Football #29: A Time for Transfers

[mormont]

Ini: well, it's worth relating, if only because some of it is interesting in the context of the 'Gers affair.

It all started innocently enough - the usual story. Airdrieonians were a mid-sized team that generally floated around the top of the First Division or bottom of the (then) Premier Division. The club had a revered, but inadequate and antiquated stadium with an awesome location right in the middle of town, heavily coveted by various supermarket chains. So the board sold up with the aim of building a new, SPL-compliant home on the edge of town. (About 200 metres from my mum's house, actually.)

Predictably, the actual building of the stadium was delayed while various reports, inquiries, and audits were commissioned, printed in triplicate, filed, lost, found, abandoned and leaked to the local press. The club spent four years paying rent to Clyde (another local club) to use their ground, which was several miles from Airdrie on the edge of an industrial estate. Support dwindled and board members resigned amidst much mutual acrimony, until the sole remaining board member actually died.

At this point the club had no directors and no money, though they did now finally have a stadium. Before new board members could be appointed, one of the club's creditors had the club put into liquidation - this creditor being a Mr David Murray. Yes, the selfsame David Murray who was chairman of Rangers PLC, though the debt concerned was actually to another of his companies, not to Rangers. The irony here is rich, considering what we now know about how he was running his own football club at the time.

Enter the club's alleged saviour: former Tottenham, Barcelona and Scotland legend, Steve Archibald. (I'll give those under a certain age a moment to recover from trying to process the concept of a 'Barcelona and Scotland legend'. I'm exaggerating, but not in the way you think - actually the Scotland fans were somewhat grudging about Archibald. The Barca fans loved him. 55 appearances and 27 goals in three seasons over there.)

Archibald proposed to buy the club as a going concern and staff it with players gleaned from his contacts as a football agent in Spain. The liquidators allowed him to take over the running of the club, and he promptly appointed himself as manager. He brought in a string of foreign players, including David Fernandez (signed from Deportivo La Coruna, later moved to Celtic) and Jesus Sanjuan (a former Spanish under-21 international who had formerly played for Villareal). These guys were playing in the Scottish First Division, which at that time included at least one team that were part-time. It was slightly surreal to watch these talented Spanish guys waltzing the ball around some journeyman Scottish clogger.

The fly in the ointment was the question of where the money to pay these guys was going to come from. It was widely assumed that Archibald intended to fund their wages by selling them on and/or attaining promotion to the top flight. The obvious issue in both cases was cash flow: Airdrie, being in administration, did not have any cash and allegedly (Archibald was a bit litigious on this point) Archibald was not putting any in. There were rumours, in fact, that he was spending huge amounts of Airdrie's non-existent money on stupid things - new taps in the showers, for example.

Eventually, the liquidators kicked Archibald out, but the aftereffect was to increase the club's debt considerably. After one more season, yet another club chairman (Bill Barr or Ayr United, though here acting as owner of Barr Construction, who'd built the stands at the new ground) pulled the plug. This time the club stayed down. They went bust owing money to everyone. The council ended up with the stadium, and a local businessman founded Airdrie United and did a deal to play there. They applied to the Third Division for entry - and the SFL told them to get lost. They admitted Gretna instead. Yes, that's Gretna, who a few short years later went bust themselves, after spending years paying for players they couldn't afford. Good decision there.

So Airdrie United simply bought Clydebank FC, who were in financial trouble themselves (there are actually some Scottish teams who're not in financial trouble, in case you're wondering). They changed the club's name and relocated to Airdrie. Problem solved, except if you were a Clydebank fan, of course.

Anyway, you can see why Airdrie United might not want to vote on the Rangers mess...

[Flint]

Interesting news about van Persie, question now is, where will he go to? Main suspects? Tell me it is not Man City.

I hope its not Man City and I hope Van Persie respects Arsenal enough not to go to them. My first thought would be Juventus but I think if Real or Barca show any interest he'll go to them.

[Inigima]

Interesting, thanks mormont.

[Fenryng]

Okay, so I understand that (one of?) Scotland's football leagues is pear-shaped financially. What I haven't gleaned, and would appreciate, is if someone could give me the condensed version of the The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Current Rangers Mess. Please and thank you.

I believe it is also buggered financially. I guess a more succinct question would actually be, is the team going to be able to stay in existence?

[polishgenius]

I guess a more succinct question would actually be, is the team going to be able to stay in existence?

