Charles Green, owner of “The Rangers Football Club Limited“, formed in May this year, yesterday released a remarkable statement yesterday, ahead of the SPL Commission into How Rangers FC, formed in 1872, registered football players for over a decade.
“In short, what was decided by the SPL membership is that Rangers was finished as a member of the SPL. Despite this, the SPL now see the new owners of the company, and the new company itself, which owns all the assets of Rangers FC – including SPL championship titles – as fair game for punishment for matters that have nothing to do with us at all.”
We dealt with the purchasing of history on here some months ago. Once we realised it was possible, I snapped up ancient Egyptian history, the period from the pharaohs until Mark Antony. I AM responsible for the Pyramids of Giza but any slavery which may or may not have been used in their construction is NOTHING to do with me.
No one complained about the use of slaves at the time and I am sure each pyramid would have been constructed whether slaves were used of not. If slaves were so necessary for the construction I am sure “we” would have built many more.
Mr Green seems keen to protest against the SPL process, however, he, frankly, fails miserably. He doesn’t “question the impartiality of the individual panel members” but assets “whatever decision they reach is a decision of the SPL”.
So that will be independent members reaching a decision for the SPL! I think he doth protest too little.
There is also a threat: “”To make it crystal clear, the new owners purchased all the business and assets of Rangers, including titles and trophies. Any attempt to undermine or diminish the value of those assets will be met with the stiffest resistance, including legal recourse.”
Charles Green took steps to undermine his new company’s claim on Rangers titles in a BBC interview in June when he said that if his CVA proposal was to fail (which it did) and Rangers were to be liquidated (which they are), “the history, the tradition, everything that’s great about this club is swept aside”.
“Legal recourse”, which is prohibited by Fifa and which the SFA accommodated from Duff and Phelps, acting on behalf of Rangers, will provide Scottish football with a further drama. We mentioned at the time that the true cost of the SFA being so accommodating would be a repeat performance.
Mr Green asks why the “football authorities do nothing to address an issue that was public knowledge for at least two years, and was reported in the Club’s accounts for several years”? I think I can help here. Sir David Murray, who owned Rangers during the duration of its Employee Benefit Trust years, categorically denied that the club issued players with second contracts which were not submitted to the authorities. He reiterated this point most recently on a Sky News interview in March.
The football authorities have no issues whatsoever with Employee Benefit Trusts, it’s player contracts they insist are registered. Rangers insisted they had no case to answer until the SPL set a deadline on Duff and Phelps to fully disclose the nature of the alleged second contracts.
Charles claims during those lurid weeks when the SPL and SFA were negotiating with Green, that Neil Doncaster “repeatedly stated he was not interested in stripping titles from Rangers”. If he had evidence of this, ANY evidence, it would be fascinating.
If not, we should dismiss this claim.
A curious barb is made in other directions, “Rangers was not the only Club in Scotland to use EBTs yet nothing was done and little has been heard about it”.
One more time, for Mr Green’s benefit, EBTs are not against football regulations whatsoever. They are entirely legal and permitted by the SFA and SPL. The SPL Commission is not investigating whether Rangers used EBTs or not, it will investigate whether or not all player contracts were registered.
Mr Green goes on to make varied comments against “powerful representatives from Clubs within the SPL…. who appear hell bent on inflicting as much damage on Rangers as possible”, and that some “clubs were placed in an invidious position and we believe their interests were not best served by those in more powerful positions”.
Let’s have some context here. If we were to make a list of those who inflicted most damage on Rangers, representatives from other clubs would scarcely merit a mention. Those who allowed the club to spend more than it earned for so many years, who introduced the perilous tax avoidance system, those who failed to make accommodations for HMRC’s claim when it was first made, and those directors who personally benefited from the EBT scheme all carry primary responsibility.
Then would come the cheerleaders for the disastrous Craig Whyte regime – those who last year campaigned for the takeover, including putting pressure on Lloyds Banking Group to accept the terms.
Rangers opponents were spectators throughout this period. Any suggestion that our club were anything but opponents to Rangers, and alleged victims of trophies won by illegally registered players, when they should have been campaigning on behalf of their rivals, seriously misreads what was an established Glasgow rivalry. Of course it would be the same the other way – and rightly so.
Despite clearly feeling strongly about the Commission, Green didn’t address the key point….
