The prospect of fresh investment being pumped into your club fills every fan with excitment, but Frank Plowright knows that this new money comes at a cost
It is the wish of every supporter to see more money funnelled into their team, more so in Scotland where clubs in declining industrial communities struggle for support as each week hundreds from their area head for Ibrox or Parkhead.
Greenock Morton appeared to have found their saviour at the start of last season. Little money had been spent on the squad in two years, this despite missing a play-off place in 1995-96 on goal difference, and boardroom wrangling had led to Morton’s commercial enterprises being run separately from the club as a whole.
Against this background the arrival of Hugh Scott as owner was welcomed – the fact that Kilmarnock had previously rejected his overtures failing to register as a warning sign. New sponsors were quickly forthcoming, the team was strengthened and a new manager appointed. The first indications that Scott might not be a godsend occurred with the manner in which veteran boss Alan McGraw, at the club for over 30 years, was shuffled into an executive post. While his successor Billy Stark was settling in, the physically ailing McGraw was treated with indifference and occasionally contempt, on one occasion being told to move his office to the club shop. His eventual resignation was inevitable, and talk of a possible testimonial match has diminished. However, new players continued to arrive as the duffers departed, so most supporters remained optimistic.
As the months have passed, though, there have been more and more displays of eccentricity from the boardroom. There was the veiled threat to close the club down after some players had been abused by the crowd following a poor performances. Several fans who have written requesting details of club matters have been treated to a personal phone call from Hugh Scott, myself among them. Admirable in principle, in my case the call included a claim that he had had me investigated, accusations that friends of mine were responsible for death threats to Scott’s family, and astounding indiscretion.
While wanting to know details of how the club is run, I don’t consider it my business to be informed, unsolicited, of team salaries, or indeed to be told which players will be departing three months hence due to their high wages. A recorded call to another fan who wrote to the club, an astounding rant and litany of slander, is currently being circulated on tape.
Before this season’s opening match, Scott reportedly attempted to dismiss the St John’s Ambulance first aiders, only the intervention of the club doctor changing his mind. Pulling the same stunt at the next home game, the police had to point out the possible consequences of his suggestion that Rocksteady Security could handle any first aid required. There is no longer any merchandise on sale at the ground since the volunteer shop staff were allegedly expected to purchase a season ticket in addition to offering their time gratis. The matter of the alleged phoned death threats so often mentioned by Scott in print and conversation now appears to have been forgotten.
The local paper, after an initially abrasive relationship with Scott, now fully supports him to the extent of happily running his rants about local fans not getting behind the club. Scott does, however, seem genuinely committed to funding a new stadium, and has already overseen required refurbishment for Cappielow’s main stand. Property development is listed as one of Scott’s business interests, although if the not very desirable site of Cappielow was his only aim, there would be no reason for him to spend money on the team.
So, given the man’s astounding penny-pinching, the alleged death threats, and that his property development interests appear to remain separate from football, why is Scott involved with Morton? Pure egotism would seem to be the answer. As a club chairman, even at Morton, his opinion is often sought, and even when unsolicited his proclamations are noted and commented on.
He seems intent, however, on alienating the hardcore long-term Morton supporters, and once that path is followed, there comes a time when there is no longer a club.
From WSC 140 October 1998. What was happening this month