Joe O’Rourke of the Celtic Supporters Association has published another excellent open letter today, this one to Stewart Regan, Neil Doncaster and the chairmen of Scottish football, as the professional clubs get set to meet for the SPFL’s annual general meeting at Hampden.
We know several things will happen at it, that Celtic’s Peter Lawwell will step down from the board and that elections will be held to see who takes the places vacated by him and by others. We know a statement will follow on a new inquiry.
I would urge everyone to go over and read what Joe has to say.
You can read the full statement by clicking here or on the link at the bottom of the page.
But most important, the letter sets out the official stance of the Celtic Supporter’s Association and I would imagine it’s sentiments are echoed by fans elsewhere.
The time for asking nicely is over. Fans have had enough of waiting for the people who run our game to do the right thing of their own volition. If forcing the clubs to respect the views of the most important people in the game is what’s necessary then that’s exactly what the supporters are going to do.
We’re hardly asking for anything revolutionary here; as Joe says, we want transparency, accountability, honesty and integrity.
Jesus Christ, most clubs have official charters which commit them to provide these things to their supporters; why the Hell don’t they make the SFA play by the same rules? A vote will be called on establishing a new commission to look at title stripping and other things today; we’ll never know what the breakdown of votes was, or probably even what the numbers were. Instead we’ll get a trite one paragraph statement saying it’s been rejected.
Most of the clubs themselves conduct their business, on an individual basis, more openly than this, and the least they could do is insist the governing bodies do the same.
Or do some of them have something to hide?
This is the SPFL’s last chance to act, as a body, with honour and with the best interest of the game in mind.
If they fail to take it, if they fail to live up to the monumental significance of this moment then they are setting themselves on a collision course with supporters the likes of which they cannot even imagine. Today sets the tone for the rest of the year.
Are we going to see a day of changes, of genuine reform, where a willingness to put the game first reveals itself, or will today signify another 12 months of waste, but even more ghastly when one considers the tax case verdict?
Will today be about finally setting the right course, or will it be what most of us fear; the re-arranging of the deckchairs on the Titanic?
We’ll find out over the course of the day.
You can read Joe and the CSA’s statement by clicking here.