BREAKING: “The 49ers group has just bought a MINORITY share in R*s”. Proof positive from the Record that the Celtic bloggers have been right all along, the 49ers have very little skin in the game…
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Before I get into this article in depth, I need to make one thing clear about my blog, Read Celtic.
In doing so, I’m echoing what James Forrest said in his blog this morning.
This blog is first and foremost, a football blog, and in the main, discusses Scottish football.
Yes, I am a Celtic fan, and yes, the blog is called Read Celtic.
But I write about the Scottish game as a whole, with Celtic and our main rivals being the main points of discussion.
Because let’s face it, they are the biggest clubs in Scottish football, therefore, they garner the most discussion.
But I have written many blogs about other aspects of Scottish football.
Blogs about the collapse of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, blogs about Hearts, Hibs, and Aberdeen.
My site is fully searchable, and you will find these stories if you look for them.
So yes – while the blog is called Read Celtic – I want to make it clear that it is a blog about Scottish football, from the perspective of a Celtic fan.
As a result, I will discuss – and take apart – all of the stories in the news about the game in Scotland.
Which club has been dominating the headlines for the majority of this year to date?
You know the answer.
Therefore, you will find that I discuss that club a lot.
And today is no different.
I’m going to discuss an article in the Record today, which dropped a little grenade in the Ibrox takeover story.
Whether is was done inadvertently, or intentionally, is unclear.
But what it does clarify, is that the 49ers group, or 49ers Enterprises – whatever way you want to describe it – has very little skin in the game at Ibrox.
This morning, in an article by Scott Burns of the Record, they have been described as a “minority shareholder”.
Burns described them as such because fears have arisen about clubs who are involved in dual ownership.
Crystal Palace are sweating their European inclusion next season after winning the FA Cup.
This is because they also have control over of French side Lyon.
Now, if the Ibrox side were under dual ownership, then this would present it’s own problems for them when it comes to their European participation.
Burns has gone to great lengths today to prove they are NOT under dual ownership.
Because the 49ers group, who obviously have a majority stake in Leeds United, only have a minority share in the Ibrox club.
This categorically confirms that the 49ers have very little skin in the game when it comes to the Ibrox club.
And that they are in fact, one of the many investors in the purported group of 100 or so involved in the takeover.
It tells us that this takeover is very much led by Paul Murray’s buddy, Andrew Cavenagh.
And as such, Paraag Marathe represents the 49ers minor interest in the Ibrox club.
Once again, the Celtic bloggers have been proven correct in their analysis of this whole takeover.
It is 100% a vanity project for Andrew Cavenagh and his merry band of investors.
He is now the owner of a shiny new football club.
Because let’s be fair here, it is a new club, in it’s early teens.
The media just slip these little tit-bits in here and there knowing their target audience won’t pick up on it.
For obvious reasons.
But we do not miss glaring statements like that.
It’s why we always have our fingers on the pulse – and more often than not – what we predict is going to happen at Ibrox generally happens.
We’ve said all along that the 49ers have very little to do with this takeover.
Scott Burns has proven it today.
As we said on the Trinity Tims podcast last night, Ibrox fans don’t know it, but we’re the best friends they’ve got.
Several of them were on our podcast last night, dropping comments in all over the place.
They tell us we’re obsessed, yet they’re the ones coming on and commenting on a Celtic podcast.
The reason they’re on our podcast – which they’ll never admit – is because they know its the only place they’ll get real and accurate news about their club.
This morning, we are vindicated once again in our predictions.
The 49ers group are “MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS”.
If you don’t believe it, just read the article in today’s Record.
This feeds right into the article I wrote a couple of days ago about the Perfect Storm brewing over there.
This adds another element into the melting pot.
As always, we’ll bring this news to you before they ever do.
When they do, it will just be confirmation of what we were saying all along.
No need to thank us, though.
As always, we’ll be ever vigilant, and we’ll keep providing you with the truth.
You’re welcome.
YouTube: All The News That’s Fit to Print
On last night’s podcast we discussed plenty of subjects, including the takeover. As always, Ibrox fans can get the best takeover news from our podcast!
