It is standard refrain from some of the mainstream media that bloggers are not subject to the laws of defamation.
Therefore digital guerrillas such as your humble correspondent have a freedom that the responsible chaps at the sports desks do not enjoy.
Dear reader, this is simply untrue.
Moreover, I have always known that this.
I noted that this week former RIFC director Mr Sandy Easdale protected his good name in the courts.
Regular readers may recall that legal representatives of the same gentlemen contacted me in February 2014.
My polite response can be read here, and the circumstances around the correspondence can be read here.
The same day that the eminent Professor Watson wrote to me on behalf of the Easdale Brothers the Holding Company Vehicle issues this statement.
Here is the full text:
THE Club has received many calls in recent days from fans, shareholders and other interested parties with regard to the contents of an Irish-based internet blog which has published numerous allegations about the business affairs of Rangers Football Club.
The Club wishes to make clear that these allegations are totally inaccurate and that the Chief Executive and Board of Directors are fully focussed on the restructuring and rebuilding of Rangers Football Club as previously announced.
The Club has decided to make this statement as unchallenged, ill-informed and inaccurate comments are damaging to the reputation of Rangers Football Club.
Graham Wallace
Chief Executive Officer
Three weeks after this statement and the email, the Holding Company Vehicle had to borrow money from Laxey Partners and, wait for it, the Easdale brothers!
Their generosity to Sevco proved that my reporting had been entirely accurate.
Dear reader, the work that you read here, free of charge, is the product of lengthy hours of investigative work into the flying circus at Ibrox.
I continue with this work mainly because of the persistent refusal of the local media in Glasgow to cover the story adequately.
I have a commitment to finding the truth on this story and bringing it to you.
Your support allows this independent journalism to continue.
Míle Buíochas.
Of course, my journalistic efforts are not always appreciated by The People.
I understand that the veracity of my work may have recently figured in a conclave of the Club 1872 chaps.
The Sevco High Command knows fine well that what appears here is very accurate.
The Ibrox roof story was apparently discussed at this Quintessentially British gathering.
I currently have a very detailed FOI request into Glasgow City Council, and the clock is ticking on that one.
For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, I stand by my original story.
When my output is occasionally discussed within the dignified ranks of the Sevco High Command, it is almost always to ascertain how the hell I got to know X or Y rather than the truthfulness of the story.
Moreover, I am subject to the same laws and strictures as any newspaper or broadcast organisation apropos the laws of defamation.
Therefore, when I write that The Rangers Football Club Limited (formerly Sevco Scotland Limited formed 2012) is a loss making business without a credit line from a bank then I know I’m on secure ground.
That is a fact, and I report it as such.
Consequently, I would confidently defend that statement in court with the defence of Veritas.
The documentation I would bring as evidence to defend the action would be the published accounts of both RIFC and TRFC (formerly known as Sevco Scotland Limited. Est. 2012).
Of course, when I speculate that they’re probably totally fucked then I’m merely offering an opinion.
For the avoidance of doubt, that comes under “fair comment”.
Have a good one.
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