Perspective is difficult to find in these times, when information floods in from all angles on a daily basis. With this in mind, The Battered Bunnet put a day aside to give you a detailed summary (below) of how we go to where we are today. He pays particular attention to some of those who plan to be part of the game’s future, with a nod to those currently in control of the game.
It’s a fascinating read:
Scottish Football is in crisis, a crisis that has been 15 years in the making by the Directors of Rangers Football Club plc, compounded by a chronic lack of Governance and Oversight by the cronyistic SFA through the years.
Let’s revisit the cause of the crisis for a moment:
When David Murray bought Rangers in 1988, the club had won but 4 league titles in 20 years, and prior to the arrival of Graeme Souness, had been a Scottish League also ran for a decade. Souness, with David Holmes as Chairman, started the reversal of fortune and effectively restored Rangers as a player in British football.
Murray, giving credit where it’s due, transformed Rangers both as a football club and a business. Between 1988 and 1996, Rangers’ turnover increased by a factor of 5, double double and then some in only 8 years. During this time, the club became dominant in Scotland and competitive in Europe, while considerable sums were invested in the stadium and infrastructure, providing Rangers with a (comparatively) vast commercial resource to fund its football operations. While the club carried £9M of debt at this point, it was profitable, posting £2M surplus in 1996, and breaking even over the period of Murray’s tenure to that point.
By 1996 Murray had a valuable football business on his hands, and perhaps the smart play would have been to sell it. Football was in an expansionary phase, and there would have been a queue of interested and well bankrolled investors at the door. Instead, Murray chose to redouble his efforts, and taking Rangers ‘to the next level’ became the mantra adopted by the man and his increasingly fawning press.
Highlighting that Murray was not alone in thinking that Rangers could indeed become one of Europe’s top clubs, the following year Joe Lewis invested £40M in return for a 20% share. One wonders what Murray might have walked away with had he sold the lot to Lewis at that time, but he kept his hand in the game, and went all in over the following 6 years.
Between 1997 and 2003 Rangers lost an eye watering £152.6 Million. Joe Lewis’ £40M was gobbled up in jig time, followed by £20M of Dave King’s tax efficient stash, plus a £32M investment by Murray’s business, £6M from smaller shareholders, and a further £15M of NTL’s investment in the hopeless Rangers Media venture. At its nadir in 2004, Rangers net debt was a staggering £83 Million, a monument to the ego of David Murray and his ‘dream’ for Rangers.
Unfortunately, burning shareholders’ and creditors’ cash at such a breath-taking rate was not sufficient to fund Murray’s project, and the club embarked upon a series of schemes to pay players and reduce costs. A Discount Option Scheme saved over £2M between 1999 and 2003, while an Employee Benefit Trust framework saved £45M of payroll tax and gross wages between 2000 and 2010. It is worthwhile noting that the cost savings alone from these schemes gave Rangers a financial advantage equivalent to the total payroll of every other SPL team excluding Celtic.
We know now, thanks to the admissions of former director Hugh Adam, that ‘off the books’ payments to Rangers players had started as early as the mid-1990s, and the DOS and EBT schemes were simply formalising a by then established practice.
By 2005, with Rangers reduced to little more than a financial basket case, Bank of Scotland insisted that the club be brought back into balance, and following a failed public share issue, Murray’s holding company swapped £50M of Rangers’ debt for increased equity. The following year JJB paid £15M cash as a future royalty for a 10 year solus agreement on Rangers merchandise. Murray might very well have sold the jersey, but Rangers at long last had gotten rid of all but £6M of debt, and a new ‘sustainable’ plan was implemented, a plan that endured no longer than Paul Le Guen’s 26 games in charge.
When Walter Smith replaced Le Guen, the new plan was binned and Rangers once again embarked upon a ‘front loaded’ business model, with debt increasing on the back of player purchases and wages that the club could not sustain. By 2009 Rangers had £33M of bank debt and Murray’s companies, so long the guarantor of the funding, had utterly collapsed in the property and construction crash of 2008. It is worthwhile remembering that some £70 Million of Rangers’ losses through the years remains on the Murray International Holdings Ltd balance sheet, unpaid to the part-nationalised Bank of Scotland/Lloyds Banking Group.
