o Newco Rangers have £1.2m in the bank and the courts have just arrested £620k, leaving circa £600k available. In early September. Football clubs have their cash high water mark in June, after season ticket money arrives, with the low-point coming the month before, so is liquidation just around the corner? Not necessarily.
The club has a couple of significant problems: it’s short of money and has significant monthly outgoings, but it also has assets, and may have buyers for those assets.
Murray Park is an outrageous folly and should be sold immediately. Protests to secure it have been acts of self-harm; swallow your pride and sell. This is a football club in acute danger, pretentions of grandeur, and Murray Park is exactly that, should be shed immediately. Albion car park and the Edmiston House office building are superfluous property assets and could be sold without stopping football operations.
Mike Ashley has an asset Newco want back – stadium naming rights. He could repatriate these rights as a sweetener in a deal to buy Murray Park, Albion and Edmiston. Newco could leaseback the training ground, Sports Direct would be able to build a stonking big tracksuit shop on the Albion site and the club could boast to fans that they negotiated back Ibrox naming rights.
This might sound like a bitter pill but it will keep the lights on a little longer, makes irrefutable sense and is relatively painless. The original Rangers existed for over a century without Murray Park, one of Scotland’s best run topflight football clubs’ Motherwell, train on a school sports field, Newco Rangers could do the same. A little humility right now would be good for them.
There remains a problem: cumulatively, these assets are unlikely to be worth more than the £4m the club hope to raise in their proposed (not underwritten) share issue. This is still not enough to see them through the season. Expenditure for the last season accounts are available, 2012-13, averaged close to £3m per month. The club will need close to £20m between now and season ticket renewal time.
Creditors must be paid or the club will go into administration. To pay creditors, without sufficient income or credit, more assets must be sold, specifically Ibrox.
If they go into administration before selling Ibrox, don’t expect events to follow a similar path to the one Duff & Phelps took when administering Oldco Rangers. Duff & Phelps were appointed by a liquidation specialist with a specific remit. They even tried to sign a player. Newco in administration would follow a more conventional route: redundancies would take place and assets would be sold to pay creditors.
Ibrox is the only significant asset administrators would have to sell. It could generate enough to pay creditors in full and get the club through to the end of the season. Finding a buyer would be the main challenge, but as we all now know, the club can stand or fall, but whoever controls Ibrox can continue to get a rental return from successor club.
An administrator could dismiss the manager and some other highly paid staff, reducing costs to a more manageable level, and pay ordinary creditors in full.
Newco Rangers need to finish in the top four to be in with a chance of promotion, which would be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one with the right manager in place. They could be a top flight club next season.
This is not how fans wanted the Newco to progress but after they were unable to raise more than the £5.5m Charles Green’s consortium put on the table to buy Rangers assets, the future was mapped out.
Costs for police, insurance, electricity, IT, office staff, security and the million other items needed by a football club who occasionally host 50,000 people will be no less than circa £17m p.a – before you employ a footballer.
Newco’s income could rise from the £19m they earned in season 2012-13 (though possibly not this season), but there’s just not enough money to run a football team. Scottish Premiership football would be a chastening experience, the levels of austerity required going forward would be draconian.
Fans can protest that they are watching the same old club all they like, but it’s not going to look anything like the Rangers you or I have ever known – and I knew them under John Greig. And here’s the nub, the most optimistic financial projections are based on Newco selling the same number of tickets Oldco sold. Would a Newco competing alongside St Mirren and Kilmarnock sell any more than the 23,000 season tickets they’ve sold this year?
The long-term financial fundamentals remain unchanged. In 2012 the Blue Knights concluded there was no viable future for football at Ibrox if Rangers were liquidated. Two years later all the evidence reaffirms that position. This is a dead multi-club franchise.
Looking forward to the Maestro Match tomorrow. See you there.
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Hoops
Was reminded to watch my Chewing The Fat collection last night, came across this cracker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLxLmFhROqY
Guidetti’s goal for the Swedish U21′s not too shabby either, doesn’t look too far off a starting place to me!
Wit
HH
Hail Hail
Goodbye disgusting club it was not nice knowing you.
Rangers, humility in the same sentence I admire your optimism Paul 67!!
Let them eat pies!
Top ten
Neg anon2
I should have qualified my first post by saying it was my belief but I thought it was obvious enough that I didn’t need to.
I am not looking for anything sinister. I can see people I respect lining up beside people I don’t particularly care for. That upsets me.
Now I think both you and I and most people here have no interest in this united front garbage with another Glasgow team and its associates on a range of other issues, I don’t see this as any different.
