Alexander (Sandy) Bryson has been mentioned in reports concerning another controversial matter in SFA history. He was Head of Registrations when Celtic tried to register Jorge Cadete in 1996. That case led to SFA chief executive, Jim Farry, being dismissed for gross misconduct after he failed to register the player in time for him to face Rangers in a Scottish Cup tie.
The Burness report into what happened noted that Farry “deflected responsibility to Mr (Sandy] Bryson (head of registrations] …. (on] certain executive decisions”. In a contemporary article, Mirror Group Newspapers noted “it is unclear what part registration chief Sandy Bryson may have played in this debacle”.
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BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Perhaps I should clarify.
Being illiterate in the ways of the law I rely heavily on Paul McConville’s blog for guidance in such matters and based on the evidence placed in front of LNS I understand how he and his QC’s reached their decision.
http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/
Now, whether there is a connection between the Scottish establishment and the need to protect their club then I believe you and I’d be in agreement.
How they influenced this decision is open for debate but I doubt if LNS was part of it. We can look at the terms of reference for LNS inquiry supplied by the SFA and the SPL as a possible avenue for investigation to see if there was any chicanery or was it simple incompetence. I agree we could also look into the evidence given by representatives of these organisations.
I said in an earlier post that in cases where establishment is involved it usually takes about 20 years before the truth emerges, I suspect this will be no different.
The Hat
08:57 on 1 March, 2013
“At no point over the last 9 months have the SFA and SPL discussed this? Or, perhaps, was it a lightbulb moment from the person who operates under the body presided over by Campbell Ogilvie?”
_____________________________________________________________________
I’m not trying to be clever here but
surely it has been discussed EVERY week at their masonic meetings ? :o)))
HH
Reading the verdict and I’m actually now a little pleased.
They will get torn apart at the ebt appeal.
The finance director has admitted hiding side letters so as not to pay tax.
The appeal lawyers just need to use the SPL investigation as evidence.
They have been officially declared as cheats, they are still huns, they are in the 3rd division and this investigation will sink them in regards to the ebts.
Not quite sure why they are celebrating, but who knows how a Hun thinks.
valentine’s day
07:58 on
1 March, 2013
Thanks mate , needed to get that off my chest so to speak .
Morning all.
Still feel as sickened as I did yesterday.
Campbell Ogilvie
Stewart Reagan(..there will be social unrest ?)
Doncaster
Walter Nimmo Smith
Ach Feck it.
Off oot
BAZZABHOY
Not sure a confession counts as admissible evidence………
I’m sorry, much as I’d like to hang around a bit longer and enjoy the company of fellow aggrieved souls this morning I have to leave.
I’ll look forward to catching up tomorrow morning.
In parting I can only offer……don’t let the bast—s get you down.
The Hat
If this was as simple as it has now been presented as being then a quick trip to Mr Bryson would have cleared it all up and no commission would have been necessary.
The fact that it took the guts of a year for the Commission to sit and come up with a verdict of this kind to me suggests they needed time to make up an excuse. Otherwise why take that amount of time? This could have been done in July but the moves to get them a licence to play football and all the shove them into the various leagues was priority number one.
Money has been wasted on an inquiry because the way it has been presented – it was no big deal.
That of course is not the case. It is a whitewash based on the evidence presented.
They’ve run rough-shod all over normal practice in cases like this from their own previous actions and FC Sion must dearly wish they were a Scottish team.
The real battle now commences with this reconstruction vote in May. All fans must now remain completely vigilant so no further carve ups are forth-coming.
It is the only thing we have left as victory in this sorry mess and by God we need to ensure that that isn’t taken away based on lies and misinformation.
Craig Whyte’s actions put them where they are today as a new club because of liquidation, not anything else and they cannot dispute that but right now they’re going to start trying.
Thankfully Whyte still looks like having all the emails and all the tape recordings up his sleeve to make sure he isn’t airbrushed out of history.
Isn’t it interesting that the remit was to investigate from 2005 onwards?
When did R C Ogilvie join Hearts as Secretary/Administrator. Correct 2005.
