Apparently, time for Rangers fans to step forward to save their club has passed. For the want of £500k any one or collection of them could have bought an exclusive period as preferred bidder and worked on a rescue but no one stepped forward.
It is perhaps worthwhile reflecting on our hour of need 18 years ago. Celtic had exceeded their agreed overdraft limit and the Bank of Scotland informed the club that unless the account was brought back into agreed limits that day, it would go to court to appoint an administrator.
Back then there were no transfer windows, so players could, and would, have been sold by the administrator the next day. Celtic would have been left with an unwanted shell of a squad.
Word of the impending doom spread around the Celtic business community and John Keane decided to act. He withdrew £1m from his account and paid it straight into Celtic’s account at the Bank of Scotland.
John did this in the hope that he could buy time for the Celtic Movement to pull a rescue together. The bank could still have withdrawn the overdraft the same day, which would have made him an unsecured creditor with no chance of a return. There was also no agreement signed to secure the transfer of the club from the old board, each member of whom would later be dealt with on an individual basis, as shares were sold, or in the case of Kevin Kelly, pledged behind Fergus McCann’s consortium.
John kept his money in Celtic and received a seat on the new board, which he retains. He declined to appear in the publicity photos on the steps of Celtic Park when the club was rescued and although he attends the AGM every year, he remains a quiet and largely unknown figure. He has since invested more in Celtic, money he will never see back, but which has ensured his family can block a Glazier-style takeover of Celtic.
I have spoken to him once or twice, although he doesn’t know who I am, but I have often thought he deserves a standing ovation at the AGM for what he did all those years ago. Maybe this year.
We can only wonder why there was not a John Keane across the city.
Very well done to the Daily Record for their excellent story about CQN’er Tony Conway today. Tony, who now lives in the United States, suffers from motor neuron disease and made the trip back to Celtic Park last year with his Dad, John, and brother, Martin. They spent time with Jinky’s son James and met a host of people at the club, including Neil Lennon and Billy McNeill.
Read it, it’s a great story.
Remember to keep an eye on the signed Celtic shirt being auctioned for Wellburn Care Home, it ends Monday.
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My dear,dear,dear,friend…The Onlooker.
Great Point.. ye hiv Risen,pal…
Fur…. as ye know..or.. mebbe,ye dinnae..
Kojo… Never Played the Beautiful Game..
Howevahhhhhh..
Kojo, knows. that…
The Number wan Object.. in any Type o’ Game.. where a Ba’ plays an
important part..
Then.. Fundamental Uncommon Sense. Dictates…. that..
” Obtaining the Ba’.. initially.. should Be of Paramount Importance.”
Fur.. If none o’ yer Team-mates is no in Possession of the Ba’
Then.. Your Team canny dae Much aboot Scoring a Goal!
Right?
So..
Once, a Player . Obtains Possession of the Ba’
then ,it Behooves him… tae MAK DAMN sure that He
DISNAE GIE IT AWAY, Cheaply, by.. Immediately, Hoofing it up the Park.. in the Off Chance that It Lands .Somewhere, in the vicinity of Wan of His Team Mates…
Unfortunately.. Oan Too Many Occasions..
The “Hoofed Ba'” .. Fails tae find a Friendly Foot.. and
Noo the Opposition..
Hiv Obtained the Ba’….and oor Team .. Hivnae Goat it.
and..
Odds Bods!!!… Doncha JIst HATE .. that!!
Therefore,pal.. Yer Point is Well Made..
Barcelona, hiv goat the Right Idea.. which, as Ah said Afore…
The Prime object ,of any game in which a Ba’ is Utilized, must be First and Foremost..
tae…
“Get a Haud O’ the Ba'”
and..
Mak .
Bloody Sure..
THAT YE DINNAE GIE IT AWAY. TOO CHEAPLY!
Are any of the Crack Celtic Coaching Staff .. Reading this . ??
Kojo
yer pal..who likes yer style.. aloat.
Still,Laughin’
Hun European away kit for next season officially announced – its a 3 pack of sloppy joes from Primark.
Alan Wardlaw prepares the ‘wee rangers’ fans for Newco rangers coming in and playing their games there…
CAMBUSLANG RANGERS boss Alan Wardlaw has called for a huge shake-up at Somervell Park after another disappointing season in the Central District Division One.
The Lang are still not free from relegation as they head into their final two matches of the season.
