As the club has consistently maintained, the players contracts have been registered by CCFC (Holdings) Ltd and registered by the Football League in the name of Holdings for over 10 years - way before Sisu took over the club.
Today's admission by the Football League confirms that.
Despite claims to the contrary, it should also come as no surprise to many of those who have been involved for many years at a senior level at the club and ACL - including former directors and a finance director - that this was the case.
To be clear, players have been contracted to CCFC (Holdings) Ltd and registered as such by the Football League since well before Sisu's takeover when the club was relegated from the Premier League.
The mistake if there was one, was not that the players’ contracts should have been registered in the name of CCFC Ltd, but that the Golden Share should have been registered in Holdings, which owned the beneficial interest in the club.
So what is it we know
The League share was in CCFC Ltd
- the accounts say so from 1995 to 2011
- annual returns at Company House for FL say so
- SBS&L Group (a SISU owned company) directors minutes say so
- the memorandum & articles for both CCFC Ltd and CCFC H Ltd say so
- the FL and FA say so
- the FA & FL have confirmed so when the companies were split
- the administrator says so
- the club per the above statement says so.
Therefore the share was where it should be according to all parties except one (see above)
The importance of that is that the registrations and contracts follow the Golden share not the other way round. The share gives that company/entity the ability to play in the Football League. For that entity to take part in the League it needs players. CCFC H is not the member of the League which ever way you look at it from 1995. Beneficial ownership of the share? doesn't really come in to it. The name on the share is CCFC Ltd and had CCFC H sold that company (CCFC Ltd) then the share would still be with CCFC Ltd under new owners - ccfc h couldn't still claim beneficial membership of the league even if it had players
Originally we were told that the registrations were in CCFC Ltd and contracts in CCFC H Ltd. Now we are told the registrations and contracts are in CCFC H and have been for 10 years or more. Not for the first time the story changes. There may well be elements of truth in what is said - but that truth points to serious error at best not only at the FL but also CCFC
The directors of each and every company have a legal duty to safeguard assets, to produce accounts that are true and fair and to have procedures that identify error, misstatement or fraud. It doesn't matter that someone else got it wrong each director for the period of their appointment has a duty to get it right.
The accounts clearly state that the players were included in CCFC Ltd. There are no players included in CCFC H Ltd from 1995 to 2011. It isn't just a matter of paying the wages in CCFC Ltd. The contracts are disclosed as intangible assets on the balance sheet, those contracts are amortised based on the duration of the contract, the profits or losses on the sale of those contracts are disclosed in the accounts of CCFC Ltd. The number of players, rights under pension arrangements, future liabilities/assets under transfers of players are all disclosed in CCFC Ltd accounts. The reason I highlight that is because they are core to the accounts produced by the directors, and any auditor (of which I am one) is required to not only check the calculation but also the rights & ownership under those contracts, to ensure the disclosures in the accounts are backed with evidence gathered, to make sure the statements are TRUE & FAIR. They will have had to see the contracts to be able to do that.
Everyone expected to see the contracts in CCFC Ltd because that is where they should be - linked directly to the golden share which was where it should be
Minutes of directors meetings disclosed on the 200% website indicate that the directors were very clear as to which company the players were in together with the golden share. You might say that SISU didnt know but then I would have to point you to as to who was at the Board meetings, Onye for one a fund manager at SISU but also Laura Deering Seppala's trusted assistant. So they knew in my opinion would be a stretch to think they didn't wouldn't it
Even the administrators report includes information prepared by the director of CCFC Ltd indicating there were £466k worth of registrations in CCFC Ltd when it entered administration. Clearly not all registrations were in CCFCH - Mr Fisher said so himself despite what the statement above says
So CCFC H apparently had the contracts, well even if they did surely as the players must be used by CCFC Ltd (as the league member), paid by CCFC Ltd up to 2011 at least (the administrators figures in his first report indicate 2012 also) then CCFC Ltd can claim beneficial ownership of those contracts and/or registrations. Now where have i that beneficial ownership argument? The contracts follow the share not the other way round. The League confirm there is no similar problem in the other 71 clubs, despite many having a group structure - why would that be?
Bottom line is that the FL may have admitted to errors (although not exactly what or when) but the directors and auditors of CCFC Ltd and CCFC H Ltd have a legal responsibility to get it right year after year. No publicaly available evidence shows that the contracts/registrations were not or should not have been with the Golden Share in CCFC Ltd