There was no denial of the central charge that for a decade or more Rangers fielded improperly registered football players.
Yesterday some people suggested Green had offered the Lance Armstrong defence but Armstrong denied he was guilty while refusing to participate in the investigation into doping. This is a different matter altogether. Green has offered up something for every conceivable paranoid condition without actually claiming Rangers are wrongly accused.
The headlines today are all about titles being stripped but that is not the main topic in play. More importantly, after titles are stripped, what punishment will the SPL Commission levy on the Rangers membership, granted to Sevco in June?
The sheer scale of the charge makes this question incalculable. The toxicity attached to that membership is untenable and no bogeymen at other clubs, at the SPL or SFA are responsible for that.
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Australia pull a goal back
2-1 Jordan. 5mins to go
Are Ireland playing tonight?
Alastair Johnston. eh?
I wondered how long it would take him to crawl back out from under his rock.
One of the unholy cabal alongside Minty, King, McCllelland, the ‘Greatest ever Ranger’ (sic) and countless other charlatans!
Who’s next to make an appearance – Paul Murray and the boooo knights?
‘A didnae know whit wiz goin’ oan, honest!’ See if a hud’?!
HH!!
blantyretim
I only go when we have a funeral there.
What do you do?
kayal3318:19 on11 September, 2012:
>>>>>>>
The virtual equivalent of toilet paper.
: > )
Alastair ‘no surrender’ Johnston.
That’s good Ally, Baba prefers it when they struggle!!
Hendrix
WRO
I have asked 2 separate journalists on Twitter what the expected crowd is at Hampden tonight.
I didn’t receive a reply. I now know why
Apparently they have sold circa 20k
back later bhoys…
blantyretim
Excuse my ignorance but wro?
Ten Men Won The League
according to sportsound they’ve sold 32k tickets
Hamiltontim
Turns out I’ll be in Worcester at the same time as it’s the October break. Might be worth meeting to watch the game – depends tho on my better half’s plans for my time.
S
Jordan beat Australia 2-1
Superb result. Fair play to them
kayal33
18:39 on
11 September, 2012
Hell mend them…….(I will NEVER forget that goal he scored when we saw oldco off to the ‘hundertaker’ in dramatic fashion …..and when he then sat down in front of the bhuns, I headed for the sedatives……LLOOLL…
Hendrix67
WRO stands for Western Rottweiler Owners
I’m no lawyer or accountant but that Alistair Johnston statement is so full of holes and obfuscation it’s incredible.
Yet again, they did nothing wrong and, even if they did, why didn’t anyone catch it on? Someone else’s fault as usual.
As for poor Mr Whyte not paying HMRC, didn’t Johnston and his crew keep spending on players when they knew there was a potentially huge bill coming from the tax man?
Argh!!!
Kayal33
That probably sounds more realistic
Still nearly 20,000 empty seats. The blue blazers won’t be happy
Hendrix
Welfare Rights
need to run…first for everything..o))
Ha, the bold Ali J appears from behind the curtain.
methinks the verdicts, results, judgements and punishments must be very close to being told.
all this fuss in the last 12 hours, someone knows something. woooo hoooo
Minty must be due to say something soon.
magic so it is.
Shady
I’ve got a wedding up here on the Saturday that the schools break up and will travel down on the Sunday.
I’ll be in France most of the time but won’t know for sure until closer the time.
Definitely meet for a pint if it coincides with your stay though mate.
I was just saying today that before the huns went belly-up, their fans I spoke to refused to even talk about the L word. They absolutely dreaded liquidation and knew it would mean the end of their history. Even Brian Kennedy said as much.
Since it was announced that the nightmare was real, they have changed their mind on the L word. Its not so bad after all. They just bought and transferred their trophies and McCloset even tells us that he’s really really enjoying life in the third division. Sad sad people.
hh
Jordan 2 Australia1
Didnae even know she could play fitba!
She must have had some way of distracting the Aussies.
From oor Phil…
I once received a cheque from Fergus McCann.
I think it was for £14.40.
However, I never did cash in that debenture as I hoped that it would circulate back into the club.
My investment in Celtic wasn’t business, it was personal.
I saw it as a donation.
The man Celtic fans call “the Bunnet” had a stock market flotation because he wanted to raise share capital for a specific purpose and that was to build a new stadium.
