Dave King yesterday announced he would resign from Newco’s board following a share issue, to take place early in the new year, almost five years since his concert party won control of the club in March 2015.
The contrast with Fergus McCann, who also stated a successful hostile takeover bid for a lost-looking football club, in 1994, could not be starker. Fergus left with the Scottish Premier League trophy in the boardroom. I looked for a photo of Fergus with the trophy, but there doesn’t seem to be one in circulation. It was not Fergus’ style to flaunt his achievements.
When a Newco historian looks for the principle achievement of Dave King’s time, the image of Tom Rogic’s penalty kick sailing over the Hampden crossbar in the 2016 Scottish Cup semi-final will be top of the list. That sent Newco into their only major final to date, they face Celtic in next month’s League Cup final.
Five years ago, King arrived with an irresistible commitment to spend “whatever it takes” to topple Celtic. When the club’s Nomad resigned ahead of him taking control, he suggested another would be in place within 48 hours (we are still waiting). Once in control he explained that Newco’s finances were the envy of the football world. Seriously.
There were mad suggestions, like taking Oldco out of liquidation, surely made after a liquid lunch, and the aborted plan to sue David Murray for £20m, which came to nowt. Where King did achieve legendary status was in Shirebrook, the Derbyshire location of the Sports Direct head office. King’s years in charge of Newco literally saw no end of legal challenges and defeats at the hands of Mike Ashley. King will continue to oversee the outstanding legal cases against Sports Direct.
The most pernicious defeat King experienced came last month, when the Takeover Panel ‘cold shouldered’ him, a punishment which forbids any entity of financial advisor can act for King on a transaction governed by the Takeover Panel for four years. This was punishment for the concert party breaking Takeover Panel rules in gaining control of the club in 2015.
While Fergus slipped away from Celtic Park unnoticed while a game was underway and the Premier League Trophy on display, King announced his departure with nothing to show but tears and a solitary second place finish. He has committed to meet this season’s shortfall, but yesterday explained his business in South Africa was in need of greater support.
On arrival in 1994, Fergus promised to leave after 5 years and did so, King chose this exit moment due to current events. You can accept his explanation, that Newco are no longer in need of his unique brand of wisdom, that his South African interests have become irresistible, or I can offer an alternative.
Celtic are about to win nine-in-a-row, King’s available money has dried up and he wants to be thousands of miles and several months away from Govan when it all goes down.
I’ll miss him, he’s been wonderful.
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Norrie M
Bit of a contradiction there? Pull the plug, but continue to pursue independently with monthly funding (agree to the latter btw).
I do not want to pull the plug whatsoever, but I wouldn’t be averse to a plug being inserted in appropriate area(s).
Hope you managed to get back to the stadium in time for kick off on Saturday.
HH
norrie
well said.
“We have, after some time, reached a view that it would not be in our interests to take further.”
Were the reasons for this explained to shareholders at the agm? If not, why not?
We should be told.
Friesdorfer
The pull the plug comment, was based on our boards calculated decision, and this was calculated
Knowing with 9 or 10, our fans will continue to fund this
Not on the individual shareholders,
Through direction of the Res12 team, we can hopefully continue on the road to success
I have spoken to many on our supporters bus, who refuse to even give up on our games funding FtSFA
For me season ticket only, no away games, league cup or FtSFA cup games
Oh and No Sevco attendance on my season ticket – for me.
But
All our games in these competitions are generally sold out
I support Celtic, not the Board of Celtic
I will still be hopefully watching Celtic long after this board have gone
Today’s AGM went as I expected, even though I was making my debut. First real excitement was when a slightly nervous (understandable) Auldheid took the Mike to propose and explain Res 12. This was followed by an extremely patronising response from Chairman Bankier along the lines of “thanks for your explanations, its not easy speaking in front of so many people and you did well”. Of course, Auldheid was a last minute stand in for BRTH who may well have come across more confidently and clearly. But in any event that wouldn’t have changed the outcome. On the card vote it looked to me around 85/15 in favour of the Resolution. But as its 1 vote for every share owned then my own input is a measly 50 shares out of something like 90 million. Today was the final opportunity for our Board to control the narrative and they’ve chosen not to. I await The Resolutioners’ next move with great interest. Thanks to Friesdorfer for his company during g the AGM.
