WP Archives April 12: Football Club Trading Companies

Posted on April 4, 2012 by williampoole

In the interests of balance in the current climate, I believe the trading arrangements of football clubs is topical.

With Best and Final bids due in to Rangers Administrators’ Duff & Phelps, there is a lot of scaremongering with regards to the possible liquidation of the club by prospective owners.

Like others I find the very prospect very scary indeed.

Indeed, when stories broke that the intention of Chicago’s Club 9 Sports were going to liquidate the club, I was the one of the first to contact Club 9 CEO Jon Pritchett to express my concern at the prospect.

Letting the RST know I’d done so may have been a mistake, as soon Mr Pritchett was avalanched by a number of similar queries, and some abuse from followers of the RST Twitter page.

When Club 9 released a statement last night that they were not bidding for the club, but were part of a consortium, I was again first to ask a question or Mr Pritchett, namely did it then mean that they alone were pulling out or were the rest of the consortium still in.

While the rest of Twitterland (including some “credible” journalists who will remain unnamed) was agreed in the opinion that their statement simply meant they were not bidding alone, and that’s all their statement meant, I believed otherwise.

When my tweet went out, it was picked up on by the Trust, and some time later they tweeted the same question, almost word for word. They also followed it up with an email.

Pritchett soon clarified the position via Twitter, and stated that the consortium as a whole would not be bidding, and effectively confirmed my suspicion. He also sent a reply email to the secretary of the Trust around the same time.

What is interesting though, is that Club 9’s original statement carried a plausible solution to the newco scenario which they stated would preserve the great history of the club

http://www.club9sports.com/uploads/Statement_from_CLUB_9_SPORTS.pdf

Now, I’m no liquidation expert, but there seems to be some merit in there, if the examples used were managed through this process in the same way.

Indeed, a post on Gersnet points to the trading arrangements of Celtic Football Club, and how the trading arrangements of the business and the football club have radically changed (and not just in 1994).

http://www.gersnetonline.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?39968-So-which-Celtic-company-do-we-play-against

“Following last week’s posts about Pacific Shelf 595 Ltd, I have done a little more investigation and have come up with the following:

There are 3 main companies in this discussion:

1. Celtic plc – this company was formed in 1897 and was previously known as “The Celtic Football And Athletic Company Limited”. Its name changed in 1994 to Celtic plc. It was the football club until a restructuring on 15/2/02 when “aspects of (its) trade” were transferred to Celtic F.C Limited . It continues to own the players (ie pays the transfer fees), Celtic Park and the 1/12 share in the SPL.

However its accounts also states that “Celtic F.C. Limited has the main activity of which is the operation of a professional football club.” It admits that the football club IS Celtic F.C Limited.

2. Celtic F.C. Limited – this company was formed in 2001 and was previously HMS (402) Ltd. as mentioned above, it is a professional football club. It receives all the gate money, employs and pays all the wages of the players and other staff. It receives the TV income. It is the company that competes in Europe.

It is also insolvent to the tune of £23 million.

3. The Celtic Football And Athletic Company Limited – This was set up in 1994 and was previously Pacific Shelf 595 Ltd. It is not the football club despite its name. Not much goes through it. It had £80K of turnover in 2010. It was probably set up just to preserve and maintain the old name.

The conclusion is that the football club is Celtic F.C Ltd, a company that was formed in 2001. It won the league in 2002, 2004 and 2006-8, although it seems that the 2002 win was done by 2 separate companies. However the Celtic fans don’t have any problem in acknowledging that season’s league win.

I don’t understand how a company that is not the football club can own players but I don’t know the exact regulations and presumably they are not breaking any rules. Perhaps Whyte was looking at a similar arrangement for Rangers and having Rangers Group owning the players, but the club continues to pay their wages? That’s a scary thought.

The bottom line is that the company that plays Celtic’s games was formed in 2001 and has won the league 5 times. “If you know your history” and all that…. “

Thanks to Frankie at Gersnet for allowing me to quote “Bluedell”.

Now this was posted in February, but it’s very topical now given the multiple scenarios we believe are on the table for Rangers.

The simple question, given Celtic’s trading arrangements, and the fact they are allowed to keep their history, is why can’t Rangers change their trading arrangements in a similar fashion?

Now that’s not a question put like that because it’s my desire, it’s simply to ask the question, in the face of an avalanche of reports from allegedly credible media outlets that Rangers cannot go through the Newco route without losing our history.