The original club in question no longer exists. Hence all the voting going on now. I don't really care enough to remember all the details, but at its most basic the situation is this:

Rangers got into so much trouble financially that they were wound down. Some businessman made a deal with the liquidators and bought the remaining assets of the club for a cut price, including the name and stadium etcs, but since they formally no longer existed this is an entirely new concern which must re-register its players and re-apply for its place in the league from scratch. Obviously they'd have liked to be allowed straight back in at the top level, but owing to many things including disgust at Ranger's long-time casual attitude to the rules, today the clubs in the top division voted to tell them to shove it, so no the decision is being made where they'll go in the lower leagues.

[Inigima]

I'll take a stab at it. Others can correct me if I get anything wrong.

Rangers and Celtic are old rivals, collectively referred to as the Old Firm. They are rather better off financially and performance-wise than most of the league. The rivalry breaks down on sectarian lines as well as football ones, religious and otherwise. Rangers are guilty of various misdeeds; I imagine Celtic have pissed plenty of people off but I don't know the details, some of the accusations are weird too (a nontrivial number of people apparently believe that Celtic are a pawn of the Freemasons, for example). I'll just stick to the Rangers stuff I know about.

Rangers are in financial trouble for several reasons. They spent money they don't have on players' payroll and the like; they are also accused of buying players so other clubs couldn't have them, which besides being a dick move is problematic when you can't actually afford it. This also has an obvious distorting effect on players' wages, so that has far-reaching implications for Scottish football. Rangers' owner a couple owners ago (Murray, I believe?) up and stopped paying taxes. The club was pretty much run into the ground; it was bought by Craig Whyte for the princely sum of £1. Whyte continued the nonpayment. It's also recently come to light that players were paid both on the books and off the books, via secondary accounts; this is the so-called EBT scheme and it amounts to more tax evasion.

When Whyte bought the club, one condition of the purchase was that he clear the club of a nontrivial debt (some £18 million I believe?). He did this by mortgaging several seasons of tickets to a company called Ticketus, for something like £24 million. You might at this point be saying to yourself, wait a minute, isn't this less "clearing" the debt and more postponing it a few years in the future? You would not be wrong.

Between the EBT schemes and various other financial mismanagement, Whyte pretty much re-fucked the team. Creditors came knocking, including Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs; HMRC especially does not like to be put off, and while Rangers are not the first club to have tax problems, the taxman is rather tired of footballers getting a free pass for cultural reasons. After it became clear that creditors would not be fully repaid, an initial bid was made by an American named Bill Miller, but he ran screaming after realizing the depths of Rangers' financial misconduct. The situation was not helped by Rangers supporters crying "GO HOME YANK," since as you can see Scottish ownership has served them well so far.

The club was eventually purchased by a sleazy motherfucker named Charles Green -- or rather, it wasn't, because Rangers have a huge tax bill he is not very interested in paying. So technically the club was liquidated and Green paid £5.5 million for the club's assets, including Ibrox and Murray Park, and he has now formed a newco, The Rangers PLC (I think), not to be confused with Rangers PLC. Yes, this is ridiculous sleight-of-hand.

This brings us to where we are today:

- Green is insisting that players under contract to the old club are still bound by it to the new club under a law called TUPE. As far as everyone else can tell this is completely untrue and in fact it does the exact opposite. This is not the only thing he's done to piss everyone off and it won't be the last.

- Since Rangers are a newco, they can't go back to the SPL, the top flight of Scottish football, unless the SPL clubs vote to allow it. As of today they have said no, since a. this would be unbelievably sleazy, and b. supporters threatened to boycott the entire league. There are financial consequences to this -- the Old Firm are HUGE in Scottish football. No one is entirely sure what the financial consequences of allowing it would have been, with respect to the threatened boycotts.

- They can now apply to join the Scottish Football League, which are all the Scottish leagues that aren't the SPL. Customarily they would apply to join the Third (bottom) Division but apparently this isn't actually required and if the other SFL clubs say so they can go straight to the First Division. No one is sure if this will happen; something like 11/30 clubs have said no. It is also not guaranteed that they would be granted admission to the Third Division either; it's conceivable that they could have no league to play in.

- The SPL chief executive (I think that's the term), Neil Doncaster, has been making threatening comments about the future of the SFL if they don't allow it. So far everyone is telling him to fuck himself sideways. That vote is on the 12th. I think the Scottish Football Association is also acting sleazy maybe but I'm unclear on that.

This case boils down to two things at present.

1. Far too many clubs are based financially on the Old Firm always being there, which is not very smart; and

2. Rangers are acting like they deserve special treatment because they're part of the Old Firm; league executives are acting the same way. As you might expect this is making everyone rather upset.