Two wins would secure their survival with tonight’s trip to Greenock followed by a return journey to Renfrewshire to face Port Glasgow on Saturday.
A recent slump has seen the side slide to fourth bottom of the division. And Lang stalwart Wardlaw admits there is a need for a shake-up at Somervell, although he believes he is the man to continue in charge of the team.
Wardlaw said: “I just want to get this season over and done with and then take stock at the end of the campaign.
“What happens next may not be my decision, as that’s something that could be taken out of my hands, and I’ll have some serious thinking to do on my own part as well.
“After seeing what’s going on this season, I know there needs to be a huge shake up of the club from top to bottom, in terms of everything, not just the playing staff.
“We need to get everyone working together, and with the same attitude. The problem is, we’re stagnating.”
Yes, I believe their fears about old tow truck Bill will be well founded. Is this man really interested in Scottish saccer?
Nah, he wants to make a buck, that’s all. I’d be terrified if it was us he was after. Ah well, good luck Billy boy. I hope it all goes as well as we expect. :-)
Tim Malone Will Tell on 2 May, 2012 at 15:10 said:
Hun European away kit for next season officially announced – its a 3 pack of sloppy joes from Primark.
share on F’book or Twitter
Does it not include sun glasses and flip flops?
archdeaconsbench
What would they be doing different? This is the way they have acted for years.
RobinBhoy on 2 May, 2012 at 15:00 said:
Man Utd were 3-0 down at half time and changed their strip, but still lost 6-3. It was in 1996. They lost four and drew one of their five (or four and a half) games in the notorious grey kit. It was officially retired two days after this game, and they proceeded to win every remaining fixture to take the title.
RobinBhoy
ManU wore the infamous grey at Paul McStays testimonial.
The fog came down at half time ( if a competitive game it would have been abandoned) .
It was so thick as the game progressed that we could not see any ManU players on the far side.
The ball was always visible through the gloom so it looked like it was being dribbled and passed by ghosts.
Friend at the top rows of the North Stand said he could not even see the near side players of either team for the last 15 minutes , as he was looking down through about 100 feet of thick fog.
The Onlooker
Ukrainian football is so poor – watching Arsenal Kyiv vs Volyn Lutsk it’s a total yawn fest. Huge almost empty stadium
archdeaconsbench
‘Is your paperboy, or milkman a tarrier? Is the guy who washes your windows or services your car a season ticket holder at the brendanbau? Is your local landlord of the wrong persuasion?’
//////
the brendanbau? never heard that before but I actually like it! lol
Maybe in honour of CQN, it should be the Brennanbeu!
The Onlooker on 2 May, 2012 at 15:14 said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt2unaP-dXg
Declanbeu in honour of, eh, billionaire business mongols ie. Craig Whyte
HH
Has anything actually been confirmed about the preferred bidder being Miller? Press conference? Murray said Knight Knight yet?
Laptop Loyal did their best for PM, I’m now waiting to see the speed of their 180, handbrake turn to get their heads up the erse of Miller.
Mr John Keane,
if you ever read this blog, I salute you as a true Celt.
Someone who just saw the problem and did what was needed without asking for a pat on the back.
With guys like you around, the future is green and white.
Hail Hail
Lawrenzo
Mark Ding-Dong is not a happy bare…
Someone is speaking with a forked tongue.
Make no mistake – the line currently being peddled that Duff & Phelps had left it to each individual buyer alone or to Ticketus to obtain Craig Whyte’s shares as part of the CVA process is tripe. Pure and unadulterated tripe.
I have been in two meetings with the administrators where they stated without hesitation or qualification that Whyte’s shareholding would not be an impediment to a CVA. Subsequent one of them claimed that it would take 48/72 hours to get them off of Whyte.
To see this issue go from being ‘no problem’ to ‘big problem’ has been bewildering.
My suspicion is that the Rangers administration has simply proved to be too big a job for D&P and they are casting around for excuses to do a far simpler job than a CVA – and that is a newco/liquidation.
don’t think it matters what colour the strips are, the hoops make me look fat anyway
bit of a football feast on tv tonight Bolton v Spurs (SS1), Barca v Malaga & Bilbao v Real (SS2), Huns v DU (SS3), Juve v Lecce (ESPN) and for those of us working from home today, Spartak v Dinamo about to start just now on ESPN
Kayal33 on 2 May, 2012 at 15:16 said:
The Onlooker on 2 May, 2012 at 15:14 said:
Cheers Kayal.