Early in 2010, following an unusually long Tax Enquiry, Rangers received a Tax Assessment from HMRC for their use of EBTs in the preceding 10 years. The Bill for £24M, had a further £12M of accrued interest attached, and the promise of penalties to come.
Alastair Johnston, who had replaced Murray as Chairman of Rangers following the crash of Murray’s business empire, had a decision to make. In the summer of 2010, £36M tax demand in hand, and an appeal against which scheduled for October, Johnston was planning the coming season’s business. He could have chosen to sell the top footballers which would have brought in around £20M of proceeds. He could have chosen to run the club on a reduced cost model, one that was profitable on domestic football alone, thereby banking a further £20M from their participation in the Champions League. Had he done so, and ring fenced the cash, Rangers would have been in a position to withstand losing the Tax Case Appeal without bankrupting the club.
Alastair Johnston and his Board chose not to. He chose instead to spend money increasing the size of the squad, with £4M spent on Jelavic alone. Whatever else you hear about Rangers’ sorry plight, remember that in the summer of 2010 Alastair Johnston and his Board decided to prioritise football results ahead of the very existence of the club. That was the last time that Rangers’ fate was in the hands of the Club. From the moment the decision was taken not to act, Rangers’ fate was sealed.
Craig Whyte’s bizarre 9 month tenure of course is attracting all of the headlines, and Murray’s reckless disregard for shareholders and laws have precipitated the crisis, but Alastair Johnston, along with Paul Murray, Martin Bain, John McClelland and the rest doomed the club by their inaction in the summer of 2010.
We are now aware that Rangers’ use of unlawful tax strategies had a consequent impact on the proper Registration of their players. I won’t pour over the relevant rules here, suffice to say that in making payments to players via undisclosed agreements that were not provided for in the football contracts lodged with the authorities, many of Rangers top players have been ineligible to play in official matches for a decade or more.
As if it couldn’t get any more damning, the very Directors of Rangers who conceived, implemented and administered these contractual arrangements, were simultaneously Directors of the SFA and the SPL, the bodies responsible for Governance and Oversight. Step forward John McClelland, Martin Bain and Campbell Ogilvie. That Ogilivie is currently President of the SFA simply beggars belief. It appears as though Football in Scotland has been bent for 2 decades, and the people responsible were running the game.
There is a current SPL Inquiry into this issue, and perhaps that will reveal the true extent of the breaches of rules, but from the information now available in the public domain, there is a prima facie case for voiding the results of hundreds of matches in which Rangers have participated over the years, and stripping the club of any titles won during the period. The expulsion of the club from the game is talked of. In terms of athletes and duration, it represents a bigger sporting fraud than the Balco case, and is on that basis, the biggest scandal in the History of Sport.
Did I say a ‘moment’? Forgive me, but it has taken a little while to describe 15 years of malfeasance and deception.
In summary, in the 15 years from 1996 to 2011, Rangers have spent a staggering £168 Million more than they have earned. They have saved a further £47 Million of payroll costs via the use of questionable tax strategies. They have corrupted the rules of the game from the inside. And now they are bankrupt, with the very real prospect of £100 Million of creditors being turned over in one of the biggest corporate failures in Scottish business history.
Against this backdrop, Scottish Football has to divine the way ahead. We have to figure a way out of this mess and build a new future. Everything must be on the table, everything that is except narrow self-interest.
Following a Liquidation, if a group of supporters of a dissolved Rangers get together and start a new football club, one that looks like and sounds like Rangers, playing in blue shirts at Ibrox or elsewhere, I say good luck to them. Of such like-minded people are Football clubs are born. There is clearly a business opportunity given the size of the support for the old club. The pathway is straight forward: Put a Business Plan together; Invest the necessary Capital; and Apply for membership of the Scottish Football League. If the club prospers on the park they will be rewarded with promotions and will emerge into the top flight in their own merits, self-respecting and respectful. Such qualities does Meritocracy provide.
That is a decision though for Rangers supporters. The rest of us need to figure out a new plan. Without Rangers there will inevitably be less money in the top league, fewer fans perhaps, less TV and sponsorship money. We need to accept that reality and respond to it.
I suggest we look towards Cooperation, Collective Interest, Inter-Dependence.
The hardest hit will be those clubs most reliant on the money lost. Redistribution of TV income should be considered. No question.