My battery is dying and I have groceries I need to get in so hopefully I've hit all the major notes. I'll probably remember half a dozen things I forgot while driving home.

[Fragile Bird]

I just wanted to point out to all and sundry that the magnificent Toronto FC actually tied Dallas tonight. Amazing. A game l'm sure you all deeply regret missing. :lol:

[Inigima]

Yessssssss. Our numbers are growing.

[baxus]

Interesting news about van Persie, question now is, where will he go to? Main suspects? Tell me it is not Man City.

if he goes to man city too, than the question that has to pop in everyone's mind must be: "why didn't those rich sheiks buy arsenal instead of man city if they are going to buy their entire team?"

I hope its not Man City and I hope Van Persie respects Arsenal enough not to go to them. My first thought would be Juventus but I think if Real or Barca show any interest he'll go to them.

i don't get the bolded part.

rvp has shown plenty of respect for arsenal - playing his best every single time he was on the pitch, never caused any scandals that would cause bad publicity for the club, he was rather straightforward with his ambitions, caused no locker room problems (that i've heard of, at least)...

where he goes after he leaves arsenal is his business and his business alone.

[Hereward]

Ini: well, it's worth relating, if only because some of it is interesting in the context of the 'Gers affair.

It all started innocently enough - the usual story. Airdrieonians were a mid-sized team that generally floated around the top of the First Division or bottom of the (then) Premier Division. The club had a revered, but inadequate and antiquated stadium with an awesome location right in the middle of town, heavily coveted by various supermarket chains. So the board sold up with the aim of building a new, SPL-compliant home on the edge of town. (About 200 metres from my mum's house, actually.)...

You should turn this into a sitcom.

[Horza]

You should turn this into a sitcom.

Make a documentary, you mean.

[mormont]

You should turn this into a sitcom.

It was more of a farce.

As is the current situation with Rangers, of course, and today's episode features yet more hysterical threats. This time it's the SFA chief exec, Stewart Regan (the other half of the newGers cheerleading team).

SCOTTISH Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has warned that football faces a “slow lingering death” in this country if newco Rangers are denied entry to the First Division of the Scottish Football League following the emphatic rejection yesterday of their application to retain top-flight football at Ibrox.

Regan’s remarkable comment came as he insisted admission to the First Division is now the only viable option. He also made the startling warning of “social unrest” if Rangers cease to exist.

“Without Rangers, there is social unrest and a big problem for Scottish society,” claimed Regan. “They have a huge fan base and to contemplate the situation where those fans don’t have a team to support, where those fans are effectively left without a game to follow, I just think that could lead to all sorts of issues, all sorts of problems for the game.

“Some clubs in the SFL are afraid of the implications of the decisions. There is the moral argument, the fear of a fans’ backlash and there are financial implications to consider. But when we look at the alternative, it is not possible to think about it without thinking of the game withering on the vine. We cannot contemplate that and the message has to be that Division One for Rangers is the only show in town as far as the future of Scottish football is concerned.”

These are edited highlights of his comments, Astonishingly, when asked about these comments on Radio Scotland this morning, Regan claimed that in making them he wasn't looking to put any pressure on the SFL clubs over their decision on newGers. The game will die, there'll be riots in the streets, the world will end and it'll all be on your hands, but no pressure, guys!

You wouldn't be able to tell that this is the frickin' Chief Executive of the governing body speaking. I'm with Partick Thistle on this one: Regan, this is your mess. Instead of trying to browbeat the SFL clubs into doing what you want, man up and deal with it yourself. (Clyde and many of the other SFL clubs have said the same thing.)

Couple of footnotes - one of our former players, Ian Black, has agreed to join newGers but only if they get into Division 1: and reportedly, the SFA have blocked a transfer registration involving an oldGers player who refused to transfer to Sevco (newGers). If this is true, the SFA are undoubtedly breaking the law. If the player doesn't want to transfer, he is a free agent, and his registration belongs to him.

[Raja]

rvp has shown plenty of respect for arsenal - playing his best every single time he was on the pitch, never caused any scandals that would cause bad publicity for the club, he was rather straightforward with his ambitions, caused no locker room problems (that i've heard of, at least)...

where he goes after he leaves arsenal is his business and his business alone.