Scott Burns cannot be the only scoop sport reporter who knew of this information at the daily Record ? The print edition has 5 hacks always on theRangers bandwagon …wee Scotty .. Inaction ( ppaarrrppp ), big Andy , Gav and Frase ! God only knows how many glorified typists and laptop clickbait clowns knew of the fact too , yet sat on their hands in silence ? Was it deliberate holding back of the truth by Record sport bosses , or just more of a ‘ do not anger our dear friends inside Ibroxland ‘ with this irritatingly bad news from the same ? Out of sight ..out of mind . Is this not another reason why there is to be another confetti share issue this month , to attempt to help out with new employees in Govanlandia? Those nice , caring philanthropists ,that they are !
Well said Eric but the reason they were on last night was to show how vile they are that was the agenda
Why are they making all the decisions at the club, if they are a minority share holder. And why are they investing £20 million when no other shareholders are investing any money it sounds fishy to me
Nothing about this deal is as it seems until we know who the unnamed investors are. What is their relationship to the 49ers group? Are they cover for the 49ers so that they’d can have off-book control? The whole thing stinks.
Hopefully UEFA are keeping an eye on all things Ibrox.
A distressed skint club , with very little n the way of options , delusion fans with their little people world view, perfect for doing a craig white or Charles green ala Mike Ashley type predator throw in a compliant media and hey presto this just keeps on giving , long may it continue as long as celtic keep Brendan happy and invest in the squad then nothing else matters
What would happen if it was revealed that the ‘ takeover ‘ of theRangers was ratified by the Scottish Governing bodies rather quickly , if they did not know exactly who are involved and who owns which shares and how many ? How could they possibly agree to anyone being a ‘ fit and proper ‘ person , to own or invest in a football club , if they don’t know precisely who they are , or where the monies came from ? I seem to remember that this would not be the first time this has happened , if it’s the case ?
‘ The 49ers group are “MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS”.
If you don’t believe it, just read the article in today’s Record.’
So, they ARE still shareholders, however small their investment, and this will, and should, affect their criteria in Europe, as Paraag Marathe IS the chairman of Leeds Utd AND Sevco, which is a clear conflict of dual club status.
Furthermore I cannot believe that you’re telling ANY Celtic fan to go and read the Daily Rancid for ‘proof’ of anything , particularly when all the article does is raise more questions.
Frankly I find your entire stance on this entirely unbelievable, Eric.
1: For what you’ve just told us is 49ers Enterprises DO have a financial investment in Sevco, despite weeks of yourself and your deranged loudmouthed ‘friend’ denying it.
2: There IS a clear conflict of dual ownership given Marathe’s involvement as chairman of Leeds and Vice Chair at Sevco.
3: You steer your readers towards the Record for ‘evidence’, ‘proof’ and ‘truth’ …
I’m not sure that you could have even written this article far less published it for public consumption as all it does is contradict EVERYTHING you’re try to say and have been saying, regarding the 49ers involvement.
And I hate to be pernickety but as any real writer should know, and which yourself and the self obsessed lumpen narcissist do not, is that the possessive term is ITS:
IT’S is a contraction of It Is, which I should never have to tell anyone who considers themselves a writer.
Tell your friend, as he’s as useless with this as you, which is ridiculous given it took him years trying to figure out the difference between WHOSE and WHO’s.
Simple question, Michael. If we’re such cretins, why do you read our blogs? If you don’t like them, go and read the plentiful puff pieces that are published daily on other blogs. By the way, I don’t physically type it’s, I use WordPress, the same journalism programme most journalists use, it auto corrects it to it’s with the apostrophe. So I guess you’d better take that up with WordPress.
‘ the 49ers have very little skin in the game…’
But they DO have ‘skin in the game’, despite your weeks of claiming otherwise.
For neither of you said ‘the 49ers have very little involvement’, what you’ve been saying is that they’re NOT INVOLVED, which is very different indeed, for they ARE involved, therefore nullifying all of your absurd claims that they’re not!
No wonder the Huns make fun of you, honestly.
Unfortunately your esteemed colleague James Forrest is prone to sending abusive private messages to those who provide an e-mail address to comment.
Secondly, he uses Celtic FC as a conduit for his political leanings, which most fans are not interested in.
