Ranging far and wide
We were struck by a thought this morning. Between them, measured by average attendances, Rangers and Celtic between them command more support than the other 40 clubs in senior Scottish football put together. They pull in somewhere over 100,000 paying customers at a time to their home games, (and could probably attract considerably more had they the stadium capacity to accommodate them), while the other 10 SPL clubs struggle to get half that many combined.
It’s a massive dominance, and obviously is particularly the case in Glasgow, where the vast bulk of Scotland’s media is located. So it’s weird that offhand we can’t think of a single print or broadcast journalist anywhere in the entire Scottish media that admits* to supporting either one of them. If every writer in the country who claimed to support Queen Of The South or Albion Rovers actually turned up to either of those sides’ games at once, they’d pack their stadia to the rafters rather than having crowds you can count on fingers and toes.
The question arose in our minds when pondering a couple of pieces in today’s papers.
The first is a rather odd article in the Herald, penned by its chief football writer Michael Grant, demanding a voice for all the supporters in Scotland who back a Newco Rangers being admitted to the game at some level higher than SFL Division 3. We’re not sure who it is that’s preventing these people, should they exist, from speaking up at the moment – the anonymity of the internet would surely permit them to offer their views in safety – but Grant appears convinced that they must nevertheless lurk somewhere in the darkness, cowed into silence by the majority.
Weirder still, though, is a column from the Daily Record and BBC sports correspondent Jim Traynor. As recently as last Tuesday, Jim was penning a piece entitled “Sending newco into Division One isn’t justice and isn’t sporting integrity”, but today he seems to be having doubts, asserting that “If SPL & SFL kick Gers out of football they will kill our game“.
It’s a curious premise from the off – we’ve heard nothing to suggest that there’s any imminent prospect of Sevco 5088 FC being expelled from the Scottish game entirely, only that they might at worst be forced to start in SFL3 like any other new club entering the league. But the actual text of the feature is even stranger.
“By arguing and pressing for more severe punishments and demanding that Rangers newco be stripped of titles and trophies won in the EBT years by another business entirely, they are inflaming and prolonging an agonisingly painful and damaging period. Anyone who believes that stripping the old Rangers of baubles will help solve this meltdown should be ignored, pushed aside because we are way beyond bragging rights.
We, Scottish football, are on the brink of total collapse.
Those who are consumed by petty matters and the settling of old, ancient scores have made it harder to find the solution, the compromise agreement that’s badly needed. One day the truth about the subterfuge, deception, and downright spitefulness used to prolong this saga might be told but right now those who are trying to save what is left of the game need to be given space.”
This seems something of a straw-man argument – whether Oldco Rangers FC has its tainted honours from the last 10-20 years officially stripped or not is an issue we’ve seen no evidence of serious discussion about, certainly not at the administrative levels of the game, and it’s pretty irrelevant to the fate of the new club either way. If any team plays at Ibrox next season with the word “Rangers” anywhere in its name, its fans will consider it to be a continuation no matter what the record books say.
Next up, Mr Traynor offers us his view about what should happen – a view which appears to have been refined somewhat in the past six days:
“Another misguided step or irrational utterance and Scottish football will be in total free fall so tomorrow the SFL must do one of two things.
Either they decide to let Rangers newco – who already know they don’t have the support of enough SPL clubs to get the share that would let them begin again at the top – kick off in the First Division or the way is cleared for them to start in the bottom tier.
But research has shown the game will lose £16million if Rangers are dumped in the Third Division and frankly that would be too great a loss to an already impoverished business.”
Hang on a minute. “Research has shown”? Has it? Where can we read this “research”? As far as we’re aware the only source for that figure is an assertion in the laughable SFL reconstruction proposal, which is backed by no sort of evidence whatsoever. But in any event, what happened to “Sending newco into Division One isn’t justice and isn’t sporting integrity”, Jim? After all, you’ve apparently just called for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Rangers to be admitted directly into Division 1 – the very thing you yourself decried as unjust less than a week ago.
At least we can take comfort in the fact that you’re taking a harsh pragmatic view of the financial realities and not trying to paint this shoddy compromise as “justice”, though. Can’t we?