I’m in the same camp as Norrie, I am not happy but I support the Celtic team always have & always will.
I will contribute to any fund set up to support the exposure of cheating but don’t ask me to quit on Celtic coz I won’t.
Neil Lennon was commenting on the Green brigade ban and said this:
” “You see a banner or hear a song and your heart just sinks. That’s not who we are and it does give our enemies the opportunity to class us the same as other clubs and portray us as two side of the one coin which we are not. We are different.”
Interesting.
Hotel Smoked,
Don’t think NL said that, it was either PL or Bankier. See you tomorrow on the Express.
This is my Celtic, this my rivalry, this is my Glasgow! (Aye pished again)
For Tam
Many many times in my years stretching out the seconds minutes hours and days as I wander across God’s sod, I have tasted the joyful sweet tears of victory, the bitter acid tears of defeat and the determined cold-steel tears of defiance.
In only a few cases have I ever experienced the kaleidoscope of sadness, laughter, admiration, regret and inspiration that comes with the passing of Tommy.
Celtic Park this morning (Thursday) was like one of those time lapse photographs speeded up even more than normal, as scarf after scarf, bouquet after bouquet, banner after banner, and tribute after tribute gradually consumed the railings and pavings surrounding Brother Walfrid culminating in a massive white standard laid out across the small car park outside East Main Stand, bearing a Celtic-green inlaid image of Tommy and the simple but revealed truth – ‘Tommy Burns Celtic legend’.
As this huge emotional jigsaw of respect, farewell and love flowered in front of my eyes, the sadness was palpable! As I walked past the tributes and thought of Tommy running to the crowd, I smiled and laughed. As I looked at the pictures of him as a boy growing to a man but always a bhoy, I grasped again the admiration. And as I read the words written by a thousand hands on Celtic, Rangers, Kilmarnock, and St Mirren colours and remembered in turn his own words, I breathed deeply as I sensed again the inspiration that he provided to so many youngsters that have passed through the doors of Celtic Park, of Barrowfield, and now of Lennoxtown.
And then as the cameras and radio mikes behind me swung into action and the victims for ‘just a few words’ were summoned and asked ‘what are your memories of Tommy’, all those emotions and memories of my own became no more than a blur as I tried to think just what I would say if anyone was daft enough to ask me (they weren’t!).
I was stuck for words! ME!
I just couldn’t come up with a coherent view of Tommy as a player, a manager, a coach or even as a man, without seeing him in the context of the club whose founder and home towered above and in front of me. And it was as I stared at Brother Walfrid that I suddenly knew just what I remembered of Tommy.
For 120 years football has been played by those sporting the colours of Celtic Football Club at the current ground and the previous one just over the back where the ginger factory now stands. During that 120 years, sometimes glorious, sometimes desperate, sometimes victorious and sometimes vanquished, an occasional man or woman of substance has arrived on the scene like a shaft of sunlight on the dullest of days to illuminate and remind us of exactly why any of us are bothered about this club, why it ever mattered in the first place and why it should matter in the future.
Few lights have shone brighter than Tommy, and none have lit up so many dark corners for so long as he has done in is all-too-brief 51 years; none came with the smile, the laugh, the raised hand and the unbowed shoulders that said to us all, ‘this matters you know, this club means something, how we represent this club means as much, and how we represent ourselves is the foundation upon which everything else is built’!
But there was more.
Tommy Burns as a player was also Tommy Burns the supporter.
Tommy was no badge kisser or chest thumper; he never needed to be.
Tommy was devoid of platitudes; he never needed to spout them.
Think now of Celtic Park and European nights in particular. Think of the support – that legendary twelfth man.
