Smith, the SFA, Everton and EBTs

1813

Walter Smith was not named by BBC’s Mark Daly as a recipient of an Employee Benefit Trust in the recent documentary, however, before this matter is put to bed I expect more names to emerge.  As soon as Smith makes himself available to a proper journalist he will be asked:

Did he receive EBT loan payments from Rangers?

If so:

Did he repay those loans or hold his cash while the club ran out of money and died?

Was he in receipt of a letter from Rangers confirming he was not required to repay?

Did his then employers, the Scottish FA, know he was perhaps receiving money from a member club while employed by them?

Are SFA employees contractually inhibited from taking payments from a member club or required to inform the SFA board of any payments received by a member club?

Did his earlier employers, Everton FC, know if he was receiving money from another club while employed by them?

Was Smith contractually inhibited from taking payments from another club or required to inform Everton of any payments received from another club?

As manager of Rangers, was he involved in negotiations with players who had EBTs or was he another one who concentrated on administrative and legislative duties?

Was he one of the men SFA president, Campbell Ogilvie, suggested failed to reveal side contracts to the Rangers board?

Rangers’ liquidators, BDO, will forensically pour over most of these questions, so Smith’s answers will be verifiable.

No one who played an active part in Rangers EBT scandal will come out of this clean.  The ramifications multiply if Rangers were discretely paying any senior employee of another club.

I simply cannot imagine the justification for a member club discretely paying a senior employee of the SFA.  Frankly, it would be beyond every Celtic fan’s most paranoid fantasies.  I am sure Mr Smith will quickly and easily be able to reassure everyone.

An interesting twist in Smith’s bid for the assets of Rangers is that if he is to inherit Green’s application for a SFA licence and take a controlling interest in the club, Green is obliged to do due diligence on Smith to determine if he is a Fit and Proper person.  Perhaps Mr Green can use the above as his due diligence questionnaire.

One final thought.  In the unlikely event that it is established that one senior SFA employee was receiving discrete payments from Rangers, we need an immediate and independent inquiry to establish how many others received such payments and what they were for.

As a matter of some urgency I would recommend Stewart Regan brings himself up to speed on this one. I am sure his president is banging the table as you read this insisting the chief executive gets to the bottom of this. It’s not as though he is heavily conflicted and the SFA is in dire need of an independent president to steady the ship.

My friends in Celtic, this just got interesting.

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  1. •-:¦:-•** -:¦:- sparkleghirl :¦:-.•**• -:¦:-• on

    Zbyszek on 15 June, 2012 at 17:19 said:

     

     

    Thanks.

  2. quonno on 15 June, 2012 at 17:14 said:

     

    All you prospective Chinese Lanterners. As far as I am aware it is illegal to use them within ten miles of an airport.

     

     

    naw it isnae

  3. Walter, I’ll say a couple of novenas for you (used sparingly during my leaving cert year)

  4. iPaddy McCourt on

    The soon to be published SPL fixtures should absolutely not make any reference to Rangers. The old Rangers are to liquidate and their main assets are no longer theirs. They will not exist when the season begins. There is no new Rangers until an SFA licence is granted to Mr Green’s new entity, never mind the issue of the SPL share for oldco going to newco.

     

     

    Logic dictates that Dundee should be named on the fixtures list. Why isn’t the Dundee chairman publicly calling for this to happen?

  5. I’m sorry guys and girls but the SPL have put a hold on all flying of lanterns until the status of newco can be clarified.

  6. If they had been wise, they should have first dealt with the cheating, returned titles and cups to the rightful owners. This would have resulted in oldco being relegated in place of Dunfermline, 12 SPL clubs and the Oldco in the First Division. I’m sure the SFL would then have been OK with some kind of transfer of share. A TV deal could have been struck for the 2 leagues and most 1st Div, grounds capable of dealing with the hordes.

     

     

    This would have had the result of some kind of integrity and fair play but the SPL, SFA and Oldco have been too greedy, unwilling to accept that punishment was deserved, and misread the view of the wider footballing fans.