Youth Development should be looked at again, not least because for most clubs it will define their future. Closer cooperation amongst the clubs can yield benefits for both clubs and players. A modified Draft system might be appropriate, whereby players graduating from Under 19/20 are available to be signed by other clubs in a predetermined sequence, perhaps with the developing club having a first option on 2 players, the remainder co-opted into the draft.
Considering Celtic’s worldwide scouting network, is there potential to share information on overseas prospects with the other clubs? An easy thing to implement.
Looking at income, the huge imbalance created by the participation fees paid to clubs qualifying for the Champions League distorts domestic competition. Can we consider a distribution to all clubs of Marketing fees and likes from UEFA for our clubs’ participation in UEFA competitions?
Finally, what other means do we have, given the collective talent and resources of the top clubs in Scottish Football, to generate new opportunities, new market share, new income? If necessity is indeed the Mother of Invention, we are not short of need. Let’s get innovative.
Of course, all of this is based upon a consensual approach to the crisis we face. It is widely reported that the other 10 clubs in the SPL are meeting next week to consider an appropriate response to the problems we all face. Celtic have not been invited to attend. This in itself is a concern, as it draws something of a line in the sand between the interests of the 10, and the interests of Celtic. One SPL chairman told BBC Scotland: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change things.” Such change, hatched by the 10 other clubs and forced upon Celtic is not a cooperative approach.
Moreover, Celtic are by a distance the biggest box office in the league. This season attendance at Celtic Park equates to 72% of the total attendances at all other grounds excluding Ibrox. A series of decisions on restructuring the SPL and redistributing the proceeds from the competition that excluded the stakes of almost half of the fans in the league is surely invalid.
Quite what will these clubs do with their self-acknowledged ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change things’?
Perhaps the 10 SPL Clubs will come up with some truly radical and forward looking ideas that are at face value, innovative, imaginative and laudable.
Perhaps though they won’t. Perhaps their ideas will be a little more self-interested. That is certainly the form book in Scottish Football.
Redistribution of SPL TV and Sponsorship income that excludes the Champion team from the divvy? Why not eh. The 10 Clubs will have the SPL voting majority to do so.
What would the implications be should the 10 Clubs decide that gate sharing was the way ahead for the SPL? Certainly, in the absence of Rangers, they would carry the voting rights to approve such a decision, irrespective of any objections from the fans whose money would be redirected.
And indeed, the admission of a New Rangers directly into the SPL, bypassing all meritocratic and long established practices in the game worldwide.
Establishing a new business is a challenging activity. Doing so in the midst of the financial chaos enveloping Rangers is utterly fraught. Those considering such a move need to have confidence in revenue projections and market. In the case of a New Rangers, the arbiter of revenue is the League they will participate in. It is reasonable to assume that informal soundings have been taken by those considering a New Rangers project from those with the power to determine which market they will operate in.
I have no problem with Stephen Thomson of Dundee Utd picking up the phone and chatting to Stewart Milne of Aberdeen. Indeed, I would expect it in the ordinary course, never mind the crisis we all face. However, given the likelihood that those behind a New Rangers are right now making their initial pitch to each of the 10 clubs, it is somewhat distressing that those same 10 clubs should in short course arrange a meeting to discuss and plan the way ahead, excluding Celtic and the interests of half the remaining fans of the SPL.
Paul Murray, Martin Bain, John McClelland, Alastair Johnston, Dave King: The men who brought this disaster down upon the game in this country, who corrupted the game from the inside for a decade or more, who burned £100 Million of creditors money, who are responsible for ripping off the Tax Payer and the Football Fan alike, who failed to act on Rangers’ crisis when action was most needed, these men and their likes are currently negotiating with the 10 Clubs the conditions for the entry of New Rangers directly back into the SPL.
The very essence of Sport, the history of Football, and the future of the Game in this country is to be decided in the coming weeks by the chairmen of just 10 Clubs. In the hands of these men is the legacy of the game accidentally entrusted, and its future precariously placed.
At our moment of crisis, when wisdom and consensus are most needed, what direction will they take? Where will Scottish Football go from here?
To a new, mature, responsible and progressive place? Or to Hell in a Handcart.
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I think even Rhyl were excluded from the Welsh premier for poor finances.
UEFA are fighting the clubs AND the associations.
Me thinks the SFA and the SPL and Rangers will be providing the FFP with the example and publicity that they need.
