There is always a frisson of excitement when the new season’s fixtures are announced but there is an extra spring in the step today. Flag-day for the champions will be the weekend of 4/5 August against Aberdeen but I’m sure, like me, your eye ran down the list, rhyming off the names: Aberdeen, United, Ross County, Inverness, Hibs, St Johnstone, Club 12!
You had a smile to yourself, didn’t you?
SPL secretary, Iain Blair, explains, “Following the failure of Rangers FC to exit administration via a CVA, we have received an application to register the transfer of their SPL share to a newco. Should it be rejected, then another club may be invited to join the SPL for season 2012/13.”
That pretty much covers it, Iain, Rangers FC’s share will pass to either Newco or another club may be invited to join. Simple enough language to explain where we are.
As recently as a week ago I was pretty sure the fixtures would contain Newco but sentiment has been flowing against the concept since Charles Green took the SFA to court, inadvertently inviting a severe punishment from the Association as well as annoying SPL chairmen.
The BBC SPL table is also worth a cursory glance, resplendent with only One Team in Glasgow!
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hamiltontim – The old ones are the best. :) (thumbsup)
Gordon_J
Ah, I see you are debating from a position of strength ;)
Fair enough then.
Have we signed a keeper yet?!
hamiltontim on 18 June, 2012 at 13:56 said:
”What evidence do you have to support your assertion that the supporters of other SPL teams haven’t in fact renewed?”
It’s anecdotal.
So far as I know no clubs have released sale figures as yet.
Do you agree that those who have renewed now have no leverage over their club’s board?
RaRaRasputin,
I’m making the assumption that the SPL will act according to its own rules and regulations – which may be a fatal flaw in my argument!
And if the SPL and SFL do merge there will be a new set of rules drawn up anyway – which I’m sure will include helpful entry routes for newcos.
Or are we just going to keep on signing midfielders?
A centre half and a striker too please Santa
My paranoia has given way to optimism again.
At first sight of the fixtures it looked like it was designed for newco.
Now I think it’s more likely that the program was actually run some time back and that all they’ve done is substitute the now deceased RFC with newco. They just haven’t bothered to change it, perhaps because they’re genuinely clueless about what to do next.
This kind of thing happens regularly where I work. We frequently have calendar events which are impossible because someone in admin has simply copied over last years dates without bothering to change them.
Keep the faith. Club12 is not Rangers (but I think it would be great if the name stuck, forever).
ASonOfDan – In an age of austerity due to the global recession everyone but the rich has had to adjust their particular lifestyle
That’s not true though, I hear Sir David Murray has had to trade in the private jet for a mustard yellow Reliant Robin van with a handwritten “tax in post” sign on the windshield. (thumbsup)
12th letter of the alphabet: L
Club 12= Club L
Club L = the club in liquidation
Simples!
Code Breakers CSC
The two questions to ask of the SPL must be:
(i) if Dundee get Club 12’s place, how will you manage the fixture list given the substantial number of dates when D Utd are playing at home on the same date as Club 12?
Is the answer to this question: one team will play as scheduled on Saturday and the other will be rescheduled to Sunday.
(ii) If the Rankers aren’t Club 12, why do Club 12 not play any of their home games on the same dates as the mighty Celtic are at home?
Not sure there is a straight answer to this question!
BTW, I haven’t checked the schedules. I’m just taking as fact what others have been saying about this.
HH
Dave King says Rangers need investment from funders on a non-commercial basis for the next three years.
At the moment, he believes Rangers only represent a good buy for an asset stripper.
King was the second largest shareholder in the soon-to-be-liquidated Rangers Football Club plc.
He arrived in Scotland on Monday for discussions about the way ahead for the new Rangers.
Asked if the best way forward for the club would be under the Walter Smith-led consortium, who held a preliminary meeting with the current owners through an intermediary on Sunday, he said: “I would think so because my understanding from [new chief executive] Mr [Charles] Green is that he sees this as being a financial opportunity.
