I think that there is some merit in the observation that a person will often reveal their true selves if they are surprised by a situation.
That may also be true of organisations.
In the summer of 2012, the men at the top of Scottish football were surprised.
They never thought they would have to deal with a situation where the establishment club would be liquidated.
Firstly they didn’t think that an insolvency event was possible at Ibrox until they were told by the Suave Billionaire in late 2011 at the Hotel Du Vin.
Then perhaps they soothed themselves with the notion that a CVA would be achieved and all would be well.
Certainly, this line was regurgitated by the award winning stenographers.
Of course, readers of this site were not surprised by the insolvency event or Hector blocking a CVA.
The blog archive is searchable.
I think you will find that the commentary provided five years ago by your humble correspondent was much nearer the mark than anything in the mainstream.
By the time the Nimmo Smith thingy was convened then the chaps in Hampden had time to get their ducks in a row.
There was no mention of the indefensible Discounted Options Scheme (Wee Tax Case).
Moreover, it was stated the belief that ALL the Rangers EBTs were above board.
This despite the fact that the Murray Group had copped to five cases in the First Tier Tribunal.
Mr Barrow, Mr Doncaster (no, not him!), Mr Furness, Mr Inverness and Mr Selby.
I believe that Nacho Novo was Mr Inverness.
These inconvenient facts around this quintet were conveniently left out of the triumphalism in November 2012.
With the parameters set for Nimmo Smith, the Wee Tax Case and the five EBT cases were ignored and all that was then required was some semantic sophistry from the SFA.
“Imperfectly registered” was the euphemism that allowed the blazers at Hampden to ignore that scores of Rangers players had been ineligible to play in the hundreds of games in the EBT years.
The final ruling on the use of EBTs by Rangers is now in.
They scammed the taxman for a decade.
Moreover, in doing so they had a massive financial advantage over other teams in Scotland.
In order to gain this edge Rangers had to conceal payments from the governing bodies at Hampden.
Quite simply, players with indemnifying side letters were ineligible to play.
If this had happened at Aberdeen, Celtic or Hearts then it would be a slam dunk.
We would be in Lance Armstrong territory already.
However, because this involves Rangers then that presents a unique set of difficulties for the folk on the 6th floor at Hampden and the worthies who attend there from the various clubs.
Quite frankly they’re frightened of the klan.
Stewart Regan was on the record in 2012 about having anti-terrorist police involved in protecting his family.
I am in regular contact with one of the “Hampden Three” and he is still reminded by people within football that he was one of that beleaguered trio.
Perhaps that explains the recent utterances of Mr Milne at Aberdeen and the mystifying silence of Ms Budge at Hearts.
I had expected more from the latter.
Putting an asterisk beside those fraudulent titles would simply be too much for some of the Queen’s loyal tax evaders.
In 2012 the blazers at Hampden had a slimy scam that was even more shameful than the Nimmo Smith fudge.
Thankfully the No To NewCo campaign took off in the summer of 2012.
Then the decent folk in the Scottish Football League scuppered Plan B and the new club started at the bottom.
In both instances, it took decent people acting with good authority.
Sevco in the bottom tier of Scottish football was a victory for decency and a defeat for the klan.
Tomorrow the focus will rightly be on Celtic Park as the champions of Scotland take another step on their European journey.
Therefore, it might be a good day to get out embarrassing news elsewhere.
It is worth remembering that the chaps who tried to drop Sevco into the SPL in 2012 are still in place.
When they failed there they tried to, in the words of the late great Turnbull Hutton, “bully” the lower league clubs into accepting Plan B.
They are also the fine fellows who set the skewed parameters for the Nimmo Smith shambles.
Today they’re still there on the 6th floor of Hampden.
The national game was saved in 2012 in spite of them.
Now I believe that, once more, it will be necessary for others to act with good authority and have their day in court.
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Let’s not dignify this SPFL, QC opinion, no grounds shit with analysis.
It is brown, it is on your shoe., it is sticky, it is stinky, it is SHIT.
The size of the dog, the breed of the dog, the name of the dog are of no consequence.
