During the debate about Resolution 12 at the Celtic AGM in November Peter Lawwell told shareholders that ‘Rangers disappeared’.
Celtic’s Chief Executive appeared uncomfortable; some might say unconvincing at the AGM as the long running licence issue from 2011 was brought to a head.
With HMRC pressing for payment of an overdue bill for £2.8m the Ibrox club were prepared to put that bill off as they chased the SPL title and another £15-20m from playing in the group stage of the Champions League in the 2011/12 season.
Celtic remained upto date with HMRC, complying in full with the Financial Fair Play regulations and missing out on winning the title.
A group of diligent Celtic shareholders have presented the club with evidence that the SFA didn’t handle the licence applications diligently but both Celtic and the SFA have put the blocks on further investigation. The Celtic board have backed off from pushing the issue, at the AGM they voted down a motion to present the evidence to UEFA and the City of London Police.
When the issue was raised at the AGM Lawwell’s main points were widely reported on but a report in The National provided greater detail with one highly important phrase, one that goes against the continuation myth backed by the SFA, SPFL and all member clubs that have sat in silence as a club formed in 2012 gained trophies and honours won from another club that went into liquidation that year.
The National reports:
“I think it’s really unfair to suggest that we’ve let this thing go,” Lawwell said. “We were actually on the case in 2011 – two years before the Resolution 12 guys proposed it. What we [were] being asked to vote on isn’t about whether or not somebody was cheating or what to do about it; what we’re being asked to vote on is whether Celtic should report the matter to UEFA or the City of London Police.
“In terms of UEFA, they have no interest in this. I spoke to UEFA again this morning – I don’t know how many times I’ve done this – and there was a telephone call to the man who was in charge of licensing in 2011.
“His view is that UEFA have no interest, it was the oldco [Rangers], it’s now outwith the five-year time period and no matter what had happened, if they had been found guilty then, the sanctions would have kicked in in the subsequent year when Rangers weren’t involved in European football [because] they had disappeared.
If picked up on that last phrase could change the dynamics of a long running sore for fans of club’s who have lived within their means, paid their bills and taxes and watched in despair as trophies and prize money headed to Ibrox.
Disappeared doesn’t mean relegation, it doesn’t mean financial meltdown or problems with the engine room subsidiary as some would like to have describe the events of 2012.
The D word is similar to the L word (liquidation) that many shy away from using.
Don’t take the word of bloggers or internet bampots for what happened in 2012, on the record with a mainstream newspaper/publisher- RANGERS DISAPPEARED.
Other than the media conferences to announce the appointment of Neil Lennon the only interview that the Celtic Chief Executive has given in 2019 was to Sky Sports after parking his car the day that Brendan Rodgers decided to give his life to Leicester City.