“But here are a few questions those ‘just’ men should ask themselves as they file into their meeting rooms on Hampden’s sixth floor over the next couple of days:
Is losing all credibility, standing in the game, SFA licence, SPL share and being treated with the utmost contempt not punishment enough?
No?”
No. None of that, in fact, constitutes “punishment” at all. Rangers were already regarded with the utmost contempt by everyone other than Rangers fans, so there’s no loss there. It seems certain that they will regain their SFA licence, and the loss of the SPL share is a direct and inevitable consequence of the club that held it being liquidated due to its own fiscal incompetence, not a punishment levied by anyone.
“Then ask yourselves this:
Is going out of business, struggling to emerge as a newco without fan support and being banned from playing in Europe for three years and being branded pariahs not punishment enough?”
Clearly the answer is still no, because none of that is “punishment” either. Rangers went out of business solely as a result of its own actions, it was not put out of business by anyone else. Any lack of fan backing due to distaste for the new owner is entirely a matter between the new club and the old Rangers support. The club has NOT been “banned” from Europe – no new club in any country may participate in European competition until it’s been in existence for at least three years. Those are simply the rules of UEFA, not a “punishment” that anyone has handed down on Rangers. As for being “pariahs”, see above – that status is entirely self-inflicted, in both short-term and long-term senses.
“If the answer is still no then there is no justice.”
So anything short of being parachuted into Division 1 is now unjust? When a week ago, it was that very same outcome that “isn’t justice and isn’t sporting integrity”? We hope Mr Traynor will forgive our confusion.
Most Scottish fans – reluctantly – accept the likely prospect of Rangers being admitted into SFL3, although even that requires quite considerable compromise on the part of the football authorities (given that the newco does not fulfil the financial requirements for SFA membership) and preferential treatment over a number of existing clubs who HAVE played by the rules.
It stretches the bounds of credibility some way beyond breaking point, though, to insist that such an outcome to the circus of the last five months would somehow represent an unfair victimisation of an Ibrox side who have no right whatsoever under the rules to be playing professional football anywhere in Scotland this coming season.
If you’re out there, Jim, maybe you could let us in on what’s changed your mind.
.
*EDIT: Some readers inform us that Graham Speirs of the Herald – a writer whose coverage of the ongoing fiasco has been impeccable – is an “out” Rangers fan.
Mr Traynor and Mr Speirs both like the sound of their own voices and both are fond of belittling Scottish football.
However, people like them, who make a living off the game they love to criticise, are merely parasites and can safely be ignored.
Sevco can consider themselves very fortunate if they are admitted directly into the bottom league as that, in itself, can be seen as favouring, not punishing the club.
Another fine mess you’ve got them into , topman
Mm. And today we’ve got Hugh Keevins ( http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/2012/07/02/rangers-in-crisis-sfl-insider-reveals-20-clubs-could-go-the-wall-if-they-don-t-accept-newco-into-their-ranks-86908-23903342/ ) in the Record quoting “an unnamed insider” and, er, Walter Smith on how 20 clubs could shut down if they don’t accept Rangers into the SFL. 20 clubs that presumably were doing well enough without them. When all else has failed to sway public opinion, it seems we’re back to scaremongering.
Still, I suppose it makes a change to be writing a different kind of fiction to the normal “Completely unrealistic big name definitely coming to Ibrox/Parkhead!” stories that normally fill up the Scottish sports pages at this time of year though.
And I like Spiers a lot. He’s open about his being brought up a Rangers fan (http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/comment/graham-spiers-ecstasy-and-agony-for-rangers-fans-1-2119018 – link to a Scotsman article here where he just does that, Stu) but doesn’t let it get in the way of writing what he feels needs to be said about either half of the Old Firm – and I’ve never felt bias is evident towards or against anyone. Like all football pundits, I don’t always agree with what he says for one reason or another, but I’ve always respected his having the guts to say what he thinks.
Yeah, the Keevins piece is extra-freaky. “SFL CLUBS WILL DIE WITHOUT RANGERS!” But, um, they’re without Rangers now. They’ve always been without Rangers. And they seem to be muddling through.
A case of looking after number one?