I don’t send abusive messages to anyone, and everyone is welcome to comment and criticise my work. I believe in free speech here. As I’ve said, if people don’t like my work, they’re free to bypass it. James is my colleague, I get on fine with him.
Ye ragin’McMahon that all the bluff and bluster has amounted to as much say as a jar try to catch the wind….lie in your bed ya bigot and enjoy our dominance, you were warned and you lot STILL failed to believe it…hell
Mend ye…
So if it’s a minority share are we aware of what the share is?
Surely no conflict if Leeds aren’t in Europe yet.
From whenever their EGM is we will find out very little as they take the company private.
I don’t really care as long as Celtic do their job properly.
Eric you always seem to be on defence mode recently. Always shouting we told you,we told you,us bloggers are right,we’ve been vindicated.
Only 3 days ago you were appealing for fans to ignore the AI generated Celtic info yet you are becoming more like Forrest daily and shouting guys down who challenge your viewpoint.You may find out in the future that you switch your readers off.
If you are going to produce the same articles/ views as your colleague then your employer may decide why do we need two of these guys.
By the way I seen Forrest Gumps girlfriend announced she was dating him last week on a blog.
Hold the front page.the cretin has a bird😂😂😂
So me saying I don’t send abusive messages to anyone is me being on the defensive? Me saying I believe in free speech and everyone is welcome to comment on my blog is being defensive? And by the way, the vindication is not aimed at any Celtic supporters, its aimed at Ibrox supporters who come onto the site abusing me with stuff I don’t allow past approval. I have no gripe with any Celtic supporters commenting on this blog, but what I won’t tolerate is Ibrox fans coming on here and trying to point score through child abuse and calling me every bigoted name under the sun. As for James, if you don’t like him, that’s your prerogative. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But I work with the guy. I get on fine with him, and I have no issues with him. Using my blog as an avenue to have a cut off him isn’t what my comments section is for.
Eric,
Free speech shouldn’t go as far as accommodating the scum.
We know who they are.
Why don’t you ban them?
They are banned, they go to spam, but some are so persistent they change their email address and start again. And they call us obsessed?
Like Billy King…
Pedro, do you know what the truth is?
Well all I’m searching for here is the truth and the truth is that despite the numerous claims that ‘the 49ers are not involved in the takeover’ word comes out today, in this vert article, that they ARE involved in the takeover.
As far as your typical idiotic ‘you’re a Hun’ comment goes, you know where to go, halfwit.
My only interest here is in establishing the truth of this entire business so that my club, Glasgow Celtic, know what kind of threat we’re up against next season, and every season after that, with our biggest threat coming from within our club if they think they don’t need to spend too much money to defeat the Huns domestically rather than failing us in Europe, which should be the true barometer for a club such as ours.
Now take your clownish stupidity and wipe your dumb arse with it.
As far as the European question goes everything will be fine so long as the 49ers don’t suddenly go on a spending spree to make sure Leeds Utd actually gain European entry, which is unlikely given how spendthrift they seem to be.
But if you had one club making good money from being in the cash rich EPL and the other losing money in the poor SPFL which club would you invest in to make even more money, this time from Europe?
It’s obvious what any smart businessman would do and though I doubt Celtic need worry about this there’s always a chance that they do have one eye on the CL riches a little farther down the line.
And all it takes for them to achieve is for Lawwell to do what he did to lose us The Ten, alienate Brendan and our best players (again) then hire a poor manager and even more poor players and Billy’s their uncle.
And anyone who was paying attention knows for sure that Lawwell did this deliberately to maintain the disgraceful ‘O** F**m’ lie.
And, Eric, you haven’t addressed my statements that today’s article is a complete contradiction in almost everything it says, and what the rotten media has been saying since the beginning, that the 49ers ARE involved in this takeover, no matter how small their holding.
Ok Michael. What I have questioned all along is that the takeover has been financed by the 49ers. This is the misconception that all Ibrox fans have, they think that the 49ers are going to plough millions into them. Yet how could they, if they are only minority shareholders? This takeover has been led by Andrew Cavenagh, who has no real connection to the 49ers. Or if he does, I can’t find any trace of it. So essentially what I’m saying today, and the point I’m trying to make is that if the 49ers are only minor shareholders, then how, as the Ibrox support thinks, could they be ready to ‘plunge’ millions into the club. I’m not saying they have no involvement, I never did. Joe was the one who always said it wouldn’t happen, but I said I believed it would, just not to the extent the media was saying. And it hasn’t, as today proves.
