Neil Doncaster has given details on the Good Friday threat that he received from Douglas Park- which is in part covered in the dossier released from Ibrox last week.
Interestingly the CEO of the SPFL notes the precise time of the call which suggests that it may be recorded.
The SPFL kept quiet about the threat until Friday May 8- four weeks after it was delivered and the day after the long-awaited Ibrox dossier was delivered to member clubs.
Votes on the resolution put forward by the board of the SPFL were requested to be returned by 5pm, 45 minutes later the SPFL published part details of the vote with three clubs still to record their decision. Two hours later Park made the call to Doncaster.
Covering the threat from the Ibrox interim chairman The Sun reports Doncaster saying:
“I took a note of exactly what was said and that is why Rod then wrote to Rangers a number of times that evening seeking their undertaking not to repeat that defamatory allegation. So I am absolutely certain what happened.
“In 25 years of being in football I have learned you have to have a thick skin, you have to take the rough with the smooth. But when a line has been crossed you do need to act. On this occasion, frankly the only occasion in my 25 years involved in the game, a line was crossed such that I needed to seek an undertaking not to repeat what was such a defamatory allegation.
“That is the reason why Rod then wrote a number of times to Rangers that evening. It is interesting seeing the comments in this morning’s press because if you actually turn to page 13 in the Rangers dossier it backs up exactly what I am saying. I am quite happy to read it out.
“At 7.46 pm Neil Doncaster called Douglas Park back, Douglas Park made allegations about information which he had received from a whistleblower.
“8.12pm, Rod McKenzie emailed Rangers legal counsel and asked him to confirm that the allegations made by Douglas Park would not be repeated.
“8.30pm, we had a conference call with the executive team where I relayed exactly what had happened and what had been said.
“At 9.35pm Rod McKenzie emailed Rangers’ legal counsel, he confirmed the contents of Eric Drysdale’s text. Then Rod McKenzie reiterated his request that the allegations made by Douglas Park to Neil Doncaster should not be repeated.
“At 10.11pm Rod McKenzie again emailed Rangers legal counsel and asked for a third time the allegation should not be repeated. So this is absolutely clear what happened and it’s set out in Rangers own dossier.”
But Doncaster said: “I’d refer him to page 13 of the Rangers dossier, which makes it clear precisely what happened and when and backs up precisely what exactly happened and what we said happened. It’s laid out in black and white, in detail on pages 13 and 14 of the Rangers dossier.”
In the dossier a chain of events is time-lined including the call between Doncaster and Park – and the subsequent intervention of SPFL legal counsel Rod McKenzie.
It contains the following quote from an e-mail sent to Rangers legal team by McKenzie which reads: “Can we not simply resolve this by a confirmation that such an allegation will not be repeated in connection with these events and that the suggested course of action will not be proceeded with.”
Park had said on Sunday: “It’s the first time I can recall being accused of making a threat. It’s offensive, crass and downright wrong. I tried to raise serious concerns with Doncaster and was given short shrift.”
But Doncaster – who has revealed he has taken his own legal advice on the matter – went on: “I had a call with Douglas Park on the evening of Good Friday at 7:46pm. He made a very serious defamatory allegation and a threat to act in a particular way. Now I’ve been in the game for 25 years and I’m used to robust conversations and I have a thick skin. But I do know when a line has been crossed.
In the eighties as a director of Hearts, Park was fined for locking David Syme in the Referee Room at Tynecastle. Soon afterwards the Lanarkshire businessman stepped down from the Hearts board.
