Remember the article Phil posted a fortnight ago, about a brand new Sevco fan organisation that was to be formed to counter Club 1872?
Well, they announced their formation today with a post on SevcoMedia and Facebook.
This is another moment of vindication for the Donegal journalist, another scoop which embarrasses the Scottish press. Congratulations to him for it.
You can read Phil’s article by clicking on this link, and he followed it up with a piece today which you can read here.
There is no doubt this spells more trouble over in La La Land.
The organisation, calling themselves Follow Rangers Shareholders Ltd, already have a website, a logo and a corporate structure.
This has obviously been long planned, and well thought out.
The headache it creates for the board, and in particular for King, is not insignificant.
This is a direct challenge to Club 1872’s monopoly. With a stated aim of acquiring a shareholding, it is an open threat to the established fan group, which it is alleged operates in tandem with the current Ibrox board, in complete contravention of its principles.
There are real problems amongst their fans, and this is but one facet of that, but it’s an especially important one. Club 1872 is the personal brainchild of King, who saw its creation as a way of getting all the supporter organisations together under one umbrella, which he had his hands on. It worked too, as various groups amalgamated to form it, under the impression that it would actually be independent of the club board. It wasn’t.
My understanding of the new organisation is that it’s made up primarily of four individuals, some of whom have past links with Club 1872 and who have long been concerned with the direction it’s been moving in. I hear that one of their principle concerns relates to a six figure sum from Club 1872’s funds which was, it is alleged, used to pay part of the settlement fee for the disastrous signing of Joey Barton. That, and other such matters, has caused serious disquiet.
Club 1872 was described to me earlier today as an organisation with no checks and balances at all; cheques can be signed off on by single individuals for starters. “You would not run a bowling club like this,” is what I was told.
It is clear that the new organisation has sprung up because Club 1872 is not trusted by many of the supporters, and Dave King’s recent threat to the shareholders, that they would have to cough up time and time again just to maintain a 10% stake in the club, was another major factor in prompting the creation of this new group.
What impact it will have on the King plan can only be guessed at, but it’s clear that he saw Club 1872 as an important cog in the wheel; without their virtual monopoly and the control it gives him over a vast swathe of the support, he might be in real trouble.
This new organisation says they are about scrutiny and transparency, and I believe them. The four individuals who were involved in its inception are described as “high calibre” and “finance minded”. None are believed to be independently wealthy, but that’s not the point here. All are people the wider support could take seriously. They aren’t playing around.
No support anywhere in football is more in need of some honest to God leadership. This organisation is going to at least try and provide it.
They will need all the luck in the world.
Already there’s scepticism on some of the forums and on others there’s already a fairly negative mood.
This story broke during a spell which can best be described as tumultuous. As it appeared online, allegations were flying back and forth between two of the biggest fan forums over there – Follow Follow and SevcoMedia – about the situation involving Lee Wallace; Dingwall’s site alleged that he had been passed fit for Sunday but told the manager he wouldn’t play. That allegation was directly refuted by someone claiming to know Wallace well … and that individual was overwhelmingly believed on the SevcoMedia site.
They have long believed that Follow Follow and its founder are creatures of the Dave King board, and they see this story as an attempt to smear Wallace on behalf of the club’s PR arm. They may well be right. Either way, this storm shows no signs of blowing over.
On paper this seems to be the last thing the Sevco support needs. In fact, it might be just what the doctor ordered, although any positive impact will not be known or felt for a long time to come, and it’s not likely to be one that moves the club forward in any significant way. But the tide has turned as far as the support for King goes; the South African tax cheat has finally convinced enough people in their stands that he’s bad news.
This is going to run and run and run.
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