  7. quonno on 15 June, 2012 at 17:14 said:

     

    All you prospective Chinese Lanterners. As far as I am aware it is illegal to use them within ten miles of an airport.

     

     

    share on F’book or Twitter

     

     

     

    I don’t care, let the lantern polis try and catch me.

  8. sixtaeseven: No NewClub in SPL and it's Non-Negotiable! on

    Dungcaster is a coward, waiting once again for Hector to do his job for him.

     

     

    Regan’s not any better: he takes the lead from Dungcaster, when it should be the other way about!

     

     

    The sad thing is: is anybody surprised by this latest episode?

  9. johann murdoch on

    Logic dictates that Dundee should be named on the fixtures list. Why isn’t the Dundee chairman publicly calling for this to happen?

     

    —————————————————–

     

     

    Hes oot trying to buy chinese lanterns for postcode DD1 ! :)

  10. Meeja Hoose will be cookin’ up an anti-sellick lantern story as we speak………..

  11. The fixture list to be produced on Monday could just follow the D&P example and put TBC everywhere.

     

     

    The trouble is that they really need to know what club is involved to produce the fixtures – for things like derbies, teams playing at home close to each other, etc.

     

     

    I think it will be delayed. In fact lots of things will be delayed. And eventually someone will say, “Well there’s no time now to do anything but let the newco in.”

  12. Only been to Larkhall twice – first time was my son was playing a boys team who had two groups – Larkhall BLUES & Larkhall ORANGE and they all looked like wee Tommy McLean.

     

     

    Second time was due to traffic divert through town centre at the start of this year – all green lights were behind grids and Subway was black, white and yellow!

  13. Marrakesh Express on

    The ‘second biggest institution in Scotland’ has just folded. Many of the country’s iconic companies have closed and laid off thousands in the past. The reasons were many fold, ranging from empty order books through international competition to mismanagement. I wonder if Mr Salmond can name any other Scottish company to have been liquidated for such reasons as the late RFC.

     

    This phoney plead for clemency on the ‘great institution’s’ behalf to David Cameron, we are told. Since RFC are no longer, has anyone heard a statement from Salmond?. This is world news we’re talking about, the ‘second biggest institution’ exterminated in an ignominious way and bringing more shame to the country. Why am I not surprised?

  14. JF

     

    Great post..thats the way it should pan out. If it doesn’t Celtic and any other fair minded clubs in Scotland should tender their resignation to the SPL and form their own league.

     

     

    This on the day the direct debit came off my account to pay for the first instalment of my 4 season tickets.

     

     

    Time to comment Celtic or the goodwill of the fans will be lost.

  15. Green Lantern (((((0))))) on

    As a lantern myself I can categorically state that I operate on a regular basis much closer than 10 miles to an airport.

     

    To the Health&Safety Police I say…. get it roon ye’s.

  16. all this talk aboot sky wantin yon sebcoe or nae deal fur £80 mil

     

    why dont they get their bluff called and say ok if ye want then in the spl then the only way is 4 you to double the amount tae£160 over the 5 years, see how they feckin like thon apples

  17. bankiebhoy1 on 15 June, 2012 at 17:18 said:

     

     

    it’s my understanding that you don’t even need an accelerant

     

     

    How you doin’ mate ?

     

     

    Sanna

  18. leftclicktic on

    Saint Stivs on 15 June, 2012 at 15:57 said:

     

    Saint Stivs on 15 June, 2012 at 15:01 said:

     

    Saint Stivs on 15 June, 2012 at 13:00 said:

     

    Postcode update on Lantern lighting.