SHIT is SHIT is SHIT and Scottish football is now officially SHIT.
Buy a fishing rod, buy a bike, buy some golf clubs, buy some dancing shoes and do something worthwhile with your free time and disposable income.
Phil, do you think the Lawlell’s Green Brigade issue could be a smokescreen to hide the non action against the big issue?
No.
OFFICIAL: The SPFL have no powers to do anything about the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Scottish football.
R.I.P. Scottish football as a sport – bring on the spandex leotards of WWE Scotland football and bikini clad Miss America referees – yes it really is that ridicuulous.
I will not have my good name associated with Scottish fitba! 😀
I have been following the ongoing events concerning the EBT judgement and continued campaign by both the governing bodies and the Scottish media to prevent any form of sanction being imposed on Sevco, it particularly pains me to acknowledge that the government of Scotland, does not have the balls to propose an independent review of all matters pertaining to the running of our national game, for as has been outlined by Phil in previous posts, the criminal deceit of the EBT case resulted on many people’s possible employment opportunities being compromised i.e. Nurses, Firemen, etc .
This being the case that not only have football fans and clubs been scammed but also the citizens of this country have been wilfully cheated , the onus is surely on the Scottish MPs in Westminster and Holyrood, to look at a independant government led enquiry if enough of their constituents write a letter of concern about the present ongoings of our national games lawmakers.
Further, in a free society it has always been the press and media who have uncovered the wrongdoing of those in power , it is a sad indictment of present day Scotland,that our national press apart from the odd article in “The National” is merely a carthorse delivering the untruths of their puppet masters . Why Why Why .
If a 100.000 of us contacted our politicians to outline our concern about the mid management of our national game, and the present rules in place that make cheating ok , then what’s to stop it happening again if nothing is done and at the end of the day we have no national game left just a pocketful of memories to tell ou grand children about the Larssons, jinky etc
Contact your MPs, lobby UEFA, write to CAS, march on Hampden, express your fury on the blogs, shout and bawl in the streets til you get arrested, not one bit of it will make a blind bit of difference, they will ignore us precisely as they have done so far.
Stop giving them our cash and support, however and watch in amazement as they come crawling on their knees back to us.
And you now why …
Because FOOTBALL WITHOUT THE FANS IS NOTHING.
And big Jock, ever the practical man, was NOT just saying that in the passionate sense, he was clearly telling us that we alone have the power to make or break football, NOT the clowns and bare faced lying muppets all tugging each others chains at the top table.
STOP ATTENDING ALL THEIR GAMES UNTIL THIS SHIT’S FULLY SORTED AND THE PROBLEM WILL BE SOLVED WITHIN A WEEK.
GUARANTEED.
Besides, everyone already knows this, and anyone pussyfooting around with this ‘Boycott only away games’ crap is to be viewed with a wary eye, for the defenders of the scam are out in force, working undercover on behalf of both their pay masters AND their ludge masters.
But twas ever thus.
Lobby Uefa. MSP. MP.
SFA unfit for purpose.
A reminder for everyone that the SFA official who came up with the previously unheard of ‘imperfectly registered but legal’ ruling on the DOS/EBT player recipients is the same guy who provided the former disgraced CEO, Jim Farry, with the misleading information that prevented Cadete being registered in time for the Rangers cup tie.
Fergus showed this info to be bogus, Farry was sacked but Bryson remained in situ.
Just before UEFA threw Sion out of European competition the very same registration official gave his opinion that the Swiss club had no case to answer……Sion were also docked points in their own domestic leaguforor transgressing football rules.
Zero from two for the SFA supremo, but hey still in situ.
The guy can spot a missing required signature on a form from a mile away which is a cardinal sin in the eyes of the SFA and can result in exclusion from competitions.
However he’s not so adept at spotting the contracts of dozens of Rangers players where DOS/EBT payments have been omitted despite the payments being noted in the annual Rangers financial accounts.
I’d wager that the tax free signing on fee provided to Mo Johnston didnt appear on his contract lodged with the SFA and no doubt there would be much head scratching at the poverty contracts given to the English internationalists who turned up during the years following Heysel.
