J is for Jim Farry
No examination of Scottish football scandals would be complete without looking at the man who Celtic removed from office at the SFA in a high profile court case. Farry is the ultimate cautionary tale to all corrupt executives who think they can act with impunity. Celtic’s apparent inaction over other issues can sometimes be seen as weakness; in fact, it’s simply a question of leadership. The club itself still has immense power when it chooses to wield it.
And at the time we had a chairman, in Fergus McCann, who was more than willing to take issues to the courts when he believed there was a case to answer. Fergus had no problem engaging in litigation; that, after all, is what a company pays its lawyers for.
When he challenged the Bosman ruling by taking a compensation case to court involving John Collins going to Monaco – Fergus argued that since Monaco was a tax shelter outside the EU’s jurisdiction that we were due a transfer fee for that – that should have been a warning to our enemies not to screw with him or the club.
It was a warning that went right over Farry’s head; the crazy thing about that was that he had already incurred Fergus’ wrath with the exorbitant fee the SFA charged us over the use of Hampden and the fine we got for allegedly “tapping up” Tommy Burns.
Our man was just waiting for an opportunity to settle some scores with him.
When we paid Sporting Lisbon for their striker Jorge Cadete we were in the midst of a bitter league race with Rangers, and there was a crucial Scottish cup game with them to boot. We were surprised when his registration was delayed and then delayed again. It would be weeks before the player pulled on the Celtic shirt for the first time, in a 5-0 league win over Aberdeen at Parkhead. McCann was smarting over it and he wanted answers.
And so he asked the SFA to explain it. When they offered him lame excuses and made their contempt clear he did what he always did, and he put the machinery of the law into motion. If anyone thought he was bluffing they were wrong. Farry ended up in front of a court where his performance so appalled his own lawyer he told him that it was over and that he should plead no contest and resign at once, which is what he did.
We would all later have cause to regret that Fergus did not go the full road and really clean out the Augean Stables by getting rid of Bryson and a bunch of others at Hampden at the same time, but the point had been made and we had shown our teeth after a long period of slumber. It was one of the most significant moments in our history because it showed that when we were willing to fight for our place and for our rights that we could win.