Lies, Damned Lies And Made-up Statistics

[ian1964 10,416]

Recently the Daily Record ran a story highlighting the massive gap in attendance figures at Celtic between those actually attending and the clubâ??s claimed amount.

 

The problem was that the Record tried to make out that Rangers were doing the same thing. Those who have been at Ibrox this season for Rangersâ?? home games will testify how full the ground has been at times.

 

Some of the Recordâ??s figures just didnâ??t add up.

 

And there has definitely been no Blue Seat phenomenon to equal the rise of the Green Seat Brigade at Parkhead. Now it appears that the Record have been caught out massaging some figures of their own.

 

According to this article, the attendance for the Rangers v Queens Park fixture in October 2012 was 34,481.

 

Thanks to a diligent Rangers fan, this figure by the Record looks to be the figment of a Celtic-appeasing imagination. A Freedom Of Information request to Strathclyde Police resulted in an official response and confirmation that the actual attendance figure was 46,622.

 

Itâ??s such a great pity that a golden opportunity for the Record to expose the lies emanating from Parkhead over attendance figures has been used by them to write more lies about Rangers instead.

 

Recently the Record lambasted First Minister Alex Salmond over what it called his plans for â??draconianâ? censorship laws governing the media in Scotland, citing the paperâ??s right to â??speak truth to powerâ? as well as holding governments to account.

 

Perhaps the Record could follow this philosophy in relation to Peter Lawwell and advise the Celtic CEO it will no longer be publishing figures computed on that big calculator on his desk â?? the one with â??Made In Sevilleâ? stamped on the back.

 

You know, the one that adds 15,000 to Celticâ??s crowd and detracts 15,000 from crowds at Ibrox.

 

â??â??â??â??â??â??â??â??â??-

 

To be fair to the Record, however, it is certainly not covering up the scandal surrounding disgraced Cardinal Keith Oâ??Brien.

 

The latest revelations concern an alleged sexual assault on a priest at an event the night Oâ??Brien was made a cardinal.

 

According to the Recordâ??s piece, the priest claims he was groped by Cardinal Oâ??Brien at an event in Scots College in Rome on October 21, 2003. The priest was among a party of clerics who had travelled to the Vatican to see Oâ??Brienâ??s elevation.

 

Scarlet may be the colour of the princes of the Roman Catholic church but it is also descriptive of sin in the Bible.

 

How sad that the transgressions of Keith Oâ??Brien will be what many remember him for after the lurid revelations of recent times.

 

For those who revel in bad publicity for Roman Catholicism, the Oâ??Brien Scandal is the story that keeps on giving.

 

However, for Scotlandâ??s Catholics, every further revelation is a hammer blow to their confidence in their religion.

 

Curiously, times like this are a great opportunity for people to find fresh new levels of faith if they allow themselves to be open and honest.

 

Roman Catholicism calls for great trust from the laity in the clergy, something that Protestants find uncomfortable and even abhorrent.

 

Maybe Catholics disillusioned with their spiritual leaders could find a much more vibrant faith by relying less on the mediatoral role of their clergy and seek a more direct relationship with God.

 

Thatâ??s a Protestant concept which I hope doesnâ??t alarm my Catholic readers!

 

As always, Scripture says it best and hereâ??s a good one for us all at this time but especially those who feel let down by those in religious authority:-

 

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. PSALM 146:3

 

http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/

[the gunslinger 3,366]

to be fair to the record the 36k figure was from the police.

[54andcounting 0]

to be fair to the record the 36k figure was from the police.

 

This is what the record said in the article....."And when Rangers played Queen’s Park at Ibrox in October, the attendance figure published on the Scottish Footbal League website was 49,463.

 

But the real number given to police was just 34,481 – a difference of 14,982".

 

My question is this.....WHO gave the 'not so real' number to police????

[GovanAllan 0]

Police have been throwing numbers about like happy hour at the bingo, more pressing question shold be why did the record us a 2 year old photo of the Ibrox crowd to back up the claim.

[der Berliner 3,247]

Regarding that match, a number of inquiries have been made (according to FF) and in each occasion a different attendance figure was handed out. That said, the attendance figures of the Scumhut has been withheld by the club for years - nigh any homegame these last three seasons was given on their (sic!) website was left open or n/a'ed.

[Mountain Bear 0]

Apologies for posting a link from the Celtic Wiki, but I found this about 18 months or so ago while engaging the Rangers Tax Case blogger in a bit of "banter" about the hypocrisy on show from his acolytes regarding Rangers' failure to pay PAYE & the BTC (you know the stuff, "How many hospitals etc...).

 

http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Average+Attendance+-+Season-by-Season

 

Anyway, my point was that it was common knowledge that Celtic had so hugely under-reported their historic attendances (and therefore their income and tax liabilities), that their fans should think twice before taking the moral high ground.

 

Interestingly enough, the RTC blogger's response at the time was basically that yes, it happened, but no-one can prove it now. So much for sporting integrity, eh?

 

Anyway, back to the link. You'll note that their average gates rarely exceeded 30k, even during their golden age of the late 60's, early 70's. It was only after Parkhead was redeveloped in '96/'97 that the gates increased to the high 40k's.

 

Now just imagine the tax bill on that little lot if you could prove the actual attendances!

[der Berliner 3,247]

Apologies for posting a link from the Celtic Wiki, but I found this about 18 months or so ago while engaging the Rangers Tax Case blogger in a bit of "banter" about the hypocrisy on show from his acolytes regarding Rangers' failure to pay PAYE & the BTC (you know the stuff, "How many hospitals etc...).

 

http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Average+Attendance+-+Season-by-Season

 

Anyway, my point was that it was common knowledge that Celtic had so hugely under-reported their historic attendances (and therefore their income and tax liabilities), that their fans should think twice before taking the moral high ground.

 

Interestingly enough, the RTC blogger's response at the time was basically that yes, it happened, but no-one can prove it now. So much for sporting integrity, eh?

 

Anyway, back to the link. You'll note that their average gates rarely exceeded 30k, even during their golden age of the late 60's, early 70's. It was only after Parkhead was redeveloped in '96/'97 that the gates increased to the high 40k's.

 

Now just imagine the tax bill on that little lot if you could prove the actual attendances!

 

I would assume that anyone with a bit of endurance can easily sort out the actual figures (even though I don't know about the Freedom of Information act and whether it reaches that far back) of these games. I for one would't be surprised if the taxman for "some reason" isn't interested these days though ...

[Mountain Bear 0]

I would assume that anyone with a bit of endurance can easily sort out the actual figures (even though I don't know about the Freedom of Information act and whether it reaches that far back) of these games. I for one would't be surprised if the taxman for "some reason" isn't interested these days though ...

 

I don't think the record keeping would have been that great in those days DB. Remember we're talking about cash turnstiles and a biscuit tin for the money!