Of course it was never about the money for Butcher, Woods et al………. It was the access to European football what did it!
Its time for a boycott to show the people we will not accept the corrupt findings of the SPFL ,SFA and Nimmo what better time to register our disgust at the complicity shown than a boycot of the first fixture at celtic park against Hearts when the flag is raised. If the stands were empty that day surely they would begin to listen. I would also extend the boycott to all away fixtures and cup compotitions for the season, lets see how the sponsors react to that.
Now it’s simple , every one should just use boris’s sword , as no one gives a f , disoneschenko for sure
Everyone should cancel their sky and BT sports subscriptions and tell them they wont watch any more rigged games
As I have repeatedly said I handed back my season ticket three years ago now ….it’s tough, I still follow Celtic I queued for tickets for tomorrow night.
With all its faults, UEFA never fails to punish the smallest transgression because it understands that the protection of its brand is paramount.
Domestic Scottish football no longer has a brand worthy of professional football and sadly Celtic were as complicit in this as anyone else.
Yet from the paying public DD and PL have a remit to continue down this road ….. a waiting list for seats tells them they are doing a magnificent job ……. and they are ….. Celtic will have the leading role in this panto for many years to come.
Enjoy the football entertainment on show because with BR it’s exciting…….but it currently isn’t a professional sporting football league ….. it’s Celtic Globetrotters and friends.
Good post, Zeddy.
And haven’t UEFA have done a great job protecting their brand despite all the arrests and dismissals and rumours of highest level corruption swirling still around their marble halls?
What better way to get the Celtic fans on board by ‘giving’ them a great manager and a treble then planting the seeds of war amongst the support by separating the hardcore support from the newbies who just wanna watch ‘fitba’, in what e’er rigged form it may be, for the sole purpose of entertainment and social standing?
This is clearly the folk who have seized power across the top of all society eradicating anything that may pose a threat to their future hegemony of the game and it’s about time that all these hysterical so-called Celtic fans calling for the Green Brigade to be ‘sent to Iraq’ recognised it for the deliberate Divide & Conquer tactic that it is.
I’m old school, so I’m ‘out’ already but, sadly, I’ve beaten them to the punch, as I stopped going over a decade ago, 2003, in fact, when I realised Rangers were at it, and that Celtic, and the SFA, KNEW they were at it, and had been at it since Murray was first wheeled in the door.
Amazing to have my suspicions proven all these years later but sickening to know that we’ve sat back and allowed this malignant cancer at the heart of our game to Greco and become entrenched and to now be at the terminal stage already, and all this on behalf of the blue brigade’s favourite totem pole.
Sad, sick & disgusting days indeed and there’ll be hell some day to pay for them.
Interesting reply.
I would suggest a season ticket boycott by fans of all clubs and let them know until they get together to remove the muppets at Hampden we won’t be back if they start proceedings season tickets will be renewed
I think most of these arrests are regarding FIFA positions. That said I’m not stupid enough to believe that UEFA is squeaky clean….not even close
As far as the sporting competition is concerned though they do not shy away from issuing any penalties to those who stray a little from the rules.
I’m not saying it’s perfect and I’m sure games may be fixed, refs and officials might be bribed etc etc. but there is at least an attempt with a very broad and transparent enforcement of their rules.
The only face the SFA and it’s member Clubs have is a very public refusal to implement any of it rules in relation to Rangers (IL).
MORE IMPORTANTLY which seems to be getting missed in all this is that it is all happening again under our noses today.
Financial mismanagement as overspending admitted by DK
Rule breaking and racism
FFP criteria ignored
So as it stands the Celtic Globetrotters and Friends gets my attention but doesn’t get money until it’s cleared up.
To get other clubs interested the diehard Celtic traveling support should consider staying at home or standing outside away grounds refusing to pay.
They rely on that few hundred grand trust me.
All that said fair play to those who continue to go but I remember the bad years and cannot believe that my club has remained silent for so long.
Agreed on all points, Zeddy, except on UEFA, where I only half disagree, because they do make a show of being strict on minor matters but it really is only for appearances’ sake, as so many of their examples keep proving.