Result nothing to answer for old Campbell, move along Timmy nothing for you here!
There seems to be an impression that we are alone here. We should not be. The rest of Scottish football must be as sick as us. Let us build bridges to the others. I’m sure the Aberdeen, Dundee Und and Hibs support for starters will be only too anxious to fight for justice and a level playing field.
PJBHOYNYC 2315
A cracking post,well worth a read back for anyone who missed it.
Made the mistake if reading Keech Jackson on the DR internet(I would never pay for it) it’s Hun believable ! It’s everybody’s fault bar the glorious Rakers, they are the VICTIMS yes the victims and if anyone is to blame it is the SFA, SPL and Whyte. No wonder their readership is dropping like a stone.
4GF well said mate, we are Celtic supporters faithful through and through. Passed from one generation to the next always.
Question if anyone can answer it for me. The SPL board can appeal this decision and this board is made up of 6 men from different clubs including Celtic. So why can the fans of the SPL clubs not lobby their own clubs to apply the appropriate pressure and ensure that the SPL board lodge this appeal. After all if it was not for the fans then the dead ones would be playing in the SPL now. I may be clutching as straws as I am heart sick of the outcome and whitewash that we have just witnessed yesterday and still sick about it this morning and don’t see this feeling passing anytime soon. I genuinely believe that the power of fans can make a difference as we are the life blood of the game. Surely there must be something that can be done to overturn this shambolic decision.
Miki67 thoughts and prayers everyday and night for you mate indeed a man among men YNWA. Wee Oscar is a great source of inspiration. KTF
HH
Just dropped back in to say….
Parkheadcumsalford
09:18 on 1 March, 2013
_______________________
With the greatest respect m8
There has NEVER been and there NEVER
will be a level playing field in this country
We are the wee guy tr ing to – stuff the system. imo
Now, to do that – we need to be – street-wise at EVERY
level of the club. imo
At present…that’s not the case.
Anyway..take care and all the best.
KTF
Off oot
The best example of no advantage on the field of play is Nacho Novo.
Not a great player I know but he openly spoke to both clubs. He made a point of doing it.
I suspect Murray already had him signed and wanted to get one over on Celtic but let’s look at the facts in this one.
Celtic would have offered the guy what they thought he was worth. Rangers would have done the same. When you are negotiating for a player you sometimes pay a little over the odds when it comes to supply and demand and I’m sure that was a factor in this case. Rangers may have offered slightly more. What we do know now is that Nacho Novo was paid via the EBT scheme. This means that Rangers could have offered Novo the same deal as Celtic BUT the players take home pay would have been much more than he would have gained at Celtic Park. I’m sure Senor Novo did not grow up on the streets of Spain hoping to one day play for Rangers at Ibrox and score goals for the Teddy Bears. He went looking for the best deal finanicially and he got it at Ibrox. This gave Rangers a significant advantage over Celtic when competing directly for a single player in this case Nacho Novo.
This does not present a level playing field and does not constitute a fair system. They have been found guilty and using this case alone to determine an advantage Celtic should be seeking the contract details and wages paid to Novo if these are similar to what Celtic offered then it is an clear advantage. Celtic should be seeking compensation for every competition the man helped Rangers to win.
LB
Bazzabhoy 9.06. What is this EBT appeal that you are talking about. Is it the FTTT that HMRC have taken further. If so my understanding is this could take years!
The supremacist , WATP attitude of the Orcs both yesterday and today is clouding the whole of Scotland with an acrid choking stench.
Stay strong guys, over the coming weeks and months we will be subject to a million untruths( nothing new there then)
Bottom line…
Rangers FC ( IL) is dead
Sevco is in bottom tier of Scottish football.
They are proven bigots and cheats who infect the normal senses.
We won. Rejoice!
“His Lordship”.
What a stupid country.
Full details of many players’ wages were not disclosed to the SFA. This was a deliberate act and not an error. These are facts. It is the interpretation that is weird and wonderful.