Think how, as backs to the wall, the passion, desire, and urging of the whole ground in full song inject adrenalin into those who may not fully understand this club, and how they suddenly produce that extra step, that extra leap, that extra sprint to pull the rabbit of victory from the dark deep depths of defeat!
Tommy never needed that support from the terraces and stands!!
Tommy had his own Celtic support system raging like a furnace inside him and even in the lowest silent moments of our despair that burning desire lit up his team-mates and lit up the crowd and the fire would spread on a breeze of confidence, pride and perseverance.
Victory or defeat? It didn’t matter. We knew who Tommy was and he knew who we were.
We were the same! It was just that he was better at being the same than we could ever manage!
And for those who say that Tommy’s passing demonstrates just how unimportant football really is, could I just say that somehow I’m not sure that Tommy would have totally agreed!
The power of football, the dream that is Celtic and the smiddies of poverty in which they were forged, enthralled, captured and inspired in Tommy Burns the desire, determination, and imagination to become the man that we all grew to cherish.
At the core of his soul was his Catholic faith, but a faith that was not exclusive or blinkered; a faith whose true founding principles of faith, hope and love guided just about every step of his waking life, and a faith that nurtured the seeds of respect that he had for colleagues, opponents, and peers from every walk of that life.
I know that undoubtedly Tommy would have been the same man even without football! But without football, I doubt if he would have been known by so many for the man that he was. More importantly I doubt he would have influenced so many to become the people that they now are, and left a legacy that enriches so many people worldwide.
To me Tommy Burns did not just epitomise Celtic, Tommy was someone through whom you could view the essence of Celtic and in Celtic you could see the reflection of Tommy! After all how many can say that they supported, played for, managed, coached and represented this club. All of those who did were and are giants and Tommy was and always will be a giant among even them, for he did all that and even more.
And so as I close my eyes to think again of what my memories of Tommy Burns are and just how I would answer such a question, I can see my own minds-eye appearing as a you-tube video!
There’s a brash young smiling red-haired Glaswegian running towards me across the Celtic Park turf, hand raised in triumph, his stride shortening as he looks around at the cheering and rapturous crowd; the colours on his top begin to fade and his garments are gradually replaced by club suit and tie; his hair fades from that brilliant red to a distinguished grey, and a hundred different players hug him and he hugs them as he takes another step towards me standing at first in the jungle and then out of my seat beneath a towering north stand; a change again to a track suit and as Dalglish becomes Aitken and then Stubbs and then De Canio and finally McDonald, McGeady, Boruc and Caldwell, with one almighty leap, as Celtic get to the Champions’ League again, he flies through the air to land on the pyramid of celebrations!
Is it a bird?
Is It a Plane?
Is it Superman?
“Naw – It’s Tommy Twists, Tommy Turns, Tommy Burns!”
Thanks for the smile Tommy! Thanks for the memory! But most of all just thanks!
I’ll be seein you wan day!
p.s.
As we stood there just talking amongst ourselves, a couple of buses pulled up at the bottom of the street by the London Road School. Out of the doors streamed about a hundred or so Rangers’ supporters just returning from Manchester and their UEFA cup defeat.
How gutted must they have been. But such was the appeal and esteem within which Tommy was held, that on their return journey they had stopped and bought a flower tribute which they laid and then for a few minutes they stood in silent respect.
As they eventually turned to leave, applause rang out across the car parks, pavements and roads.
I’ll financially support, as much as I can, any movement that takes Res12 out of the long grass into which the SFA and our board have buried it. Not to mention the rest of Scottish football, media and governance. Shame on you all.
I’ve given too much money to lawyers over the years as it is, but if it takes paying a QC to drag this into the spotlight and clean up our game, I’m happy to pay another one.
Hot Smoked
Was Peter Lawwell who said that. Neil Lennon was fulsome in his praise of Lawwell though.
Jobo I didn’t get the impression that Bankier was being condescending, different interpretations I guess, after Auldheid spoke.
I briefly congratulated Auldheid on the way out as he was talking to someone at a round table outside of the meeting room. I will continue to support both the team and the Resolution 12 boys financially as required.
