And, after a century, it happened again. On Saturday, 4 November 2017, Celtic set a new British football record, 63 games undefeated, eclipsing the 62 game record set by the same team in 1917, under its first manager, Willie Maley. A million Celtic fans lived and died, and didn’t see such overwhelming command of the game in Scotland.
Many of those saw nine-in-a-row and the European Cup, but they also saw the 50s, or the 90s, or both, when humbling defeat was a staple part of the Celtic diet.
The football has been scintillating with those 63 games packed with joy: the recent 0-3 at Pittodrie, the dramatic 3-4 at Fir Park, thrashing Newco 5-1 home and away, and the joy-of-joys, winning an Invincible treble with a last minute goal.
Brendan Rodgers has only been here for one title in our run of six-in-a-row, but go speak to those who were around when Jock Stein was bearing down on seven-in-a-row in 1972. The joie de vivre of yet another title, yet another run to the European Cup semi-final, was beginning to fade. Stein struggled to replace his Lions as the crown weighed increasingly heavily on the head of a new King.
What Brendan brings to the search for seven-in-a-row, and his second treble, is a freshness denied to Stein. Jock sailed straight for the sun after joining Celtic in March 1965, winning a treble, two League Cups, two (of three) Scottish Cups and that European title. We have a manager who works as though he has a point to prove and players battling for their place right across the team.
It is fitting that we reflect on breaking our own 100-year record today, the 130th anniversary of the meeting which took place in the parish hall of St Mary’s, Calton, where it was decided to establish a football club called Celtic, to raise funds to feed the impoverished children of the city.
Despite the timeless monuments to success Celtic have achieved throughout a glittering history, without that poverty, your football club would not have come into existence. If you are a Celtic supporter, your world, your very person, is a product of 19th century deprivation. Your responsibility as a fan is to nurture the substantial heritage you were given, to make our founding mission grander than anyone could imagine on 6 November 1887.
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From a small village on the north-east coast of Ireland to the treble-winning manager of Celtic, Brendan Rodgers’ football journey has been a remarkable one of dedication, hard work, a desire to always keep improving and a determination to succeed at the highest level of the sport … and throughout his life there has always been a love of his team … Celtic Football Club.
In his own words, Brendan Rodgers tells his story – from a promising young footballer growing up in Carnlough and dreaming of playing for Celtic one day through to his professional career – as a player, a coach and now as one of football’s top managers. And Celtic supporters will also enjoy an insight into a remarkable season – from the first competitive game in Gibraltar through to the thrilling Scottish Cup final, with plenty of highlights in between, including the manager’s first trophy triumph and some unforgettable Glasgow derbies.
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GARY67 on 6TH NOVEMBER 2017 7:44 PM
WITS
Yes, Daly confirmed on Sportsound
————–
was he on sportsound ? seriously
Tonyrome – you will be lucky to find a plumber that works any day of the week :))
Looks like Daly has turned into a weasel McCann clone. Just watched his pathetic ambush of DD.
SS- lead story on BBC Scotland news at 6.30
Dresdencsc.
You will get the game in a pub called loony’s or loonies.(honest)
This is were auldheid watches the games.
It is on the flat (not up cardiac hill,which is were John lemmings is).
It is basically across the road from 24 hour square.
This chasing people in public places, throwing questions that you know they won’t/can’t answer is a journalistic style that is supposed to add a bit of drama to a story. It’s known as ‘doorstepping’…”We’ve asked DD’s office for an interview or a comment and they have refused so, Mark, take a camera and go down to Celtic Park and doorstep him on his way to the game…” It doesn’t matter that DD won’t answer, he is seen not answering and therefore the inference is, he has something to hide…it is cheap and nasty television…
BIG PACKY
I post loads that don’t get a response.
Disney bother me because I know all these posters really do think I’m awright so I don’t take it personally.
I’ve asked for prayers on here for a wee member of my family (a couple of years ago) and the response was overwhelming and most humbling.
So I don’t worry about a lack of response to posts I make, because I know if I need help everyone on here piles in with prayers, offers of help, advice……………and genuine love.