The Taylor report meant that the old Celtic Park was not fit for purpose.
It was, and remains, the most successful share issue of any football club in Britain.
Not only did Celtic fans mobilize in 1994 to topple the old board and then they stepped up to fund Celtic going forward.
Fergus was good to his word and used the millions raised to build a stadium that held more people than Ibrox.
If it could be filled on a regular basis then Celtic would, possibly for the first time ever, have greater financial clout than their city rivals.
We know the rest.
David Murray’s decision to go the disastrous EBT route was to allow him to continue to outspend Celtic and re-assert the dominance of the 1990s.
Through it all Fergus did what he said he would do.
Firstly and most importantly he saved the club from liquidation.
That means that the team I watched win the European Cup in 1967 is the same club I watched beat Helsingborg last month.
He then built a stadium cashed in his chips and left without any fanfare.
However, it would have been different.
After the successful share issue Fergus, as majority shareholder, could have decided that putting seats into the old stadium would satisfy the requirements of the Taylor Report.
What would he have done with all of that spare cash?
Well he could have bought star players.
However, he could also have just issued a dividend to shareholders.
Obviously as he held the majority of the shares he would get a bigger pay-out than anyone.
As expected Charles Green and his investors are planning a share issue for shares in The Rangers Football Club (formerly known as Sevco Scotland Limited).
The PR has stated that they hope to raise £20 million and that this will be used to provide Ally McCoist with a budget for players.
Given that a registration ban is now in place and no new players can be brought in until January 2014 then this money would remain unused until then.
Moreover, clearly there is no need to build a new stadium or a training ground.
Let us assume best scenario for the flotation and that £20 million is raised.
That money cannot be used to buy players until January 2014.
There is no need to conduct any major capital project like a new stadium.
So what will that notional £20 million be used for?
If the money is indeed intended for the purchase of players then why not wait until nearer to January 2014?
However, if that £20 million was used to fund the shortfall between the costs of running a club with an SPL squad and Division 3 revenues then that could be the road to ruin.
What would the company do the year after to bridge the gap between the cost base and the revenues streams?
A Sevco insolvency event would defy parody.
No, it really would.
If the share capital is not there to provide for player purchase and it is not to be used as working capital then there is only one other possibility that I can see.
With many millions raised by a successful flotation the shareholders could receive a dividend fairly quickly.
Of course the emotional investor wouldn’t much care about that, as I didn’t with the Celtic debenture from Fergus McCann.
However, the commercial investor in Sevco Scotland Limited would be very interested in such a move.
There would not, of course, be anything untoward if a dividend was paid to the shareholders.
It happens in business all of the time.
This, of course, is why investors put money into companies in the first place.
Such a move would be perfectly legal and just like the residents of animal farm although all shares are equal, some shares may turn out to be more equal than others.
Perhaps one day next year if Sevco shareholders receive a cheque in the post from Mr Green then it might not bode well for “The Rangers”.
Johnston knows his professional reputation is about to be trashed, possibly to the extent that it will jeopardise his position at IMG.
No wonder he’s havering.
My hedgehog, “Hedgie” by name, is not at all impressed at being used in any comparison with the hun. He would rather go without worms for a week!
You have no idea how bad it is having an indignant hog in the hoose!
Ulryc
“The more they talk, the guiltier they are”
Before the tribunal has uttered a word or seen a single piece of evidence, it seems to me that green and johnston have already discerned that they will return a guilty verdict.
They’re sitting on all the evidence, so in this at least I’m inclined to believe them.
Got Phil’s book today through the post from Amazon – just in time for going on holiday next week !
Cyrlu
You’ve had more posts in the last couple of days than in the last couple of months!
Hope all’s well mate.
Can’t be bothered with Sevco and their histrionics at the moment.
Wasn’t Andy Murray magnificent?
In Novak Djokovic, he faced a brilliant and seemingly tireless and indefatigable opponent, and I can only begin to understand the pain our hero played through, under the pitiless scrutiny of the world’s media, to win the US Open.
Most people, especially the bookies, expected him to choke. Instead, he triumphed.
Andy Murray is the Neil Lennon of tennis. (thumbsup)
From Alistair Johnstone statement
” The SFA is complicit in all of this because they have not at least up until now had the courage to publicly acknowledge that they either ignored or did not really understand the well-publicized structure surrounding the relationship that Rangers FC had with certain of its players.”