So Lawwell think’s winding up Fascists is on a par with Hun’s disgusting behaviour!
Some say he is a Celtic fan…
RIP Clive James – he wrote some beautiful lyrics for Pete Atkin
between us there is nothing
beware of the beautiful stranger
Robin Bhoy
My interpretation was the same as Jobo – I thought it was patronising and, going on remarks made at previous AGMs by Bankier, typical of him in particular.
Jobo
Enjoyed your company too, thanks. Mau meet again tomorrow evening!
HH
May…
And after all of the shennanigans of the last 2 das it’s …………………………….
……………………………. one more sleep ;-)
sighsdeeplyandheadswearilytobedCSC
Though not yet oot o’ nappies ah wis telt the folk next door,
Were no the sort tae mix wae, they were rotten tae the core,
Their songs came frae the devil, their souls were black as sin,
They ate their first-born wean, and dumped its bones intae the bin.
Their hame was like a midden, but it didnae smell sae nice,
On Sunday they ate jobbies, their hair ran thick wae lice,
They cursed, they swore, they boiled newts, and cast their spells o’ doom,
As midnight’s hour pressed doon on them, they’d rob a new filled tomb.
And with that corpse jist barely cauld, they’d conjure up auld nick,
And slake their thirst wae fresh tapped blood, and gorge on cups o’ sick,
They’d bow and laud their clove-hoofed boss and offer gifts of shite,
And orgy till their evil lust had melted into night.
But when the sun would crack the dawn, they’d scurry tae their lair,
For fear of turning into dust and lose their palms o’ hair,
‘And where’s that lair?’ o’ them ah’d ask, ‘where hides that evil coven?’
“It’s a place of putrid fetid hate… a fitba’ grun’ near Govan!”
Then wance ma towellin’ wis cast aff, an ah could staun tae pee,
I learnt that heaven wis reserved fur those who had like me,
Had water sprinkled on their heid, their soul wance mair brand new,
Selected by the hand of God, wan o’ the chosen few!
So wae each rising o’ the sun, I navigated life,
An’ preached my righteous credo, ma tongue honed as a knife,
Ah’d point a finger at yon folk and scream ‘Yer wrang!…. Ah’m right!’
Then PUNCH!… and KICK!…. wae humble heart!…. then go tae Mass that night.
And as I knelt on weel scuffed knees, sae Pharisaic humble,
With prayers entreating Heaven’s praise, as wae ma beads ah’d fumble,
‘How can they be sae blind oh Lord, and deif tae all yer glories,
Ah fear that they are lost tae you, they’re worse than Thatcher’s Tories’!
So when the time came tae depart and the candles wir snuffed oot,
Ah’d cross masel wae gratitude sae glad that ah’d been put
Upon this world of heathen hordes tae haud ma grun’ an’ fight,
For the ways of man, decreed by God, for whit wis just and right!
Wan night however traipsin’ hame, rapt smug in selfish wonder,
Frae darkened clouds that frowned on me a clap rang oot like thunder,
A spectre blocked ma homeward path, wis it the bogie man?
To claim ma soul for hellish fire frae oot the frying pan!
Wae icy haund it grasped ma heart, then wae a roar of doom
We soared back through the sands o’ time, tae someone’s living room
A room ah knew frae childhood years where by the coal-fire light,
Next door tae me, sat Billy boy being spooned ‘their’ view of right!,
‘Yon papists eat big scabbie dugs, they feed their kids wae maggots,
An’ aw their wumin live like sluts, an’ aw their men are faggots’!
They live in holes wae mice an’ rats; they dine on cows’ entrails
They paint their walls wae faeces, an’ a’ their weans huv tails!
I tried tae shout tae Billy boy, tae make him realise
Whit he wis telt tae turn his heid were nuthin mair than lies,
But the phantom grabbed me by the scruff and at the speed o’ light,
We landed by Hadean gates, an’ whit an awfy sight!