It seems to me that it suits Rangers enemies to push this from two angles;

1) Should any buyer choose this route, then severe pressure will be put on the authorities for all of our history to be wiped in one fell swoop

2) The fear factor of this happening will allow the club’s history to remain, but leave Rangers as a shadow of it’s former self until a CVA is cleared, which may take the best part of a decade, by which time Celtic could have moved far closer to our 54 titles.

It really is an anxious time for all bears, but I can only hope and pray that any Newco route will cite the above example of trading arrangements of our closest neighbours for an example of how our club could be structured.

Bill

100 "Fans"

The Sun report this week that “Rangers fans” had bought 100 tickets for the upcoming Dundee Utd versus Rangers match may well be true, but it should emphasise even more that Rangers fans should NOT be buying tickets for this match and should not put one penny more in to Dundee United.

While it may be accurate to state there will be 100 supporters in the away section in the aforementioned match, how can anyone be sure that the supporters are Rangers fans?

If we work on the assumption that those that have purchased said tickets are Rangers supporters, they have not only acted against the wishes of the vast majority of Rangers supporters, but also against the wishes of the club.

They have also just been used by Dundee United in a propaganda war against Rangers. How else would the Sun have concluded that 100 Rangers supporters have bought tickets?

So, just in case it isn’t sinking in how much this club detests Rangers, the ticket sales information mysteriously found its way to the Scottish Sun. How did it get there?

Would it be beyond the realms of possibility that Dundee United,  in an attempt to undermine Rangers’ boycott and to cause friction within the Rangers support leaked it?

They may have failed spectacularly to achieve the former, but they have most certainly succeeded in achieving the latter.

I don’t doubt that some of that 100 will indeed be Rangers fans, but their “loyal” actions have compromised Rangers’ bargaining position, and allowed an enemy of Rangers FC to indulge in some (albeit desperate) one-upmanship that they should never have been allowed to do.

There is no good reason why any Rangers supporter should consider buying tickets for this match.

An unbroken attendance record?

Is it really worth giving power to our enemies, and to go against the wishes of  the vast majority of the support and against the club, for some bragging rights?

Who are you going to brag to?

Most Rangers fans I know would be distinctly unimpressed by such a boast.

Let’s get things clear

The boycott was decided for a reason, and not on hearsay but cold hard fact. Dundee United were central to Rangers being shafted by the SPL last season, and not just when our application to transfer our SPL licence was refused, but also when the rules were changed on Administration and Insolvency events AFTER Rangers entered Administration.

If there was any chance that Rangers would come out of Administration, the risk that they would go back in to Administration was too much for even the hapless Duff and Phelps to consider, with such consequences.

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/103942-spl-clubs-approve-new-financial-fair-play-rules-after-meeting-at-hampden/

It’s called shifting the goalposts.

Don’t forget, that while it’s easy for Rangers’ detractors to lambast Charles Green for making a stand and stating once and for all that Rangers and our support will no longer prop up those who tried to kill our club during it’s darkest days, and accuse him of over reacting, Green was the one who sat on the other side of the table during weeks of negotiations.

He is also well aware that the SPL knew last October of Rangers financial situation but stood by and did nothing as Rangers slid towards Administration.

He is also aware that the SPL are determined to punish Rangers, with a pre determined punishment of stripping Rangers of SPL titles.

He knows that Dundee United, along with Aberdeen, Celtic and Hibs are central to this ongoing agenda, with a hearing on the SPL’s flawed “investigation” of Rangers due to be heard just a week after the cup tie

Not one Rangers fan should be financing any of these clubs.

If you do so, you are sending out a clear message that Rangers fans are mugs and the club and support should continue to be shafted, as we will just accept whatever anyone chooses to do and continue to line pockets of Rangers’ enemies all over Scotland.

Rangers statement this morning is a subtle message to the support to put the club first, not your own personal attendance record

http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/3155-cup-tie-statement

“The Club would like to remind supporters of the decision not to accept tickets for Tannadice and believe our fans, even those who take pride in following the Club to every match, understand our position.”

I’ve heard these supporters likened to as “scabs”.

That may be offensive, but, in many cases scabs shafted their workmates and compromised their bargaining position in order to put food on the table for their children, as unpalatable as their actions were to their colleagues

Our fans have no such excuse.