We hear on a daily basis how most Celtic fans don’t want anything to do with the other lot and they don’t like being labelled as Old Firm, well I am sorry but this gesture is as old firm as you can get for me.
I am not angry, just very disappointed.
Coincidentally Barry Ferguson the man who gave the vicky to Scotland and Walter Walkout on the National team are not people I want anything to do with nor could I respect their views on Scotland with a record like that.
I respect Billy and Bertie for what they have done for Celtic and for Scotland. They have done far more for our reputation than the other two men I mentioned.
As for Frank McAvennie, the only thing I’d listen to him about is where the burds are.
What was the background to posts in previous article about Billy and Bertie being silenced.
But, Paul. Dave King is about to ride to the rescue. Isn’t he??
Paul…..do you think they’ll ever be that humble? It’ll take a major mindset change
td – the trust statement did you actually read it ?
opening passage –
Why we think the SLO function should be reviewed
Published on Friday 5th September, 2014 by Celtic Trust
Resolution on Governance proposed by the Trust
We are asking for a review of the SLO post based on Article 35 of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations and the SLO Handbook (2011).
We are calling for the structure of the SLO role and the club’s relationship to the SLO role to be reviewed in reference to these UEFA guidelines. We are not calling for a competence review of the present incumbent of the role, as this is someone who has our full support for the work they have done in an SLO capacity thus far
Ernie:
Portillo and the Miliband brothers seem far from ‘chips off the old block’…
Now the zombie son of the hun on the other hand…
It’s not like me to apologise for a long post – but sorry for the long post!
My dad wrote this piece not long before he died and hopefully it conveys what Celtic meant to him and what he passed on to me.
My family are walking at midnight to raise money for the Hospice in Clydebank where my dad died. He, and we, were looked after brilliantly by the staff there. The girls will walk in my dad’s name, and in his place and for him and all other Bankies.
If anyone is minded to make a donation then the just giving link is at the bottom of the page but it is really his spirit and enthusiasm which counts and hopefully that comes out in his own words.
———————————————————————————————————————
The Penny Special
The theme of the jungle first registered with me over 72 years ago in April 1941.
Only a few weeks before, German bombers rained down on my home town of Clydebank, and in the space of 48 hours over 60,000 people became homeless with no roof over their head. Yes, many died over those two nights, but what I saw and recall was that nobody—and I mean no one at all— had a house to live in any more. Not in my town anyway.
One night you were in your bed, and the next you were a refugee.
Yet within a few weeks my family were back in our own house ( we were one of the lucky families ) and everyone was doing their best to get on amidst the rubble and devastation.
The entire community was struggling though and so any form of entertainment or distraction from the dire circumstances was more than welcome.
That was how I came to be singing to friends, neighbours and anyone else who wandered into what was then known as Harmony Hall in Dalmuir. I was only 13 years old and one of a number of singers who took to the stage for impromptu concerts in an attempt to bring a bit of cheer to a badly scarred population. When singing, we were accompanied by a man called Mr McKelvie on his accordion—and together with his squeezebox we tried our best to lift the collective mood.
Mr McKelvie was a Partick Thistle fan—in fact he might have played for Thistle—and he spoke away to myself and my friends about football in general and about our team—my team—my beloved, but as yet unseen, Celtic!
In those days we had had a street team, which played in literally paper thin strips. Many of us worshipped Celtic and would listen for news of our heroes on the wireless – as we had never been to Celtic Park.
However, all that was to change in April 1941 when Mr McKelvie arranged for myself and some others to make the long journey from Dalmuir West… to Paradise.
The quaintly named Auchenshuggle Tram Car would take me directly from the terminus at Dalmuir all the way to the front door at Celtic Park, and such was the sheer “Magic” of this journey that I was not too sure if all tram cars ended up at Celtic Park? Was that what tram cars were for? Just to take people to Celtic Park? That is the way it seemed to me.
And the cost of this huge journey, believe it or not, was just one penny—the famous “penny special”.
It took an age to cover the iron miles to Paradise and I remember counting the number of pawn shops along the way ( the number 51 comes to mind ). This exercise helped me to pass the time on the shoogly journey and perhaps helped my arithmetic. The number of stops—and pubs for that matter—were too numerous to count — and those were totals that I would never manage to keep.
Eventually, after what seemed forever on the tram, it was time to get off at what I would come to consider as “my stop”—and there it was—right in front of me—that sacred of sacred places—- Celtic Park and my ultimate destination —- The Jungle!
