Gavin Masterton, who as managing director of Bank of Scotland in the 1990s, was one of the financial lynchpins behind the issuance of credit to some of the leading investors in Scottish football, and was responsible for what was seen as reluctance to extend competitive terms to Celtic AFTER Fergus McCann’s takeover, today issued notice that one of his companies will be wound up, as it cannot meet commitments to repay loans by new Dunfermline Athletic owner, Christopher McBay.
Masterton came under pressure, which he eventually relented to, to write-off money he loaned to Athletic to allow it to avoid liquidation last year. He also claims these developments will lead to his personal bankruptcy.
In September last year, Ian Fraser, author of Shredded, an analysis of the debacle that was the Scottish banking industry, wrote in his blog;
“Charlotte Eighteen, a shadowy company based in the tax secrecy jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands, remains the subject of intense interest among Scottish football fans. Allegedly the holding company for the business assets of Gavin Masterton, the former treasurer and managing director of the Bank of Scotland, it looks like it could be the crux to an extraordinary financial scandal at the heart of Scottish football.”
In March last year, Mail on Sunday wrote: “Bank of Scotland wrote off a £4 million loan to a company owned by Mr Masterton – then sanctioned the £12 million loan to another of his companies that allowed it to skip repayments for the next 35 years.”
In 2004, The Sunday Times, explained that while Masterton was at Bank of Scotland, an associate of his received a loan to buy Dunfermline Athletic, which included a guarantee that the loan would not need to be repaid until the borrower’s shares in the acquiring company were sold. Two years later, after Masterton left the bank, his company bought his associate’s shares and gained control of the club.
I bet the British Virgin Islands are nice this time of year.
Sean’s Trust, the charity setup by our late friend, St John Doyle to aid those dealing with stillbirth, are holding a Terry Christian stand-up comedy evening at the People’s Palace on 24 October. The show, Confessions of a Recovering Catholic, is a light-hearted look the legacy of his Manchester-Irish upbringing and has received excellent reviews. Billy NoWell is also on the bill, performing some of his unique material.
There’s a bar and buffet, tickets are only £16, email seanstrust@gmail.com for details.
[calameo code=0003901718cdc4362fa2e? lang=en page=4 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
1,047 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- ...
- 28
- »
Gordon_j,
Sammy has played 3 or 4 times for the baggies.
I haven’t caught any of them though.
I would suspect that an awful lot of Celtic fans will read that piece and agree with every word. The negativity on here is nothing compared to the rank and file.
I’ve been to 3 games already this season where Celtic were booed off the park, even at half time.
I happened to be unlucky enough to be stranded in Partick for the game on Saturday. Unlucky in the sense that I watched the game in The Dolphin, famous for being a Celtic oasis in the hun desert that is Partick.
It was a challenge lasting the 90 minutes with the negative rhetoric coming non-stop from a few of the punters. One cracker, which was repeated a few times; “no point in having a big squad when 90% of them are Jim Goodwins”. Even young McGregor was getting it thick and fast.
I feel Jackson will have more support than Celtic.
When we played Stokesy and Griff we bobbed n weaved.
I wonder if this is the same Gavin Masterson, who got David Murray, the then chairman of Rangers, to contact Jimmy Calderwood, who was coaching in Holland, to get him to apply for the job of manager of Dunfermline. Calderwood was puzzled as he thought Murray was offering him a Rangers job. But he applied and got the job. This strange scenario was revealed on Radio Scotland’s Saturday Sports Programme some time ago. I wondered if this was in breach of S.F.A. regulations and if Campbell Ogilvie enquired into it. Not surprisingly nothing more was heard of this.
Geordie Munro,
Thanks. I thought that was his first time off the bench. On checking, he came on against Everton too,
bournesouprecipe
13:12 on 29 September, 2014
:))))))
Till later all
Gordon J-Samaras played a great ball inside the FB for the 4th goal
DBBIA-Can you imagine this squad in the CL?
Jackshun might write like a 3 year old but is there anything in that article that Jackshun could not have lifted from here with the exception of a couple wee strays into his inside knowledge of dressing chat.
I don’t trust RD. I never have since day 1.
I do not believe we should have employed him.
I 100% believe he was to be Neil Lennon’s assistant and was then mooted as an assistant to Roy Keane.
He is the Celtic PLC UK’s cheap option.