So, if you are one of the hundred, this would be the time to privately admit your mistake, bin the ticket, take the financial hit, and ensure that in future your actions are not selfish, but taken in consideration of Rangers the club, and the wider Rangers support

The club needs the support to back it, in order that the club, the team and the support are no longer shafted at every turn. A handful of matches should not be too much of a sacrifice to make to allow the club to strengthen.

This should be the position of ALL Rangers fans with regards to the hate filled four, until they apologise for their actions and are removed from the decision making processes of Scottish Football.

Bill.

2013 – A Year to Focus and Prioritise

As we are now in 2013 it is a good time to look at the year ahead.

2012 was an Annus horribilis for all Rangers fans, and I’m most certainly in the group that is not willing to forgive and forget those who tried to kill our club, but that most certainly does not mean that we can ignore the here and now, and the immediate future.

While I would not recommend anyone to read the ramblings of Channel 4’s Alex Thomson, nor those of Phil 4 Names, their most recent output should act as a jolt to the system for bears who believe that all is rosy, and that the club’s enemies have retreated never to return.

Also, Protestants in both Scotland and Ulster should beware that there are those whose sole purpose is to erode their culture, smear it and wipe it from the rich heritage of our fine nations, and replace it with their own, swept along by propaganda, hatred and revisionism

What we as a collective have to understand is that no matter how often certain hacks and bloggers are shown up to be liars and bigots, they will continue to come back for more, and will not stop until we are as relentless as they are, and until we have completely smashed their network.

That is no mean feat and may take many years, and will take more than just a few well worded statements from Charles Green, or leaks from James Traynor once in position

Graham Spiers, despite being humiliated on live television by Rangers blogger Chris Graham, is still penning his slanted views on Rangers.

Phil Gillivan too, despite being branded sectarian by the Scottish Sun, has stepped up his hatred not just of Rangers, but of active unionists in Ulster and beyond, and is now pushing for RC Exclusivity with regards to the proposed Famine Memorial in Glasgow.

Alex Thomson has laid out in detail what the Scottish Football authorities and HMRC will be attempting to do to Rangers in 2013

Despite the temptation to focus attentions on journos like Thomson and Spiers, their egos are presenting their agenda as if they are setting it, when they are only reflecting the wishes of their acolytes and reaching out to their perceived fan base.

We Rangers fans should be focusing firstly on what these specific agendas are, and secondly how we can fight the agendas. Clearly, we have to do it together, cleverly, and in numbers

What we also need to do is not be distracted from these agendas, towards issues close to the heart of Rangers fans, but not necessarily short term issues that require to be addressed urgently.

So what are these agendas against Rangers, and the wider Protestant communities that we should be aware of?

-The Stripping of titles, and further sanctions by the SFA and SPL – Despite Rangers winning the FTTT

-Sanctions on Rangers from HMRC – It appears now that some sections of the Anti Rangers activist network are now willing to move on from the “Rangers are dead” mantra, and not only accept that Rangers are still the same club, but they wish the new holding corporate identity to pay for the alleged sins of the previous regime(s).  As expected these people are cherry picking sections of the FTTT judgement rather than the ruling itself

-The continued mistreatment of Rangers supporters both at Ibrox and around Scotland by Scotland’s national police force

-The agenda to ensure Glasgow’s proposed Famine memorial is exclusively an Irish Roman Catholic shrine, and not an inclusive memorial. Given that the most commonly used term in council circles is “inclusion”, that should be the objective of all those with a passing interest. Anything other than an inclusive and historically accurate memorial would be based on sectarian values and an insult to all non RCs who perished in the Famine

Of course there are other agendas, and some being pushed by the same people, for instance, the elimination of Orange marches, which will need to be addressed, but for me the issues above are more immediate, and cannot be deferred in favour of anything else.

So, with all due respect, I’ll “pass” on requests to bring back “The Billy Boys”, or anything else that is not immediate, or relevant.

We as a support have a dreadful record in recent years in falling well short of both being pro active, and of being unified, and some of the nonsense that has taken place in the last month or two between sets of Rangers supporters, and by Rangers minded bloggers who cannot handle criticism has been nothing short of disgraceful, when the real enemy is still out there plotting against our club.

This has to stop, before all of the agendas being pursued by our enemies are concluded to their benefit and to our expense.

These fights cannot be won alone by Charles Green. We Rangers supporters need to do our bit.

We need to be relentless and ensure that 2013 is truly the year that Rangers emerge ready to build on the great work done so far by Green, and now the team as it sits top of division three.

