Tag Archives: Fit and Proper Person Test

Football League Finally Poised to Kill Leeds United – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 05/03/2014 | 80 comments

The FL – not fit, not proper

Reports emerging today indicate that Massimo Cellino’s takeover of Leeds United may be on the brink of collapse. The Football League, which has been busily delving away for any excuse to deny United a seriously minted owner, now appear likely – it is said – to wait for the outcome of a forthcoming court case in Italy, to be heard on March 18th. Cellino has, by all accounts, pumped millions into Leeds United already, in the form of loans short of his ratification as owner. If that ratification does not now transpire, the loans could be called in – and the Leeds United financial cupboard is bare.

Meanwhile, Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung has been found guilty of five counts of money laundering by a court in Hong Kong. This does not appear to be causing any great degree of panic or concern at the Football League, occupied as they are in seeking any excuse to put Leeds United into trouble – a League tradition dating back fifty years or so.

Such apparent double standards are unlikely to go down well with the Leeds United support, the bulk of which – although initially suspicious of Cellino – are now ready to embrace a man whose actions have already spoken louder than any words. The Leeds support and others with the interests of the club at heart will want answers to several questions, for example:

Why are the likes of Yeung, Abramovich, Tan and Allam allowed to do pretty much as they like without official interference, while Cellino seems to have been treated as Public Enemy #1 from the outset?
Why is the League’s due process being spun out to include court cases yet to be heard? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
Why are Leeds United yet again being treated in a way which is demonstrably less favourable as compared to other clubs?
What is the League stance on the positive impact of Cellino during his spell as de facto owner? Wages paid on time when they otherwise might not have been; high profile loan signings; the avoidance of a winding-up order by payment of a debt to Enterprise Insurance. All the actions of a man fit and proper to be running the club, surely?
In the light of all the above – just what the hell does it take to be accepted as fit and proper? Is Ken Bates the yardstick?

This circus has gone on long enough. If the Football League get their way, Leeds will be plunged into administration again, with no guarantee of a solid future for one of English football’s great names. That’s not good enough.

We want answers, and we want them NOW.

80 Comments

Posted in Football, Leeds United

Tagged Fit and Proper Person Test, Football League, Leeds United, Massimo Cellino

Will Boro’ Bore Draw End the Era of Austerity at Leeds? – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 22/02/2014 | 30 comments

Cellino – wondering what the hell he’s bought?

Middlesbrough 0, Leeds United 0

If Massimo Cellino is indeed confirmed as the new owner of Leeds United sometime next week – and social media comment from his son seems to indicate that Monday might be a significant day – then it is somehow appropriate that over a decade of bleak poverty and tightly-knotted purse-strings should be brought to a close by such a mess of a match as we saw on Saturday lunchtime at Middlesbrough’s Meccano stadium.

In financial terms, the poverty of ambition Leeds displayed in this frustrating encounter – together with a complete lack of composure and, in some cases, ability – was an apt summation of the years of penury and deprivation we’ve all suffered since dropping off our Premier League perch in 2004.

Jack Butland

On the other hand, should you wish a theatrical metaphor, this match ranged from slapstick comedy to low farce as two inept attacks somehow failed to breach two dodgy defences. Comedy and farce could have morphed into tragedy if debutant United keeper Jack Butland had been cruelly denied the clean sheet his immaculate display most definitely deserved. Butland averted that tragedy by his own efforts. Commanding and assured, he gathered high balls, pulled off one spectacular save in the first half and one brave Schmeichel-like block in the second. He also found time to prevent a Warnock own-goal and, in general, he was man of the match by several country miles.

In truth, it was a match that defied any attempt to sit back and watch your favourite team playing your favourite sport. Although the result could have been worse, the experience was about as enjoyable as having wisdom teeth extracted without benefit of novocaine. It was a game to anger any fan who has invested faith and money in supporting Leeds United.

All was frenzy, everything was done in such unseemly haste and there was a distinct lack of any apparent ability to pass to a man in the same colour shirt. It was annoying, it was depressing – God alone knows what Cellino & Son must have thought. Major surgery is needed to transform this squad into one which might challenge next year. If only the heroic Jack Butland could be part of that recruitment programme. But, surely – even Mark Hughes can’t be that daft?

If this appalling game does prove to be the last before our shady Italian is at last approved by the League, then it’s a suitably low note to end a very low period in the history of Leeds United. But any new era is, at least initially, likely to bring us more of the same. Next week’s opponents, QPR, are highly unlikely to be as forgiving of our defensive shambles as shot-shy Boro were, and the Sky cameras a week on might well witness a bit of a battering for our heroes. But, with Leeds, you just never know. And after all, Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the Cellinos could no doubt confirm.

Surely, today’s game was confirmation, if any were needed, that this season is a dead duck for Leeds. We’d have to pull off a miraculous run to go into the play-offs – and even then there’s that pesky fundamental law of creation that dictates we just don’t do play-offs, so it’s perhaps just as well not to even think about it. And we’d have to suffer a disaster of X-Factor proportions to fall into any real relegation danger – surely there are enough truly awful teams down there to ensure at least our safety for participation in next season’s Championship campaign.

No, this season now is all about doing the best we can on the pitch while more important matters are being sorted out off it. What measures will be taken, what changes might be made – that’s anybody’s guess. You have to assume that Cellino is itching to engage with the club and start putting his stamp on the whole place. Whatever dull and depressing football the remaining matches might have in store for us, the events behind the scenes, at least, promise more entertainment than we’ve had for a good long while.

