This evening’s statement from Gordon Smith, effectively claiming he was not in control of “recruitment, scouting [and]transfer negotiations” at Rangers confirms many rumours of power-struggles between him and manager, Ally McCoist, who, apparently, didn’t allow the director of football his way on recruitment matters.
Rangers made it known that wages for February were paid today and that Smith and, also now redundant, Ali Russell, will both continue to work until the end of the month. This begs the question, who else will go before the end of the month?
The first responsibility of an administrator is to try to keep the company trading. Duff and Phelps have been trying to do this. While it was a surprise (to me) to see Rangers director, Dave King, at Ibrox meeting the administrators with McCoist yesterday, King, along with other directors, wealthy fans and perhaps even the former owner, will all have been asked if they would be prepared to put money into the club to keep it ticking over until the end of the season. My information is that no one has put as much as the £1 Craig Whyte put on the table to buy the club last year.
I could break off here and tell you about the man that walked into a Bank of Scotland in 1994 and paid a huge sum of money into Celtic’s account to prevent the club going into administration. He had no guarantees from the old board, who still owned the club, and future managing director Fergus McCann was in no position to guarantee anything either, but that’s a story for another day, I’ll wouldn’t bring his name into this sorry tale. Suffice to say, in our hour of need, someone stepped forward.
It’s now a matter of cash. With wages paid until the middle of next week there is no immediate danger, but the administrators will need a pretty good reason to believe they have wages for March before they retain staff until Thursday next week.
The loss of Russell and the general state of chaos that having to work with various government agencies, including police investigators, will make the business of running a football club technically difficult. They have already missed an important action, but it’s not my job to point this out to them. Until it’s too late.
The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd
I think when you have been asked the same question about six times in a few days it’s worth explaining the issue here. If a football club is liquidated it’s finished. Continuity with its history and records ends. This is not the same as a football company changing its name.
Celtic was established as a sporting club at a meeting in a church hall in November 1887, in many ways, no different than a million other football, karate and badminton clubs. It subsequently registered with the SFA in 1888. In April 1897 it incorporated as a private limited company, registering as The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd at Companies House. It was the 3487th company to register in Scotland and was given the incorporation number SC003487.
In 1994 the company became a public limited company and changed its name to Celtic PLC but, of course, remained the same company, with the same incorporation number and retained the same registration with the SFA. You can check our corporate history, from incorporation in 1897, to name change in 1994 to our most recent annual return, dated 31 December 2011, at Companies House here.
On the same day Celtic changed its name to Celtic PLC, Fergus McCann changed the name of an off the shelf company, securing the old trading name ‘The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd’, which is fully owned by Celtic PLC, but is not registered as a football club. I assume this was to secure our old name for the club and to protect it from potential abuse.
Don’t let anyone tell you our history ‘started in 1994’. We are very much the club of Maley, Quinn, Thomson, McGrory, Stein, Johnstone and Dalglish.
823 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- ...
- 22
- »
Mr Murray, for every tenner you pledge, I’ll pledge hee haw. or my own weight in Jelly and ice cream, whichever is cheapest.
Truth6474 just pledged £4999
MWD
A couple of grand from S.P.L. Naemore. Heartwarming.
bankiebhoy1 says:
23 February, 2012 at 22:14
Thats Bob Agg just pumped 500 smackers into the kitty!
*****************
Jeezuz, that will be the RSPCA chasing them as well now.
I N`solvent
And now mr I. Broxphlatts just gives and …..
BSR
Uh oh…
The corporeal Bill Struth just pledged £500 as well.
D’ye think they might smell a rat?
‘It’s up to you to ensure Rangers’ future’ it says.
Fellow CQNers, we can have a collective pride in doing our bit for the cause.
Positive Side to Rangers’ Plight
There’s no getting away from it: Glasgow Rangers’ slide into bankruptcy protection last week was a troubling sign for soccer, a dark moment for one of Britain’s biggest teams and a sad reflection on the state of today’s game.
The 140-year-old team, which has “won” more titles than any other club in world soccer, filed for administration over an unpaid tax bill of £9 million ($14.2 million) and the threat of another one for at least £49 million.
Rangers was deducted 10 points by Scotland’s soccer authorities, all but deciding the championship with three months of the season left.
For fans who have long tied their identity to this team, these are wrenching days. Many of the club’s legendary figures, from former coach Walter Smith to defender Terry Butcher, have publicly questioned the team’s future. In coming days, the pedestal on which supporters have placed the team is likely to sink, as the scale of financial mismanagement is laid bare.
