Press Release
15th June 2000
McNeil Calls for "Scott Free" Morton
For the first time since the campaign to save Greenock Morton FC began, MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, has called on majority shareholder, Hugh Scott, to resign.
Leading a private members debate on the Cappielow crisis club, Mr McNeil said:
"In 1874 the people of a thriving industrial Clyde coast town established their own football club. Now, after one and a quarter centuries, Greenock Morton Football Club faces its greatest ever threat.
"No manager; a crumbling stadium; only 4 players and a majority shareholder who has lost the confidence of the fans.
"This is a far cry from the 10,000-seater stadium and a team challenging for the Premier League which the fans were promised when the current majority shareholder arrived.
"But this debate is not just about Morton. Or just about football. This is about our community assets and our right to have a say in how they are run."
Mr McNeil then underlined the central message of the campaign: that football clubs cannot be treated as normal privately owned businesses. Rather, their guaranteed customer-base, place in the community and the fact that they receive public money, puts them in a special position:
"We must recognise that community based football clubs cannot be run in the same way as, say, a supermarket. If Rangers close down tomorrow, the great and the good of Govan cannot switch to their main competitor to get their football."
Steps must be put in place, Mr McNeil maintained, for supporters’ interests to be safeguarded. As regards the club’s short-term difficulties, he added his voice to the growing calls for the resignation of majority shareholder, Hugh Scott.
"I have refrained, up until this point, from calling for the resignation of the majority shareholder, Hugh Scott," he said.
"He is proving, however, a significant obstacle to progress.
"I do not say this lightly. But I feel that his continued presence at the club is preventing us arriving at a solution. Perhaps if he stands aside, work can begin on restoring this community asset.
"Greenock Morton has served our community well over the past 126 years. It’s now time for us to repay this debt and save our club."
ENDS
Notes:
The full text of the motion reads:
S1M-894# Mr Duncan McNeil: Greenock Morton Football Club— That the Parliament recognises that football plays an important part in our social culture and sporting life; recognises the important contribution made by local football clubs to the communities in which they are based; expresses concern over recent reports of developments at Greenock Morton Football Club; acknowledges that to lose a community asset such as Greenock Morton would be detrimental, not only to its supporters, but also to the community as a whole, and recognises that proposals such as community ownership and increased rights for supporters in the running of their teams offer the best opportunity for securing the long-term future of local clubs and promoting links between them and the communities they serve.
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