     

     

    G77 x 2, G71, PA7 , G69 x 2, PA8, G64, G67, ML3 , G72 , NN14 , ML2, CH1, G44,

     

    G22 x 2, EH12, Dublin11, G43, G13 x 2 , AB22, G41 x 2, G11, G42, G1, DG12, LA14, IV25, BD20, FK15, KA7, KA1, ML5, G33 x 2. G67 x 2, EH32, BT66, Dun Loghare, G75, Kentucky USA, FY5, G20, RG27, G44, PA24, KA3, BH1

     

    Add ML5 to list lanterns and rockets (bad bhoys) at ready

  19. Kevtic

     

    not having a go mate, sorry…

     

    I have lots of Larkhall friends.. all tims…

  20. Can I Have Raspberry On That on 15 June, 2012 at 17:24 said:

     

    quonno on 15 June, 2012 at 17:14 said:

     

    All you prospective Chinese Lanterners. As far as I am aware it is illegal to use them within ten miles of an airport.

     

     

    share on F’book or Twitter

     

     

     

    I don’t care, let the lantern polis try and catch me.

     

     

    ——————————————————————–

     

    The lantern polis might be toting, beware

     

     

    Lantern police

  21. Bawface will no doubt call a summit about the terrible increase in ‘offensive lantern usage’………..

     

     

    Hold the Front Page!

  22. •-:¦:-•** -:¦:- sparkleghirl :¦:-.•**• -:¦:-• on

    I’m still watching the pictures – the lightning is amazing! Some storm.

  23. Ghuys

     

     

    Over on RTC , Duff £ Duffer statement indicating that CG will purchase the club imminently!

     

     

    Charlie’s playing a game he cannot win, Rangers in blue at Ipox but hey we are New so past indiscretions are nothing do to with me.

     

     

    Easy one for the football authorities, if legally the SFA & SPL cannot punish Newco for Oldco crimes then it is a simple case of treating them as a Newco for the purposes of license application I.e. Div 3. This has the advantage of achieving a sporting sanction for their blatant cheating just for last year.

     

     

    As for Walter, you need to assume that Swally was in on the EBT gravy train , how can they possibly pass fit and proper person test for Newco

     

     

    Algarveinthesunhometomorrowcfc

  24. Sanna – doing great stuck at work, waiting for the fragrant missus to appear then we are boosting………….Home to set various incendiary devices off!!!

     

     

    Hows you mate, and when ye coming back over!?

  25. Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan supports Kano 1000 on

    What if BDO were really naughty and say that Rangers PLC still held the rights to a dormant SFA licence which they were willing to sell to a suitably compliant company complete with stadium and management etc– subject always to the right price and the consent of the licensing authority under whatever conditions they chose to impose?

     

     

    That would send a few looking through the legal books and the docs.

  26. sixtaeseven: No NewClub in SPL and it's Non-Negotiable! on

    Surely there’s a rule that obliges SFA/SPL to give UEFA the fixture list before a new season kicks off – there must be some sort of timeline that must be adhered to?

     

    Embdy any idea about that?

  27. I hope there are many out there like me who have written to Sky and let them know that if Glasgow Rangers are allowed in to the SPL as a result of their threats they will cancel their subscriptions. Sorry lads still feel that we have gained a hollow victory.

  28. from ‘Rangers’ page on BBC

     

     

    League Table

     

    Show me:

     

    Position Team Played Goal Difference Points

     

     

    View full table

     

    Moving up 1 Aberdeen 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 2 Celtic 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 3 Dundee Utd 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 4 Hearts 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 5 Hibernian 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 6 Inverness CT 0 0 0

     

    No movement 7 Kilmarnock 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 8 Motherwell 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 9 Rangers 0 0 0

     

    No movement 10 Ross County 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 11 St Johnstone 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 12 St Mirren 0 0

     

     

    Should be moving down!!!

  29. League Table

     

    Show me:

     

    Position Team Played Goal Difference Points

     

     

    View full table

     

    Moving up 1 Aberdeen 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 2 Celtic 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 3 Dundee Utd 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 4 Hearts 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 5 Hibernian 0 0 0

     

    Moving up 6 Inverness CT 0 0 0

     

    No movement 7 Kilmarnock 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 8 Motherwell 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 9 TBC 0 0

     

    No movement 10 Ross County 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 11 St Johnstone 0 0 0

     

    Moving down 12 St Mirren 0 0

     

     

    Fixed

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