What will messrs Keevins and Traynor have to report on should Sevco not be admitted to Div1? Can the Mirror Group hierarchy justify having a large group of ‘journalists’ at a tabloid like the DR to report on the goings-on at a new club in Div3?
I wonder if ‘The Daily Rangers will change it’s name to ‘The The Daily Rangers’. Or ‘The Daily SevcoScotland’ etc…
Jim Traynor was often fielding calls on his show by fans talking about ‘the establishment’ running things at the top of Scottish football but he continually denied any such thing existed. I wonder if he’ll re visit this and admit that the only reason Sevco aren’t doing a Gretna ( playing junior league for 3 yrs to qualify for SFL3 application form) is because of ‘the establishment’. How else can you describe the draft proposal from the SFA for the future of Sevco /SPL/ SFL as anything other than an establishment stitch up ?
Oh and Jim also detested the ‘tartan army’.
I think he managed to alienate most of the Scottish football support. SPL, SFL, Tartan Army. Yep that’s most of them.
Jim Traynor is one of these strange people that seems to think stopping someone from continuing to commit a crime is the same thing as punishing them. The suggestion that Sevco 5088 have been punished enough by being booted out of the SPL is like a drug dealer claiming he shouldn’t go to jail because he’s already been punished enough by having his drug dealing stopped.
Sevco 5088 has no divine right to being in the SFA, never mind the SPL, so they should count themselves lucky if they even get into Division 3 – after all, Spartans, Cove Rangers and many others arguably have much stronger claims to that vacated SFL spot than a brand new football club does. Did Gretna 2008 get automatic entry to the SFL? Nope. Did Clydebank get automatic re-entry into the SFL after being bought out by Airdrie United and reformed? Nope. Did Airdrie United get automatic re-entry? Only by buying out the old Clydebank – otherwise they weren’t getting in. If Sevco 5088 want back in with no questions asked, they’d have to go through that route. Shame there are no SFL clubs with a chairman who just happens to be a stereotypical bigoted Rangers fan (and a QC)…
Oh wait, there is!
As for why there are no “outed” Old Firm hacks, I suppose it’s just because outing yourself as one or the other opens you up to abuse from “fans” of the other. Certainly when you’re as poor a “journalist” as Hugh Keevins or Chick Young, you needn’t give anyone even any more ammunition to criticise your “journalism”. Spiers has definitely all but admitted that he is a Rangers fan though – I remember him making no attempt to hide the fact when talking about what was happening a few months ago on Scotland Tonight.
And let’s not forget the indefatigable Michael Kelly, Celtic’s number one unionist cheerleader!
I can’t see the problem with those 20 SFL clubs dying. Presumably they’ll just be admitted straight into division 1?
And if Jim Traynor is an Airdrie fan as he often claims then would what Rangers did to them in 2000 (arresting their gate fees against United to try and recoup some of the £30k owed) not have any baring on his opinion right now? It would if it was my club.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/628268.stm
He is a clown, I hate the fact that he works for the BBC (or is he freelance, I’m not sure?) and gets to spout his rubbish not only in the Daily Ranger, but we have to listen to his out-dated moronic views on a Saturday afternoon as well.
Can you not leave to football alone? For god’s sake you are like the Daily bloody every sms newspaper.
I was talking to my son about things Scottish and aesthetic, when his pal arrived at the bus stop and they immediately went into did ye see the gemm cliches and drivel.They were like 2 Pa Broons.
Am I working to be in an independent Scotland fu of football geeks?
Aye looks like it.
I am goin to be locked in with all you Cartairs United askin what did I think o the gemm?
Failte gu Alba
SFL clubs need the £60,000 that they get from the SPL settlement. This could be jeopardised by Rangers demise. I got this from a club official. So saying these clubs manage without Rangers in their league are missing the point.
But what evidence is there that that payment is under threat?
“Can you not leave to football alone? For god’s sake you are like the Daily bloody every sms newspaper.”
Sorry, Semus, but as we’ve said before the fate of Rangers could be a huge factor in the future of the independence movement, and it would be remiss not to cover it. Just sit tight – one way or another it’ll all be over by next month.
