Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson gave what passes as an unusually honest and frank interview to BBC Radio Scotland before his team beat champions, Celtic, this afternoon. Thompson represents one of the four SPL clubs on the league board who, unless the entire league agrees to change their constitution, will vote on whether a Newco will inherit the void when Rangers die next week.
I’m pretty sure Thompson’s mind was made up weeks ago, he clearly planned to vote Newco into the league, despite misplaced brinksmanship, but he’s been spooked by pressure from his own fans talking about boycotting games if he votes Newco in.
Here’s the dilemma. Gang of 10 clubs have pushed a mantra for years that they have been exploited by a Glasgow duopoly (although clearly they use less accurate phraseology). They complain about “the Glasgow media” and, don’t laugh, referee favouring the “Old Firm”.
Now, if he votes for Newco, he makes a lie of all of this. The power to change one of the key concerns for fans of provincial clubs lies in the collective hands of their chairmen. Can they really pass this up?
It’s decision time. Since Celtic Quick News first raised the alarm on this issue in October last year we predicted that only Celtic would vote against Newco. We are about to find out if we have 12 independent teams in the SPL or 11 Rangers supporters – and if they change the rules to give support to Rangers, this is exactly what they are.
I had a bit of sympathy for Thompson, a first for me. He spoke about the money going into United causing issues in his family and the consequences of losing circa £1m per year in a league without Rangers. Some harsh decisions ahead, if he does the right thing, but the alternative, voting for Newco and having Dundee United fans walk out on the club at the betrayal, gives him what he called a “lose-lose” situation.
I was delighted to hear this. He claimed to be undecided, but at least he is a man who now understands there are huge consequences if he votes for Newco. There are three potential financial hits if he does: some United fans will turn away from the game, Celtic fans will boycott next season and even Rangers fans have threatened to boycott if Newco is subject to penalties associated with their terminal football team. The combined cost of this may be less than £1m but not by much.
There are two extra points for Mr Thompson to consider:
Without Newco in the SPL he and he the Gang of 10 can breeze through their future-revenue-changing plan to alter the voting structure, which should help fill any shortfall. It would be humiliating if they had the chance to deliver what they wanted long-term but couldn’t pass up a chance to help the Rangers.
Also, this is not the end of the road for the terminal football club. Any Newco inheriting Rangers SPL share will also inherit the punishment for the alleged improper Registration of football players for a decade or more. The only appropriate penalty for this would be expulsion from the league.
It’s perhaps best to man up and take the trash out now.
You can buy a hard copy of the new issue of CQN Magazine via Magcloud here.
The graphic below is just for a flick through, to read the magazine go here to it’s dedicated site.
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macjay
the point people who will walk away is that Celtic are only interested in money…
I don’t think I could walk away from Celtic.. they mean to much to me and my family..
I didn’t renew last year but have attended most of the home games this season..
blantyretim on 7 May, 2012 at 11:23 said:
How many of out forefathers told Sir Robert Kelly to feck off in 1952
share on F’book or Twitter
**********
Plenty as it happens.
Lots lost faith in the Kelly Kids.
On the topic.
Celtic are, at the moment , wedded to the SPL.
For years, she has suspected her partner of cheating, but didn’t have proof
Then, proof became available and the cheating partner was exposed.
The dilemma.
Does she stay in a failed marriage,say, for the sake of the children,I.e., us ; or does she walk away and try and build a new life for herself and hopefully bring the kids with her?
If she stays, she will have compromised her integrity.
If she goes, it will be tough for a while, but her integrity will be intact and that. Plus the strength of her family will see her through.
There is always somewhere to go, it is just a matter of fixing where.
Integrity is always the best way. It is the equivalent of the “ba’ in the back of the net”, in settling any argument.
Bridge on the River Kwai 12.05 Channel 4
Alec Guinness CSC
kitalba on 7 May, 2012 at 11:44 said:
Hope to email you soon about the very point you raise.
Cheers.
The 64 bus ?
Hell,I remember when it was a tram.
Scratcher time.
bournesouprecipe on 7 May, 2012 at 11:54 said:
************
thumbs up young yin……
67heaven – I hope you are right but i am not so sure – Celtic’s silence is disturbing.
Macjay1 – I’m afraid there is every chance of a major division appearing at Celtic – the fans will be split asunder. The Board appear to me to be once again taking our support for granted. This one wont go away easily though – a straw poll amongst my friends saw 50% of diehards stating they will never go back.
Bourne’s Celtic dont just have to vote in the right way – its what they say and how they act. If they go into the night not saying anything then they are betraying us.
For me its simple
I would boycott the stadium of every team that votes to cheat
Simples and in fact since I seldom go to away games it wouldn’t be one bit difficult.
I would be extremely disappointed if a version of uber fhan decided that he would go everywhere regardless. Unity is required
I recall when we boycotted the old board for one game only with the backing of the CSA and affiliation yet still around 10,000 attended even though the club were at deaths door. That was disappointing.
