No change at the SFA/SPFL no transparency or accountability.
Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 12:27 pm
I have tried for quite some time now not to comment on what goes on at the club formally known as Rangers Football Club, just why it continues to be known by that name is confusing but not surprising.
When Stewart Regan took over at the SFA i was optimistic that a new governing body, which was honest and transparent in its workings, was what we were going to get. No more blazered brethren running our professional game in Scotland, I have to admit I was wrong, and Im very disappointed to have to say that.
When Rangers went into liquidation in October 2012 they had done so with very substantial debts to hundreds of different companies. It was claimed they owed around £140 million to 276 victims of their financial lunacy.
Now any company which wanted to begin to trade again with any sense of morality would put a plan in place to try to repay all those victims, and indeed any organisation which had control over whether the company was allowed to trade again should make that repayment a part of the deal.
But that wasnt the case. In the first instance the SFA/SPL wanted to just let Rangers carry on in the Premier League, but that was kyboshed by the chairmen of all the other clubs with the exception of Kilmarnock. They then tried to let them start in the old First Division, but again the rest of the clubs voted against that route.
There were all sorts of deals being proposed behind closed doors, and all were in favour of giving Sevco FC the best chance of playing at the highest level in Scottish Football, but it was the football supporters in Scotland who put a stop to that, not the toothless SFA/SPL.
The SFA/SPL colluded to let Sevco continue to be known as Rangers FC, they colluded to let them keep their history, they colluded to influence UEFA to acknowledge Rangers FC, how can a team that was liquidated claim to have the same history? But not the same debts?
They continue to show a support to the Sevco financial plight which they have never shown to any other club in Scotland. Other clubs have went into administration, or been liquidated in Scotland, but they were left to get on with it, not given a financial boost at every opportunity.
Lets take the case of the cup competitions last season, and I know that Celtic FC benefitted from those completions by being chosen to host the Final of both the League Cup and Scottish Cup.
The only reason for using Hampden Park for Cup Finals and Semi-Finals is because Of its neutrality, in terms of being a worthy sporting arena if fails miserably, you would not put it in the top 100 European Stadiums, it is the third best stadium in Scotland, after Celtic park and Murrayfield.
So when Hampden was out of commission due to the Commonwealth Games, why werent the Semi-Finals played at Celtic Park? Because it is clearly the biggest and best stadium in Scotland, the only answer to that can be, the SFA/SPFL wanted to help out Sevco with the money to hire the stadium, the same can be said of playing International matches at Ibrox, it is not a worthy arena.
Now getting back to the debts owed by Sevco FC. Why was there not some sort of agreement put in place to make sure that the debts owed would be honoured, no matter how long it took?
Why is this club allowed to continue to spend vast amounts of money on staff contracts and bonuses, when small businesses were also forced into liquidation because the money they were owed was not paid by Rangers?
Why if the SFA/SPFL continues to pay Sevco for the rent of their ground do they not withhold a percentage of the fee to go towards paying some of their debts, the whole situation is an embarrassment to Scottish Football.
And now we have the latest fiasco with Mike Ashley getting further involved, although Im not really that bothered about who is in charge of Sevco FC, but its making daily headlines in the Scottish Media for all the wrong reasons.
There has been a deafening silence from the SFA/SPFL with regards to what is going on at Sevco. I think Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster have lost any support they had with the ordinary everyday football supporter.
It seems that not much has changed at all within the corridors of power over at Hampden, things are still done behind closed doors, and there is a distinct lack of transparency and accountability, even when Celtic Managers and Players are getting assaulted at a worryingly alarming frequency, you could hear a pin drop.
When Stewart Regan took over at the SFA i was optimistic that a new governing body, which was honest and transparent in its workings, was what we were going to get. No more blazered brethren running our professional game in Scotland, I have to admit I was wrong, and Im very disappointed to have to say that.
When Rangers went into liquidation in October 2012 they had done so with very substantial debts to hundreds of different companies. It was claimed they owed around £140 million to 276 victims of their financial lunacy.
Now any company which wanted to begin to trade again with any sense of morality would put a plan in place to try to repay all those victims, and indeed any organisation which had control over whether the company was allowed to trade again should make that repayment a part of the deal.
But that wasnt the case. In the first instance the SFA/SPL wanted to just let Rangers carry on in the Premier League, but that was kyboshed by the chairmen of all the other clubs with the exception of Kilmarnock. They then tried to let them start in the old First Division, but again the rest of the clubs voted against that route.
There were all sorts of deals being proposed behind closed doors, and all were in favour of giving Sevco FC the best chance of playing at the highest level in Scottish Football, but it was the football supporters in Scotland who put a stop to that, not the toothless SFA/SPL.
The SFA/SPL colluded to let Sevco continue to be known as Rangers FC, they colluded to let them keep their history, they colluded to influence UEFA to acknowledge Rangers FC, how can a team that was liquidated claim to have the same history? But not the same debts?
They continue to show a support to the Sevco financial plight which they have never shown to any other club in Scotland. Other clubs have went into administration, or been liquidated in Scotland, but they were left to get on with it, not given a financial boost at every opportunity.
Lets take the case of the cup competitions last season, and I know that Celtic FC benefitted from those completions by being chosen to host the Final of both the League Cup and Scottish Cup.
The only reason for using Hampden Park for Cup Finals and Semi-Finals is because Of its neutrality, in terms of being a worthy sporting arena if fails miserably, you would not put it in the top 100 European Stadiums, it is the third best stadium in Scotland, after Celtic park and Murrayfield.
So when Hampden was out of commission due to the Commonwealth Games, why werent the Semi-Finals played at Celtic Park? Because it is clearly the biggest and best stadium in Scotland, the only answer to that can be, the SFA/SPFL wanted to help out Sevco with the money to hire the stadium, the same can be said of playing International matches at Ibrox, it is not a worthy arena.
Now getting back to the debts owed by Sevco FC. Why was there not some sort of agreement put in place to make sure that the debts owed would be honoured, no matter how long it took?
Why is this club allowed to continue to spend vast amounts of money on staff contracts and bonuses, when small businesses were also forced into liquidation because the money they were owed was not paid by Rangers?
Why if the SFA/SPFL continues to pay Sevco for the rent of their ground do they not withhold a percentage of the fee to go towards paying some of their debts, the whole situation is an embarrassment to Scottish Football.
And now we have the latest fiasco with Mike Ashley getting further involved, although Im not really that bothered about who is in charge of Sevco FC, but its making daily headlines in the Scottish Media for all the wrong reasons.
There has been a deafening silence from the SFA/SPFL with regards to what is going on at Sevco. I think Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster have lost any support they had with the ordinary everyday football supporter.
It seems that not much has changed at all within the corridors of power over at Hampden, things are still done behind closed doors, and there is a distinct lack of transparency and accountability, even when Celtic Managers and Players are getting assaulted at a worryingly alarming frequency, you could hear a pin drop.