The players who were not registered correctly were apparently eligible to play despite the rules being broken. The “logic” seems to be that they were not caught, and that the players would have qualified for a registration anyway had the full information been supplied. Well as long as they didn’t miss a date off a form, which seems to be a far more serious offence in Scottish football.
Now, a wee analogy. I’m caught having not paid my car tax. Have I committed an offence? Of course. But I have a valid MOT and insurance. The car was capable of being taxed and hae I supplied all of the information it would have been. But I chose not to.
Anyone think I would get away with this in a court?
The bizarre thing is that during this 11 year spell despite all their cheating we won more league titles than them.
Despite all the tax they ‘avoided’ paying we emerged in a strong financial position and they went bust shortly afterwards.
You wonder why they seem so happy about this.
Yesterday’s result and outcome have given them a very false victory.
It will not improve their current financial position.
It will not impact on any actions BDO will take in the future (in fact, it could go against oldco).
It will not improve their performances on the pitch.
It will not bring them back to life.
…..and it wasn’t even a victory!!
Partizan – we lived in Morpeth fo 9 years. A very nice place and and the Saturday 6.42 am train got you into Glasgow by 9.15am! Plenty of time to catch the game! Hope you’re wealthy enough to be living ti large in Hepscott!
KevJungle – I believe that Godwin’s Law means you have lost whatever argument you were in; a journalist,such as one I believe you to be, would know that.
Top of the morning to you all from a sunny Fife.
The hollow feeling in my stomach following the LNS parody of justice is slowly going away but I don’t think that I have ever felt so sickened with Scottish football.
Still love Celtic, we always knew pretty much that the game was stacked against us, but we had hope for change.
Now that hope has gone and we are left with a pretty bleak scenario of a resurgent Rangers emboldened by their power to defy any opposition or justice.
Not a sunny outlook for the Pars as Cowdenbeath and Hamilton Accies are threatening to put them out of business over unpaid gate receipts and players only got 20% of wages and rumour is that they are going on strike!
Puts our problems into perspective doesn’t it?
RIchie
My house boy still talks of you fondly
Those among us, and Ernie was prominent, who considered beforehand that if there was a ‘Lawyer’s way out’ of the whole shabby story then the SPL Commission would find it, were bang on the money.
While most of us were vexed about how the terms ‘payment’ and ‘financial entitlement’ might be interpreted, none of us foresaw the good old SFA riding to the rescue with an interpretation of what constitutes a valid registration, one that is truly novel in Scottish Football.
The SFA’s Head of Registrations told the Commission that, in effect, while the registrations filed by Rangers for over 50 players were not valid per Rule 2.2.1, in order for them to be considered invalid the SFA had to actively invalidate (revoke) them.
I say novel because no one in the Game to date has ever understood the rules to be interpreted this way, and there appears to be no precedent of them so being applied.
Where the SPL Rules (D1.13) state “..and for a player to be eligible to play in official matches..” pretty much everyone in the Game understood, believed, that a player would NOT be eligible play in official matches if the relevant criteria on registration were not met.
The Commission reached the firm view that Rangers had broken the rules, but considered that the players thus had not been ineligible to play.
How could the SFA have revoked the registrations of these players if the nature of the breach that caused them to be invalid was concealed from them? The extensions from this interpretation of the rules leads very quickly to the absurd, but it is worthwhile noting that one Director at the SFA knew, or in all the circumstances, ought to have known, that the registrations were worthy of at least question and audit.
Additionally, the Commission considered that “no unfair competitive advantage” had been gained by Rangers in breaching the rules. This appears to contradict evidence given by David Murray at Tax Tribunal where he is quoted as saying:
“So far as Rangers was concerned it [the EBT framework] enabled the Club to attract players who would not otherwise have been obtainable.”
However, the operator here is “unfair”. The Commission considers that Rangers did gain a competitive advantage in using the scheme, but: “it is not the purpose of the Rules to regulate how one football club may seek to gain financial and sporting advantage over others”.
Essentially, the Commission held that clubs naturally are permitted to use any and all means within the Law to obtain financial and hence sporting benefit, and that since the EBT scheme was held to be legal, Rangers’ use of it was legitimate.