They give the impression of strictness on certain matters while ignoring how many others we could list here now, starting with the two clubs out of Ibrox repeatedly breaching their FFP rules, or their fans causing absolute havoc across Europe in every city they visit, with neither punishment nor even a mention in the media, far less the mass hysteria we’re witnessing around Celtic right now.
And I too remember the bad years, and all the great ones before them, and it worries me greatly that this situation is being engineered in such a blatantly biased and slanted manner, as it’s clearly a political move on the grand scale designed to cause further, and genuine, civil unrest in an already politically divided and frustrated Scotland.
Going for our game is going for the jugular and neither UEFA nor anyone else will be allowed to interfere in the machinations of it, that is for sure.
The mute evidence for this surrounds us every day, the blanket silence speaking louder than words.
Without Phil & the Bhoys we wouldn’t have a clue about half of it and it just keeps pouring out, darker by the minute, and not a single word from UEFA, or anyone else, on one single aspect of it.
I never thought I’d sue this word in the context of fitba but this thing really is monstrous in its aims and ‘achievements’ so far and I doubt very much that anything will be done against it.
For even if we defeat it at this juncture, it remains the entrenched power not only in Scotland but across the western world.
Just like the famous ‘There’s no such as the Mafia!’, how can you fight a force that most folk refuse to believe exists, or what it’s up to, even within Scotland itself ..?
So the convenient excuse is that they fear violence from Rangers fans more than they respect protests from other fans? More than they respect honesty and integrity?
They are therefore not fit people for their positions. They need replaced by people of more mettle.
The only recourse to achieving justice is the courts.
It seems to me the SFA-spfl have decided that if you really want to deliver sporting integrity then you’ll need to go to court to achieve that.
I thoroughly expect the Celtic board to take all issues to court. Otherwise the club is a pushover and every player in the strip will have no pride nor honour going forward. Every club in Europe will say this celtic outfit let Rangers cheat them out of 13 trophies and Celtic lay back and took the fucking.
All it will take for the corruption at the heart of our game to be exposed is for one Celtic shareholder at the time of the licence application in 2012 to lodge a complaint with Police Scotland.
No one doubts that the licence application was fraudulent and those responsible at Ibrox and those at Hampden who waved it through should be charged with what is a criminal offence.
Furthermore those involved in the subsequent cover up should also face criminal charges.
It’s very telling that since further clarification of the crystallisation date of the Wee Tax Bill, Regan has chosen not to revisit his claim that the bill had not crystallised at the UEFA cut off point, because he can’t.
Now if you were an innocent party in the fraud you would be screaming blue murder and pointing a very angry finger towards those at Ibrox who had lied and misled you.
Regan has done nothing of the sort, he’s just hoping that it will all blow over.
This begs the question why has Regan not used the SDM ‘I was duped route’ to remove himself from the frame?
Is it a question that if one goes down they all go down together, hence the veil of silence from the parties involved?
I think their true selves have already truly been revealed. Im afraid the cynic in me just doesn’t see the title stripping happen. This is predicated on the various sections of the establishment’s cumulative attempts to aid and abet their glorious club at every juncture.
Their initial proposals in the face of liquidation.
The establishment and Murray’s bank calling in a £9M debt at Celtic while at the same time they operated under a £120m overdraft/loans from that same bank.
Whyte found not guilty and not a single defence witness being called and therefore the real dirty laundry not making it into the public domain.
The manipulation of the Nimmo Smith debacle.
No objection from Hearts regarding losing their rightful place in European competition. I think Ms Budge has effectively already declared.
Unfortunately there are very few people made from the same stuff as the late great Turnbull Hutton ,even his name caught your attention. I had the privilege of meeting him , and the dubious privilege of dealing with him.
He was right into Mini Coopers and I had a rare 1275cc powertrain together with various bits and pieces. He told me he worked in whisky. I must confess he was the least looking suit I ever met and the least looking rally driver, however he was extremely enthusiastic and persuasive ,and away he went with it.
When he told me he worked in the whiskey trade , he neglected to mention he was in charge of the entire Scottish market. Anyway I digress ,he was that kind of guy.