As though within a night-times dream, ah witnessed lines tae hell,
Each row jist like yon days at school, as we filed afore the bell,
But now in chains they shuffled by to suffer Satan’s fire
To scream for all eternity on that white-hot blazing pyre.
But as ah took a closer keek tae see the huns cast doon,
Ah wis fair amazed tae find that there were ithers hingin roon,
Agin the things that ah hud learned, there standin’ in that queue
Wis Cafflick, Mormon, Muslim, Prod, Agnostic, Pagan, Jew.
Ah looked around a bit confused, why wur ma ain folk there?
There! In among those hellish huns, it a’ seemed sae unfair,
Cos efter a’ we’d never strayed from a’ that we’d been taught,
We’d never stained our holy souls,..well at least we’d no’ been caught!
I tried to warn them o’ their fate, at least the wans ah knew,
But the spirit grabbed we wance again and frae the fires we flew,
This time we looked down frae on high as oot a courthouse came
A lad in chains, his head obscured, Ah asked the ghost his name
‘That’s in your hands’ his eyes explained, ‘your future’s not been set’,
‘If you have learned by what you’ve seen, there’s hope for your soul yet’
‘There’s many gifts bestowed upon the folk who walk this realm,
‘But some are blind and some are deaf until I come an’ tell’m’
He whisked us back through time that’d passed and in the pouring rain
He left me wae ma thoughts confused tae gauge ma life again.
And as ma mind began to grow, I questioned youthful mores,
Yon stories ah’d been telt as facts were bigot’s weeping sores
I found that truth wis nurtured by a parent’s guiding hands
That virtue bloomed frae seeds being sown in multi-cultured lands,
That black and white, and left and right, and tall and short lost sense,
When the map of life confined us tae the wan side o’ the fence!
For narrow minds and narrow hearts are nowt to celebrate,
They’re outlaws from that bitter past where birth-right set our fate,
We may not choose our start in life or pick our kith and kin,
But free will in our hearts can cleanse us of such stunted sin.
Hail Hail
Matt
Absolutely splendid Matt 😃
and I leave you with
A Whisper in Paradise
Your whisper enticing, as clouds leave the skies
Your warmth so inviting, is calling me home
I turn to avoid you, but you won’t let me roam,
Your heart pulls me closer to my Paradise
CHORUS
El Paradiso, yes our Holy Ground,
When life has deserted it’s there will be found
My ashes upon the green grass in bliss
A breeze soft caressing, a heavenly kiss.
The days when you held me in your welcoming arms
Those nights of great drama when we dared to dream
Of hopes and of pride in Celtic our team
No one can replace your spirit or charms!
CHORUS………………
A choir calls softly then starts to resound
Of Walfrid’s great passion to feed starving souls
Those seeds he sowed then have flourished in shoals
Over St Patrick’s waters, on St Andrew’s ground.
CHORUS………………
Big Jock is awaiting with Jinky to greet
With Bobby and Ronnie a welcoming smile
Till then I’ll just wait at this stage for a while
Where magic was conjured from magical feet!
CHORUS
El Paradiso, yes our Holy Ground,
When life has deserted it’s there will be found
My ashes upon the green grass in bliss
A breeze soft caressing, a heavenly kiss.
I was near the back of the kerrydale today so watched most of the proceedings on the screens.
There was something about the filming that kept reminding me of this:
https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/images/LeonardoLastSupper.jpg
Matt, Bloody Hell Mate, You are so good you are scaring me .
Matt
Fabulous, thank you again.
HH
Terje Vigen
Spot on…👌👌
HH
what a year i had , earned 3,6 million pounds doing what my bosses told me, thats my job i delivered,
what a year i had, my shareholder dividend went up, i pprotected my investment, and made a profit.
what a year i had, i laughed at the agm about res 12,
————-
the kellys and whites reincarnated,
i really dont think feguses vision for the club was a shower of self serving renumiraction committes voting themselves payrises and performances bonuses.
what did you do in the res 12 question dad ? well, the commitee decided i should have more money,
Test
I believe the joint Celtic Plc/SFA strategy was to keep it in the long grass while ensuring it got as little public exposure as possible, in the expectation it is starved of interest in the public domain and to wear us down to the point we would consider it an insurmountable and pointless task. It almost worked at an individual level where at different times each of us have spat the dummy out and had enough but always we have returned to a fight that is about the very core of what the club stands for, are we happy to see our club support corruption, for us the answer is no and we have made a stand, how sold we are in our commitment will become evident over the course of the next week.
