Bank Error in your favour - collect £200

[D'Artagnan 173]

"Like many within Scottish football, including supporters and other observers, we are surprised by the parallel conclusion that no competitive advantage was gained from these arrangements. “

(Celtic FC Statement)

 

You curse you're luck. The dice were kind to you and you landed fair square on Park Lane having rolled the required eight, courtesy of a double 4. However at £350 this property is more than you can afford at present. Your next throw sees you roll an eleven where you safely pass go and collect £200 from the bank. You’re opponent meantime rolls a 7 and also lands on Park Lane. You can see from his finances across the table he is unable at present to afford the much coveted property.

 

But to your abject horror he pulls out a Community Chest Card – Glasgow City Council/Celtic FC – and acquires Park Lane for the knock-down price of £175. Furthermore as he passes Go he collects a favourable £600 as opposed to your £200, courtesy again of his “exclusive deal” with Co-op Bank.

 

“Competitive Advantage” ? “Sporting Integrity” ? “Financial Doping” ? “State Aid” ?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2514682/Co-op-Bank-slammed-cheap-loans-Celtic-Football-Club.html

 

I await the social, and moral outrage that Celtic FC, courtesy of their exclusive and extremely favourable banking arrangements, have robbed small firms of credit facilities and overdraft extensions. I await Graham "Selective Amnesia" Spiers tweeting that he is quite comfortable that such arrangements were a form of “cheating” All it needs is for Donald Findlay to be appointed head of the SPFL Investigation into Celtic FC and their financial and land dealings. Whats that term...”what goes around comes around”

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22037966

 

Of course, should any type of investigation be directed at Celtic it will cause a considerable conflict of interest for one member of UEFA's Financial Fair Play Board – Brian Quinn, former Celtic Chairman.

 

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/former-celtic-chairman-brian-quinn-s-uefa-financial-role-1-2386596

 

At least there will be a plethora of advice readily available for Mr Quinn with regard to dealing with potential conflicts of interest. His old friend, and Celtic Board member Eric Riley was a director at the SPL and the SFA for 10 and 13 years respectively. Furthermore Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell currently sits on the SFA's Professional Game Board.

 

Did someone really say “Rangers are the establishment club” ?

 

Conservative MP Mark Garnier is not going to allow this to go away, as he smells blood. So too do a number of Tories. It has been suggested that the revelations surrounding the Co-op Bank will reach right up to the higher echelons of the Labour Party nationally.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/22/ed-balls-links-to-co-op-bank

 

Of course its perhaps purely co-incidence that the former Lennox Castle Hospital , with its 48 acres of prime real estate, was sold for £493,000 to Celtic Football Club, thus allowing the Scottish Minister to delegate responsibility for it's sale to the CEO of Glasgow Greater Health Board, as it fell below the £500,000 benchmark.

 

Which leaves me 2 questions.

 

 

(1) Was the sale of Lennoxtown Castle offered or advertised in the public domain ?

 

 

(2) Does Neil Doncaster have Lord Nimmo Smith on Speed Dial ?

[BrahimHemdani 1]

Firstly a correction if I may, which actually tends to prove your implication about Celtic rather than Rangers becoming "the establishment club"

 

Peter Lawwell was recently elected to the main SFA Board and (as I pointed out elsewhere) astonishingly Eric Riley was elected to replace him on the SFA Professional Game Board. This gives Celtic two of the four elected positions outside the Office Bearers on the two main boards that control Scottish Senior Football.

 

Secondly, it has to be said that Brian Quinn is eminently well qualified for the position on UEFA's Financial Fair Play Board; and if he were to be re-elected beyond June 2015, then he would surely have to recuse himself from any discussion involving Rangers. That said it is not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility that Rangers case could come up for special consideration if we were to win the Scottish Cup next year, before three year's accounts were published; but that combination is perhaps unlikely as it would require the SFA to make the case. Back to point 1.