Get yourself along to the HOOTENANNY on Saturday and put faces to nom de blogs.
You will feel the warmth and friendship, have a good blether and mibbe a couple of beers.
And you will make so many new and genuine friends.
You canny beat it!
Hope to see you there!
This is a really special place, thanks Paul67.
Is Nicholas Witchell going to doorstep the queen – must be on the 10 o’clock news
WITS
The first four numbers let me know that’s a fake account cos they’re deid.
Can I just tell a wee story from Friday.
GRANDAD COMES HOME FROM WORK AND 4 AND A HALF YEAR OLD GRANDSON IS VISITING
GRANDAD – What did you learn at school today son was it numbers or letters?
GRANDSON – Letters grandad
GRANDAD – What letter
GRANDSON – j grandad
GRANDAD – J son
GRANDSON – No j grandad
GRANDAD – Tell me a word beginning with j
GRANDSON – jelly grandad
GRANDAD – Sings” jelly and icecream when the rangers die”
GRANDSON – Looks up and says they’re deid already grandad.
He’s a smart cookie he’ll go far nae wonder I love him.
KEEP THE FAITH
I think Mark Daly did lead the programme into the deid team’s demise. I think it was called “they sold the jerseys”. It investigated and named the recipients of the EBTs. I think he was warned off about taking things further when Murray and co were found guilty by the Supreme Court. But to devote so much air time to a matter that the BBC had to say was not illegal is baffling unless they were simply trying to besmirch our team’s good name by association.
Hope DD gets sufficiently angry to go to war re;ebt’s and res 12………..might be a good AGM.
Big packy – join the ‘no one answers my comments’ clique – I am founder member :))
Sorry you cannae join cause i’ve just replied :((
It would appear that Daly went to a Solicitor to get his financial advice regarding the tax implications for Execujet:
“It would certainly be reasonable to describe this as an aggressive avoidance arrangement given, in particular, what appears to be a lack of economic substance to the Isle of Man company.”
Philip Simpson QC, Tax expert
And as we all know the best financial advice always comes from Solicitors ;-)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Baxendale-Walker
JOPHES
Good post!
Meanwhile BBC Scotland pays our licence fee to hun tax dodgers on Sportsound , on a nightly basis, they don’t do irony……
Philbhoy
Thats Jophes out of his own clique now
WITS
almost every story has ‘ this is not illegal’ in the report – this says everything about tax law and the loopholes therein.
I should have asked the govt to pay my state pension into a trust fund in a tax haven and borrow the money.
equalopportunitiesCSC
WITS
Diz that mean am in his clique noo?
Tickets for Paris: Anyone know how,if, where to buy ?
The youngest, 18 has booked to go on a supporters bus but doesn’t have a ticket. All without telling his old bhoy or mum !
Have a look at this tweet from the BBC’s Kenny McIntyre in 2015.
It’s from The Clumpany.
Let’s all laugh at BBC Scotland… https://t.co/2NXDeIKbi5
So the DD story is news worthy but the offshore game report isn’t ?
You now have to ask questions of the BBC and do they have an agenda ?
Below is the offshore game report so you can decide for yourselves if this is newsworthy or not.
DOING SFA FOR FAIR PLAY: A REPORT INTO THE RANGERS TAX AFFAIR AND THE ROLE OF THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
BLOG MAY 5, 2016
The Offshore Game’s new report into the Rangers tax affair shows just how a badly-run football association can undermine a level playing field – and what needs to be done about it. Here’s the short version…
In 2012 Rangers were put into liquidation. One of the contributing factors to this was an offshore tax avoidance scheme that went (comprehensively and predictably) wrong.
This new report looks at two questions that confronted Scottish football regulators, connected to the attempt by Rangers to escape from paying taxes on players wages. In both these questions we have found serious evidence of impropriety by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), which brings into question their ability to fairly manage competition in Scotland’s game.
The analysis is based on multiple documents which we also republish here: those fully in the public domain such as court records, and a set of documents which had been leaked from Rangers over a period of time.
The full report can be downloaded here.