I soon realised that it was important to get to The Jungle early so that I could get down to the wall at the front which separated me from my heroes. Once there, you could hear their breathing, see their sweat, see their joy and share their anguish. You could rejoice with them, cheer them on, chide them, humour them and most important of all…… lift them!
That was the character of The Jungle.
And what heroes there were for me in those first early days – Delaney, Hogg, McDonald, Divers, Crum, Murphy, Geatons and more – heroes—gods to a man—because they wore that shirt—our shirt—- MY shirt!
The Jungle was crammed with a marvellous cross section of real people, real Celtic supporters. Most were products of Scotland’s heavy industries – dockers, riveters, welders, hauders on, labourers from the Clyde shipyards, steelworkers and miners from Lanarkshire, building and construction workers, and “McAlpine’s Fusiliers” – the Irish navvies.
All were there to support our beloved Celtic and to escape from the drudgery of heavy manual labour. They worshipped their heroes and took great pride in the fact that because of their great football skills many of the players had escaped the factories, mines and yards. The bond between the players and the fans in the jungle had to be experienced and remembered—- for life.
From the Jungle we gazed across to the stand and wondered who were “these gentry” who sat in great style immediately opposite us? We felt that they were too far away from the players and the action. We knew the players’ good points and bad points, could see and sense a players fitness… or lack of it!
We also knew our referees- oh how we knew them!—and would offer advice on their eyesight, doubted their parentage, and could foretell the outcome of a game just by the way they shook hands with the captains.
“ That big toe rag has just worked the grip- we’ve nae chance! Just wait and see!”.
Some of the jungle fans were miles ahead of their time – they wanted early retirement for some very well known referees.
The refs and the players were all able to hear our comments, of course, and that Glasgow/ West of Scotland humour and mostly good natured repartee was what made the jungle—The Jungle!
Back to the standites. Who were they? Where did they come from? We thought they must be rich Irish Publicans, Parish Priests, jumped up city councillors, lawyers, accountants and maybe the odd doctor. We believed they were sedate spectators, whereas we were the “real” fans and that the team always knew we would be there through good times and through bad.
The standites were another breed, were too far away from the pitch, and had no idea of the details that we could see in The Jungle.
However, time passed, and suddenly a train from Glasgow Central was taking me away from my by now usual spot in The Jungle and what I viewed was my life on a Saturday. Now I was being whisked away to experience the strictures of National Service in England— miles away from the village of Dalmuir West and miles away from Celtic Park.
For me, following Celtic was back to the wireless which seemed unbearable on that train journey. However a junglebhoy has to make do with the cards he is dealt and for the next few years I would report to a variety of RAF stations throughout England to a variety of Air Field Marshalls and Squadron Leaders.
My position in the RAF?
Well, that would be in the Signals Corps – sending signals up and down the country, manning the telegraph wire, in charge of communications— and of course with constant access to a wireless which allowed me to receive special messages from a certain spot in the East End of Glasgow.
Celtic Park might be far away, but I would always know what was going on, who was playing and how we had played.
When I was demobbed several years later, The Penny Special had disappeared to be replaced by the “supporters bus”, and now for two shillings a week us junglites would travel to such far off places as Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Motherwell, Stirling, Airdrie, and of course…. Ibrox.
We sang our way around Scotland— “ Sure, it’s a Grand Old team to play for……” — resounded everywhere we went.
Our bus was the Emerald Celtic Supporters bus from Whitecrook and it left from outside John Brown’s shipyard only stopping at “ Simeone’s corner” to pick up those of us who practically lived in Clydebank’s most famous café.
Over the years, the faces on the field changed while many of those in The Jungle just got older. However, I was still down at the wall, watching the players and occasionally you would get a word with someone on the field.
Then came Charles Patrick Tully – and as often as not Bonnie Prince Charlie would chat to the fans behind that wall—what a thrill!
However, the supporters bus brought an unexpected experience. Once a week there was a draw on the bus and if you won, you were given two seats for the stand! Yes, in amongst the standites, that motley crew I had stared across at for years and wondered who they were and where they had come from?
As the years went on, the comfort of a seat in the stand in amongst the surprisingly normal standites became more and more attractive.
Little did I know back then that one of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s team mates would change my life forever. We just knew him in those early days as “Knee” Stein. By the time Jock arrived at Celtic Park I was organising the Whitecrook Emerald bus, and was able to see for myself just how many buses were going to Celtic park— it seemed to me there were thousands! Whatsmore, if our bus was anything to go by there were not enough buses as ours was always full.