I'd agree that he's shown respect up to this point. Releasing that statement is anything but respect for Arsene or Ivan. He's automatically driven his price down for a few million by saying he's not extending his contract. Which is why Arsenal responded with a simple statement saying they want to keep hold of him. Also there is veiled criticism of the Ivan where he states "When he comes back from his 2 week holiday in the US" . Fact of the matter is that Ivan is not even on a holiday. What I can say is that I'm glad we've got 2 replacements lined up , it's refreshing to see us pro-active and not reactive to a situation . At least it does not have to be drawn out like last season

[baxus]

I'd agree that he's shown respect up to this point. Releasing that statement is anything but respect for Arsene or Ivan. He's automatically driven his price down for a few million by saying he's not extending his contract. Which is why Arsenal responded with a simple statement saying they want to keep hold of him. Also there is veiled criticism of the Ivan where he states "When he comes back from his 2 week holiday in the US" . Fact of the matter is that Ivan is not even on a holiday. What I can say is that I'm glad we've got 2 replacements lined up , it's refreshing to see us pro-active and not reactive to a situation . At least it does not have to be drawn out like last season

i'd say he's well within his rights to make a statement on his website.

whether ivan is on a holiday or not doesn't concern me at all.

van persie has clearly said that he's not extending his contract, and he's done that at the beginning of the transfer period so arsenal can make proper arrangements.

he didn't pull a traitorres on them, saying he wants to leave on the afternoon of the last day which then causes a huge commotion, ending up with 85 million pounds changing hands over 2 players who spent a year and a half (and counting) finding their form.

[polishgenius]

Tbh Scottish football is in for a slow lingering death whatever happens unless there's a major reorganisation in the distribution of money.

But I think the SFA and Rangers are so used to being portrayed by an amicable media that they haven't understood just how much neutral and hostile attention is focused on them right now, with proclamations of that sort being made.

[Raja]

i'd say he's well within his rights to make a statement on his website.

whether ivan is on a holiday or not doesn't concern me at all.

van persie has clearly said that he's not extending his contract, and he's done that at the beginning of the transfer period so arsenal can make proper arrangements.

he didn't pull a traitorres on them, saying he wants to leave on the afternoon of the last day which then causes a huge commotion, ending up with 85 million pounds changing hands over 2 players who spent a year and a half (and counting) finding their form.

Yes he may be within his rights to say it , and I never said he wasn't. I did however state that it's a form of disrespect and something which he could have avoided. Keeping quite , letting the club know about this and not the entire public would have been a better way to handle it . It's automatically driven his price down. I don't get what purpose the so called statement makes . I don't think any of what Robin has said in that statement is unknown to the club ( hence podolski and giroud ) , it's just putting it out in public has short handed them when it comes to getting a fee.

[The Iceman of the North]

Come now, we're talking about Arsenal. How can anything anyone says or does in relation to that club be considered disrespectful?

[baxus]

don't worry, they'll get their fee. when did they not?

over the last couple of seasons they've sold clichy, toure, adebayor, nasri, fabregas - that's half their starting lineup, and they've done very well on the money front each time.

[Inigima]

As is the current situation with Rangers, of course, and today's episode features yet more hysterical threats. This time it's the SFA chief exec, Stewart Regan (the other half of the newGers cheerleading team).

These are edited highlights of his comments, Astonishingly, when asked about these comments on Radio Scotland this morning, Regan claimed that in making them he wasn't looking to put any pressure on the SFL clubs over their decision on newGers. The game will die, there'll be riots in the streets, the world will end and it'll all be on your hands, but no pressure, guys!

You wouldn't be able to tell that this is the frickin' Chief Executive of the governing body speaking. I'm with Partick Thistle on this one: Regan, this is your mess. Instead of trying to browbeat the SFL clubs into doing what you want, man up and deal with it yourself. (Clyde and many of the other SFL clubs have said the same thing.)

Couple of footnotes - one of our former players, Ian Black, has agreed to join newGers but only if they get into Division 1: and reportedly, the SFA have blocked a transfer registration involving an oldGers player who refused to transfer to Sevco (newGers). If this is true, the SFA are undoubtedly breaking the law. If the player doesn't want to transfer, he is a free agent, and his registration belongs to him.

It seems like these comments are only pissing off SFL clubs and making them want to vote no even more.

Green's and the SFA's wacko interpretations of the law notwithstanding, do players who don't want to transfer to the newco incur transfer fees for a new employing club, or is the contract simply dissolved?

[mormont]

As I said, if they exercise their right not to transfer to Rangers newco, they're free agents. They have no contract with anyone, and can be signed with no transfer fee involved. That's what is pissing Green off. He's made it perfectly clear he had no intention of actually employing these guys: he wanted them transferred to the newco so he could sell them.