Jaffaboy

This is an extract of the info I passed to TJF because I became aware that at least one of their number was propagating the erroneous narrative that covid has been disastrous for Scottish football. I thought it was right they had this information and dealt with it but happy to share now given the reply received from them on the matter. Instinctively in late 2020, I believed every club should have improved financial results for a variety of reasons, namely : . Grants received from varying sources . Furlough . Pay per view . Retaining season ticket monies without all of the costs of putting on the games . Non refunding of season ticket monies . Fans fundraising initiatives - none better than our own Caroline’s fabulous efforts There are other much more nuanced points around this which I am sure are too subtle for this discussion but I am happy to explain. I have to say this was not merely my instinctive view, I know a number of people associated with Scottish football and their finances who had also arrived at this conclusion. I have analysed the available filed accounts of each club in the bottom three divisions of the SPFL. I have excluded the Premier League primarily because they received loans instead of grants, and so are not comparable to Partick Thistle, nor the other teams in the bottom three divisions Here are some highlights from the analysis I have done.- In the first year of Covid, PTFC made an operating loss of £130k. This assumes no support from 3BC, so in reality that is the best case underlying result of PTFC for that accounting year. In that same year, of the other non-Premier League teams, 19 made profits, 9 made losses. Some of the losses were reduced losses, ie better than the result for the year before, or the loss was a small quantum. Only 3 teams in those divisions had a higher operating loss than PTFC (Queens Park, Inverness CT, and Morton). I also analysed cash – 24 teams increased their cash reserves in 2020, whilst 4 saw their cash reserves deteriorate. Only Dunfermline had a larger decrease in cash than PTFC in 2020 from those divisions. We can move onto the second year of Covid – the one which aligns to the recent TBC accounts which stimulated the latest outbreak of this debate. Without support from TBC, PTFC would have a loss of £530k in 2021. (We did have their support though so that loss would never have occurred but it speaks to our culture and our future sustainability). Of the 2021 accounts filed so far, 10 clubs show profits and a single one shows a loss of you adjust for tbc support – PTFC. Among the clubs making profits, 4 were in the same division as PTFC that season. Aside from our operating loss of £530k, the next poorest result from that division filed so far is Falkirk (PROFIT of £112k). Forfar, East Fife and Clyde have also filed results showing even larger profits for that year. Again, I think we should look at cash. Of the 11 clubs who have already filed their 2021 accounts from the bottom three divisions, 10 show an increase in cash over the two year period since Covid has been so beneficial to Scottish football finances beyond the Premier League. Only a solitary one shows a net decrease in cash reserves over the two years. The one which does is PTFC who show a decrease of £43k over the two year period. For full context, here is how everyone else got on : Club Increase or Decrease over two years Amount PTFC DECREASE (£43k) after at least £530k support from TBC Stirling INCREASE £192k Elgin City INCREASE £228k Forfar INCREASE £276k East Fife INCREASE £227k Alloa INCREASE £300k Clyde INCREASE £309k Falkirk INCREASE £583k Dunfermline INCREASE £812k QOS INCREASE £779k Raith INCREASE £352k Whilst cash is not profit, it can arise from various sources, I do think this is further evidence that Covid has not in fact affected spfl clubs adversely which is a narrative some have been keen to make re ptfc. I also think that it also shows other clubs are coming out of covid better positioned in cash terms for the future.

All other teams who have so far filed accounts improved their cash position during covid and so are sitting on cash war chests. We splurged 500k from a source none of them had and yet our cash reduced. I want us to be a sustainable competitive breakeven club. That we had the 500k was indeed nice but it hasn’t perhaps set the foundations for a future of those qualities.

it is not that they cannot afford it. it is that Three Black Cats will not permit it in any meaningful conventional independent nor professional way. it was the agreed position of tjf board that due diligence would be done in early consultation with fans/potential members when the topic came up, they were reassured that was the agreed position. Subsequently it became apparent JL was not in favour of this. it was agreed by the entire tjf board that I wrote to her explaining why proper due diligence should proceed to protect everyone. She wrote back and said no. She offered a “knowledge sharing” approach. (Whatever that is). At that point, tjf had a decision to make. We had told people who were now members due diligence would be done. it became apparent to me tjf board (with certain individuals pushing accepting it hard) were happy to either accept knowledge sharing proposal, or think that they could “kick the ball down the road” and request due diligence again at a later date. Both approaches seemed deeply flawed to me. I consulted my institute (I am a chartered accountant) and my personal values and conscience and concluded I could not stay involved so resigned from TJF. Since then, information has emerged in the public domain that TJF were blissfully unaware of, suggesting that the knowledge share approach has not been a great success in the intervening four and a half months.