SPL chief executive, Neil Doncaster, appeared on BBC Radio Scotland this evening strongly pitching the appropriateness of a Newco to be voted into the SPL. He gave a couple of examples to back up his position and used gaps in his interviewer’s understanding to paint a strong picture.
While he accepted that a Newco had never assumed a position in an elevated league in Scotland he gave two examples of it happening in England and even went as far as suggesting that “going down the Newco route” was the normal way to exit administration now.
There is a crucial difference between the examples Doncaster gave and all other examples, including Rangers – over 75% of creditors agreed to a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement.
A note of explanation first:
Football clubs are free to change their corporate structure by application to their association. This has been done my most clubs over the years, in particular in the 19th century when they went from being private clubs to incorporated limited companies. There was another wave when the PLCs arrived. Celtic went through this process in 1897 when it became a limited company and again in 1994 when it became a PLC (Celtic PLC remains the same legal entity they became in 1897 with the same company number).
This facility to change your corporate structure has never been a charter to ditch your debts. Financially distressed football clubs in England often change corporate structure when subject to a takeover. The new boss comes in with the company he used to fund his takeover (like Craig Whyte’s Wavetower) then applies to the FA to associate the club with his new company. If over 75% of creditors support a CVA, this is in order and is always granted. The old company is then usually wound up.
Back to Neil Doncaster. He gave two examples: Crystal Palace and Plymouth Argyle.
Creditors of Crystal Palace agreed a CVA proposed by CPFC 2010 in June 2010. Following this, CPFC 2010 took ownership of the club and successfully applied to assume its league share.
Mr Doncaster may have been concentrating on matters elsewhere on 6 May last year when Plymouth Argyle’s creditors agreed to a CVA. The same day Craig Whyte completed his takeover of Rangers. Following this creditors agreement, the club was bought by the Akkeron Group.
Precedent in Scotland and in England is clear: if you get the agreement of your creditors (by a CVA, for example), the football authorities have no issues. If you don’t get agreement with your creditors, you’re finished.
Before I get asked the Leeds United question one more time…. 75.2% of Leeds United’s shareholders agreed to a CVA but on the 28th and final day creditors were allowed to act, HMRC objected. The Football League used emergency provisions to authorise Leeds share transfer as the CVA had sufficient support. HMRC dropped their appeal soon thereafter.
There is little we can do about controlling the debate on radio. Neil Doncaster has pinned his colours to the mast and tonight agreed to be interviewed by a journo who is also financially heavily conflicted towards supporting a Rangers-Newco in the SPL.
Doncaster also appears to have sprung the same misinformation on the organiser of the SPL Survey, who the SPL chief was very dismissive off tonight, implying the organiser accepted his view after he explained “the facts”.
This is the bottom line for you and for Doncaster. Crystal Palace, Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United all convinced over 75% of creditors to support a CVA.
Here is a list of the teams in Scotland and England (in modern times) who failed to agree a CVA:
Chester City
Farsley Celtic
Rushden and Diamonds
Airdrieonians
Gretna
All of them dissolved. None emerged as a Newco retaining their league status (although Airdrieonians fans bought and moved Clydebank FC).
This man – Doncaster – has no right to present you or SPL clubs with a selected version of English clubs history which plays fast and loose with the most important fact of all – did 75% of creditors agree to a CVA?
Precedents are clear and 100% consistent. Get 75% of creditors on side or start supporting another football team.
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TET
I said “Far out, – What a day, a year, a laugh it is!” You know, – Well you know you had it comin’ to you, Now there’s not a lot I can do.
Well work it out someday
HH
On the 13th of May Celtic will be presented with the SPL trophy at Celtic Park. The bulk of the tickets
for this game are already sold. By the time this game is played I would hope that we would have more clarity on the SPL stance on a newco.
If Doncasters words today are an indication of a newco being allowed back into the SPL, would this game be the best opportunity that we as supporters have in showing our dissaproval to a newco by boycoting this game?
Such action would cause minimal financial damage to the PLC but would be an enormous embarrasment to the SPL, sponsers and SKY. Desperate measure I know but we must MUST do something as a support to show our opposition and strength.
tomcourtney on 1 May, 2012 at 00:00 said:
For the likes of Aberdeen, Du, Motherwell, hits and hertz it was between 500-1000 onto each home gate, would be required to make up shortfall in thems visiting plus estimated drop in tv money. Thre would also need to be a more equitable split of prize money.
I have a spreadsheet somewhere which calculates it for all clubs, based on some crude but not wholly inaccurate assumptions.
hh
bjmac
fourstonecoppi
I honestly wish I had the answer.