We cannot allow any of the great work done by the club to be compromised in the coming months. When we have succeeded in doing so, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t, we should then turn our attention to the issues of the past, and ensure that BDO are driven to punish all who conspired against Rangers in the years leading up to Administration.

Supporting Rangers by buying tickets and merchandise (or investing) is no longer enough.

Hopefully one day it will be, but for now it should only be viewed as one aspect of supporting the club.

Bill.

Hands Across The Water

As Protestant unionists in Ulster have expressed their frustration at being marginalised and treated like second class citizens in their own country, the lack of interest for the rioters back story in mainland UK has been deeply upsetting. That’s not to say rioting should be condoned, but this is a society on the mainland that agonised over the reasons for the 2011 England riots, where there was no good reason.

Do Gooders blamed the 2011 riots on Economic decline, the breakdown of social morality, a failure of the state to engage with the lower classes and classism, and blamed the right wing government for creating a society that left young people feeling angered and frustrated, despite absolutely no evidence to support this.

Other than the unionist community itself, which has also condemned the Belfast Riots, this distinct lack of interest from the mainland in the deep seated reasons for the disenfranchisement and disillusionment of the Protestant people who are under siege and under oppression is shameful.

Those do gooders and guardianistas of 2011 London or Salford are absent without leave when it comes to  trying to explain root causes behind the latest outburst of frustration in Belfast.

Let’s be clear, Belfast City Council’s decision to limit flying of the national flag is an outrage, and unionists have every right to feel angered.

Belfast now sits curiously as one of the only cities on the planet that does not fly its national flag 365 days a year.

The Protestant people of Ulster simply feel that they are being marginalised by Republican murderers and terrorists who are being allowed free reign by a liberal party in the alliance to do so.

The flag issue is just a symptom of a larger set of issues that are affecting the Ulster people, with the main political parties seeming absolutely clueless as to how to defend their people.

Like the position here in Scotland, as the Protestant people’s political beliefs have largely become more moderate and mainstream over the last 20 years, the Catholic population has done the opposite.

Where a Catholic voter in Ulster may have been repulsed by Sinn Fein 20 years ago, they are now voting for those murderers and terrorists who tell us all they were never terrorists and are just politicians.

These voters who have switched affiliations look to have been manipulated by the best propagandists on the planet.

Unionist parties on the periphery, such as the TUV and the PUP are supporting their people and championing the issues that the Protestant people have, but they have much to do before they can exert the kind of influence that unionists and Protestants deserve

These people do not deserve to have terrorists and murderers run their country, then moralise to them.

I believe they have underestimated the will of the Republican community to wipe them from Ulster and separate the Six Counties from the UK.

They have simply changed tack from murdering and bombing to agitating, provoking and demeaning the Unionist people, and it’s time that the Unionist Community recognised what is going on, and ended their various rivalries to defend their community from extinction. Together.

While I have many readers in Ulster, most are based in Scotland, and many of those readers, sadly will be wondering what this has to do with them.

It’s this apathy and lack of support that has left our brethren exposed in Ulster, and will ultimately lead to the Protestant community being subject to the very same marginalisation in Scotland.

In fact, it’s happening already, and our media are ignoring it, as it is riddled with Scottish Republicans and nationalists.

In Glasgow too have been naïve and unprepared to deal with a collective who wishes to control everything in our wee country, and most probably do already.

We should have more to be ashamed of, as the Protestant people have a large majority in the west of Scotland, but we keep voting for people who hate us.

While the Protestant people have been sleeping, the most influential positions in national government, local government, law and media have been filled by Anti English and Anti protestant sectarian bigots.

While the only grouping who have slowly started recognising certain agendas are Rangers supporters fighting for their club, the unionists within that support, along with other unionists across Scotland, need to also step up to defend the Union before it’s too late.

It’s either that, or we as a people face extinction.

Bill

Independence

As I have observed the Rangers support over the past 8 months I have become concerned at the factions within our ranks.

Each time that it looks like there is hope that we can become a truly unified force, some Rangers fan or fans out there decide to abuse another group, or accuse them of some heinous act that they never have proof of.

It has to stop.

I could name names of all of those who have taken a pop at each other over the last 12 months but it would achieve the square root of nothing. Seriously.

So, when I am posting on my blog and on Twitter, I will try and communicate positively with every Rangers fan and fan group, no matter if it does annoy people who feel we have to all be in warring factions. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

It’s one of the reasons I am Independent, in order that I don’t have to be aligned to any one group, and why I don’t post my work on select fans forums or fanzines.