So, when “ Knee” Stein came back to the club as manager and brought about the winning of the league title at Fir Park Motherwell on a summer’s afternoon in 1966 – ending a 12 year wait— I celebrated with all the other fans and dreamed of my team playing in the relatively new European Cup.
Before a ball was kicked in that competition I had two unusual thoughts.
1. Celtic could win this! Celtic have a habit of winning unusual competitions and cups. They won the Empire Exhibition Cup and the Coronation Cup, so why not the European Cup?
2. The second thought was that I had watched literally thousands of Celtic fans follow the team by climbing on board endless numbers of buses and coaches over a number of years. What was vexing me now was—would those same supporters board a plane to follow their team? Of course they would, I reasoned. It took thousands of buses to fill Celtic park—it only took a couple of buses to fill a plane.
I was convinced that Celtic fans would fly to watch their heroes—and if you can organise a bus—how hard would it be to organise a plane?
But all of that was to come and is another story altogether.
Over the years and decades, I will have watched literally hundreds of Celtic players—perhaps thousands. As a piece of pure fun, I wondered about who would be my all time favourite eleven? An impossible task of course, but just for fun, here are my conclusions.
Over those years I watched them all play—bar just one— and despite there being many many great Celtic players over the decades this is my team—MY Celtic.
Goalkeeper
Willie Miller—Just the best goalkeeper Celtic ever had. Nicknamed the Cat – he was the undoubted star of an under performing team at the time.
Right Back
Danny McGrain – simply the greatest fullback ever!
Right Half ( an old fashioned term I know )
Malky McDonald – What a player McDonald was—in any position and
Possibly the best footballer I ever had the privilege to see.
Centre Half
Willie Corbett – a rock of a centre half who bossed all around him.
Left Back
Tommy Gemmell – the most unique right footed left back- and oh what
Goals he could score- and what an engine!
Right Wing
Jimmy Johnstone – the wonder winger who did everything with a football
and who could beat a man several times over. Most importantly, Jimmy
gave his team mates a rest and drew opponents all over the place.
Inside Right
Jimmy Delaney — a complete footballer of the highest calibre
Inside left
Bertie Auld— crafty, clever, hard as nails and a general. A Footballing Brain
And gallous with it.
Left Wing
Charlie Tully— a wizard, an entertainer—Cheekie Charlie, Bonnie Prince
Charlie who could terrorize a defence and entertain a crowd .
And as for strikers for this lot to serve?
James Edward McGrory and Henrik Larsson – about both of whom I need say
absolutely nothing — their names and record say all that needs saying.
If I had to choose a substitute or two I would start with someone that is perhaps a surprise.
George Connelly had everything—absolutely everything and is as close to Malky McDonald as I have seen.
Davie Hay and Bobby Murdoch would be in every squad.
Bobby Hogg was a great defender and Joe McBride could have been even greater than McGrory had he not been injured.
I could go on and on……. Lennox, Evans, Collins, Fernie, Lubo…….
I have followed Celtic all over the world, on planes, buses, boats and trains.
I am now 86 and for all of those 72 years it has been exciting, but nothing will ever beat the sheer thrill of climbing on board that first Penny Special.
Except perhaps getting off the same tram at my stop and heading for the Jungle!
——————————————————————————————————————-
https://www.justgiving.com/WalkingforJimMcGinley
NegAnon2
Can we perhaps get back to supporting the Celtic & leave all the other topics aside
Far to many using this forum to suit a political agenda……..or express too much interest in the Sevco Honeys…….
How’s about supporting the Tic
Paddy T
Humble. Don’t THEY deserve better.
BT
Thanks for the kind words on the previous post.
I know your own hospice and the work it does and all the good that these places do. The people are absolutely remarkable.
I hope you are recovering well and on the mend.
Hopefully all that is good is in front of you.
Cheers
BRTH
I see one way of Sevco ever getting back to normality, of having any chance of competing…
And I don’t know if it’s a possibility (and if it is it would be back to the old establishment favours)…
Sell up all the business assets, pay off debts, restructure and streamline and rent Hampden for the foreseeable future.
The same could be done I guess for Ibrox, as Paul67 has alluded, but would the costs not be higher?
The one major factor in the team from Govan’s favour is that they don’t have much to beat.
Aberdeen & United are the best of a sorry bunch but are not anywhere near the level of their sides from the ’80’s that kept the former rangers club well down the Premier League.
Celtic should still be on guard for their return regardless of the state they are in.
PL has taken a huge gamble in RD that’s were our focus should be on.
