obviously a surprise. After reading the findings, it is still difficult to understand how two of the three judges arrived at such a decision. The third dissenting judge’s opinion was clearly more in line with expectations. However, in the First Tier Tribunal it is a case of majority rule.
If an appeal is launched, it will take several more months before we get the next level of decision. Appeals are not automatically granted, but in this case- with a dissenting judge and where a dispute over legal interpretation exists already- it seems certain. At the Upper Tribunal, new evidence is not introduced and the case is not re-argued. The judges at the Upper Tribunal will hear legal arguments over whether the First Tier Tribunal judges made an error in interpreting the law and will rule accordingly.
This blog brought light to a matter of public interest. This blog has been accurate on all of the major points of the case except the one that matters most to date- the FTT outcome.
We thank everyone who has participated. Hopefully, we will see the result reversed on appeal.
Hello all
I’ve read the document from top to toe and I have to confess as not remembering reference to acceptance of guilt, or any indication on the number of trusts that Rangers have put their hands up to owing tax on. Did I miss that detail?
It would be nice to believe that at least a significant portion of the tax liabilty is admitted, but false positives can be very damaging if we all jump on the bandwagon.
I would appeciate some solid facts if they are available. It seem to be chinese whispers at the moment.
BTW RTC, should anyone be so foolish as to bring proceedings against your good self, then you get yourself on here mate and whatever you need you just ask. We owe you mega big time.
So, you need support? We are the supporters!
Best wishes
manandboy
Count me in on that score too ,it would be worth every penny
manandboy says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 17:47
Perhaps its time that Rhebel Rhebel produed “we are all RTC” t-shirts!
For us Aberdeen fans – if you could consider a nice shade of red?
Long Time Lurker says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 17:54
Perhaps its time that Rhebel Rhebel produed “we are all RTC” t-shirts!
_________________________________________________________________________________
Love it LTL – mines an XL!
Ps How’s about a t-shirt designed with a compilation of all the club shirts – in alphabetical order of course!
Let the MSM shout their guff from the rooftops all they like ,IMO the whole thing smells like the fat farm laundry room after the Dominos delivery guy took a wrong turn through the grounds
manandboy says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 17:47
13 1 Rate This
BTW RTC, should anyone be so foolish as to bring proceedings against your good self, then you get yourself on here mate and whatever you need you just ask. We owe you mega big time.
So, you need support? We are the supporters!
========================================
Well said manandboy! Huge thanks and respect to RTC!
when will the SPL be investigating the the so called WTC that seems to have been ignored even though ragers included it in the CW deal .
Over 200 games involving 2 players over four years.
Just wondering like
Absolute disgrace that Traynor was allowed to spout utter nonsense and mis-truths and not questioned by Kenny McIntyre on anything he said on Radio Scotland there.
Sheer propoganda from our nationally funded broadcaster and shameful.
It is a shame there is not more humility on this forum rather than pitching lots of conspiracy theories. A lot of damage has been done to Scottish Football because of this rush to judgement – lots of income which could have improved youth development etc. lost because of hot-headed opinion from “Tax Experts With Typewriters”.
Innocent until proven guilty is there for a reason and sadly was ignored by too many on this matter.
This blog, far from sounding like a forum to improve Scottish Football governance for the better, sounds more and more like “mob rule” and I think it would be a better step to shut it down like the original RTC blog.
Wow just wow…as RTC stated many months ago the verdict may not find against rangers (now liquidated) in every instance….my own view they have been found guilty of evading TAX…albeit not in the majority of cases but in a significant number to confirm it was a standard business mechanism in all cases. The fact that on those cases where it found in favour of rangers because there was no supportive evidence to prove otherwise is quite frankly bizarre when you consider the number they have been guilty on.
redetin says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 11:34
jockybhoy says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 11:12
I feel no shame, quite the reverse I think we on this site and on others should be applauded – we have explored minutiae that others ignored…
___________________________________________________
The details of Dr Poon’s statement make very interesting reading regarding the people and the way they conducted business, not the least because many of them were professionally qualified.