HH
Mick
£10 per month sky want a 3 month contract no sign of more than 1 month on virgin
HAIL HAIL
ps get over & over radio show on in the backgrond SUPERB!!!!!!
Thats to all
HAIL HAIL
James Edward McGrory 408 goals in 408 league games on 10 March, 2012 at 16:20 said
great nom de blog and superb post mate
you cover most of the points I have wanted to make and then some
although I know the Battered Bunnett (or aulheid) has a considered view backed up with stats on the ratio of numbers available in Scotland and how the chances of finding another group like the Lisbon Lions within a 30 mile radius in the same generation is unlikely (even 100 miles)
we can dream tho’ and we don’t do enough to promote youth (in both senses)
the huns have really stufffed fitba in this country they created this madness and millions of pounds has been wasted..on foreign duds when we had at least as good on our books in the youth ranks
but what could we do- I have a very close friend who is at least as passionate about celts as I am and he always says..”aye, that’s all very well.. but we need some jam today…”
well the huns have been smothered in the stuff for a generation and with the exception of some of the Laudrup and Gazza years they were always crap to watch …they never reached the glorious craft of Tommy Burns’ teams
whom we now know were cheated out of the league
and unfortunatley some of Tommy’s team were the epitomy of all tnhat was woringin our spending policy then ..I feel sick when I recall the antics of the 3 amigos ..but Tommy had crated them into a superbly talented and entertaining team
I was os sickened by the pash surrounding the 3 amigos and some of the crpa foreign players we were wasting money on that I stopped going to games…my protest was a solo effort as 60,000 others kept going along and henwe had MON and WGS and the balance seemed better …having a certain Henrik helped a lot
I am from the era where a large oart of the excitement of the new season was anticipating what was coming through the ranks ..I say let the young bhoys play…but….bolser the team with a few well scouted and supremely gifted imports …cream with a little jam
canny be bad for ye that stuff
BTW Bunnet a superb piece ..top, top quality. As someone already said: would put our supposed professional journalists to shame.
HH
M
oglach on 10 March, 2012 at 16:23 said:
On matters away from football, has anyone watched Kenneth Griffith’s seminal documentary on the life of Michael Collins “Hang up your brightest colours”. It was banned from being broadcast by the Thatcher government and wasn’t shown on British TV for a number of years. I think it was aired once by Channel 4 about 15 or so years ago. Anyway if anyone is interested it is now available on DVD and is being sold as a 2 box set in conjunction with Griffith’s other documentary concerning the Easter rebellion and subsequent ‘Tan War’ – ‘Curious journey’
Well worth a watch for anyone interested in Irish history.
…………………………………………………….
Thanks for the information. I’m very interested in Irish History and Michael Colins is considered a great hero within my family. I’ll be looking out for it. Can you tell me any outlets where I can buy it?
I’ve got to be honest and admit that at first I thought Paul 67’s article was a wee bit over the top.
Surely the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs and Dundee United could not countenance such shameless cheating and financial chicanery dating back almost 20 years?
But today I spoke to someone well connected to the Celtic board.
The vibe he is getting, after speaking to certain people, is that this is very much a case of 11 against 1.
And Celtic are the “1”.
Every trick will be played, every bit of blackmail enacted and every favour and obligation called in to ensure these shameless cheats take their non-rightful place in the SPL next season.
Be aware, a scandal of cataclysmic proportions is being planned.
This is no time for settling back to gorge on jelly and ice cream. The REAL game is just about to begin.
And my information is that Celtic are examining their options.
EVERY option.
sadies bhoy
think it was put up as a link on page one or two earlier..
jim spence@bbcjimspenceReply
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SPL clubs meeting without Celtic and Rangers Will not discuss sharing of gate money. Clubs have no interest in that.
i,m having a few Brazilian Lagers and it says proudly on the bottle, desde 1888, and just like Celtic its cool, tasty and award winning.Re Billy Gobbs i remember him in an OFgame, deliberately waiting to be tackled by,i think, Johann Malby,and then just blatantly kicking him wildly up the outside of his leg.It was so obvious and with malice aforethought that i think it was tee heed over by the commentators.Does any one else remember this. HH phil
For all those journos out there desperate to help the Rangers.