“I really don’t believe Rangers represents a financial opportunity for anyone other than an asset stripper.
“There is only one way forward for the club and that is that the club needs a level of funds which is way beyond the ability of the fans to support it with season tickets.
“There is a structured financial deficit and unless the club gets access to funders who are willing to put money in on a non-commercial basis, I think for at least three years, then I don’t think the club will go forward.”
King reiterated his belief that Green, like Craig Whyte before him, would not see out a season at Ibrox, but he added: “If Mr Green does come up with the money, then I’ll be one of the first to support him.
“I think what we do have to avoid is another situation where essentially someone has come in and acquired the club and is going to use the fans’ money.”
King said he had requested a meeting with Green while he was in Glasgow but was unsure whether that would happen.
He will, though, be speaking to members of the Walter Smith consortium, but has not committed to putting money in himself.
“I’m able to do it, it’s just a case of making sure what makes most sense for the club,” he went on.
“If I believe the right plan is put in place, that I think best meets the needs of the club going forward, then it’s certainly something I would consider and am capable of doing.”
The SPL gave Ex-Club 666 until June 15 to submit the required financial documentation to get a shot at SPL football this coming season.
If that documentation didn’t come through, the SPL should have said this morning that it had done its best but that, for reasons beyond its control, it could not include them or their successor in the fixtures, that it really had stretched things to the limit and that it wishes them all well, but that it has run out of time and has to move on.
Who could argue with that?
“Dave King says Rangers need investment from funders on a non-commercial basis for the next three years”
===================================================
We used to call that arrangement the “Tooth Fairy” when I was a wean.
ernie lynch on 18 June, 2012 at 14:07 said:
I don’t know about Hamiltontim, but I don’t agree. You can still cancel, and get the majority (I think an admin fee is deducted) of your money back. Punishing the club in the pocket.
It’s an option that’s availabel at any point in the season if you require it.
In some respectect that makes it a bigger threat. How do you think the club would react to a mass cancellation half way through the season, especially a bad one, when it’s harder to re-sell them?
Ray Singh-Carr – We used to call that arrangement the “Tooth Fairy” when I was a wean.
Given Club 12’s preponderance of orthodontically-challenged would-be supporters, I fear they’ve already depleted that source of funds.
However, if morbid obesity was cash, they’d be rolling in it.
Have they tried “We Buy Adipose (Dot Com)” ?
(thumbsup)
weeminger on 18 June, 2012 at 14:20 said:
Half way through the season is too late if the huns are already in the SPL.
I wish all you pretend Celtic supporters woukld cancel just now. I don’t know ONE Celtic fan who would cancel their season ticket because of what happens to Club12.
The only time I come across it, is when I read some of the pash posted on here.
Can someone clarify if king was found guilty of tax evasion in SA
Paul67 et al
I must admit that there is something Kafkaesque about the inclusion of Club 12, a club that does not quite exist hoping to replace a club that their followers insist still does exist. A season’s fixtures without mention of Rangers, not one, that has got to be seen as progress. It might have taken a while but from all the websites I read, and all the streams from articles relating to their demise, they do not have many defenders or supporters out there. Not in public at any route. Still, I am old fashioned enough to know that when the other team moves the goalposts then so do we. Time for remorse gone, time for humility gone, they do not deserve one iota of sympathy from anyone inside or outside Scottish football. Not only should they not become part of the SPL, they should not assume to be part of the SFL. I know I have said it before, and I will keep saying it until the possibility no longer exists, Rangers FC as presently constructed should be suspended sine die by the SFA. That should be their last mention in the minutes.
ASonOfDan on 18 June, 2012 at 14:24 said:
Hear hear!!