The Commission noted that: “..failure to disclose the side-letters to the SPL and the SFA was at least partly motivated by a wish not to risk prejudicing the tax advantages of the EBT scheme” but equally, the FTT had full sight of the (undisclosed) side letters and still held that the scheme was lawful.
Had Rangers disclosed the side letters to the SPL and SFA, the scheme would not have been undermined, despite Rangers clearly believing that it would.
But now we come to the coup de grace…
Even should the scheme be held unlawful by the courts in due course, it will not impact upon the Commission’s decision.
“Mr McKenzie stated expressly that for all purposes of this Commission’s Inquiry and Determination the SPL accepted that decision as it stood, without regard to any possible appeal by HMRC.”
In essence, from the point of view of football regulation and governance, the entire episode is now concuded and will not be revisited. The residual feeling is that Football adminstration has moved to protect itself, and in the process has undermined the Game.
What then for Scottish Football?
A quick scout round the fans forums of assorted clubs provides an overwhelming reaction that can be summed up by the headline on Aberdeen Mad which reads: “Hunbelievable”. There is a tangible sense that the rules have been interpreted and applied in order to provide maximum mitigation to Rangers for what is considered at large to be a decade of cheating.
On this fine forum the sense of disillusionment is powerful, and 24 hours after the decision was published, the loss of faith (or confirmation of cynicism) is definitive.
There is, to my mind, a real danger now that the lasting damage of Rangers’ serial and sustained disregard for the rules will be seen and felt most keenly in those clubs who played fair, and who ran their clubs responsibly.
The reaction and thereafter considered thoughts of so many posters on here, many of whom I know personally and respect greatly, is deeply troubling for our club, and as I write this morning, I have absolutely no idea where to go with it all.
It is though clear that many of us supporters of football in Scotland feel detached from the Game in a way never before known. Leadership from our clubs is now essential if the damage is to be contained.
The SPL’s closing sentence in their statement last night implies some difficulty with the decision, and we await further comment in due course.
It will be instructive to see how Campbell Ogilvie fares in the upcoming election for President. If he is unopposed, and moreover, if he is re-elected near-unanimously by the clubs, we can infer that the clubs at large consider him to be unsullied. If he is opposed, or resigns rather than face a run off, we will have a strong indication as to the feeling of the clubs collectively.
Nevertheless, I’m afraid I am at a complete loss as to how to reconcile it all. I feel utterly dismayed. The Game I love seems cheap this morning.
TBB
Mornin CQNrs,
Apologies for the long post, trying to get my head around this.
At the 2002 Winter Games, the Canadian figure skating pairs team skated a flawless program.The Russians had dominated the event for years, and it looked like they would finally lose after making a technical error during their program. But when the results were reveald the Russians won anyway, with judges from Russia, the People’s Republic of China, Poland, Ukraine, and France placing the Russians first. Judges from the United States, Canada, Germany, and Japan gave the event to the Canadians. France was the obvious odd ball in that first group, and the French judge broke down immediately under questioning, claiming that the French skating federation had pressured her to vote for the Russians regardless of what actually happened. This was a tit for tat agreement that would have seen votes come for the French ice dancing competitors competing a few days later.
The IOC went ahead and upgraded the Canadians to a gold medal, but allowed the Russians to also keep their gold medal, which should have resulted in nobody every taking figure skating seriously as a sport again.Mmmmmmm !
http://soccerlens.com/the-15-greatest-sports-cheats-of-all-time/29838/
‘Fair play is a fundamental part of the game of football. It represents the positive benefits of playing by the rules, using common sense and respecting fellow players, referees, opponents and fans.
Fair play is also acknowledged and rewarded at every FIFA tournament. The Technical Study Group evaluates and rates the behaviour on and off the pitch of all participating teams in a FIFA competition. FIFA
The essential theme in brackets below, beggars belief, the commission will be seen to be a complete whitewash by the rest of the football world, both here and abroad.The agents to these players who personally benefitted will have told them of the EBT scheme as an incentive to come to the club and the ‘honest’ registration will always have been compromised and therefore corrupt. LNS choose to ignore this.