Like I say I cant see it happening ,then again , who would have ever thought that you would have seen them at the very bottom of Scottish football.
I will never forget their first game on the telly…the commentator “the baw’s in the hedge” and a ground’s man going round with a ladder to retrieve it ,absolutely priceless.
If a collectively funded attempt is made to bring about what rightfully should happen my boodle will be right in there no problem. cheers Phil be lucky.
Surely this farce has to be escalated to the Court of Arbitration for sport by means of crowd funding
There is a twist or an alternative storyline in most soap operas, this one seems to be heading for the wicked witch wins again ending. Would love an Ian le Frennais to come up with an hilarious ending. What do we know about the 5 way agreement? Was this legal and has there been a precedent set for other clubs to follow? There has to be a skeleton in the cupboard somewhere which needs to be revealed.
Football fans could fund the crowd fund by staying away from away games… it is that simple… hit them in the pocket and they will fold within a week.
Much more entertaining than standing in the rain at Raith…. even if there is dancing in the streets….!!!
When is the fabled “cold shoulder” due to arrive?
It is not the stuff of fables, legal fact.
Next stop Court of Session.
I think that every club, bar the obvious cheats, should field an ineligible player for both Scottish cup and league cup games. both cup competitions would be dead in the water. What better way to highlight the hypocrisy of those worthless maggots that “allegedly” run Scottish football.
Fans need to be running guerilla campaigns against sponsors, cup competitions and Scotland matches as well as drawing attention to cheating and corruption at league games. Deprive them of income and mock them remorselessly.
A brilliant idea IF every club would buy into it. Unfortunately too many, most in fact won’t. Truly unfortunate because the SFA and the SPFL have set the precedents.
Great shout, also loved the queens loyal tax evaders line Phil!
Would overseas supporters organizations have a valid claim against the SPL/SPFL as they paid subscription fees to watch a basically rigged league during the EBT years. I myself paid club dues and bought a cable package to include Setanta for a premium price to watch Scottish football. I feel like I was ripped off. The field was slanted and they knew it. I’m glad I’m not a gambler. Hate to think of the millions of wagers that where lost on a corrupt league.
Phil; there has been some talk that the secret 5-way agreement somehow promised that there would be no title stripping and that they will try and hide behind this. If that is the case, then the SFA & SPFL have a lot to answer for. If that is what they did (and it is legally enforceable) the SFA & SPFL have to be forced to do the following:
1. admit to it publicly
2. publish the agreement for everyone to see
3. everyone, and I mean every single person involved in agreeing to that agreement has to resign or be fired.
After the above has occurred, new lawyers acting for the new boards of the SFA & SPFL should go over the agreement with a fine toothcomb to see if way out of it can be found. If necessary, strip the titles and let newco sue them in court for something as the courts have already ruled that they are not the same club.
By the way, I have already let Celtic know that no action by them on this means that I am done with football. I will not pay into a rigged game.
However, if it truly is an agreement that is bulletproof, then so be it, but there is nothing to stop the SFA & SPFL putting an asterisk next to the name of RFC and highlight that the titles were won by cheating. newco can’t so anything about that.
Peter please credit Auldheid with this, “ultra vires” if they have entered into a illegal/unenforceable agreement then it can be made unenforceable, my uneducated reading only.
No Neutral Ground
The SFA and SPFL are too stupid, lazy, complacent and superior to be effective students of Machiavelli. Together they have craft a scenario where they must either act decisively to perpetuate proven corruption or act decisively to denounce proven corruption. That is, corruption of the UK tax system, corruption of the SPFL (nee SPL) rulebook, corruption of the SFA rulebook, corruption of the UEFA rulebook and corruption of natural justice.
As a consequence, they present every paying football fan with a simple choice to pay to support a sport* proven to be corrupt or to gag on the prospect of investing time, money and emotion in a rotten game of chancers.
Any politician worth their First in PPE will tell you never to strip away all complexity and ambiguity to give the man in the street a simple choice between goodness and dishonest self-interest – because goodness burns much brighter in the heart of the common man than the venal elite would care to acknowledge.