1 game apart his tactic’s, team selections, player positions have not impressed me.
I want him to be successful.
If he had a competitor of note (and no that is most definately not me wanting the Resurrection back) he’d be under 10 times more pressure in the job right now than he is.
I hope and Vow that I hope I am wrong and he is the most successful manager in our clubs history.
MWD said AYE
Gordon J
I see Mr Samaras made his debut for WBA on Sunday. Anyone see the game?
I saw the highlights. West Brom were already 3 up when he came on. He had a hand in the fourth, knocking a good ball for the winger to chase & cross. Don’t think it was his debut though? I think he may have had a previous subs appearance.
philvisreturns
“Pat is still making a hue and cry about how wonderful it would have been if Scotland went full luvvie-politically correct-socialist, yadda yadda yadda, but in the real world of limited resources, sovereign debt, competing interest groups, currency crises, structural deficits and so on, it was never going to live up to the rosy picture painted by the Yes campaign.”
Totally agree with this. When you consider that a primary stated aim of many on here, had a YES vote carried the day, was to stab, Brutus-like, the very architect of the Independence movement at the first given opportunity. Doesn’t sound like the stoutest bedrock of integrity to be building a fair and just society upon.
It seems that Animal Farm must have been removed from the Curriculum at most Scottish schools.
Hard to shed any tears for Masterton.
He bankrolled Murray with what seemed an unlimited credit line whilst at HBOS.
He played his part ultimately in their downfall so I suppose we must be grateful for that.
He is / was part of the reason why clubs borrowed more than they could afford in his attempt to prop up Generale Murrray and his corrupt regime.
I thank The Lord that Lloyds showed no such desire to support SDM and his pursuit of world domination for his poisonous club.
As I said, hard to shed a tear for him and his ilk.
HH
And the No saysers still talking drivel.
Some things never change. Must be guilt!
MWD said AYE
Another first page, just, I think.
Just wide of the righthand post – a good effort.
Just logged on and apologies if this has already been done but could I ask some of the better financially knowledgeable explain the implications of Paul67’s lead article? Are we to see the likes of Masterton in court? Might other things then be dredged up and brought into the light of public awareness and scrutiny?
leftclicktic
All the crooks roll up here at some point, in fact they invite them to meet once a year aI believe at the ole B.I.S….
That Pat Kane article is a pile of rubbish
60% of the population could not buy into the idea of being Independent with NO control over our currency/finances/interest rates. These being controlled by our neighbour who would be our major competitor for every business and job going.
60% of the population could not buy into the idea of being out of the EU as well as out of our local internal market place, with the chance we may not agree to the criteria which would be put to us for re-entry……….Euro anyone?
The minority yes voters are not, and were not, the elightened few, they just had a flawed product they couldn’t sell.
Jingle Jackson talking pants as usual.
Ronnys ability to pick a team and tactics are up for debate. Telling professional athletes to earn their salaries by eating and training properly is not up for debate.
Le Guen got it Wong because he thought Scotland was on a par with Slovakia and Austria and brought in players from those leagues. The fact that he banned monster munch and meat feast pizzas clearly wrankles with the corpulent miscreants to this day.
If Ronny fails it won’t be because he made common sense decisions about diet and exercise.
The Europa is the measure. I look forward to a victory on Thursday. Anything else puts Ronny further under the spotlight for the sack.
Picking up on Gordon’s blog, we in Scotland have for all of my life found that the default response to any and all misfortune was to blame others for it.
Thatcher of course was the nemesis of choice for a decade, but “The Tories”, London, Westminster, Bankers, the City, and so many others, all cast up and cast down as the reason why we found ourselves at a disadvantage.
We never took responsibility for our own shortcomings. Rarely attempted to grasp a problem and solve it. We just complained of our lot in life and blamed, fingers pointing south at the same old culprits.
The irony of the outcome of the referendum is that The Tories, Westminster, The City Bankers, and their associated interest groups are all still there, all still doing what they’ve always done, perhaps with a new, recently acquired quiet smirk, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
That’ll teach us.
Parkheadcumsalford
If the likes of Murray & Whyte ain’t been prosecuted so far I think it unlikely to happen to Masterton.
Much as I would like it !!!
It would appear he lent to his cronies indiscriminately whilst a big honcho at HBOS.
That irresponsibility in lending practice contributed to the banking crisis which had led to austerity for millions.