We must set our own standards. They shouldn’t be set by the state of others.
Still can’t see any scenario where THEY won’t be back playing us on league business next season.
It ain’t going to happen.
And DD and PL will be to the forefront of those making sure that it ain’t going to happen.
blantyretim is praying for the Knox family
Wishing you well for the recovery, pin or plate removal or TKR? Hadn’t see the blog much in the last week or so.
Take care and you’ll be back on your feet before you know it.
RobinBhoy
Kevtic
12:28 on
6 September, 2014
You have got it dead on.
Time people started concentrating on Celtic.
Was enjoying that article till I got to the bit about the manager being dismissed :-( .
Still ” Always look on the bright side of life”
maybe Durranty might get the poison chalice. They certainly couldn’t afford any other muppet from their previous life.
Snowmanforever— csc.
Ha just noticed that I managed to copy and paste Neganon’s name into my old man’s article at the bottom.
Sorry N — I find that funny.
When my Grandfather died we found that the gravedigger’s had opened the wrong plot at Dalnotter cemetery.
They were very embarrassed.
We called my Grandfaher ” Steptoe” because he looked like Steptoe senior from the telly.
As we couldn’t hold a burial ceremony because he could not be interred, and with all the mourners gathered around a coffin which was just lying on the ground, My dad had a word with the priest and then just announced.
” See you tomorrow Steptoe — we are away for a drink!”
The old man was buried properly the following day with only a few of us there.
Life is a laugh ain’t it?
quonno
And the folk who want to do both??
Newco Rangers need to finish in the top four to be in with a chance of promotion, which would be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one with the right manager in place. They could be a top flight club next season.
I must be out of touch.is it not CHAMPIONS go up automatically and second team plays second bottom of league above.
still if there is a clearout will top 4 be beyond them.
BT if you’re still about – coupon pick?
FAVOURITE UNCLE
12:33 on
6 September, 2014
Newco Rangers need to finish in the top four to be in with a chance of promotion, which would be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one with the right manager in place. They could be a top flight club next season.
I must be out of touch.is it not CHAMPIONS go up automatically and second team plays second bottom of league above.
still if there is a clearout will top 4 be beyond them.
If it turned out that way there would be league reconstruction by invite.
Nothing but nothing will be allowed to get in the way of THEM being in top flight of Scottish Football.
saint stivs
Yes I read it but I don’t understand it, can you explain it to me?
Monaghan1900
09:55 on 6 September, 2014
FFin’ ideas men are going to pull them through:
“Have been watching Wall Street and was wondering if this would work .
The [Sevco] fans both personal and through [Sevco] First must have about 15-20% of the shares . What if we all sold them at the same time on Monday . Share price plummets and some of the investment trusts take fright and sell . Share price goes down to 10p . Week later we rebuy the shares at 10p-15p .means our percentage increases , gets rid of some faceless investors .
Worse case money sitting for a new share issue.”
===================================
More Gordon the Gopher than Gordon Geko.
Favourite Uncle.
If it remains the same as last season then the play off’s for the top division work as follows –
Championship 4th play Championship 3rd, home and away (I think)
Winner of that game plays Champonship 2nd, again home and away (again, I think!)
Winner of that game plays 2nd bottom in top division, home and away
Winner of that gets to play in the top leage for 2015/16.
It’s tougher to get in the SPFL Top Division than to negotiate the Champions League Qualifiers! Which is nice.
Robinbhoy
plate out ,unsuccessful, nr next im afraid….
jobo
ive got bristil city on my oine if nobody has picked them
tonydonnelly67
12:36 on
6 September, 2014
saint stivs
Yes I read it but I don’t understand it, can you explain it to me?
——————–
the trust are asking if the SLO position is operated in the manner that UEFA requires.
Maybe the Deady Bears could simply renege on all that debt and then print their own money ? .
Might struggle to be allowed to play in Europe but hey ho.
darren o dea on off the ball, very articulate, almost shy guy.
nice to listen to.
brth.
thats a brilliant read, ta.
FAVOURITE UNCLE
12:33 on 6 September, 2014
Newco Rangers need to finish in the top four to be in with a chance of promotion, which would be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one with the right manager in place. They could be a top flight club next season.
I must be out of touch.is it not CHAMPIONS go up automatically and second team plays second bottom of league above.
still if there is a clearout will top 4 be beyond them.
______________________________________________________
Let’s hope so :)
saint stivs
Ok, as in Celtic are not playing by the rules, I’m not being a smart arse here, I just don’t get it, are the trust challenging the Celtic board?