But setting aside the obvious disappointment for fans, the possibility of job losses and the prospect of the most anticlimactic finish to a season in decades, the demise of this hallowed old institution has raised a slightly awkward question: Could this actually be a good thing for Scottish soccer?
Whatever the implications of the crisis, Rangers are unlikely to go away anytime soon. There’s too much history and too much money at stake for that. Even in the unlikely event that the team is liquidated, a new company will obtain enough of its assets to carry on as Rangers.
But a short period of decline at Rangers could be just what the sport needs to solve some of the lingering problems and fundamental inequities that have dogged the Scottish game for most of two decades.
“The scale of the crisis at Rangers is a major opportunity to rewrite the rules of Scottish football,” said Tom Cannon, a sports business professor at the University of Liverpool. “It’s time for a radical rethink about the game.”
Almost 15 years since the 1998 foundation of the Scottish Premier League, there are signs that soccer in Scotland is in steady decline. Its leading teams are also-rans in Europe, attendances are dwindling, and the national team has failed to qualify for any of the past six major tournaments and is ranked 48th in the world, one place behind Iran.
But the broader problem is the essential lopsidedness of the sport. In Scotland, the game is defined by the ancient rivalry between Celtic and rangers, the top two clubs in Glasgow, and the country’s traditional powers.
Since this grudge match began in 1888, these teams—whose stadiums are just five miles apart—have captured more than 80% of the total Scottish titles, all while serving as the embodiment of a deep social division between Catholics and Protestants.
The Glasgow clubs, known as the “Old Firm”, are two of the greatest rivals in any sport. League games between them have a gravity that draws a significant global audience. Together they help the league sell more tickets, attract star players and above all, negotiate better TV deals.
But even as the money in Scottish soccer has grown—the SPL agreed to an extension of its broadcast deal with Sky Sports and ESPN last November worth roughly £80 million over five years—the gulf between the haves and have-nots seems to be widening each year. While this dynamic is true of every major professional league, it is especially accentuated in Scotland.
If Celtic wins the championship this year, as appears inevitable, it will mark the 27th straight season in which the title has been held by one of the Old Firm clubs, tying the 27 consecutive titles achieved between 1904 and 1931 for their longest period of unbroken dominance in the game’s history.
There are signs this predictability is taking a toll on fans. Last season, the average attendance for all 12 SPL clubs dropped to 13,672, down 14% from 2001-02 and the lowest figure in the modern era.
Still, there’s nothing like the spark of competition to fire up an indifferent fan base. The prospect of a season in which actual games need to be played to determine the top league spots in the standings could reverse the attendance woes. In 2005-06, when Heart of Midlothian finished second, the club’s average attendances rose by more than 4,000 per match., on average.
The added suspense and excitement of a league without two dominant superpowers could help boost TV ratings for games between smaller clubs. “Fans want to see a more open, more exciting league,” said Alan Harris, the chairman of Supporters Direct in Scotland. “One thing we’ve found is people saying if it was more competitive, they would go to more matches.”
Some say the Rangers liquidity crisis could even address Scotland’s dearth of talent. Now the team is no longer in a position to bludgeon the opposition with its checkbook, Rangers must focus on developing young, homegrown talent, rather than plugging holes with overpaid veterans.
For the past decade, the club’s hiring strategy has relied on simply snapping up any player performing moderately well for the smaller Scottish clubs, with a couple of aging overseas luminaries added for good measure. The club established a top-class youth academy at Murray Park in 2001, but in recent years, homegrown talents have been sold to ease cashflow.
For starters, investing in a youth policy would ensure Rangers is prepared for European soccer’s new rules on spending, known as the Financial Fair Play regulations, which broadly prohibits clubs from spending more than they earn in revenue and will come into force from 2013-14.
In the long-term, the focus on developing homegrown talent could even address the national team’s shortage of top-class players, which some blame on the number of overseas players in the top division.
Still, some observers find the positive spin on Ranger’s plight difficult to swallow. Many of the SPL’s commercial deals are contingent on the strength of the Old Firm, in particular the league’s broadcast deal, which specifies a minimum of four Old Firm games must take placeeach season.
“What is good for the game is a strong Rangers,” said Geoff Brown, the former chairman of St Johnstone. “Without that, it would make life very, very difficult for Scottish football.”
We’ll see…Exterminate them!!!
themightyquinn says:
23 February, 2012 at 21:37
You have taste compadre
…and Rumple Stilskint has just ‘coughed’ up a thousand bucks furra Big Hoose….
PADDY GALLACHER!!!!!
I can’t believe you wrote that!!!
Can’t see the screen for tears of laughter!!