Bhodran Mhan on 7 May, 2012 at 11:35:
See ¡ǝsoɥ ǝɥʇ ǝɯ ssɐd ‘sʞɔıʞ ʎןɟ ɥbnouǝ (o) /o\ z ʍoɹ on 7 May, 2012 at 11:39 for explanation.
By the way I ain’t received my renewal Form yet either…
I ain’t in the particular section you refer to…
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
And I am ragin’ I wasn’t in the same room as ole Johnny Clash and hoopslegend Mo Bangura.
No wonder the moon was so big last night- look at the size of the stars!
bournesouprecipe on 7 May, 2012 at 11:54 said:
What if Celtic threatened to resign from the SPL if a newco is allowed immediate entry?
Do you think that would influence the outcome?
What if Celtic resigned and applied for the vacant place in the third division?
Do you think we would be accepted?
Would you still support Celtic if they were in the third division?
We all know how the”Gang of ten” will vote,we always have.If it wasn’t financial expediency it would have been some other excuse.I’m surprised that after 125 years, some of our supporters are surprised by this.I understand the belief that “This is our chance” but it’s never going to happen.However,if Celtic,as a club,were to refuse to handle away tickets we would have a short period of revenge until rules were put in place to stop us doing this.
Do you all remember the last game of the season 2010/ 2011?
Neil Lennon talking to a very passionate support……. something inside so strong….. does it matter a damn whether you were at CP or across the other side of the world?
We need to be STRONG Celts oh and clever……. TAL
Ernie Lynch
Haven’t the Celtic fans been punished enough?
bournesouprecipe on 7 May, 2012 at 11:59 said:
”Bridge on the River Kwai 12.05 Channel 4
Alec Guinness CSC”
Never mind that. Great Expectations is on now. What larks!
And Moby Dick is on later.
DBBIA
aye but theres a dark side of the moon (smiley inserted for DBBIA)
If celtic were to offer resignation im sure the 2 year notice period would be waived and a RFC Newco 2 welcomed to SPL.
bhodran mhan
whats with the name change?
I’m Neil Lennon
Unity is required.
It wont happen unless Celtic refuse the handling of away game tickets.
bournesouprecipe on 7 May, 2012 at
Give me a call when the Old Firm plc has left the scene then,
They can bring the game to its knees if they so wished.
You can stomach them rebuilding hun FC be my guest
If anyone else thinks that is ok then fine but I dont
Hail Hail
Cheers Lennybhoy……. are you actually the LB?
No.7 on 7 May, 2012 at 12:07 said:
”If celtic were to offer resignation im sure the 2 year notice period would be waived and a RFC Newco 2 welcomed to SPL. ”
What would happen to the Sky contract?
BT I thought you’d be quicker than that…….. sitting on the dock of the bay playing the auld bhodran……. tic toc
blantyretim on 7 May, 2012 at 11:58 said:
macjay
the point people who will walk away is that Celtic are only interested in money…
I don’t think I could walk away from Celtic.. they mean to much to me and my family..
I didn’t renew last year but have attended most of the home games this season..
We are absolutely in the same boat.
People who choose not to renew season tickets,for whatever reason,that is their business.None of my business.
Since when does Rangers disaster become Celtic`s problem?
That only happens if we let it.
theglasgowcelticway on 7 May, 2012 at 12:07 said:
It wont happen unless Celtic refuse the handling of away game tickets.
and Celtic don’t handle away tickets for all games, some teams now sell then direct to Celtic supporters rather than pay handling fee to Celtic
derbyshirebhoy on 7 May, 2012 at 11:56 said:
One and the same .
Have you had much response re-sky.
The Celtic board it must react
Stand up and do the right thing
Listen to all your supporters
No more kissing of the ring!
Read over the social charter
Have a think of what we’re about
Stand up in the face of intimidation
We want to hear you shout!
No matter what the consequence
It’s important that you stand
For the integrity of our sport
Lies firmly in your hand!
The SPL clubs cant even tolerate a winter break without Celtic ?????????
How many billionaires and statesmen run our club ?
Hail Hail
NegAnonII @ 12:01,
This is not Celtic’s issue, there were many,a few on CQN:-) who insisted the Board spend in line with R@gers.
The PLC have been vindicated, they have done more than enough to expect the benefit of the doubt.
There are many who wish to make the TREAT that Celtic can’t prosper without R@ngers fact.
Even the glass half empty ghuys must ensure this is not the case.
Ernie Lynch
No one would care as Celtic would be gone.
Definitely off topic!
Not that this shold give anyone ideas…. She cost more than rangers though.
Wife for sale
Fri, 2012-05-04 06:58
Submitted by Eugene Byrne
In April 1832, Joseph Thomson, a farmer, went into Carlisle with his wife and announced his intention to sell her by auction.
Mrs Thomson was seated in a large oak chair, with a rope or halter around her neck, and as a large crowd gathered, he made the following speech:
“Gentlemen, I have to offer to your notice my wife, Mary Anne Thomson, otherwise Williams, whom I mean to sell to the highest and fairest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish as well as mine to part for ever. She has been to me only a born serpent. I took her for my comfort, and the good of my home; but she became my tormentor, a domestic curse, a night invasion, and a daily devil. Gentlemen, I speak truth from my heart when I say — may God deliver us from troublesome wives and frolicsome women!