The SFA and SPFL have stupidly engineered a test for the heart of each and every paying football fan in the street. Accept proven corruption and move on or denounce proven corruption and demand that justice is done and is seen to be done to uphold the spirit of fair play – the very essence of sport.
My prognosis is that the SFA and SPFL will choose to perpetuate proven corruption, because that is what self-interest dicates and self-interst alone rules their hearts. But in doing so, they will limit their future fan base to the small minority of the most base of fans, who see no harm in cheating and no shame in being caught red-handed. Now that’s what I call a suicidal business strategy. Trot on Niccolo! Your insights and sublety are not needed here!
Phil, I think we should be waiting to hear what Ann Budge has to say on Wednesday before we start accusing her of joining the Hampden Lodge but why is the onus on Ann to make the speech in the first place (because Doncaster is a figure of ridicule, the new Sevco board member (!) can hardly make it and Peter Lawell slips out the side door just as the cameras start rolling)? The statement will either be on behalf of the other Member teams or the SPFL Board itself and is not necessarily Ann Budge’s personal opinion.
That said, if Ann Budge fails to stand up to the corrupt regime, she’ll not only be taken to task by Hearts fans but will open herself up to ridicule and abuse from the wider audience and I certainly won’t try to defend her. She will not get away with complicity or inactivity. But let’s hear what she says in the statement on Wednesday before we start hanging her or castigating Hearts fans!
Btw, I am sure that any crowd-funded legal campaign will be strongly supported by Hearts (and Aberdeen) fans so let’s not fall into the trap of assuming fans of either team condone what’s going on.
My personal opinion remains that we are wasting time trying to overturn the EBT titles and should be focusing on two objectives: 1. Removing ALL titles ‘claimed’ by this new Club formed in 2012 and 2. Getting rid of Doncaster and Regan (we’d all gladly crowd-fund something which ends up with this result).
Agreed on crowd funding to take further the issues.
13.00hrs and no statement!
Ooops!
I posted too soon.
I like the line about the Review looking into the tax affairs of “clubs”.
K19
Why wasn’t Budge “taken to task” by the Hearts fans when sevco took their place in the Europa League?
Nudge nudge wink wink, say no more, a nod’s as good as a wedge to a blind man on the level.
I struggle to see how ‘Rangers’ can be loss making. Monies from season ticket sales, corporate hospitality and other revenue streams must still dwarf all other teams in Scotland with the exception of Celtic.
Granted stadium upkeep hits them in the pocket, but I remember reading a few years that Aberdeen had to spend over £600,000 each year maintaining the stadium. This figure will be less than Rangers stadium costs, but proportionally to income perhaps not that far off.
Either Rangers are seriously overpaying a bloated squad, or monies are still disappearing to someone somewhere. Either way, bad business practices. Its cashflow that kills most young businesses and will likely do so in this instance
Rather off topic…
Yeah, apologies. Meant to post that on another of your postings. too many windows open and got a bit mixed up. Ha ha.
Feel free to remove to save my shame.
Colin !!! Why would Phil want to remove what you posted after all it is about exposing people like you who don’t have anything relevant to say. keep trying anyway and help expose the shame you badly failed to cover up.
I’m a pensioner and I for one would donate £20 towards crowd funding, it’s up to the other bloggers to organise this, I’m Sick of this, I felt when the supreme court ruled on this it would be sorted
Phil…Any truth in the rumour that the framework is already in place to put any rang3rs straight into the top tier?.
It is my understanding that, after the events of 2012, the SPFL constitution rules on an insolvency event were constructed in such a fashion that, should a “club” suffer an insolvency event and seek to reconstitute and rejoin the league structure, a committee will decide on said application. Not all of the other member clubs.
In which case every time an entity called “Rangers” goes to the wall from now on, a committee will decide where the next version ends up.
The Blue Klux Klan brotherhood will make sure that never again will the plebs of Scottish Football have a voice on these matters.
Pages 32-43 0f the SPFL rules (192 pages in total) cover most of this and the whole pathetic use of “club” and “operating company” finds its way into almost every paragraph. “At the discretion of the board” are the numerous and vital, but incredibly vague in such an official sounding document, comments you are looking for.