So the SFA polis did not tell Rangers they were breaking the law the SFA polis were supposed to uphold so that means no laws were broken or the polis cannot later enforce the law?
” The reality of the situation is that Sir David Murray, who was intimately involved in the architecture of these efforts to organize the business in a way to mitigate taxation which is totally legitimate and acceptable under all tenets of the law, would have signed and paid for these very same players whether or not EBT schemes were in effect or not.”
So had the tax payer not paid for those players directly they would have paid for them indirectly through bank rescue? Was it not the Rangers Board responsibility to caution SDM that the business was being run on an unsustainable manner only with bank permission and that could not be relied upon. Surely the Board’s role was to do this. Instead they ignored the predictions of Hugh Adam and allowed SDM free reign.
Finally did they provide the SFA will all contracted payments as part of the registration details or not? If not AS PART of THE REGISTRATION then why not?
Is he honestly saying Rangers were unaware of the on field advantage ebts gave Rangers over their main competitor in wage terms? Really? Celtic were aware of EBTS but eschewed their use because they had doubts about their legality, Rangers took a punt when common sense prevailed elsewhere. Surely the responsibility of Rangers was to act with the same sense of propriety and having decided not to the price must be paid not least because of what that decision cost those acting with propriety.
Litmus test is if the position were reversed would Rangers think it was all ok not to feel cheated?
…So the nodding donkey raises his heid……………..
…must be worried…….He won’t be alone either………….
Aye……
No Surrender……..
4/1 Macedonia worth a hit
Matthews starts for Wales
Lustig starts for Sweden
I asked this earlier but maybe someone can help me out here.
If Chuckles Green bought (haha) the history of dead parrot FC including the titles, did he also buy the CUp Winners cup of 1972 from UEFA?
Anyone heard anything about that?
AJ.
Hahahahaha.
‘It wis that yin Whyte whit dun it. Nae surrender ‘n ‘nat.’
Hahahahahaha.
The SFA disciplinary tribunal the Rangers football club PLC and Craig Whyte
Take note Mr Alistair no surrender Johnston the evidence below is from representatives of your board
13.
That for some years commencing prior to 6 May 2011 Mr AndrewDickson C.A. has been the Head of Football Administration of RangersFC. His duties prior to 6 May 2011 included preparation of players contracts with players and their agents. His duties included representing Rangers FC and the Glasgow Football Association on various committees within the sport. His duties included all administrative responsibilities, and in particular he dealt with all football registration requirements and documentation which required lodging with the Scottish FA, the Scottish Premier League, UEFA and elsewhere. The role included preparation of the Official Return detailing the identities and personal details of all directors and officers of Rangers FC which required to be lodged with the ScottishFA each year prior to the new playing season and any amendment form which might become necessary on account of board or management changes occurring during the playing season.
Mr Dickson had carried out this role continuously and competently formany years and is highly experienced and knowledgeable about club, player, official, and ground registration and licensing matters. The appointment of any new director to the Board of Rangers FC was an appointment which required registration procedures to be completed and fell squarely within Mr Dickson’s experience and remit. Such an appointment required to be intimated by the completion and lodging of an amendment form relative to the Rangers FC Official Return,specifying the appointment and lodging the director’s details with the
Scottish FA. The amendment form requires the director involved personally to sign a declaration, having regard to Article 10 of the Articles of Association of the Scottish FA, in relation to disclosure of any matter (emphasis added) which should be brought to the
attention of the Scottish FA in order to allow it to satisfy itself that the director is a fit and proper person to be appointed to the position within the game. Rangers FC through its Secretary is required to sign and “confirm that the information supplied above is complete, true and accurate and that Articles 10, 13, 14 and 15 have been complied with”.(sic)
14.
That for many years prior to 6 May 2011 Mr John McClelland was a Non Executive Director of Rangers FC and he had previously been Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He was well informed and experienced in business matters and well informed of the financial and business circumstances and history of Rangers FC prior to 6 May 2011. He was a close associate of Sir David Murray, a previous Chairman and majority shareholder through Murray International Holdings Limited..
15.