Eric, I am NOT calling you cretins, I am asking how you can write an article claiming that the 49ers only have a small shareholding in Sevco whilst at the same time claiming that this proves what you and Forrest have been saying for weeks, that they have NO INVOLVEMENT when it proves the exact opposite.
I write this out of respect for all of your prior work and enjoy reading most of it but the fact is they DO have a financial involvement and this article, and all the other articles I sent you earlier, categorically state that.
I am no Hun and all I want is for the Celtic bloggers to get their facts rights, nor copy each other, and at least show their readers some respect by proofreading their articles before publication.
Thank you.
It is just as well that the REAL SF49ers are not involved. After all, the club playing out of Ibrox is not the REAL Rangers.
Hail Hail.
Thank you for your kind reply, Eric, you have clarified all the main points now and I see where you’re coming from, that there will be no major investment from the 49ers group that has had the Huns creaming their pants for 4 months.
And all they have left now is a house full of caked stale pants as the brutal reality that they’ve been duped again sets in.
And my only point was that the 49ers ARE involved, which is odd, as they claimed back in April in the Scotsman article I sent you that have NO financial involvement.
And all I want to know is the truth, as should everyone else interested in this saga and all others.
But one thing I can guarantee you, we will NEVER get one word of truth form the Daily Record, nor any other football media, so long as they continue to call Sevco ‘Rangers’, a lie of such epic and ongoing proportions that there is no other conclusion can be reached that this has been agreed by ALL worldwide media, in other words, a self evident conspiracy, that this is ‘the same club’, which is just beyond disgraceful and which lead us to question every word ever written or spoken by any media anywhere at any time.
For through this one fact alone they are proven liars.
All the best, keep up the good work.
The reality is that it doesn’t matter if they are major or minor shareholders.
They can only spend what FSR allows them too.
Let’s enjoy the fun as it unfolds.
Eric ,
quite right to highlight that the media, TRFC and King et al have seriously misrepresented what is going on and for very obvious reasons.
49ers don’t own Leeds Utd . 49ers Enterprises Global Football group LLc own them …There are apparently 90 or so private investors in that company eg Jordan Speith et al involved ..Who knows what % the 49ers themselves have of that company . 10% has been quoted but that seems low !
TRFC ?the new Rangers LLc in Delaware picked up by JF has multiple private investors( business angels ) INCLUDING almost certainly the above 49er football group ….so IF they are involved and I would assume they are then they are a % of a % of 51% of TRFC .
Imagine Russian dolls..they could be way down inside this with next to no involvement/ influence ..but they are there and with a TRFC board presence again for those same very obvious reasons .
Anyone who believes that Marie Denise de Bartolo York (93% equity owner of 49ers) will be investing any serious level of her personal wealth into football’s equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan is beyond delusional.
The Daily Record have scored a wee own goal here letting this slip out as you suggest . They aren’t smart enough to realise that.
49er Takeover indeed looks like a fakeover.
I am sure the real ownership and purchase costs & facts will emerge before too long .
‘ By the way I seen Forrest Gumps girlfriend announced she was dating him last week on a blog.
Hold the front page.the cretin has a bird😂😂😂’
Jeezo, Forrest Gump’s girlfriend is now dating James Forrest?!? 😳
What are the chances?!
The poor lassie …
She must be a good age now too, a fair bit older than James Forrest, the blogger, but I suppose when needs must …
Hopefully she’ll bring him back to Earth again, and keeps him away fae they computer Dungeons & Dragons of his, he lost me there, a grown man doing that and then boasting about it to men who barely know how to work a computer, who were born during the Second World War, has the man no compassion?
Jeezo, the poor lassie but.
That must be why there called the 49rs because they only have a 49% stake in the Glasgow 13rs the teenage club.
The Americans are only in it to asset strip and make money.
I predict lots more lean times and financial worries will follow. Tesco still looking for sites in Govan area.