We are being unwittingly pushed into this, it’s called divide and rule, it’s worked since time immimorial, and we are the victims this time.
We need to awaken to what’s happening, it’s all very well bloging about it, something needs to be done, or it will be too late, we will have been outwitted by halfwits, that mi amigo would not be good.
…………………
Awe Naw
Twas a classic.
I suppose we will work it out, hope it’s not too late when we do !!!!!!
I thought the ammout of extra support needed for Dundee Utd was 400 +, I can’t remember other clubs, but 400 doesn’t seem like out of this world, especially if they are in with a chance of euro football, and silverware.
Paul, the Day of the Jackal is on TV just now and he (the jackal) readily assumes the surname of Duggan from birth records. I’m a variation on that surname. Like the film, you cannot succeed without collusion from the authorities. Just how much collusion remains to be seen but it is out there.
As the chubster says, I need transparency.
HH
From Traynor to Duffy to Keevins to uncle Tom Cobley, they all believe the SPL cannot survive without Rangers.
How then do Divs 1, 2 and 3 keep going?
Their cloth is cut to suit, that’s how. This is what will happen in the SPL without RFC. Of course it will survive. Teams just need to be more prudent like we all do when we find our income reduced.
As for Doomcaster tonight….jeezo!
Night bhoys, been an education tonight.
Take care and god bless, tis May day here, holiday time, a few decent small fiestas on the cards, swithering which one to go to, I’m sure the wife will make the right choice :>)))
Take care and god bless Timland.
HH
Headtheball
Nail on the headtheball :>))
Doncaster is way out of his depth here. He has been from the word go. Its too big for him & he does not possess the courage to help him make the right decisions. He looks frightened by the whole fiasco…like a badger on a rollercoaster. Ever since the Huns inevitable demise went mainstream he has been quietly making pronewco noises from his bureaucratic hole. Its all economics to suited panjandrum like him & as soon as that becomes the root issue all we get is politics. Aristotle was right when he said politics was the art of duplicity- Doncaster is playing the carpetbagger with aplomb. He is redefining the word duplicitity. His whispers from the gantry have become a hollering from tge centre court. He has made his move & now he is making his pitch for Newco- like all good politicians he will use lies, myth & fear to get his way- until we can expect the same rationalized arguments ranted out endlessly via the channels of the laptop loyalists. It will be cranked up to tge 9th degree. Repeated ad nauseum until they bludgeon those who still rely on the MSM for their info. We know the score. And whilst we the internet bampots hold true to the facts…lies bellowed through a megaphone hold more attention…we can only hope those who have the courage speak out against Dongasters corruption. Because the scavengers in the LL will devour on the corruption like dung beetles in horse shit…I want to be confident & hopeful that justice will win: for Truths will is to make itself real. Real it will become.
Is it time for CSA to use the hun tactic of threats. A statement saying if Newco gets free ride to spl and escapes dual contracts. Celtic will refuse all away tickets for all competitions. If our game is dependent on money instead of fairness then whats the point in actually playing. Doncaster has detailed openly that the spl will do everything ato help the huns get off with everything
sannabhoy on 1 May, 2012 at 00:10 said:
bjmac on 1 May, 2012 at 00:19 said
I think we must be able to quote on air simple unambiguous figures ie.
Percentage and capital income drop for each club based on actual figures.
and consequently cost cutting required to maintain position after the Jelly and Ice Cream.
Its also clear that no matter what RFC means more than anything in the game. If Newco end up in SFL then the authorities will probably engage with sky to cover their games to help them along. I had a discussion with a hun bond holder who assures me the only punishment huns will receive will be european ban. Seems Miller has been told this as well.
Also bond holder fully expects liquidation and incubator scenario to be done asap to avoid BTC.
Another front not tackled successfully in my opinion is the lack of despair for the rest of the clubs and media wailing not apparent in ’94 if Celtic died.
I think we need to get this particular message out to the ‘friendly’ MSM
I worked with a cocky, confident English colleague for a while in 1979.
At the beginning of my first office meeting he stood up and asked the boss
“Joe would you like us to bend over our chairs or lie face down on the floor.”
“What are you on about, Frank?” Joe foolishly asked.
“I was just wondering how you were going to screw us today.”
Perhaps Peter Lawell and Eric Reilly should be well prepared for meetings with their colleagues at Hampden.
Jelly anyone?
Lads this was on Hun rumours.
