A Suitable Epitaph For EBTs

[JohnMc 2,463]

I've been thinking about this for a while and finally scratched the itch. Feel free to add it to the main website, keep it here or ignore it altogether, it was cathartic for me.

 

The cries of outrage that have greeted the SPFL announcement regarding legal powers over historical EBTs can’t have come as a surprise to anyone who has had even a passing interest in Scottish football in recent times. Even a cursory reading of the document suggests the SPFL really did try to find any avenue open, whether through a desire to actually further penalise Rangers or simply to placate the more vocal elements of other club’s support we’ll probably never know. While some supporters clearly have a desire to keep this as a live issue recent comments from directors of other SPFL clubs suggest there is little enthusiasm to pursue this any further.

 

We might, finally, be reaching the end of this whole sorry saga.

 

As a Rangers fan, despite what some of the more hysterical elements of social media might claim, no one has been more affected by the EBT saga than my fellow supporters and me. Whatever enjoyment, or indeed ‘benefit’, the use of EBTs might or might not have assisted with has been more than balanced out by the utter turmoil their use created. I don’t know any Rangers fan who doesn’t wish they’d never heard of EBTs and that they’d never been used by anyone associated with our club.

 

History is important in Scottish football, looking back is a national past-time and we’re all guilty of it to a greater or lesser extent. So much of the narrative around Rangers and EBTs has been about explaining their use or demanding retrospective punishment for them. Yet in amongst this hurricane of challenge and counter challenge, allegation and rebuttal I’ve listened for the voice saying ‘how do we stop this happening again in the future’? So I was interested in the second heading on the SPFL document “SPFL Supports Calls For Independent Review Into Scottish Football’s Actions And Processes”. I’m not naïve, I assume again this is largely about placating sub-sections of supporters, and possibly some club directors, who are angry Rangers can’t be punished again. What I’m hoping is that someone, somewhere, might also look at putting in some measures so that this can’t ever happen to another football club in Scotland. The clamour to ‘punish’ someone who gets into financial difficulties can, to an extent, be understood. While football clubs are run as businesses they do operate in a different sphere than most ‘normal’ businesses. I don’t need to explain how supporters aren’t ‘customers’, if you’re reading this you almost certainly already understand that. Had Rangers closed for good back then I wouldn’t have suddenly become a Partick Thistle fan and neither would my sons. I’d have been lost to Scottish football, and I dare say the vast majority of Rangers supporters would have been too. That’s not in anyone’s interests. So whilst I understand the logic to apply punishments as an incentive for clubs to avoid financial mismanagement I’m of the opinion that very few club directors are thinking along those lines when mismanagement is taking place. My experience is it’s either deliberate for some other nefarious reason, reckless when the perpetrator gambles and backs themselves to win, but then doesn’t, or it’s accidental and caused by unseen and unexpected events or simple mismanagement by people perhaps not qualified to hold the positions they do.

 

So when Hearts and Dunfermline and Livingston and of course Rangers were deducted points this was really about appeasing the other clubs in the league, and I can understand the basic logic in that. However, when are we going to start talking about how we prevent clubs getting into financial difficulties in the first place? When are fans going to start demanding that of the sport’s administrators?

 

Why are there not demands for a salary cap in Scottish football? Where are the calls for a correlation between squad costs and turnover? Where are the calls for complete transparency over club debt? How much debt should any club be allowed to carry at any one time? Why is no one demanding club directors pay bonds to the governing body to ensure all HMRC and other debtors are paid? Where are the demands that clubs must break even every year? I’m not demanding the introduction of communism into Scottish football but if we’re agreed that in many ways normal business rules don’t apply to our support of our football clubs then we can demand that normal business rules don’t apply to how it is run. Salary caps work in that last bastion of Marist thought, the NFL, after all.