We all have to talk to each other, be civil and work to build a positive and promising future for Rangers

Hopefully you will have seen from my work that I believe there are people from all walks of life in the UK and beyond that make it their mission to destroy Rangers FC, and to destroy the Protestant faith

That time has not passed either. We should not be complacent because Rangers have survived and now have strong leadership.

If you have fire in your belly and passion for a bit of activity, then you should be focusing on those who are still working to damage Rangers.

If you have any information on subjects or people I have blogged about, then please email billpooleblog@gmail.com

Bill.

Distant Cousins?

This small world of Rangers haters just gets smaller and smaller.

This is my third blog on Margaret Gribbon of Bridge Litigation, SPFA, the SFA and Pro Legal.

Another Rangers hater, Joan McAlpine, claims on her blog “AC Milan and Inter Milan, who share a stadium, have a great museum which I visted a couple of years ago with my football daft friend Margaret Gribbon, whose granda was a Celtic scout”

Remember the “if it walks like a duck” cliché?

The only Celtic scout with such a name was the legendary Jimmy Gribben, who signed Jock Stein.

Now, I can’t explain why Jimmy and Margaret spell their names differently, but it’s McAlpine who states her friend told her it was her Grandfather.

So, has Margaret been telling her friend some white lies to impress her, and hope she wouldn’t notice the spelling difference, or is Gribbon really a descendant of the scout who took Stein to Celtic, but with a generation inbetween who couldn’t spell?

If she did tell McAlpine the truth, it would then appear that this particular Rangers hater is a distant relative of arch anti Rangers activist Phil MacGiollabhain

MacGiollabhain recently wrote on a blog:

“As we wandered down to Michael’s newly discovered resting place we joked about my Grannie’s cousin “The Grib” and how he was part of the club like no other

I was born and grew up around from Jimmy Gribben’s house and I was never out of it as a wee fella”

I wonder if Phil and Margaret have regular family gatherings to discuss how to damage Rangers FC? Or is Phil telling tall tales again?

Bill

SPFA: Rangers Players Must Resign Now

As it has become abundantly clear over the last 24 hours, there is  some sinister activity underway by the SPFA against Rangers FC.

As I have previously blogged, SPFA lawyer Margaret Gribbon is a Rangers hater.

In fact, after I blogged the picture of Gribbon at Celtic Park with Rosie Kane, an  old cliché came to mind: if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.

So, I don’t think it would be outside the realms of possibility that Gribbon is another Celtic Supporter with an unhinged hatred for Rangers.

http://williampoole.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/margaret-grubbon-associates/

I would never have taken Fraser Wishart for a fool. In fact, he’s a very intelligent man, so it is a surprise to see him quoted in the newspapers as this “case” against Rangers unravels

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sfa-v-rangers-the-strange-case-1485866

It looks like he has been manipulated by Gribbon and  he needs to wake up before she damages all credibility he has worked so hard to achieve.

Make no mistake, the statement quoted in Keith Jackson’s article has her hand all over it.

As Jackson points out, this “case” is riddled with inaccuracies and appears to be without the backing of any players yet.

So, that begs the question, why remain in the union if you are a Rangers player, or, indeed, a Rangers supporter.

The time has come for this fight from Rangers to be taken down a level.

Yes, let Charles Green deal with the pending legal cases, but every single Rangers player and supporter playing in Scotland should do their bit and resign publicly from the SPFA.

This, would compromise the SPFA, and show that it is not acting for its clients, but is simply acting against Rangers, and has been since the summer.

While there is so much positivity around Ibrox, it should not be forgotten that Gribbon, the SPFA, and players’ agents were instrumental in losing Rangers millions of pounds when we most needed it, by engineering the “free” moves of several high value footballers.

It is now attempting to blackmail Rangers to stop pursuing cash the club is rightly due.

Those involved should have their positions made untenable

Rangers fans should also be aware, that while the SPL’s own Rangers hating lawyer Rod McKenzie prepares to ignore the FTT judgement in favour of his own verdict, any appeal that Rangers may have that will go to the SFA’s Judicial Panel, may well end up in front of Gribbon, whose profile on the Pro Legal Site states “Margaret has also recently been appointed to the SFA’s Judicial Panel.”

So, on two fronts, this woman is in position to damage Rangers, and the club need to ensure that cannot happen.

Bill