I challenge them to donate £100 for every report they have made re Celtic
over the past 20 years which included the words ‘paranoia’, ‘chip on their shoulder’ and ‘the biscuit tin’.
had a good birthday so far, Jamie`s Italian was first class, Rioja gone, Cava getting tanned now at home with some Manchego. Had a quick look on here and loved the lead article. I agree;let`s not panic just now. The big fight is coming soon and it will be all about the malpractise,EBT`s and now we need some cold clear legal thinking,
I am too refreshed to get too involved tonight, I intend to ignore all the shite we will see over the next few days. Remember just this, they are still potless, their rescue plan has more holes than a tramps vest, and the current squad is losing value by the minute.
Hail! Hail!
TBB – great article!
James Forrest is the Emperor of Ice Cream on 10 March, 2012 at 17:33 said: I agree but right now, at 2500 words, its six pages.
JF – make it the lead-article and create a MATRIX EDITION by utilising other fine posters such as; BRTH, Auldheid, Snake and others (even guys on RTC) to clarify specifics that they have previously covered and how they all link to the subject matter.
While I concur with the majority of its content – I cannot agree with any form of financial sharing of our home league gate. We have spent 18 years building and maintaining our season ticket base – it is the core source of our income. I pay to watch Celtic F.C. play (at home) no matter the quality of the opposition – not to subsidise those who fail to operate within their means.
I would be prepared to go with the suggestion made by another CQNer (apologies for the non-name check) – give the away team 1000 tickets FOC (circa £25K). Let them use those tickets to encourage greater attendance by their away support – BOGOF 2 tickets for £25 or whatever scheme they choose to apply – let them market it and utilise the proceeds for their benefit.
I have no objections to a fairer distribution of TV income – I would even be prepared to throw in some of European TV money to sweeten the pot (in the event of the renegotiation of the Sky deal) – providing Newco are not reinstated in the SPL. In exchange for these concessions – I would expect us to be allowed to develop and market an enhanced Celtic TV channel package.
If the ‘coffee morning’ 10 are determined to drive an anti-Celtic agenda – then I would suggest that we announce that when the current TV package runs out we don’t intend to be signatories to any new TV deal (including highlights) and that all of our future home SPL games will be played without any TV coverage. European games would be the exception – as they are a separate negotiable package for the home club in conjunction with UEFA.
Whilst the Club cannot be seen to condone or encourage ‘boycotts’ – there is nothing to stop us indicating that next season we would only be prepared to take the minimum 5% allotment of away tickets (as per SPL rules) – leaving the support the option of purchasing or not – tickets directly from the away club. An inconvenience – but a point in principal!
If we (and I include the Club) don’t get our position mainstream (outwith Scotland) before decisions are made on their metamorphism and pre any SFA/ SPL enquiries – then we can look forward to a similar statement – as made by the coroner following the death of William Wallace:
“Without doubt this is the worst case of suicide I have ever presided over!”
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on 10 March, 2012 at 19:29 said:
They also had the advantage of English clubs being banned from Europe from 85 tp 90/91 which gave them access to Woods, Butcher etc.
Alistair Johnstone was just following out orders he was Murrays puppet as is Paul Murray, Craig Whyte, Duff and Phelps. The plan was hatched years ago. It is a closed shop that has the Scottish media doing its bidding especially BBC Scotland. Its secret society stuff. Will it be exposed just before a referendum on Scotland is anticipated ? Thats my only worry.
I asked earlier. Who is still in the country from these players ?
HH
All Hail Hail The Battered Bunnet
The rrrrrrangerrrrs will be liquidised
Was that the infamous Rob on jabba tonight? Jabba bottled it and cut him off.
i think…
celtic are going to win the league.
celtic should win the league cup.
celtic have a tough game tomorrow but can rise to the occasion and win the scottish cup.
for a young manager to win a treble in his second season, that is surely newsworthy?
i think there is a very good reason the media have gone blanket ibrox “drip feed it’s getting better” news.
they simply cannot allow the fact we are steamrollering to a remarkable treble to even be countenanced, far less respected or applauded. it’s funny that when celtic become successful on the pitch, scottish football writers suddenly become experts in tax law, corporate governance and financial management. as expert as they are on football matters? would you appoint a card carrying MSM representative as your independent financial advisor?
there’s a scandal for you.
