Football Hospitality – More than Pies and Bovril? – Part 1

I have made it big time! No more being ignored by Darrell King – now I am moving to be ignored on a bigger stage

I am a “first reserve” to attend the Queen’s Park match on Saturday as a guest as part of a corporate hospitality package. I agreed to hold myself in reserve to attend and then thought I should check who the opponents were.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that it was against the club owned by Rangers Football Club Ltd owned, in turn, by Rangers International Football Club PLC!

So, I might have great fun at the weekend, in amongst the pies and Bovril at Hampden. It might even give me the chance to have a chat with some of the Rangers fans, and maybe even Chico Verde himself!

It made me think of some of my past football visits as sponsor’s guest, or a recipient of the wonders of corporate hospitality. I hope that mick excuses me venturing into his area by writing about pies!

The first example taught me that coming to a football match in a suit is not always a good idea. My employer had booked a sponsorship package for an Albion Rovers match at sunny Cliftonhill. As was his wont, he managed to forget to tell anyone that he had done so, until around noon on the Saturday of the game. Needless to say, he himself found something better to do on a spring Saturday afternoon, but his minions were ordered to attend. Fortunately I did not have time to get home to change into a suit, although a couple of my colleagues did so. After all, they felt, it was right to be smart when being match sponsor.

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What Will Albion Rovers Do in the SFL Vote on 13th July? Nothing Yet Confirmed

There has been no official statement yet emanating from Cliftonhill regarding the matter. When the local Advertiser asked for the 27^th June issue, the following was the result:-

From the Coatbridge and Airdrie Advertiser – 27 June

As member clubs, Airdrie and Albion Rovers will be at the very heart of this process. Rovers supremo Frank Meade is currently abroad on holiday.

 

On Mr Meade’s return, he answered, along with a number of other prominent football personalities, a question from the Evening Times – “Will relegating Rangers to the Third Division mean the end for Scottish football as we know it?”

From the Evening Times – July 4

FRANK MEADE, ALBION ROVERS CHAIRMAN

WE have to find a mechanism where an appropriate sanction is applied, but also we have to be very careful that a short-term decision doesn’t destroy the long-term, commercial viability of our game.

There are a number of positives of Rangers in the First Division. Grounds are more capable of accommodating bigger crowds, the television exposure could have an added spin-off to the SFL and the possibility of play-offs being introduced is a big incentive.

If Rangers were in the Third Division, the potential economic benefit is less. It makes sponsorship much more difficult to attract and more difficult for media deals to be retained. I think there is a lot of smoke and mirrors going on.

If Rangers were in the Third Division, there is no reconstruction and the sporting integrity aspect, however that is defined, would be tarnished for the next couple of years.

I think people are being naive if they think that sending Rangers to the Third Division isn’t going to affect every club.

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Whilst there has been no official announcement on the club website, the above statement by Mr Meade seems to be tending towards supporting a move for Sevco Scotland’s team into SFL1.

On the other hand, as I am sure that the Board at Cliftonhill will have been discussing the matter, it may well be that the concluded view from Coatbridge is to approve entry to SFL3, or indeed to reject entry at all.

 

Posted by Paul McConville