 

Maybe salary caps or director bonds or full transparency wouldn’t have made any difference to what happened to Rangers. But anything that tempers recklessness must surely be considered. People did speak out about how Rangers were being run in the final years of David Murray’s reign, but they were in the minority and indeed largely derided as ingrates. In the end I don’t really expect anyone to take any notice of this, I’m just a supporter after all, one small voice, powerless and impotent in the grand scheme of things. I doubt the current owners of Scottish football clubs will be very enthusiastic about bonds or salary caps and it’s unlikely to fill an evening’s phone-in so I’m not expecting a clamour from the media either.

 

Let me say this though, if it can happen to Rangers it can happen to your club. You might have a great board of directors just now, honest, prudent, well connected and with the club at their heart. But directors change, boards change and people change but your love for your club won’t.

 

Despite the clamour you can’t change the past. What’s done is done, no amount of reviews or retrospective punishment can change what’s already happened. It’s a waste of energy and time. If just some of that time and energy was directed into ensuring all clubs are properly managed and financially sound none of us might ever have to go through this again. That might not be the worst epitaph this sorry affair could have.

[cooponthewing 1,139]

Good honest assessment. It would surprise nobody if in the next 5-10 years many more clubs worldwide end up in serious financial trouble, one way or another.

It's been a sorry saga, and as you say, I personally wish I had never heard of EBTs!

[KRC 1]

Couldn't agree anymore with you the damage that EBTs have done to our club far outweighs the benefits we allegedly gained with them great post.

[Gaffer 1,665]

Really good post John, although I agree that very little will be done to really address the root cause of this mess. What gives me concern is your point about this happening to other clubs. This can, and will happen again. Clubs are not being run prudently and that will only end up one way. To some extent I don't care about other clubs, but I wouldn't want 'that' to happen to other fans. When I look around the so-called richest league in the world, I see the potential for those clubs to disappear very quickly. If these rich owners suddenly become bored with their toy clubs, what happens to them? What happened if Sky hit financial problems? The whole league would implode.

 

Closer to home, who can realistically step in to save the other Scottish clubs if they fall foul of financial problems and administration? Thankfully we had DK and the others who were able to save us, but we are the fortunate ones. Dundee United could yet disappear, and although I have a great deal of sympathy for the view that they deserve that, it would be to the detriment of Scottish football. Those fans would not suddenly become 'customers' of other clubs. Some may find their way to follow junior teams, but most would switch to their 'English team' or other foreign club.

 

If something good is to come out of this, perhaps we should become good football citizens and lead action as a result of the review. We know more than most what the impact can be on a club and it's supporters. That makes us the ideal people to champion a real change in the rules, oversight, and governance of Scottish football. Maybe this is a role that Club 1872 could play on our behalf. I think this would further prove ourselves to be the classy club we all know we are and would do something to help the future of Scottish football by leading the way.

[Frankie 8,136]

Thanks John.

 

I'll publish it tomorrow morning.

[Frankie 8,136]

That's it published mate - many thanks again: http://www.gersnet.co.uk/index.php/news-category/current-affairs/783-a-suitable-epitaph-for-ebts

[Gaffer 1,665]

Its a good post with positive points, however the main point is that Scottish football has been and will always be run by corrupt self centred individuals who have a bias towards 1 team. There are about 42 clubs against us in Scotland.

 

Its time we as a club we try are utmost best to join another league where we can increase our finances and expand as a club. The SFA/SPL/SPFL almost shut us down and we sit back and say lets work together? There is clear agenda against Rangers for years enough is enough they don't want us to exist. Fans of other teams not calling us by our proper name is an insult. There must be other teams around the globe unhappy with playing in their own leagues due to corruption of individuals polluting the beautiful game.

 

I think there are many supporters who would share your view about going to another league. I think almost all supporters would agree with your assesssment of how many detractors we have. However, I would like us to get a different type of revenge and sit at the top of the league and continue to dominate football in this country. Can you imagine how that's going to feel for them?

 

I would however support us joining another league based competition in addition to the SPL. That would help us to further develop and again accelerate away from the majority of other clubs in this country.