“Avoid them as you would a mad dog, a roaring lion, a loaded pistol, cholera morbus, Mount Etna, or any other pestilential thing in nature.
“Now I have shewn you the dark side of my wife, and told you her faults and failings, I will introduce the bright and sunny side of her, and explain her qualifications and goodness. She can read novels and milk cows; she can laugh and weep with the same ease that you could take a glass of ale when thirsty. Indeed, gentlemen, she reminds me of what the poet says of women in general:
Heaven gave to women the peculiar grace,
To laugh, to weep, to cheat the human race.
“She can make butter and scold the maid; she can sing Moore’s melodies, and plait her frills and caps; she cannot make rum, gin, or whisky, but she is a good judge of the quality from long experience in tasting them. I therefore offer her with all her perfections and imperfections, for the sum of fifty shillings.”
After an hour, Mrs Thomson was sold to one Henry Mears for £1 and a Newfoundland dog.
The story
That story first appeared in the Annual Register for 1832, got picked up by Chambers Book of Days (1864) and has occasionally reappeared in funny historical anecdote collections and articles ever since. It’s generally written up as a one-off, but it was nothing of the sort.
In fact, it was customary in many parts of England for a husband whose marriage wasn’t working out to his satisfaction, to take his wife to market with a halter – usually a rope, but sometimes a ribbon – around her neck or waist and to auction her, usually for a nominal sum. The buyer would then lead his new acquisition home by the halter, only removing it when she had crossed the threshold of her new home. This tradition plainly persisted in rural areas well into the 1800s. While it’s clear that some of the men involved were feckless thugs and idiots, there are also plenty of cases in which the wife was plainly willing to take her chances on a new husband.
It’s an interesting illustration of how fluid the definition of marriage used to be among the working classes until church and state stepped in to control things. Indeed, the custom was common enough for the French church to hold it up as an example of the Godless ways of the Protestant English and their slovenly attitude to the sacrament of marriage.
I can find no authoritative report of the Carlisle case – the speech and the price suggest it might well be an embellished (or completely invented) account by some would-be humorist looking to entertain his readers with the quaint ways of the peasantry.
However, the briefest search of local newspaper reports from the first half of the 19th century turns up a fair few accounts of wife auctions from all over the country all following a similar set of rituals. Contrary to the “humorous” overtones of the Carlisle story, every single newspaper account you come across in the 1800s is outraged that such a barbarous practice can still go on in this day and age.
It didn’t always go as the husband planned it, either. In Halifax in 1836, we read that the wife was so incensed that she beat her would-be seller about the face “till the blood flew about”.
Chambers Book of Days claims there was a case in 1835 when a woman was sold, outlived both old and new partners and then successfully went to court to claim her first husband’s property as she was his widow.
Eugene Byrne’s blog Login or register to post comments
Eugene Byrne is a freelance journalist and author, and a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine. You can read his online blog at http://eugenebyrne.wordpress.com/
theglasgowcelticway on 7 May, 2012 at 12:07 said:
”I’m Neil Lennon
Unity is required.
It wont happen unless Celtic refuse the handling of away game tickets.”
A newco will only be allowed if Celtic allow it.
If Celtic allow it they will be against any kind of boycott.
It won’t happen.
People are using the possibility of a boycott to assuage their conscience. They’re kidding themselves that they’ll take some kind of protest action at some time in the future.
Neil Lennon will say he wants the fans there to support the team and that will be the end of it.
If the Huns get their way could Celtic resign from the SPL and apply for the third division?
Stick a team in the third and buy a small English club.Approach UEFA about the systematic cheating and see if they will allow us to progress in England.
ernie
It might, but as others have posted ad nauseum I do not think we have visionaries leading the club.
NegAnon2
They will surely speak like they have never spoken before when this one goes through. But to what end? – personally i would have been looking for another league
long before Ragers ran out of money.
When they are voted in, – I’d have Dermot Desmond serve notice to leave the SPL,
not a boycott or a threat, but official served notice to quit.
Bhodran Mhan on 7 May, 2012 at 12:08:
Aye, the question is are you actually the Bhodran Mhan?
Well actually I know you are as you can play it but are you really, if you know what I mean…lol…:)
You don’t need to answer that, rhetorical.
I also texted Ton Che Dan about September. You seen the new bairn yet?
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
I pay my Celtic tv sub , setanta oz and buy a few dollars worth of fc product yearly.
I’m happy to hear the stories from my 77 year old season ticket holding dad and bruv who go religiously. Most of the time I’m telling them what’s going on due too this site and at times it annoys them but most of he time they laugh because the kangaroo has the inside line.
I miss it I miss it so bad but I love my life in the Oz but I miss it so bad.
I just miss it so bad.
Hail hail to you all
Hail Hail NFL and his Champions
Treat=Threat
When newco get ratified and escape sanctions. Will the plc board quit as they should have had the business foresight and copied Murrays plan. We should have spent millions upon millions knowing we would get away with it.
Eugene Byrne, Mycroft to ole Dick’s Sherlock.