The Falkirk FC Thread

[Gaz FFC]

7 hours ago, Crawford Baptie said:

The only decent Rangers (reject) that I recall being any good for us in recent times is Darryl Duffy.

Latapy was a Rangers reject too.

 

[Crawford Baptie]

Latapy was a Rangers reject too.
 

I meant who we signed directly after they left Rangers.

[ShaggerG]

5 minutes ago, Crawford Baptie said:

I meant who we signed directly after they left Rangers.

Luca?

[Gaz FFC]

11 minutes ago, Crawford Baptie said:

I meant who we signed directly after they left Rangers.

I poke the bear a lot

[Crawford Baptie]

Luca?

Remains to be seen what his legacy will be.

[ShaggerG]

23 minutes ago, Crawford Baptie said:

Remains to be seen what his legacy will be.

Exactly. I think we need to give him a decent chance.

[Musketeer Gripweed]

Murray Wallace?

[MrDust]

O'Hara hat- trick tonite

Edited April 11, 2017 by MrDust

[Reggie Perrin]

The arse has fallen out of Morton it would seem.

[bridge of allan bairn]

Am I remembering right we falkirk fans trying to tell the Morton fans (the usual ones) that you need strength in depth for the play offs and them laughing it off? They haven't even got to the play offs and their more sensible posters are saying they are dead on their feet already. I think this is where we have experience in what is required not that means we will get up

[NavyBlueArmy1876]

Work on the south stand sesh pit progressing well

 

 

Gym looks nearly finished 

 

[Marshmallo]

That article from the chairman on the club website is one of the most mental things I've ever read. He must've been absolutely mwi. I despair. Can't even find it funny because it's so wild.

[Ranaldo Bairn]

I know, it's a rambling shambles. Or a shambling ramble.

Jumping around topics all over the place, no real structure, hinting at a bit of #SNPBad, then a summary of "nobody really knows".

Cheers Doug, delighted you cleared that up for us.

In many ways it feels like a stream-of-consciousness blog entry. The sort of things well meaning chairmen start and promptly forget about or discontinue.

[Marshmallo]

The brexit thing? I started reading it, then quickly moved to skimming it, then just sat here wondered what exactly the whole article is doing there or why it was even written

Aye that one. There was no conclusion or thread to it. Just a strange splurge of thoughts without a structure. It was like an Abe Simpson soliloquy.

[PipoIsABairn]

Having heard the man speak in public, it's not surprising to me that he seems unable to handle the idea of paragraphs containing multiple sentences. That being said, it's so scatter-brained that I guess he'd have a problem thematically linking any of the contents into actual sections of text that make sense.

[lanky_ffc]

What a slavering mess

[brokeville]

Our chairman is a total embarrassment. It would be nice if he could say something constructive regarding FFC instead of that drivel.

[Bairney The Dinosaur]

The statement itself is an unreadable shambles but above all else what is the actual point of it? I'm really at a loss as to why it's been posted.

 

[Hughsie]

Genuinely worrying.

Surely someone at the club should have advised him against putting that out there?

[18BAIRN76]

Quote

Falkirk FC Chairman, Doug Henderson has released the following comments with regards to ongoing issues regarding Brexit and football. 

Brexit will have a major impact on Football.  A hard football Brexit could have very different consequences from a soft football Brexit.

Current Football regulations are governed by FIFA at World and EUFA at European level.  In recent years the world football authorities have generally followed the principles of the labour laws in the European Union.

The Bosman ruling, which governs the contracts of footballers, originates from a judgement of the European Union made in a case brought by the Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman.

The European Court determined that at the end of a contract players had the freedom to agree a new contract with another employer.  This contractual relationship has been adopted by FIFA as have the accompanying compensation regulations governing the movement of young players.  It is, therefore, likely that Brexit will not affect this aspect of players’ contracts.

In many ways Scottish Football faces more unknowns than Football in the rest of the UK.  In other parts of the UK football will either face a hard or a soft Brexit.  But, Scottish Football  – in addition to those considerations – also faces other challenges. 

Scotland would face a difficult transitional period if any Independence Referendum determined that Scotland left the UK. For, separation from the rest of the UK does not guarantee continuity of EU membership.  Scottish Football could face a very complicated set of Labour Laws for a considerable period of time.

The principal impact on Scottish Football would involve movement of players across international boundaries.  Currently, EU citizens can play in any EU country. Players from other parts of the world have to meet immigration regulations of any EU countries.

In the past those regulations in the UK have been established by Government after consultation with the football authorities.  Essentially, players from outside the EU only have access to the UK if they are current internationals representing their own country.

If there is a soft Brexit and Scotland remains within the UK, I would guess that Scottish Football would be able to operate broadly as at present for the single market Labour regulations, including freedom of movement for people, would in all probability apply.

But if there is a hard Brexit when Britain exits the EU, the consequences for Football could be much more radical.

Inevitably, industries would try to negotiate special rules with Government.  But, again, my guess would be that it would be very difficult for Government to have radically different regulations for different sectors of the economy.

Football, would, therefore, be only one of many industries who were all trying to negotiate with the Government simultaneously.

Football faces a number of questions.  What would happen to existing players who come from other European countries? Would they be allowed to continue playing in the UK?  Would they be able to transfer from one Club to another?

Would existing rules governing players from the rest of the world apply for all new signings? If that was the case then only players from the European Union who were current internationals could be signed by a British Club.

Even if Scotland remains within the UK, would it be possible to have different rules for Scottish Football than those which apply particularly in the English Premiership and Championship?

Scottish Football is in a completely different economic position from the English Premier League and Championship.  Those Clubs – and perhaps Celtic in Scotland – would still have the resources to sign international standard players from many European countries.  But, how many other Clubs in England or other Scottish Clubs would be able to attract such players?  Would it be possible to negotiate separate rules for the English lower leagues and Scotland to allow those Clubs to sign good players from the European Union who didn’t have the international cap qualification? 

If there was a tough regime on Football immigration, there is every likelihood that the gap between top level Clubs and the rest would be extended.  In Scotland, Celtic – and perhaps Rangers in the future – would widen the gap between their economic power and the rest of Scottish Football.

Scotland’s additional challenges relate to possible Scottish Independence from the UK.  If Scotland does vote for independence, would it be able to retain its EU membership or would it have to re-apply? Scottish clubs would face a very uncertain future.

If Scotland votes for independence but does not obtain EU membership, what immigration rules would be set by the Scottish Government?  Would there be free movement from other European countries?  Would there be restrictions on transfers in both directions between Scotland and England?

There could be a possible upside to Brexit throughout the UK.  If immigration rules restricted the importation of foreign players, it might allow more home-based players the opportunity to play at a higher level. This could help to bolster the international performance of the four home countries within the UK. 

So what should Football do?  I believe we must continually press our case with Government at UK and Scottish level.

We must also do so with the same determination which Nissan recently argued with Government to protect their position in the Motor Industry.  As Football ultimately is only as good as its fans’ support, then crucially we must explain to our supporters the challenges we face and get their backing.

Governments must remember that there are a lot of votes on the football terraces!

Here it is in full before he wakes up in a couple of hours and tries to wipe it off the face of the internet.

Edited April 12, 2017 by 18BAIRN76