It is also interesting to note the rule and obligation to promote youth football by each club, I seem to recall Sevco not being in concurrence with this……..
I am finished with Scottish football now .I will not attend any game at a stadium other than Celtic Park. I will never set foot in Hampden Park again. Scottish football is corrupt as we always knew but now they actually don’t care that we know .And it’s sickening that other clubs have said nothing or are happy to “Move on” and take the blue Pound . Well they won’t be getting my green pound any longer
me also
Mine neither ..?
Stevie,
It fills me with no pride to say this as a Celtic fan but you are throwing good money after bad if you think paying into Celtic Park and lining the pockets of Directors complicit in the whole Scottish Football omnishambles is fair game.
Celtic fans need to press their Board to do more. I know I have but its never going to happen. The die-hard element (some of which have already walked away) are being sounded out by the new-stream BR followers and being blindsided by the new Celtic business model. I too love it and these are great days as a Celtic fan but the Clubs silence and lack of appropriate action on the historical farce we are all debating is utterly risible.
I for one have already taken the decision that not only wont I pay into Hampden in future but I have grudgingly extended this to Parkhead as well. I have encouraged my own friends to do the same, including my brother who paid good money for a season book during the tainted years and undoubtedly paid season price increases year on year which could have been offset by European competition that was ripped from them by the now know to be rule breaking participation of Rangers.
The entire affair stinks to high heaven and leads all the way in through the doors of Parkhead as well. The proof is in the pudding in that Celtic have had countless opportunity to tackle this before (case in point Res 12 which conveniently time lapsed) but yet wont as it doesnt suit the agenda of their business model.
The only way to make them sit up and take notice is to hit them where it hurts, the pocket! i.e. fans need to take matters into their own hands but like I say it’ll never fly as too many are blindsided by the Business Model and promoted ethos of Celtic and will subscribe to a tainted spectacle irrespective of their prior knowledge, which is both sad and frustrating for those of us who feel cheated.
I’ll be cheering on the Bhoys tonight like the rest of us but not from inside Parkhead.
No suprise with Hearts owner as she came out kicking and spitting venom in one game at Tynecastle. Acussing Celtic fans of damaging seats which later provrd a lie, and never oncr criticise her friends and knuckle crunchers.
Here Here.
Several 10’s of 1000’s of £20 donation via crowdfunding to whomever stands up to these crooks (IMHO) ought to do it.
My £20’s coming as soon as the page goes up.
Don’t be so hasty, there’s a fair chance it’ll be Dave King setting it up!
Ill add a 0 to that for sure to show the corrupt rats up for what they are.
Regarding the financial advantage to Rangers in the EBT years, can we put an approximation on the number of additional season books that would have had to be sold to pay the tax amounts dodged. Maybe these type of figures will get the scale of the advantage gained into the public arena.
The unregistered players, the crux of the whole matter, was RFC thumbing their nose at everybody else in Scots football as they were supremely confident that their masonic and snide bowling club mentality placemen would cover up for them, as has shown to be the case.
Then you have Ogilvie going on to lead Hearts and the SFA down the wrong path, nearly resulting in Hearts going under also.
Unregistered players, and easy to understand detail of their financial & sporting advantages gained. Clear details of all office holders who benefitted from EBT tax dodges. Could these office holders be sued by the EBT beneficiaries to help them pay HMRC? I think we should be told.
Frank, it’s actuallypretty straightforward to work out an intelligent approximation based on today’s rates of tax and NI.
Rangers paid out £47.65m in EBTs over 10 years.
Almost all were part of a remuneration package and would have been liable to tax at 45% and NI contributions at £2%.
It would have cost Rangers £89.91m in gross wages to pay a nett amount of £47.65m to employees and fulfil the NI and PAYE obligations on behalf of the employee.
However, that £89.91m would also be liable for employers NI contributions at 12.8%, a further £12.4m cost to the club.
Therefore, it would have cost Rangers over £102m to afford to pay employees a nett amount of £47.65m
The scam was therefore in the region of £60m, which over 10 years gave them an extra £6m a season. The overall debt is a lot more now of course owing to the late penalties for non-payment.