1min 30 into the clip was just how I remembered it.
( cameras usually enhance the visibility in poor light conditions so it was probably worse with naked eye)
The Onlooker
Headtheball on 2 May, 2012 at 15:16 said:
Cheers mhate, awfie kind of ye tae think of me.
Oh wait… ah, I see…
Nae worries, I’ll get ma cassock!
HH
Bishop B
oglach on 2 May, 2012 at 15:16 said:
Modren Ukranian footy may be rubbish, but Metalist Kharkiv is a great name for a team :-)
Lawrenso on 2 May, 2012 at 15:18 said:
….and some on here still criticise our Board, who are wonderful custodians of our great Club……
GOD BLESS JOHN KEANE……..
Final reflection on away strips.
Bumble Bee
I know it came in for a huge amount of criticism at the time but it was my favourite ever away strip .
Hated the team wearing it ,but it came out just before we headed off on holiday to Florida .
The two Jr Onlookers ( aged about 7 & 9 at the time) wore them every time we were at a theme park.
The big fear of Mrs Onlooker was ,the urban myth that was prevalent ,of children being snatched , drugged and spirited out of theme parks never to be seen again.
At the parks it is impossible to keep your eye on them for every second.
If they wandered off they were instantly located due to those Dayglo shirts.
Maybe nobody tried to snatch them because they thought they might be radio active! but it certainly made for stress free outings.
The Onlooker
Declan? Declan?….’mon oot and geez yer take on life in general presently.
Bring Back Deccy Bhoy 2012 – Gie him yer vote
Dingwall must be fearing his time is up as the mouthpiece for leaks from his chosen masters.
Spartak v Dinamo about to start – Ground is empty!!!! , Aiden starts game.
Good day every one,i need to share this with you all, My brother is just back from a trip to israel,when i asked him if he visited the wailing wall ? “Oh aye i went there wrote on a piece of paper JELLY N ICE CREAM and stuck it in there”. HAIL HAIL.
18.30 during a public holiday in Moscow yet the ground is empty. I thought Russian football was thriving? A huge stadium and no more than 2 – 3 thousand at the game!!!
Last spl away match sat 3pm Livingston Oct 1 2005………..
Dark Mingwall needs to be sectioned under the mental health act.
He also needs arresting for his blatant sectarianism & anti-Catholic discrimination policies he’s so fond of touting all over the place with no apparent fear of legal recrimination.
Fud.
some strike from one time transfer rumour kevin kuranyi…
and plaudits to the outside broadcast director for competely missing it and showing us a replay of his miss from seconds earlier
Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?
There’s a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?
Blue Knights,
Burning like fire.
Blue Knights,
How can you close and fail
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright Knights.
Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?
There’s a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.
Blue Knights,
burning like fire.
Blue Knights,
how can you close and fail
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Blue Knights.
Blue Knights,
burning like fire.
Bluze Knights,
how can you close and fail
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Blue Knights.
I confess,I knew nothing of John Keane’s ongoing huge financial support of Celtic.
Massive respect to the mhan,and a loud HH !
oglach on 2 May, 2012 at 14:43 said:
>>>
hideous!
Great article Paul67.
I totally endorse DBBIA’s excellent idea to invite him to unfurl the flag, along with wee Fergus.
I know John, and his actions in 1994 typifies the man and his great love for Celtic.
He has also been a great supporter of Irish community initiatives in Edinburgh over the years, going back to the 70’s where he was on the committee of the Tara Club in Pilrig Street.
A down to earth, great Celtic (and Mayo) man who put his money where his mouth was to save the club at our time of need.
Good on ye John – and thanks again.
tully
Interesting precedent could be about to be set down south. As Neil Doncaster has been keen to point out that Plymoth and Crystal Palace were “newcos”, both were able to continue as CVAs had been agreed with creditors.
Darlington FC went into administration on 3 January 2012 and a company had sought to purchase the club and take them out of administration via a CVA. it has just been announced that the group has withdrawn the CVA.
How they proceed could be interesting.
Mort
UEFA have confirmed that a club cannot participate in European competition whilst subject to a CVA.
Any Newco cannot participate for 3 years.
Has Truckin’ Bill Miller “won” the day?
……and if you know the history!
God bless Celtic and all who sail with her!
hooped1888
The hoops make you look fat or the beer and curry taken has made you look fat?