 

Returning to your main point however, consider this. Supporters Direct collects subscriptions and donations from Supporters Trusts and engages in other commercial activities to raise funds for its worthy objectives. It also receives an annual grant from the Cooperative Society. SD Scotland currently receives a grant from the Scottish Government. In turn SD deposits some or all of its surplus funds (or certainly did up to 2012) in the Cooperative Bank. A Bank takes deposits from its customers and lends the money out usually but not always at a significant margin to other customers who need to borrow money for one purpose or another. Whilst the 3.5% margin charged to the Labour Party may well cover its costs, it is highly unlikley that the 1.0% - 1.15% margin in the Celtic borrowings would cover the Bank's costs. This means that not only are the Supporters Trusts of other Clubs effectively lending money to Celtic FC but they are doing so at a loss which is being subsidised by the very Bank that their umbrella organisation is supporting with their money.

 

Some questions for RST and other trusts to ask, perhaps?

 

Lastly, I was certain there was something more to your final questions than met the eye and quick google revealed that the CEO of Greater Glasgow Health Board at the time of the sale of Lennox Castle to Celtic FC was one Tom Divers and so you might want to add the questions about the sale of Lennox Castle that were posed here http://footballtaxhavens.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/lennoxtown-sale-approved-solely-by-tom-divers-ceo-greater-glasgow-health-board/

[bossy 0]

I have no doubt that Brian Quinn is eminently qualified for the position on UEFA's Financial Fair Play Board. After all, he was the Bank of England regulator who was asleep at the wheel while the BCCI scandal started to unfold.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I have no doubt that Brian Quinn is eminently qualified for the position on UEFA's Financial Fair Play Board. After all, he was the Bank of England regulator who was asleep at the wheel while the BCCI scandal started to unfold.

 

Thank you for that information although I am not certain that Mr Quinn would have been directly involved as he joined the BoE as an economist which was his PhD.

 

My comment was simply based on the fact that he is qualified as an economist and had experience with the IMF as well as the BoE and as Chairman of the Celtic plc.

 

The fact it is obvious where his allegiance would lie in Glasgow terms is another matter altogether and I make no comment on that, other than what I said about him recusing himself from any discussions involving Rangers.

[Zappa 0]

The fact it is obvious where his allegiance would lie in Glasgow terms is another matter altogether and I make no comment on that, other than what I said about him recusing himself from any discussions involving Rangers.

 

I don't believe for one minute that he has been or would be recusing himself from ALL discussions involving Rangers. Formal discussions perhaps, but as with Lawwell, Riley and others, just because they claim to uphold the integrity of their positions by not being involved in anything where there would be a conflict of interest, that only extends as far as formal meetings and discussions. It doesn't extend to all of the private meetings, private discussions and communications. It doesn't extend to the unseen handshakes, hospitality and/or deal sweeteners. It doesn't extend up the backsides of Regan and Doncaster alongside Lawwell's long arms.

[amms 0]

...the former Lennox Castle Hospital , with its 48 acres of prime real estate, was sold for £493,000 to Celtic Football Club,...

 

I'm speechless at that figure. Cala Homes offered West of Scotland rugby club £4.2 million for their land in Milngavie in 2007, that was only 17 acres. I accept land in Milngavie is worth more than Lennoxtown but not that much more.

[26th of foot 6,082]

...the former Lennox Castle Hospital , with its 48 acres of prime real estate, was sold for £493,000 to Celtic Football Club,...

 

I'm speechless at that figure. Cala Homes offered West of Scotland rugby club £4.2 million for their land in Milngavie in 2007, that was only 17 acres. I accept land in Milngavie is worth more than Lennoxtown but not that much more.

 

I know you know the information I am going to provide, but it provides perspective.

 

The then Glasgow District Council sold Janefield Street, Kinloch Street, and Dalriada Street to ra Sellik for ONE PENNY.

 

The cost in resettelement grants to 300 families living in those streets, demolition, and land clearance was borne by the local authority. Ra Sellik substantially increase their land bank and the community charge payer bears the estimated £2million bill, less a penny of course.

 

Thus, nearly half a million for Lennoxtown is comparatively reasonable, in ra scheme of things Sellik.

[26th of foot 6,082]

D'Art, wonderful.

 

You should contact Waddingtons and ask if they have any plans to develop Sellik monopoly?

[compo 7,030]

the BLC the big land case it will be interesting .

[D'Artagnan 173]

D'Art, wonderful.

 

You should contact Waddingtons and ask if they have any plans to develop Sellik monopoly?

 

Im thinking of copyrighting a Scottish Journalism form of Cluedo - who will be the first Scottish MSM to write an article about this ?

 

It will probably be the only ever Cluedo with no suspects.