Hail hail
Greeting from a slightly overcast but hot Toronto. has anybody heard from Serge recently???? I haven’t seen him on the blog and just hope he’s ok.
slainte
tony
ernie
I’m of the belief that we don’t need leverage as I don’t think there was ever any chance that Celtic would vote yes to newco.
ernie, you’re quite entitled to your opinions, it’s the loaded vocabulary that I have a problem with.
Here we go again………………
When Club 12 morphs into Dundee or Dunfermline, that creates a knock on effect below with Stranraer moving up to Div 2 and creating a space at the bottom of Div 3. If there is a time lapse to await the decision on which club to allocate the space in Div 3 to, will the fixtures be amended to show Club 42 (or Level 42 – given that is the lowest level a club could find themselves)?
In such a scenario – Club 42 will start the season away to Peterhead ( that would be Peterhead FC not Peterhead prison I presume)!
Re: Rangers (RIP), Sevco 5088, and Club 12.
Why didn’t Smeato step in? (thumbsup)
ASonofDan
That used to be the job of the Bank of Scotland!
Season ticket was renewed back in May at first time of asking no matter what was happening elsewhere.
I want to watch Celtic no matter who they are playing.
Very easy to spout pish on here about not renewing especially when you only get to see a couple of games every few years
philvis
Smeato was trying to save the Greek economy and solve Syria’s woes. He had no time for such trivialities!!
I think the title “club 12” is a great one for them. You only get a number if you don’t deserve a name.
ernie lynch on 18 June, 2012 at 14:24 said:
Which comes back to my first response on this issue. If our board we’re always going to vote against, then what influence is anybody having by not renewing? “None” is the answer.
Philvis
Smeato will look into that and get back to you.
I can’t imagine not going to watch Celtic and for that reason I have genuine sympathy for those who may take the decision not to renew.
I don’t believe for a second that it’s being done to harm Celtic.
Afternoon
Am I the only one who thinks that fact that there is even a vote to see if Newco can enter the SPL shows just how farcical the game has become in Scotland? To even have a vote is just ridiculous.
Rangers cheated. This is a fact. Exactly how far that cheating went on, and who exactly was involved might not be fully explained for some time to come. What is beyond dispute is that they have broken so many rules, it is staggering. Messrs Doncaster, and Reagn are supposed to be in charge of the league, and the SFA. They should have had no issue with making the decision to throw Rangersa out of the SPL, and let’s face it, even allowing them in a Scottish league at any level shouldn’t have been too difficult to decide – Bottom rung, at best.
However, this is Scotland. Where rules can be made up as we go along for the corrupt. It’s enough to make you weep. The longer this goes on, the more I’m sure that the Tax Dodgers from Govan are somehow going to get away it, and remain in the top flight.The only real prospect is that the HMRC do their job with due dilligence, and leave them completley skint, and with no assets.
Hail Hail
I don’t know if the renewal/nonrenewal thing has any real effect but it’s being spun both ways.
We all know that if people (Celtic or other) hold off renewal it’s because they don’t want to be part of a corrupt league. It’s also being spun to suggest that there’d be less interest in a league without any form of Rangrs.
weeminger on 18 June, 2012 at 14:42 said:
If every single Celtic fan had refused to renew until the situation was sorted out then the Celtic board would be doing rather more than just voting no.
That’s the point.
Such heroics can now only be performed by ‘New Smeato’.
Just had a cold call from the ticket office about my non renewal of my 2 STs. Told them I will buy 2 STs once thems have been punished properly, or I will never return to watch spl fitba. I asked that this reason was recorded.
SSN presenter talking to the guy responsible for Premiership and lower league fixtures asks him how he managed to work with the SPL problem of Club 12..
Guy replies that he has nothing to do with SPL fixtures or any Scottish league fixtures. Gets asked his opinion anyway… and declines to get into it as he doesn’t know.
Female presenter then starts talking about the difficulty in making SPL arrangements whilst Rangers are being shown as Club 12 in the fixture list??
I can’t understand how a dedicated sport (predominantly football) channel can be so completely clueless.