The annexes, which contain the documents used as the basis of our analysis, can be found here.
ISSUE 1 – THE SPL INQUIRY INTO RULE BREAKING AT RANGERS
The first concerns the judge-led Commission set up by the Scottish Premier League (SPL) into alleged rule breaking by Rangers in the run up to their collapse.
The Commission considered whether Rangers should be stripped of a series of league and cup titles. It is clear from the documents that the then President of the SFA, Campbell Ogilvie, misled the public and the judge presiding over the inquiry, which led them to make a material error of fact in their judgement.
Specifically, Mr Ogilvie told the public and the inquiry that nothing to do with the payments to players through Employee Benefits Trusts fell within his role at Rangers.
However, documentary evidence is clear that in fact Mr Ogilvie was a central figure in the establishment of the Discounted Options Scheme, which was a tax avoidance scheme that was part of the Rangers Employee Benefit Trust.
The fact that Mr Ogilvie had previously been one of the longest serving officials in the history of Rangers Football Club clearly raises questions as to the motive behind his statements – since the inquiry’s own findings imply that, in full possession of the facts, they would have to have reached a different decision.
Mr Ogilvie and the SFA did not respond to our requests for comment.
ISSUE 2 – RANGERS’ LICENCE TO PLAY IN EUROPE 2011/2012
The second issue concerns the grant and retention of a licence to play in Europe to Rangers in the 2011/12 season, when the finances of the club suggested it was on the verge of imminent collapse.
UEFA rules are clear that in order to get a licence to play European football a club must prove that it has no overdue payables to tax authorities. Our analysis of the evidence shows that Rangers clearly had an overdue payable as defined in the UEFA rules and could not have met that test.
However, regardless of this, the SFA did grant Rangers a licence. Although the SFA were informed by Rangers of an on-going issue concerning a large tax bill, they accepted Ranger’s erroneous argument that this did not break any UEFA rules.
It appears that the SFA did little to test the explanation regarding the status of the bill given by Rangers, and subsequent correspondence reveals an unhealthy degree of co-ordination between Rangers and the SFA over the PR around the decision.
As history unfolded, Rangers were knocked out before reaching the group stages of the Champion’s League. Had they managed to achieve victory in the qualifying rounds, they might well have gained the resources they needed to keep the club afloat and to pay the overdue tax bill based on Champions League income, thwarting the very purpose of UEFA FFP Articles in respect of overdue tax.
Again, the fact that the SFA had done nothing to question the obvious issues in Rangers’ financial returns calls into question their effectiveness as a regulator.
THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF SPORT REGULATORS
In sports, regulators have a particular responsibility. Although legally football clubs are structured as any other business, football clubs have a far greater significance and meaning to most people than any other business. It therefore must be a priority for football regulators to make sure that football clubs are well managed and financially sound, so that they continue to provide joy and disappointment (in unequal measure) to their fans.
Regulators also have a duty to ensure fair play, over and above the usual rules that govern competition between companies. To ensure that competition stays on the pitch and doesn’t retreat behind the closed doors of the boardroom, regulators must make rules to ensure clubs do not gain unfair and unsporting advantages over others.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, in order to execute these functions, a regulator must itself be fair. To preserve the integrity of the system, the regulator must be beyond reproach, and behave in a way which does not produce any suspicion that that they might be exercising their power unfairly, in favour of one team over another.
THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATON: NOT FIT FOR FAIR PLAY
Ongoing court cases prevent comment on a number of aspects of Rangers’ liquidation, and the subsequent sale of the assets which allowed a team to play again at Ibrox. It may well be that the current criminal trial concerning some of the former directors of Rangers may bring out more regulatory failings.
The two cases that are dealt with in the Offshore Game’s report however, which have nothing to do with the matter under consideration by the criminal court, call into question whether the SFA can be considered a fair and impartial regulator of Scottish football.
This is a question that the SFA has, thus far, flatly refused to answer. And that itself points to a much bigger question: is the SFA an organisation capable of fixing itself and adopting the required standards of transparency, accountability and fairness that fans of Scottish football deserve?