I think that should be cause enough to prosecute
Rather than worrying about Masterton would it not be better for the Old Conservative’s (sorry I mean CQN – Doh!) to ask who the fan\s or fan groups are who Celtic meet with and agree to moving game dates and times at short notice with?
MWD said AYE
sydneytim/michael collins and any Sydney based Bhoys or Ghirls
http://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/gary-og/73424
Gary Og ……. Anyone up for it?
HH
As much as I cant stand Jackson,that does not mean he occasionally cant write some sense.His article does hit us with some truths.Maybe some just dont like the messenger.
The performances from the team so far have been pretty dreadful,that is not Jacksons fault,nor is the fact that Ronnie is bamboozling the support week after week with his selections and subs.
The one thing is,I would not put it all down to Ronnie.He has a ridiculous amount of players in his 1st team pool.Players he hardly knows,and new signings who know nobody.He has his 3 left backs out injured,he lost Broony for yonks.Some players are not playing to form.Some are playing to form,he is maybe getting a wee system going,then they get injured or lose form.Its a quagmire.The 1st team pool is far too big.Too much choice and having to keep everyone interested is not an easy task.I dont envy him.
His biggest mistake IMO,is his failure to play 3 midfielders in his games.We end up playing 4-2-4,and cant get a grip of the midfield.Scepovic,and Guidetti have had woeful service so far.Broony and Johansen are too busy fighting battles with 4-5 opponents,to be constructive.The wingers,thats what they are get starved out wide,come inside,and this is were it gets bogged down.Our width goes,AKA the Motherwell game.
He must play 3 in the middle or we will continue to perform as we are.
Parkheadcumsalford
13:30 on
29 September, 2014
======================
Don’t think any of the accounts Masterton is having his collar felt over are related to SDM’s accounts………one can always hope.
I think the old Huns are in court again today as the jackals scrap over the carcass, we might find out who owns the place by the end of these hearings. I think they are just setting out who represents who/why and where today though.
“I bet the British Virgin Islands are nice this time of year”. What a way to conclude what was up until that point a very interesting article Paul. Haven’t got a clue what you are trying to tell us other than some of the business men in football cant be trusted, and we all already know that.
mullet and co 2
Paul le Guen failed because the Borrower (sorry I mean owner) of theat club backed a player revolt against the managers regime.
I remember we all had a right good laugh at that.
I wonder how we would react to a similar player revolt from within our club?
If the current malaise on the field was not just down to the inept tactical performances of our manager (which I believe it is) but was due to some sort of player revolt against RD and JC’s mega fit focused regime.
1. Would you back the players?
2. Would you back the manager?
MWD said AYE
Turkeybhoy,
I think to say we are being ‘bamboozled week after week’ is pushing the point much too far.
Those on this site who gave Keith JackAssHun the ammunition & confidence to print his vitriolic asassination of our manager should feel black, burning shame.
Why his sick nonsense was repeated on this site is another of life mysteries.
Let’s get behind our still experimenting manager. He has enough enemies without us joining in the gang bang.
Give Keith Jackson a break. No point in getting worked up by plagarism.
He’s only rehashing what he reads across the Celtic boards. To be fair, at least he’s using us to learn to write, considering his entire apprenticeship consisted of discovering new ways to laud David Murray and associated Hun monkeys.
He’s a self-confessed Hun with a youthful Gazza fixation so that’s a hell of a starting position to attempt a recovery from.
Regarding the discussions as to the merits of RD’s ‘system’, I had my eyes opened after watching the Zidane real-time documentary again, where the camera focusses solely on him for an entire 90 minutes of a Real Madrid match.
Fascinating. And clearly evident from his positional sense, his economy of energy and his astounding LACK of vocal communication with team-mates that Zinedine Zidane would have no place in a Ronny Deila Celtic side.
That about quantifies the merits of our current ‘Run around, Jesus is coming, look busy!’ system.
The Battered Bunnet
13:35 on 29 September, 2014
Picking up on Gordon’s blog, we in Scotland have for all of my life found that the default response to any and all misfortune was to blame others for it.
Thatcher of course was the nemesis of choice for a decade, but “The Tories”, London, Westminster, Bankers, the City, and so many others, all cast up and cast down as the reason why we found ourselves at a disadvantage.