G’oan, Paddy!!! LOL
HH
:-)x
HUNners O Sterling pumped in £3K
MWD
jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/ says:
23 February, 2012 at 20:57
Gerry S
Andy Kerr got done for D D at the weekend going home from the Killie game. Took the car off him banned for 2 yrs and fined £670.
—- —- —-
It probably wasn’t him that delivered The Spirit of Arthur Lee’s cans then.
I wonder if Andy will pledge his other £1020 to the cause
Has Jeurgen Bust made an appearance yet?
Eric Joyce has been suspended from parliament for head butting Craig White
Johnny Cash
Loadsamoney@hotmail.com £2000 on it’s way.
Didn’t think it was that easy.
Followed by Miss Suepermrkt… Morrisonstilpoint@ hotmail.com
At least one of them has got a sense of humour. Early on someone posted on Rangers Media explaining how the whole thing works and urging them to get pledging. Someone posted in reply:
“Craig, gonnae gie’s peace ffs!”
Paul67,
Intrigue abounds around the “important action” you refer to in your article.
One point to highlight however. Next Thursday isn’t an important date in relation to employees – it is next Tuesday. An administrator has 14 days from appointment within which to choose whether or not to adopt employment contracts he has inherited. If he cancels those contracts within that initial 14 days, the unlucky employees entitlement to salary for that 14 day period is at the bottom rung of the creditor ladder. If however the administrator adopts those contracts (or more likely, fails to cancel them) within that 14 day period, that employees entitlement to salary is elevated to near the top of the creditor ladder.
Comings and goings are likely to increase markedly in the next few days. A team coach may go to Inverness, but a team mini-bus may come back down.
Also, it beggars belief that the Celtic 1994 nonsense got airtime on radio last night. As you rightly confirm, in simple terms, Celtic’s actions in moving from a private company to a plc were akin to a person changing their name by Deed Poll. Notwithstanding the name change, they are still the same person. If Rangers liquidate and a newco is formed, the newco is the equivalent of a new person.
Paddy G,
Haven’t had so much fun for years
celticghirlanew,
Hiya matey! Good to see u pilin in there and enjoying it. It’s something else at time like this huh?
Its like christmas on here with all this giving
keep up the good work
Jeg er Neil Lennon-Greeninbingley
When they filter out, and delete the Timmy pledges, they’ll owe the website money.
Paddy G
Just read back…
Barbara Seville??? Stunner!!!!
They’ll never rumble that one! WAY too high brow! Rossini? they’ll not have heard of him…. he was a Cafflick!
HH
:-) x
Anyone seen Phil Mc’s posting about increase of £9m to £16.5m?
Anyone confirm this?
Penny R Cade just pledged a penny.
Sone Aluko has emailed in to say he’d love to pledge but him and all his family are totally skint !!
fergus mcann pledged £5000
Ok, ok, I had to get in on the act…..
Joe Ratzinger
1 St. Peters Square
Vatican
numerouno@hotmail.com
Has pledged £2000
There, now more childishness…….
Well done bears – great work
Take a bow, all so-called “Happy Clappers” …..if I’m any judge, Brian Quinn knew perfectly well, many years ago, what was ‘waiting for’ the bhuns , and our Board took a strtegic decision to ensure Celtic resisted going in the same direction ……….history will ‘remember’ Fergus / Brian / Dermott etc ……custodians of our proud /honest Club ……..we have faced up to the nonsense that is the Scottish Football Establishment, and we have prevailed big-time………I am confident that those on CQN who criticised our Board are now, armed with the full facts behind their strategy, underatanding of the reasons not to chase murray into ‘oblivion’ ………. think also that NEIL had received a wee insight into the Board’s assessment of what was likely to happen at ipox when he made his comment….” THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING “…LOL……!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mrs Candice B Olofer, (candicebolofer@hotmail.co.uk) take a bow, £3000 to the cause
It’s a wonder that none of they hun financial wizards have not asked if you want to Gift Aid your donation, that could get them some tax back from HMRC.
Jimmyquinnsbits
This is amazing!!
Having a ball!!
HH
:-)x
Have just donated as Sally McMoist under fatsallysmoobs from Fatchester and was accepted.
Sone Aluko`s wealthy cousin Gemssa Bogi has just generously gifted £5k all the way from Lagos!
Due to the kindnesses pouring in from around the world to SaveWalterWhite.com I thought it was time the man himself donated a few bucks.
So Walt has just donated $5000 from his expanding “car wash” business. And Jessie Pinkman has donated $2000.
I believe Saul Goodman will be donating tomorrow.
I am not sure if Gustavo Fring will chip in … he can certainly afford it though!
poloshermanoscsc
SDM has offered all his shares……..SFO