Bring it on. Let’s get behind the new owner as soon as he’s confirmed at least as “fit and proper” as the Porn Kings who run West Ham, and the various other dodgy geezers in boardrooms up and down the country. We’ll have to trust that the Cellino Effect might have a galvanising effect on our beloved club, such that – hopefully – performances such as I’ve just witnessed and ground my teeth over will be a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, I’m glad to say I’m helping a mate celebrate his birthday this evening and, in the course of that celebration, I intend to drink enough to forget all about the events today in Smogland. With my luck, though, I’ll have a great time tonight but then have nightmares about next week’s likely drubbing in Shepherd’s Bush.

It’s a hard life being a Leeds fan. But maybe not for too much longer…

30 Comments

Posted in Football, Leeds United

Tagged bore draw, Fit and Proper Person Test, Football League, goal drought, Leeds United, Massimo Cellino, Middlesbrough FC, takeover

“Fit and Proper Test” Under Spotlight as Cellino Bids for Leeds – by Rob Atkinson

Posted on 31/01/2014 | 37 comments

Cellino – fit and proper?

Rumours have been gathering pace all day that Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino is on the brink of securing a majority holding in Leeds United AFC. The implications of such a development are manifold, not least the effect on manager Brian McDermott and his backroom team. One quote attributed to Cellino when asked about McDermott’s future was “I need a coach, not a manager”. It’s fair to say the things look bleak for Brian, should the Italian Job be completed.

One vital stage in any such completion would the Football League’s decision as to whether or not Cellino’s ownership of Leeds United should be sanctioned. This involves scrutiny of any potential new owner under what is known as the “Fit and Proper Person Test” (FAPP). On the face of it, Cellino would seem to face difficulties with this. He allegedly has a couple of fraud convictions and is awaiting trial on embezzlement charges. Not on this account alone could he be considered more of a villain than Ken Bates – but you’d have thought that the Football League, even in the rather dodgy guise of ex-United CEO Shaun Harvey, might not look kindly on a man with a rap sheet like Cellino’s. It may well be that this will be the most stringent test yet of the efficacy of the FAPP Test.

There is the merest suggestion that the club might be acquired by Cellino in the name of his son – a guy who is much given to Instagram sharing and who is not, presumably, saddled with a record for dodgy deal like Papa’s.

Whether or not the FAPP test can be satisfied, or perhaps merely circumvented, this looks like being a crucial decision in the context of the whole history of Leeds United. We’re looking at a man who changes managers, or coaches, considerably more frequently that Ken Bates changes his underwear. Cellino is not a man to be swayed by fan opinion either – it tends to be “my way or the highway”. Fan engagement has been a buzz-phrase around LS11 since GFH moved in – but those days might be ending for the foreseeable future.

It looks as though the ownership issue is coming to a head just as the transfer window slams shut on us yet again – so the question of whether or not Cellino is likely to be a heavy investor will probably – subject to any promises he might wish to make in the wake of sealing a deal for United – have to wait for another day. But it would appear that the Italian is very much “hands on” in terms of transfer deals, so it’s highly unlikely that we would see Brian wheeling and dealing as he did so successfully and to such devastating effect at Reading.

Whatever happens, we’re all going to feel as if we’ve sat through some combination of gothic horror, low farce, and pantomime. It has been a deeply unsettling time to be Leeds. We shall obviously have to do our best to keep Marching On Together, but it looks like it might not be easy. The Cellino regime would be terra incognita for Leeds United – we’d just have to wait and see how things pan out. For once, even with a derby in prospect – always a Cup Final for the opposition – football is the last thing on the minds of most United fans. McDermott won’t be drawn on whether this Huddersfield home match could be his last as Leeds manager, saying only that he plans “to enjoy it”. Valedictory words? Sadly, they may well be just that.

These are dark and troubling times at Elland Road – and whatever happens in the next day or so, it seems certain that we’re not out of the woods yet – not by a long chalk.

Addendum – the Fit & Proper Test as it applies to Cellino. Grateful thanks to Max for his research and interpretation – much appreciated.

Rob, I had a look at the rules here:
http://www.football-league.co.uk/regulations/20130704/appendix-3_2293633_2128209

And also key is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/53/enacted), which the rules use to decide whether a conviction is “spent” or “unspent” (even if outside the UK). “Spent” means they come off your criminal record (if you have one) for most purposes.

Cellino’s convictions are banned by the rules, if unspent, so you then look at the act to decide whether or not they are spent. Sentences of >2.5 years (including, obviously, life sentences) are never spent. It’s not clear what happens with suspended sentences, I would assume they are treated the same.

Cellino had a 14 month suspended sentence in 1996 and a 15 month one in 2001. For a sentence of 6 to 30 months, the time for rehabilitation, or for the convictions to be “spent”, is 10 years. So by my reading he is in the clear.

The embezzlement charges don’t count unless he’s convicted. If convicted, even if the sentence is under 6 months, he’d be disqualified for 3 years (by applying the table in the 1974 Act) from being a football director and would have to resign.

But right now – and I may have missed something, of course – by my reading he would pass the test. In 2010, when he tried to take over WHU, the convictions wouldn’t have spent, assuming the rules applied (the PL rules may be different in this respect, I don’t know)