========================================================================
Ah…the professionals…say no more…!
Alastair Johnston & Jim Traynor cheerleading tonight on Sportsound. Leading questions to Johnston from a very disappointing McIntyre. Johnston states there were white, dark and grey areas in the decision. McIntyre does not address this. Does not ask the obvious questions. Instead, ‘Do you believe there has been a witch-hunt against Rangers?’, he asks. Good grief, journalists? Traynor ashamed, so he says, unfortunately for most of the wrong reasons.
And to think this is the media dear old Tom English believes we should have respect for?
RangersTaxCase – Just read your post from today; no doubt there is much more to come; looking forward to further forensic analysis by your good self. Keep on blogging ! (I’m keeping my name going; this ain’t done yet :-)).
And, as manandboy stated, if you need support, there tons of it on here I’m sure.
Mr Gold, too slow to activate his trust or the only person in this affair with morals & ethics ?
thebasharmilesteg says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 12:51
Clear evidence of payments in contravention of football authorities’ rules and intent to coenceal them, even from their own auditors.
Evidence of undeclared bonuses made to players immediately a specific European match.
And you call this a victory? Sounds like the kind of victory Adolf was enjoying in May 1945.
==========================================================================
thebasharmilesteg….I agree with your points and sentiments, but on a factual basis, these “payments” (sic) were not hidden from the auditors, Grant Thornton, but disclosed in the accounts, albeit virtually buried in the “Notes to the Accounts”, where even we beancounters cannot always be bothered looking!
ddmc999 says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 19:26
Mr Gold, too slow to activate his trust or the only person in this affair with morals & ethics —————————————————————————————————————————–
Where were his morals and ethics when it looks like he didn’t contact the SFA/SPL/SFL about what was going on?
I believe there is something called Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) available to those who take out loans with certain football clubs.
Can anyone please help me out and explain just how this Protection system works.
If anyone needs a bit of cheering up get over to SkySports 2 and check out Michael Owen’s moustache. It’s a brammer!
🙂
Long Time Lurker says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 17:54
For us Aberdeen fans – if you could consider a nice shade of red?
How about this one!
http://i50.tinypic.com/2z7jr49.jpg
Danish Pastry says:
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 19:35
If anyone needs a bit of cheering up get over to SkySports 2 and check out Michael Owen’s moustache. It’s a brammer!
======================================================================
DP…saw it the other night…a real “brammer”…!
PS thank you for the “Parliamo Glasgow”…copyright Stanley Baxter…!
Back on these loans – need experts to say what`s what; – But I believe all the EBT stuff goes back to `88 – I think – a Financial Bill passed by thatcher’s tories – that not content with reducing rich tax generally – sought new complicated ways for the rich to legally avoid even more tax. It should have all been repealed after 96 – but wasn`t. Anyway, these EBT `loans` were never designed to be repaid – that was the whole point. There`s been amendments to the financial bills since `88 to cut down on abuse – but the core principals are still there.This is something of a test case – so as very gently indicated in the tribunal – some of the `loans` not properly administered – need to be repaid from individuals estates – so this could be new territory. If there`s a trust fund that held the money – and made the loans – but was never designed to have loans returned – and say the loan is repaid – presumably this money goes back to the trust fund and stays there for ever? – Well no – not likely – somebodies going to claim the millions. Question is who? Two accountant types on the telly saying the EBTers don`t have to pay these loans back – sidestepping the obvious that the tribunal has ruled an indeterminate number have to eventually – on top of paying the tax/ nic for those EBTers whose operation of the funds was judged improper. Someone tell me this is nonsense.
I must admit, I’m not very legally minded, so I’ve struggled with following the verdict, but can someone confirm something for me….
Is it the case that out of the 95 or so EBTs that were thought to be in existence, Rangers didn’t contest the assessment on 30+ (I think), and were found to have been liable for another 5?
Is it the case that the ones where they were found for, were the ones where there was no side letter?