Morning All.
I couldn’t make the AGM yesterday and have been trying to clarify what was said. So to those who were there can I just check a couple of things:
1. Did the chairman say there had been an investigation by UEFA?
and
2. Did Peter Lawwell say that he had spoken to UEFA on the phone yesterday morning?
Not that the resolution was about UEFA at all, but I would just like to check what was said.
Cheers
BRTH.
How you today BRTH?
Good morning CQN from a dark, damp and chilly Garngad
Bring on the Rennies.
D. :)
Good morning friends (and Happy Matchday, by the way!) from a dark, damp but still a few above freezing East KIlbride.
BRTH @ 6.01am – in answer to your 2nd question, yes, Peter did say that he had phoned UEFA about the Res 12 related issues yesterday morniong. As for your 1st question I don’t think the Chairman said anything as specific as that although Peter Lawwell reminded everyone of UEFAs very general decision, i.e. no interest in revisiting the issuing of the licence to Rangers (as they then were!) because any punishment would have applied in the following season when they didn’t play in any European tournament anyway.
BRTH, He did say he had spoken with UEFA earlier in the day …. and said that they, UEFA, were not interested in the matter as Rangers did nor exist and that the matter was time barred anyway…
To my mind Peter Lawwell tried to influence the vote by making issue about Rangers rather than the SFA and the judicial/ CAS fiasco. He left us with “ The matter is still with the SFA” and Celtic have done all the can and will do no more…..
Hope your feeling better..
BRTH,
I sincerely hope that you are feeling better and on the mend. Thank you also for your kind words a few days ago about my health.
I ( like many others I suspect), would be happy to contribute some Cash in my own small way to any “Funding”, that may be set up to carry on the RES 12 Fight.
I can never pretend to understand all the ins and outs of RES 12, and what went on, but I feel that I know enough to support the RES 12 Bhoys in any “Action” that may now ensue, thanks to all the documented evidence/info on here that you Bhoys have provided over a long period of time.
I am a bit more confused this morning with what I read following the AGM yesterday ?
From what I have read on here for some time now, my understanding is that Celtic have left any Investigation into RES 12 with The SFA for some time now, following UEFA’s refusal to be involved, and obviously The SFA are determined NOT to investigate themselves etc….
So ( IF True)….”Why did Peter Lawwell telephone UEFA yesterday” ?
Why didnt he contact The SFA instead ?
Was this a waste of a Two pence piece ?
Kind Regards,
HH
https://youtu.be/rmLf7_LmP6I
What’s the headline today I wonder……. 🤔
3-1 the Leather Belts tonight
Jf
Rc
Cj
BHOYFROMSKY on 28TH NOVEMBER 2019 7:27 AM
……………..
Re Your Post..
I am more confused with Peter Lawwell apparently claiming yesterday that UEFA have said that “Rangers” did NOT Exist…..so who applied for the licence…or did the SFA grant a Licence to a club that did NOT Exist ?
HH
BRTH
Confirm what Jobo and BhoyfromSky said.
PL said he had phoned UEFA yesterday morning before the AGM, and that they (UEFA) had said they had no interest in the matter, and it was time barred anyway. PL did not say that UEFA had conducted an investigation.
Hope you are on the mend.
HH
Bhoys and Ghirls,
There has been a lot of talk recently about the voting age and how it should be universally 16 years old.
What age can those holding Celtic shares vote ?
Do our younger support get fair representation. ?
Do our female support get fair representation ?
Was parking and transport infrastructure mentioned? ( The number 1 issue for many actually attending games )
HH .