The Resolution 12 guys probably did not imagine that six years on that they would still be at this stuff.
However, they are where they are.
Your humble correspondent has been there from the start.
I recall Skype conversations with several stakeholders BEFORE R12 was even compiled.
In essence, they believe that Rangers (1872-2012) should not have been allowed to play in UEFA competitions in season 2011-2012 because they owed tax to HMRC.
I agree with them.
Moreover, since the Craig Whyte trail, there has been prima facie evidence in the public domain that Rangers were owing to a taxing authority during the period when the UEFA licences were being given out.
It was the task of the Scottish Football Association to make sure that the licence applications were all in order before they were sent to UEFA.
Because Rangers had a crack at the Champions League qualifiers that was a huge opportunity cost to Celtic.
The R12 guys believe that if the rules had been adequately applied the Ibrox club in the spring of 2011 then Rangers would have been barred from European competition that season.
Had that happened then the other clubs in the SPL would have stepped up one place.
In the end, this comes down to accountability.
Celtic are accountable to their shareholders and the SFA are accountable to Celtic.
That is the message that the R12 guys want to get out and to that end, they have set up this website.
It contains a hillside of evidence for anyone to peruse and they have asked me to get it out there.
One of the leading R12 guys mentioned to me that not all of the shareholders at Celtic are emotionally committed fans.
Of course, he is spot on.
However, I’m in the emotional shareholder section.
I bought in when Fergus needed money to rebuild the stadium.
It was never anything other than a donation to the club I loved.
For the avoidance of doubt, Celtic shares are not worthless and they often go up in value.
That makes them desirable to those who make money on the Stockmarket.
Consequently, there are some shareholders who could attend a Celtic AGM who might want the Parkhead board to take their fiduciary duties very seriously.
Of course, the supporter shareholders just want the club to sign better quality players.
However, the people who watch the bottom line ad Celtic rather than the team sheet on match day might have other ideas.
These shrewd business types sometimes go to law to press their claim, they can certainly afford it.
Moreover, it is not unheard of for shareholders to sue directors if they think they have dropped the ball.
Should that come to pass then the folk around the boardroom table at Parkhead cannot say that they haven’t had time to get their ducks in a row.
They’ve formally known about this problem since 2013.
Of course, such a litigious individual might also look at the local licensing authority as also being guilty of a lack of due diligence in this matter.
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I’m a Celtic shareholder trying to contact the Res12 guys to offer support but their website doesn’t have anything on the contact page. Can you assist?
Factually, legally and morally correct in every word. It’s as though the board believe that we actually need them. Someone stated in a comment on one of your previous posts that divorcing ourselves from joint deals with them was one of the best moves made in years. He was 100% right. The regular comment that one couldn’t go to England without the other is patently nonsense. The notion that Celtic v Man U, v Man C, v Arsenal, v Liverpool, Spurs or Chelsea, is less attractive than Celtic v Sevco is laughable. Access to that market would not make us one of the greatest clubs in the world. We’re already that. But it would give us the financial clout to make us one of the biggest and most attractive to anyone. In comparison with the history and traditions of Celtic, teams like Chelsea, Man City, PSG, Salzburg, Leipzig and other such rich mens toys are jumped up nobodies.
It will be interesting to see if they get a license this year .
How did they get a license for this season?
They have postdp losesl every year since they started in 2012. Does this not automatically bar them from European comptitions.
I’ll never understand the reasons behind Celtic willing to sit back and be screwed like this – and not just with Res 12 (Sevco, refs etc.). There are some things in life that you simply don’t ignore as it shows you to be spineless, but time after time the Board has demonstrated a lack of will to take on the SFA. Fergus would never have stood for the antics they have pulled on Res 12 and since then.
Don’t know if it was your intent (hope so), but there is an implied tone to what you wrote that suggests you know there are shareholders ready to go to courts. Apologies if I read that wrong, but god I hope that is true and the SFA get exposed for the corrupt shower of B’s they are.
Ok…
Please tell us the rest!
If only there truly was some action on this. The board would actually ‘up their stock’ significantly with the fans.
I think in football the word shareholder (for obvious financial reasons) gets more airplay than the word ‘stakeholder’….
I think football is one ‘industry?’ where the term needs to get more genuine credit and due feedback than any other.
Stakeholders may or may not be shareholders also but they are ALL the people who make the club/business tick from part time stewards and cleaners through admin staff, groundsmen to players.. and most importantly… season ticket holders.
It’s a bit of a personal bug.. but for me, season ticket holders should be treated more like temporary shareholders.
Yes…they have merely bought a product for a fixed term… but it is one with no definite outcome and no ‘voting rights’ so-to-speak.
Season ticket holders are investors in the club… in fact they are the investors whose participation is essential. Without them the ‘real shareholders’ would have nothing. But.. rather than bestowing a measure of ‘control’ on the temporary ‘investor’ they are merely used as an income source to be tapped for further tickets and future season ticket commitments.
(There are many but Celtics big summer secc festival in July comes immediately to mind as another great idea … but only to empty fans pockets, not to give anything back)
This is obviously the case with all football clubs but of course this includes Celtic. Instead of rinsing the supporters for every last coin it would good to see the ‘club like no other’ take a pioneering step and do the right thing.
Maybe the res12 issue would have been thoroughly aired and sorted had something like this already been in place.
The fan ownership movement is growing and while I don’t feel it would be viable for a club like Celtic right now, there could be a middle ground by showing some respect and return to the ‘stakeholder investors’.
Celtic will get to ‘10’. But it will be the supporters that got them there – not shareholders…
What was it a great manager said?
“Football without fans is nothing.”
Celtic PLC could do with reminding themselves of this!
The biggest scandal, that we are aware of, in the history of Scottish football.
Those involved knew exactly what they were doing.
Entry to the CL qualifiers was a financial must for the Ibrox club, with the bonus that Celtic were the victims as they would have filled the spot that should have been vacated by Rangers ineligibility.
A huge fraud has been perpetrated. Those responsible should have been arrested and charged years ago yet 7 years on not one has had their collar felt.
There is no time limit on criminal charges for fraud in Scotland.
What always stands out for me is that their then auditors, Grant Thornton, signed off on the premise that no taxes were overdue, then commented on the HMRC demands as being a potential liabilty, a claim that has been proved time and time again to be false.
I’ve always thought that the only way this would ever be resolved was for Police Scotland serious fraud squad to get involved.
That will take either Celtic FC or a major shareholder to make a complaint.
The licence application and the subsequent waiving through by the SFA involved a number of people.
All of them are culpable, some more than others and a few them are still involved in Scottish football which is unacceptable and they have to be rooted out.
Is this something in the offing Phil or just you speculating?