If you base a season ticket at an average of £400 then a further 15,000 a season would need to be sold to fund the £6 a year in the tax and NI due.
Instead, Rangers were able to afford a dozen extra players on 10k a week or 6 players on 20k a week or 3 players on £40k a week etc, every year for 10 years.
If that’s not a sporting advantage then someone please tell me what it is – but please don’t tell me it’s fair.
So 15,000 extra season books would have been required to pay for the legal level of taxed remuneration they gave their staff & players untaxed.
Or as they chose, to have £120,000 extra per week to attract star players in whatever permutation, by cheating their tax obligations. Both for an eye watering 10 years of supposedly corruption free football tournaments in Scotland.
All sponsored by a variety of companies and football fans whose money was used by the Scots football authorities to stage a gerrymandered set of ultimately unequal competitions skewed to favour Rangers. SFA officials in the know apparently looked the other way, as have the courts, the Scots government, and UEFA. How long can this matter go unaddressed.
Thanks Mr Pie
Nicely dissected, SHP
Phil, in 2012 and in the run up to it, you predicted everything that would happen regarding Rangers 1872 and so it transpired.
The current entity cannot continue to trade and operate the way that it does and surely in your gut you know that? I think we all know what’s going to come out of Hampden tomorrow and I think we’d all be very surprised if it wasn’t anything other than ‘no appetite for title stripping bollocks’ and ‘the game in Scotland needs to move on and focus on the future of the game shite’.
This is going to only further enrage fans who believe that Rangers 1872 should be brought to justice. Scottish football will begin to tear itself apart at the seams. Every game will become a showcase for banners condemning the SPFL and the SFA.
But amidst all of this outcry and rage the current toxic entity out of Ibrox will implode. It is as inevitable as Hector getting his dues. Justice will not be seen to be served by the SFA and the SPFL, so it has to come in a different form and this is how it will come about. In your own famous words, ‘For the avoidance of doubt, dear reader, this is a loss making business without a credit line from a bank.’
You know it and I know it that unless a loss making business becomes a profit making business, it will only ever be a matter of time. The cold shoulder is imminent, the directors who supplement the loss making business with soft loans do not have bottomless pockets and will not throw good money after bad forever.
When this implosion happens, the house of cards that is the SFA will come crashing down around Regan and Doncaster’s ears. They will not survive it happening a second time because it will only serve to expose their continued servitude to
one club and their lack of governance towards that club. It’s a train wreck, with Caixihna driving the locomotive, waiting to happen and when it does, it will be spectacular in its magnitude.
That is when the real changes will come about in the Scottish game and it will happen sooner rather than later. You knew that in the run up to 2012 Phil and you know it now.
“If you like your shadenfruade Ibrox flavoured then keep your fingers crossed for a King win”.
That’s a quote that often comes to mind for me.
Re your excellent point about Sevco imploding while the game tears itself apart, McC, what are the chances that this situation too has been organised in advance in the same way that so much else has been amidst this entire sorry fiasco by ‘the men who sold the jerseys’?
That is, that they are deliberately dismantling Scottish football from the inside, with an apparent ‘new broom’ coming in to ‘wash away the debris of the past’, but which is actually led by the very same type of ‘peepil’ as the old lot ..?
Further to the point: What if this plan was engineered specifically to dismantle the Scottish football league structure and set up a new system in their own (hidden) image, thereby preventing Celtic from ever reaching ’10 In A Row’, as the ‘new league’ cannot be considered as in any way a continuation of the old one ..?
A little convoluted, I know, but just look at what they’ve got away with already …
The one thing these ‘brothers’ have always been good at is being prepared for every eventuality, up to & including the death and ‘rebirth’ of old Rangers,,as they not only pulled it off , they’re still letting the same crooks away with it.
I’ll leave it here for consideration anyway.
But we are many and they are few, and, as in 2012, it’s the fans money that will decide the outcome of this battle for the soul of our national game and I can only hope for all our sakes that we realise the power we have with which we can win it.