Top Corner
As things stand the public own 41% of the whole Lloyds/HBOS group, (the biggest shareholder in other words) having invested £17 billion of public money in the group. Without the enforced (by Gordon Brown) intervention of Lloyds, the Bank of Scotland would have gone the way of Lehman Brothers. Or Third Lanark. Lloyds has in fact swapped debt for part of the MIH property portfolio, a portfolio financed by Peter Cummings via the Bank of Scotland. Not clear which debts these swaps cleared, but my guess is that MIH still owes £700 million to the part publicly owned Bank. Are we party to loans made by MIH to Rangers FC? Every chance!
The Battered Bunnet
I’m proud of you.
Eugene @the_eriugena
Blue Knights media offensive co-ordinated by @LutherPendragon PR agency based near St Pauls. Man United fan Oli Winton seems to be the lead.
Come on the Hoops. Win, Celtic, win, Celtic, win, Celtic, win.
Celtic Mac
thankyou boss
From Naisy’s planned stop at the gates of Hell to ‘Sondy’s’ and the Judean Peepil’s Front “positive news” soundbite at the Ragers Rally today the panto players are all on message……….
Aye!
Goal Betis. Seville is green and white.
Betis 1-0 Real Madrid.
The SFA are totally complicit.
Did they never ask how RFC could afford these players.
SFA = 3 monkeys
Anyone proclaiming positive news for Rangers is just kicking the can down the road. It’s human nature. It would take a person of immense stature to say:
– we recognise that we have for more than a decade been putting a team we couldn’t afford onto the park
– we recognise that this was wrong
– we recognise that the trophies we won with teams we could not pay for are tainted
– we are sorry to have compromised Scottish football
Persons of immense stature at Rangers?
We live in hope.
Gordon64 on 10 March, 2012 at 21:12 said:
The SFA are totally complicit.
So they have to cover it up. They themselves are in it up to their necks and desperately need the story to go away. What would happen if they tried to punish Rangers? Someone would make sure that the world including UEFA knew that Rangers believed they had the agreement of the governing bodies.
Derek Johnstone.
Paul67, The battered bunnet, aw naw and all the other learned bloggers
You guys are fantastic in telling the true happenings at the big hoose , I do not buy newspapers any more but you guys tell what is actually happening , no hidden agenda. Keep up the fantastic work in exposing these corrupt organisations.
God bless the Celtic family.
Something inside so strong
Looks like Next will be banned from Folgen Folgen:
http://www.next.co.uk/g372524s1#824761g37
bmcd48
I’ve been singing Something Inside So Strong to myself all evening.
Gordon64 on 10 March, 2012 at 21:12 said:
The SFA are totally complicit.
Did they never ask how RFC could afford these players.
SFA = 3 monkeys
share
——————
Gordon
Dundee FC have had 2 Chairman go to jail, plus Giovanni di Steffano and the Marr Bros and the madness they brought. The SFA never thought to do anything there either.
The SFA have been asleep on watch for more than this Rangers fiasco, however the FA in England have stood back and watched similar lunacy in their domain.
Aston Villa recently reported a loss of £54 million, and are now just above the relegation places. What have the FA done………precisely what FA often stands for !!
Roy
Is it wrong that I just bought it for the wee one?
She’ll love it haha
Curses. Real Madrid equalise through Higuaín.
Hail Hail Bhoys and Ghirls.
God Bless you all.
The hun cheating has never known any boundaries.
Can anyone remember the famous ”coin toss” to decide the venue for the 94 league cup semi as Hampden was under reconstruction.
Archie Knox kindly let Joe Jordan make call, as the coin was tossed, ”Celtic Park”shouts Joe. Correct… ah but no! this first toss was only to see who got the privilege of making the real call. Joe went to call it wrong second time and Ibrox was the venue.
Not even the best of three for us this time.
NTV did a good bit about this episode and how no schoolboy in any playground would fall for it.
So on top of every other scam they had going, they still conned us at every turn and that was during our darkest days.
Time to get outa here.
Barcabhoy
Going to jail hardly does him justice does it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/904624.stm
Barçabhoy.
In my opinion, a big part of the problem with the SFA and FA is the whole International Football Board thing. It’s a complete anomaly that FIFA has to sit down with the four ‘home’ associations to decide what’s happening. FIFA is bad enough, but the four home associations are miles away from seeing what an anachronism this us.