(The findings gloss over the complaint held by rival fans that only by using EBTs and saving on tax could Rangers afford all the big-name players who helped win them so many trophies in the first place.
There is only one line which talks to that: “If it had not been intended that the player would directly benefit from the EBT arrangements then there is no reason to believe that the player would have agreed to accept the overall financial package offered by Oldco.” Doesn’t that sound like trying to secure sporting advantage? The Commission thought not. M Grant Her;ad via Thindimebhoy
Will the SFA and SPL stand the test of Fair Play ! Given the findings by LNS and the FTT the SFA and SPL are found wanting, given the overarching responsibility, the already compromised President should resign.
Thought Scotland Tonight news programme got the tone right last night surprisingly. However can someone tell me where all the other ‘banana states’ are in the world. I might need to change my passport as that may be the only countries to allow me in !
I am taken aback that I have come to live in one.
ernie lynch – so true
I thoroughly despise Rangers, Sevco, The Rangers and every subsequent incarnation of that morally-bankrupt totempole of hatred.
Just felt I had to get that off my chest.
That is all.
Craiginho
HackedOff CSC
Sick sick sick about the decision
Time to focus on our club and not a deid one
Now Goalscorers. Do we have any
Gary hooper is 5th top scorer in SPL. Let me say that again 5th !!!!
We have done a wonderfully job with 80% of positions , but up front goalscorers we are lacking
All the profit from CL. C’mon a goalscorer. Please santa
The Battered Bunnet,
I think that the “no competitive advantage” argument is that the players were qualified to be registered and could have been registered had they chosen to do things properly. An artificial difference has been created between playing a player who was not correctly registered but met the criteria and one who simply doesn’t meet the criteria for registration.
It;s nonsense of course. The same offence is committed in both cases.
Welsh dragon day hat doffed to hartson day
great post, northbhoy … \o/
Gardez la Foi
Emdy think there’s any chance that UEFA will step in and hammer the SFA because of all these illegitimate players were allowed by the SFA to play in the Champions League and EUFA Cup competitions?
Nah, me neither!
…now that the MSM “Disney Dust” has settled………
Guilty……..
………..and fined.
That’s “Guilty and fined”
When’s the sircumcision?
Stripping titles from Rangers would have tipped the Ibrox supporters over the edge, according to former boss Alex McLeish.
Full story: Sun
Not often I’d agree with that plonker but I think he’s spot on there. It’s exactly why they were taken into the SFL with no other applications from other clubs allowed. Nobody has explained why this was the case, but we all know. Remember Regan’s “social unrest” comment? Do you think he made that one up himself? I reckon there was serious pressure from the authorities that some form of “Rangers” HAD to be playing league football.
I remember Doncaster in an interview last summer saying something like “well Rangers need a league to play in”.
The whole thing stinks – the BTC, yesterday’s non-punishment. They are scared of the orcs – McLeish is right.
The worst aspect of this whole process is that the Huns have been artificially resurrected.
The judgement clearly states that “Rangers Football Club” was an asset of Rangers FC plc, and that this asset was purchased by Sevco and lives on.
The judgement declares the team now playing in Division 3 to be a club formed in 1872.
Now we all know that’s not the case.
UEFA define a football club as, “a legal entity fully responsible for a football team,” so the SPL definition LNS was ruling on is not compatible with UEFA Club Licensing regulations.
Rangers FC plc was the legal entity fully responsible for the football team playing out of Ibrox and it is now dead.
The Rangers FC Ltd is a completely different legal entity, founded in 2012.
But infuriatingly, the LNS judgement, which we must presume the SFA endorses, says that Dead Rangers lives on.
Officially in Scotland at least, Division 3 Rangers are a club founded in 1872 with 54 league titles to their name.
That to me is even more scandalous than the dead club being allowed to keep their ill-gotten titles.
Not only have the governing bodies facilitated their cheating the rest of the game for at least a decade, they have also allowed them the appearance of having cheated death.