That for some years prior to 6 May 2011 Rangers FC had been under financial stress. It had been heavily indebted to the Halifax Bank of Scotland (“HBOS”). It had granted securities to HBOS over its assets. At one stage Rangers FC owed HBOS well in excess of £30,000,000.That debt figure had since been substantially reduced. As at 6 May 2011 Rangers FC owed HBOS’s business successors the Lloyds Banking Group plc (“Lloyds”) approximately £18,000,000. The Board had agreed a financial plan with Lloyds which included the reduction of the debt to £17,000,000 in the course of the next year. Rangers FC was operating within very tight financial constraints and with little financial headroom but it had an agreed plan in place with Lloyds andwas not under undue financial pressure from its bankers. There was no acute threat to its continuation in ordinary trading and operating circumstances.
16.
That in addition to the debt due to Lloyds, Rangers FC had in the past entered into agreements with a company called Ticketus for the sale of season tickets for Ibrox Stadium. Essentially the arrangement was that Ticketus bought the season tickets for the forthcoming year at a discounted price from Rangers FC. transactions in previous years had been approximately £5,000,000 per annum.
17.
That the majority shareholder of Rangers FC immediately prior to 6May 2011 was Murray International Holdings Limited (“MIHL”) led by Sir David Murray, a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rangers FC. MIHL and the Murray Group of companies were also extremely heavily indebted to HBOS and then their successor bank, Lloyds. The debt due to Lloyds by Rangers FC at or about 6 May 2011was of the order £18,000,000. Whilst the figure was uncertain, discussions prior to 6 May 2011 between Mr John McClelland and Sir David Murray in connection with the financial situation of Rangers FC and Sir David Murray’s shareholding had raised a suggestion of an overall group debt of the Murray Group to Lloyds being in the order of £700,000,000. The Murray Group was under very substantial pressure from Lloyds to reduce its overall indebtedness. The asset holdings of the Murray Group were predominantly in iron and steel, and inheritable property, and current market conditions were unfavourableto a profitable realisation of assets or the generation of funds from these sectors with which to reduce its indebtedness to Lloyds.
18.
That for some time prior to 6 May 2011 Rangers FC had been indispute with HMRC in relation to problems surrounding income tax from employees’ earnings. A financial vehicle entitled the Employee Benefit Trust (“EBT”) was in issue which had also become known in the public domain as “The Big Tax Case”. The matters involved in that specific dispute did not involve any financial activity or liabilities arising during the period between 6 May 2011 and 6 March 2012 but the potential impact of an adverse ruling on Rangers FC being delivered by the tax tribunal was a matter of public notice and debate both before and after 6 May 2011. The matter, which involved a very substantial sum of money was under consideration by the appropriate tax tribunal from whom a ruling was awaited. As at the date of the Judicial Panel Tribunal Hearing no ruling has been issued.
19.
That some time prior to 6 May 2011 Sir David Murray had decided to sell the MIHL majority shareholding in Rangers FC. He entered into discussions with Mr Craig Whyte. Mr Craig Whyte had been introduced to Sir David Murray and he had represented to Sir David Murray that he was a person of substantial personal means and he claimed to have access to very substantial funds for the purposes of investment.
Johnson told the Rangers Trust:
“The SFA is complicit in all of
this because they have not at
least up until now had the
courage to publicly acknowledge
that they either ignored or did
not really understand the well-
publicized structure surrounding
the relationship that Rangers FC
had with certain of its players.
“I have been reviewing my files
from around April 2011 relating to
the annual routine of Rangers FC
applying for and being granted a
license to participate in organized
football in Scotland.
“Because of the publicity
surrounding our club at the time,
the SFA wrote to us asking for
more details about the public
speculation concerning our
financial and tax situation.
“The latter obviously referenced
the impact of the EBT schemes as
creating a potential taxation
liability. The club responded
accordingly and provided details,
as it had done in previous years,
by declaring player salaries,
bonuses, benefits, etc., but also
payments made to a
Remuneration Trust.
“The SFA compliance officers must
have known, both from the
description and context of the
reports, that such expenditures
had some connection to player
compensation. However, without
any further investigation at the
time, Rangers FC received its SFA
license to compete in the
2011/2012 season.
“Rangers, therefore, were entitled
to believe that they were not in
breach of any SFA regulation
requiring reporting of player
compensation. If there was any
question that the essence of these
payments to a Remuneration Trust
could have endangered the proud
historical record of our team, then
why was it not raised long before
then.”