The evidence presented in this report does not amount to proof of corruption, and we do not allege corruption at the SFA. But the evidence does strongly suggest that the SFA is unable, if not actively unwilling, to ensure fair play. Major changes in personnel and governance structures will be necessary if the SFA is to show itself fit for purpose.
The first step to restoring confidence would be for the SFA to engage with UEFA over the clearly misleading returns that Rangers submitted to them, in order to get a licence to play European football in 2011. Secondly there needs to be a fully independent inquiry, including substantial fan representation, to assess the role of the SFA and the actions of key, senior staff in respect of each issue outlined in this report; and with a mandate to learn from more accountable sports authorities in other fields and to recommend sweeping governance changes to the SFA if deemed necessary.
Philbhoy
I am now founder member of the ‘ nearly no-one comments on my comments’ clique
so don’t you dare
And another thing. When Daly did the EBT thing, they had huns turn up at PQ doing what huns do not very well, protesting. However, they spooked the auld auntie and, as everyone is aware, ever since then they have gone softly softly on the hun. The crumbledome is just along the road and they know these mad bufoons are capable of doing physical damage to persons and property…so, this is to show the hun BBC balance, that there was no witch hunt with EBTs…utter cowardly crap…don’t ask me, ask Jim Spence…
When is the hun presss going to address murray the the pound shop man?
My god, that man is invisible in Scotland!
TONYROME
Excellent!-I’ll mark yer Grandson down for the 2031 Hootenanny as we celebrate 20 in a row and 1000 domestic games undefeated.
Dunno how much a pint will cost in McChuills then,mind!
Plenty flegs on show at Glentoran-Ballymena game….
Big Cup Winners
https://ticketplace.psg.fr/uk/recherche-place/278692?utm_source=Bloc_Home_Celtic&utm_medium=Site_Billetterie&utm_campaign=Celtic_Ticketplace
JOPHES PHILBHOY. THANKS. IM JUST TOO THIN SKINNED HAIL HAIL.
bada bing
Hope they both get beat
half watching the chorley fleetwood fa cup game – if you squint it could be wba v arsenal – the football’s as bad
Petition re tax avoidance
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/promoted/clamp-down-on-tax-avoidance-in-the-uk?utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast&utm_campaign=6_11_2017_fls&bucket=email-blast-6_11_2017_fls&utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast2017-11-06
BIG PACKY
Good post!
Are you going to the HOOT?
Jophes
Yes there has been a lot of ” this is not illegal ” type comments.
However I wouldn’t be too sure
Hopefully some of these greedy sods will be forced to pay any taxes that are due.
BIG PACKY _ NO NEED TO SHOUT :)
And you can bet your Adidas pink boots SDM had words with Ken McQuarrie after the initial Mark Daly story on EBTs…
WITS
There is a focus on how these tax havens run their tax laws – item on lewis hamilton avoiding vat on a £16m private jet – using IOM
Jophes- €830 some tickets…..
My thinking is the more they p!ss off the Dermot fella the more it is going to benefit Celtic. His opening gambit ‘Are you a rangers fan?’ sets the tone of how he feels he is being treated by these morons.
Too much to hope that he will think ‘I’ll take my team and my business elsewhere.’
Steve Mc Laren interested in the Sevco job.Keep your fingers crossed lads.
From Until Hons Games per Honour W D L Total Win%
FC Twente 2008 2010 1 97 61 20 16 97 62.89
Derby County 2013 2015 0 n/a 51 22 22 95 53.68
FC Twente 2012 2013 0 n/a 50 28 21 99 50.51
England 2006 2007 0 n/a 9 4 5 18 50.00
Derby County 2016 2017 0 n/a 11 6 7 24 45.83
Middlesbrough 2001 2006 1 250 97 60 93 250 38.80
VfL Wolfsburg 2010 2011 0 n/a 7 8 9 24 29.17
Newcastle United 2015 2016 0 n/a 8 8 18 34 23.53
Nottingham Forest 2011 2011 0 n/a 3 3 7 13 23.08
Horrendous record apart from Enschede.