We never took responsibility for our own shortcomings. Rarely attempted to grasp a problem and solve it. We just complained of our lot in life and blamed, fingers pointing south at the same old culprits.
The irony of the outcome of the referendum is that The Tories, Westminster, The City Bankers, and their associated interest groups are all still there, all still doing what they’ve always done, perhaps with a new, recently acquired quiet smirk, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
That’ll teach us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An easy way out. I decided not to claim the Council, apparently everyone was doing it, for my car getting lots of damage when we had lots of snow a few years ago. I then had one of my crazy accumulators come up, over 400/1.
There really is no way out of here.
Plg was never going to be cut slack at rangers by some/ most fans due to one simple fact.
And it ain’t anything to do with football.
I hear talk of an investigation into alleged racist chanting against VVD by St Mirren fans.
“A statement from Police Scotland read: “We have received a complaint from a Celtic player alleging he was racially abused by a spectator during the St Mirren v Celtic match on Saturday.”” (BBC)
Moonbeams WD. Wee Oscar’s our Bhoy and Kano’s our mhan. The Vow – Critically Rebuked by 45% of this fine nation.
13:23 on
29 September, 2014
And the No saysers still talking drivel.
Some things never change. Must be guilt!
MWD said AYE
—————————————
You should change your sign off to
MWD…….. still greetin`
Rearrange…. it over get.
auldheid
12:26 on 29 September, 2014
————-
Has Keith recovered from his exclusives about the Motherwell Billionaire?
His credibility is shot to shreds.
We are still waiting for his revelations on the demise, administration and liquidation of the dead team from Govan.
Jackshun in the DR is only catching up with what many CFC supporters have been thinking for a while
Yes RD would make a good coach and his ideas on fitness are pretty standard throughout Europe – however this is Scotland and the game here is played and more importantly refereed very differently
Challenges that would bring yellow and red cards anywhere else are routinely allowed to go unpunished here – especially against us
Not one pundit or paper has passed comment on Goodwin’s assault on Guidetti at the first goal. Yet this guy is criticised practically every week for a challenge!
We have far better players than anyone else in the league and that’s why we will win the league over the course of a season.
However we are not fitter than some teams nor harder than some teams and that explains why in one off cup games we can be defeated
The present group of players lack physical and mental strength – far too often we bounce off our opponents
When big Victor was here – he dominated the middle of the park. That protected the defence and gave us a platform to attack
Currently our weaknesses are being exacerbated by the system RD is trying to play
Brown and Johansen are being asked to do far too much in terms of covering distance and opponents
It reminds me of WGS and his addiction to 4-4-2 – with two light weight wide players
He got away with it because he was forced through injury and suspension to play Robson and Hartley in the centre and they did the business against the deid Huns!
Currently we are as brittle as were in the days of TB and TM – get an early goal and we can look great – don’t and we can struggle against anyone!
It pains me to say it but we might even struggle against the zombies – they are very poor but they might have enough playing for their scabby jersey that would unsettle us!
On the referendum fall out
Perhaps the yessers should be asking more questions of the people who led them up the path
This was an event planned for for over a decade – campaigned for over two – when the Scottish Government virtually closed down- spent a lot of money -( not as much as the no campaign perhaps) yet moved on comparatively little- since according to post voting days polls the 55% had made their minds up over a year before that they were going to vote no!
Salmond’s rather ungracious performance on the Friday was so quick of the mark that it had the desired effect of deflecting from his role in the affair
As Niall Ferguson remarked he is truly the David Murray of Scottish politics – one wonders how long this retirement will actually last?
HH
Bawsman,
60% ??????.History being re-written so soon?.
Maybe the 45%,were not so easily conned by false promises,and bullshit from disgraced former PMs and grasping Labor MPs.You know,the Labor mob who told everyone that the NHS was safe with the Union,and who are now organizing a save our NHS demonstration,telling us all that the Tories,their bosom buddies during the campaign,are not to be trusted.
The same mob who frightened the pensioners to death with threats to their pensions,lying disgracefully to them,as the Pension Office told everyone their pensions were safe.
Next year,I hope we will see these lying,toadying,poor excuses for Labor Party members get their comeuppance when Scotland again goes to the polls.Be prepared for a high turnout as this time many people will not forget their betrayal
I always find it fine for Celtic fans to critique the club, but object as soon as the dark side join in.