30 Apr 2012 22:14:13
I’m hearing very strong rumours that the paperwork required for liquidation has been drawn up for thursday and that Duff and Phelps will book time at court to formally start the process. They may allow the team to fulfill their fixtures as a token gesture towards the league but by the end of the season the Newco will be in operation in time for a mass of business as soon as the season ends. Both parties have said that if liquidation is a strong possibility and going into it before the SPL sanctions are put in place they will avoid the penalties. Very reliable source.
I’ve purposely held off on commenting on Neil Huncasters comments tonight. I’ve lost count of the number of complainants on the blog. Complain away Bhoys n Ghirls. It ain’t gonna make one iota of a difference unless you put it down in writing, seal it in an envelope, buys stamp and stick on the top right hand corner of the envelope address to your intended recipient, walk down to your post box and slip your envelope into the wee slot.
No amount of emails or tweets are gonna matter a damn. They will ignore you unless you put it in writing and post it. CC in Celtic , The SFA, UEFA as well as the actual body who are responsible for all clubs and football association FIFA.
MWD
Just waiting on Hoking witty reply now!!!
MWD
I told you cancers can linger for ages.
So the SFA fronted by Doncaster are paving the way for a newco.
Screw the rules or make them up as rangers must be saved at all costs…
what about £134 million + £75 million ? That’s the cost I am hearing.
Told you the SFA were a hun pension plan. Insurance plan too by the looks
of things but without the payments. How low can you get? I heard a few CQN’rs say over the weekend. Well here it is and about to get lower.
Pretty cheap Chemotherapy if you ask me.
But then again Doncaster is just trying to save his own skin.
What Rangers (or whatever purports to be Rangers) has done is show how utterly rudderless and lacking in common decency Rangers FC PLC and its supporters are.
They think we can’t live without them.
We can.
A season of decency, honesty and sportsmanship later and, believe me, Scottish football will be alive, buzzing and respectful.
Let’s do it . . .
More importantly.
RIP Steve (Pablophanque).
ONE YEAR ON.
Thoughts & Prayers with Johnny & Sarah.
Still missing those dog walks Steve.
Hail! Hail! buddy.
MWD
Margaret McGill on 1 May, 2012 at 01:09:
Doncaster represents the SPL not the SFA.
Sorry SPL
Does it matter?
MWD.
You might laugh at this idea, what do you think about us on here finding out how many fans would be up for protesting outside Hampden regarding a Newco being parachuted back in to the SPL and asking Alex Thomson to film it for ch4 and he can ask a few sensible chaps some ?’s.
It’s only a suggestion mate if you think it’s a daft idea then i totally understand.
Rangers cannot be parachuted into SPL without the collusion of both the SFA and the SPL. Therefore we should target both organisations.
SFA run the cup competition, therefore rather than withdraw we should play our under 19s. Well maybe not. They might win. We should also refuse to handle tickets for away cup games, withdraw our representatives and state publically we do not have confidence in the integrity of the organisation.
For the League cup we should again field the youngsters or use the development squad.
For SPL games again we should not handle away tickets and have the supporters’ associations encourage individual supporters clubs to stay away from away matches. I cannot see the PLC encouraging the boycott of an association game.
” They’ll cut of a hand to save an arm. ” So,MadMoisty would come in at about a cuticle. Minty’s a fair sized ‘hand’. They’ll never sever The Red Hand.
So,in my logically demented reasoning,I reckon that when this debacle is concluded that it’ll be Minty’s ‘limb’ being severed to maintain the corrupt status quo.
He’ll take the final blame for der hun’s appalling record & then all will be right in ‘the best wee country in the world’.
Aye,right.
At least we look like getting one good thing out of all this mess,if nothing else.
We are unlikely ever to hear Rangers and dignity coupled together again-ever.
Bassas cannae even die wi dignity….
the other day some said about season ticket renewal that it said rangers or whatever newco they maybe called ? does this mean celtic know they will
be in the spl? why say or whatever they are called, if they got cva they stay the same only if they are newco can it be what ever they called or am i wrong here?
My long departed granny & godmother was a wise and strong old lady ( she taught at St. Anthony’s in Govan for 45 years. They asked her to stay on after retirement age. It was a different world then. ) and she was full of clever sayings,one of which was,” Don’t dignify an insult by acknowledging it. ”
Maybe that’s what our board is up to.
Until the insult becomes an outrage.Then they can fire at will.
Maybe.
Thanks for the great article Paul.
I know you are very busy with the next CQN magazine.
If the SPL delay making their to penalties for going into administration until after they are liquidated, will the then newly approved penalties only be applied thereafter and not to them retrospectively.