Tracy McQ – I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a freelancer, as this seems to be the BBC’s favourite way of employing people in a way that allows them to deny culpability when said employee turns out to be doing something licence payers may not be happy with. Just like when you criticise Question Time, they say “oooh but it’s not really a BBC programme, because an outside company makes it, so it’s nothing to do with us.”
You can’t deny they’ve learnt well from Labour…
Spiers is only admitting to being a boyhood rangers fan, as if his childhood allegiances were laid to one side when he first put on a sheepskin coat and sat in the press box.
Rev. Stu,
What is pro-Indy take on Rangers debacle connection to Yes v. No indy vote?
HMRC put RFC out of business (technically) so Rangers fans think British state not all it’s cracked up to be?
Scottish football survives (competitively thrives on?) previously unthinkable absence of Rangers from top tier, so non-Rangers folk think independence might also work in some way?
(Or if it’s a disaster people think we’d better not try this political independence stuff?)
Seems unlikely to be no cross-impact between the two things, just very hard (for me, at least) to read which way it will go.
“What is pro-Indy take on Rangers debacle connection to Yes v. No indy vote?”
As I’ve said previously, I think it’s hard to imagine that Unionism WON’T be damaged to at least some extent by the loss of a twice-monthly British-nationalist patriotism rally attracting 50,000 Union Jack-wavers singing “God Save The Queen” and “Rule Britannia” for an hour and a half.
All the football journalists in Scotland have been making their living feeding from the dirty trough that is, or was, the Old Firm; especially those based in Glasgow.
Does anyone honestly believe that not one of those ‘journalists’ didn’t know anything at all about what was going on at Ibrox for all those years?
In the great “Exclusive!” game they all enjoy playing, why was, what has now become one of the biggest stories to involve Scottish football, not ‘exposed’ by anyone in the Glasgow print media world?
Could it be that they knew damn fine what was going on, but to expose it would be to cut off their noses to spite their faces ie the money they were quite happy to bank conniving with the Old Firm, especially Rangers?
Bloody hypocrites. They have been caught out as being dishonest charlatans, quite happy to maintain and prolong Scotland’s blight of bigotry and sectarianism for their own ends.
The Gruesome Twosome, Traynor and Keevens, deserve any and all opprobriation that comes their way. For years they’ve been getting away with guff representing ‘sports journalism’, quite happy to pick up the monthly cheque, no doubt.
Years back, Traynor used to big-up Barry Ferguson when he was with Rangers, before his first move away from Ibrox. As soon as he was off, Traynor was calling him a “("Tractor" - Ed)” in print. Meanwhile Keevens was on TV (ITV?) beaming about an “Exclusive!” he had about David Beckham definitely signing for Arsenal! … (Ehh, really? Wow! So when are we going to see him actually playing for Arsenal, then? (and not there just to maintain his fitness!))
Indeed, Scottish sports (football) ‘journalism’ at its finest!
@Doug…
The main difference between the Airdrie-Clydebank scenario and your touched upon note regarding Cowdenbeath is that Clydebank were in administration and were effectively on the market for sale. An Airdrie consortium bought the club, rebranded and moved it and are now Airdrie United.
Cowdenbeath are not in administration and not for sale. Its a subtle difference but I think an important one.
Interesting, it seems that media “personalities” can pick a team: Brian Taylor (Dundee United), Kevin McKenna (Celtic), Fred Macaulay (St Johnstone), but not football pundits. We are to believe have have gone through the remarkable life journey of have a long passion for the game but never picked a team.
Just like the political commentators, all impartial yet well informed, political anoraks. It assumes a level of public media naivety that still thinks the radio news is read out in a dinner jacket.
Fair enough, Rev. Stu, but you don’t see ANY impact beyond twice monthly flag waving? If Rangers in Third Division is positive for SPL competitiveness, that could also be positive for pro-Indy sentiment in 2014, couldn’t it? And vic-versa, obviously.
Also, here is a tweet from Graham Spiers this morning re. his status:
Graham Spiers ?@GrahamSpiers
@steven_coyw I’ve been totally open about boyhood RFC fan. And for it, I get this ludicrous dross about ‘oh aye, still a Gers fan’. Drivel.
I think when people say they were boyhood fans it pretty much means they still are (how many people really change?) So I think Graham is being pretty clear, within Twitter’s 140 character constraint, that he is and always has been. He just gets annoyed with clowns who try to reveal what he has already been open about. Like me, he is an out (haha) Rangers supporter and no doubt would confirm it if a journalistic organ such as yours just asked him straight out.
For the avoidance of doubt: I think we should go to the Third Division, if we’re lucky enough to be accepted there! What impact that’ll have on the other SPL clubs is anyone’s guess. It will need Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen etc fans to actually attend matches, which they have not always been conspicuously guilty of doing. But on can hope.
“Fair enough, Rev. Stu, but you don’t see ANY impact beyond twice monthly flag waving? If Rangers in Third Division is positive for SPL competitiveness, that could also be positive for pro-Indy sentiment in 2014, couldn’t it?”
Yes, that could indeed be the case. The analogy that would become available to nationalists if Scottish football was in a healthy and competitive state would be pretty obvious – “Look, everyone said we couldn’t survive without this big Union Jack-waving institution, but here’s what’s actually happened.” You’re right that the reverse is potentially true too, but my personal view is that there would be no catastrophe were Rangers to be dumped in SFL3.
Rangers in the Third Division could be cathartic, for everyone in Scottish football, Reverend.
RFC purged of arrogance (until we’ve got something to be arrogant about, naturally); other teams get a better chance to win things/play in Europe; Old Firm stranglehold on football decision-making at least loosened; Celtic and Rangers fans grow up a bit, realizing they actually enjoy playing each other and so NEED their rivals (NB not enemies); SKY or whoever don’t get to unbalance the Scottish game, like they increasingly do in England with their megadeals; lower leagues in Scotland benefit from increased gates as Rangers try to climb back to the top of Scottish football (with luck).
Of course, some Scottish clubs MIGHT go out of business, and the football business here might be smaller. But that would depend on the response of football fans (will they go to games in large numbers?) in response to no longer being ‘subsidized’ by larger forces.
More self-determination. Bewcoming possibly (a lot) smaller, but also possibly better. Not knowing which way Rangers supporters would go. All in the context of much dread scare-mongering. Seems like a direct independence debate analogy, if you ask me.
“Rangers in the Third Division could be cathartic, for everyone in Scottish football, Reverend… More self-determination. Bewcoming possibly (a lot) smaller, but also possibly better. Not knowing which way Rangers supporters would go. All in the context of much dread scare-mongering. Seems like a direct independence debate analogy, if you ask me.”
Couldn’t agree more.
Fantastic article.
I’ve a question……
If NEWCO are allowed into SFL (at any level) could a club (eg Spartans) who have been trying to get into SFL for years take legal action to fight the decision by SFL?
If not legal action could they ask UEFA or FIFA to investigate and take action as the Newco doesn’t satisfy the criteria for entry?
Excellent dissection of Traynor: on a par with that on the document sent out to SFL clubs. I’d like to add that Traynor doesn’t need as long as a week to flip his apparent attitude. On Tuesday night’s Sportsound, he spent most of the programme pimping Rangers Newco for the 1st Division on the basis of the Neil Doncaster school of economics. Having led an argument on the basis that the rules don’t matter, he later came out with the following verbatim quote:
“I have to go back Jim (Spence), and say that… you remember Motherwell.. and Livingston.. and Dundee.. and Gretna… they were all in the SPL when they suffered emm.. some kind of insolvency trauma. And still, still, we did not take the opportunity to think ahead and say “one of these days, someone’s going to go from administration into liquidation, we better get a Rule in place and a punishment in place”, and had they done that, then we wouldn’t be sitting (here). Rangers would be in the 3rd Division next season and that would be the end of it, and we would have to deal with the consequences.”
As if…. Funnily enough, no-one picked him up on it. Similarly, on Wednesday’s Sportsound, he battered on at Stuart Cosgrove that the dodgy powerpoint sent out to SFL clubs was an SFL document, ignoring the overwhelming input of Doncaster and Regan. Cosgrove failed to counter unfortunately.