Would this satisfy the Dusty Miller incubator Newco model proposals of no penalties for next season?
As Auldheid has said though, the SFA & Uefa licence issue still needs addressing.We really need to have Uefa swarming all over this, so that Platini’s anti-financial doping initiative gets in there.
If they are liquidated, the Newco will not have the history& trophies of the defunct club, but it will drag it’s culture and therefore it’s fans (well a lot of them) with it.
King says he will drop his lawsuit against Whyte, if Whyte sells King his shares or enough of them.
Jardine promises payback if they are not assisted in staying in the SPL.
SPL is a business and not a governing body, so it is not bound by anything except what is in the interests of the business.
Prof David Hillier at Sttrathclyde School of Business is answering a lot of questions on twitter ref Miller liquidity etc and SPL’s angle..
Check his comments out.
Knackered so offski
NIght all & HH
To all the Celtic players who were hacked off the park we salute you!
To all the Celtic players who never got their caps we salute you!
To all the Celtic fans who hoped for a fair game we salute you!
To all the Celtic teams that never made it into Europe we salute you!
To all the Celtic player yellows that should never have been given we salute you!
To all the Celtic player reds that should never have been given we salute you!
To all the Celtic player offsides that should never have been called we salute you!
To all the Celtic players that suffered yellows and reds but were never called we salute you!
To all the Celtic players fouls that were not we salute you (the players)!
To all the Celtic players who endured criminal thuggery on the park we salute you!
To the Celtic team of 2003 who were cheated out of the league by a penalty we salute you!
To Chris Sutton for telling the Truth we salute you!
To all 100,000 of the Celtic fans who went to Seville we salute you!
To Neil Lennon we salute you!
and dont’ forget the bombs the bullets and the attacks on Neil Lennon.
The murders of Celtic fans in the streets of Scotland.
The on the park cheating that the Scottish authorities want to gloss over.
At least 22 tainted trophies from the huns in the last 15 years!
The downright untruthful malignant anti Celtic and pro rangers lies of the Scottish Media and on and on and on and on and on (the above is only 5 minutes worth …..I could type more for years)
and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and on and on
and now we want to forgive and forget for what…..
A Newco?
So that we dont loose some money
better Not happen.
Remember in 1994
On 4 March 1994, Canadian expatriate businessman Fergus McCann bought Celtic for £9 million. The club were within 24 hours of entering receivership due to a £5 million overdraft.
• Administration
This takes place after a company, its directors or one of more of its creditors have asked the courts to step in. The court will appoint administrators whose powers are very broad and replace the existing directors. Administration also protects a company from an legal action. The administrator’s primary objective is to keep the company operating as a going concern to achieve the best possible returns for creditors before going into liquidation.
• Liquidation
If companies cannot keep operating as a going concern, liquidation may the only option. This is intended to release as many assets as possible to pay off creditors. Crucially, though, companies in administration cannot be forced into liquidation.
• Receivership
While administrators are appointed the court, an administrative receiver is called in by a bank or other creditor who has a charge over all or most of the assets of a company. The receiver’s goal is to act in the interests of the holder of the charge. Legal actions can still be brought and liquidators can still be appointed.
I dont remember McCann getting this kind of assistance
I can’t remember the exact year but it was the early 90s. Hibs were in the old Second Division and were chasing promotion to the First Division.
It was a cold Saturday afternoon in March and the Edinburgh side were at home to Raith Rovers. A win was crucial if they were to maintain their challenge for not only promotion back to the top flight, but the Second Division Championship.
I lived in Edinburgh at the time, not too far from Easter Road, and took my young boys along to the game. There must have been around 15,000 in attendance and the atmosphere was electric.
My point is – this was the second tier of Scottish Football and because Hibs were chasing a big prize, the fans turned up in their thousands.
Who is to say that, with no Rangers in the SPL, and a few clubs playing for trophies and European places, the crowds won’t turn up in bigger numbers to cheer on their team, as the Hibs fans did all those years ago.
Also, We have 3 different teams winning the 3 Scottish trophies this season, none of whom are Rangers.
Would life really be such a disaster without them?
Margaret McGill on 1 May, 2012 at 03:03 said:
Salute Magister.
As Mr Kay my old Latin teacher used to have us greet him.
For the benefit of Mr Kite
There will be a show tonight on trampoline
The Hendersons will all be there
Late of Pablo Fanques’ fair, what a scene….
Roll On the Drums.
……. and trumpets.
MARGARET McGILL 0303
I salute you………..