McDougall Gone?

I see on OS that Robert Wilson is now interim Chairman and Club looking for new Directors with time and funds!

It is a shame if Gordon McDougall has left as he appeared to be a real hands on Chairman with the interests of the Club at heart.

He is not listed as a board member on the website either

As I said last night, its such a shame hes been forced out. Probably the only geniune character we have had in our recent freakshow and he has been pushed out.

On the news just now, dispute over money he is owed. Another court case in the horizon. McDougall says he has an agreement the he's to be paid 2K every month till his director loan is paid back (2023) but hasn't been paid for 6 months.

Ford said Livi would fold if McDougall got what he is wanting, oh fecking joy another present from Neil Rankine's time at Livi.

For fucks sake...

I don't even blame Rankine, £2.5k a month repayment is hardly unreasonable for someone who has put so much effort into the club. What the fuck are the club playing at signing a squad of 26 players?

EdinburghLivi wrote:For fucks sake...

I don't even blame Rankine, £2.5k a month repayment is hardly unreasonable for someone who has put so much effort into the club. What the fuck are the club playing at signing a squad of 26 players?

Yeah but obv he's not been able to get that money the past 6 months because the club weren't able to give it to him with court cases, SFA fines etc, and he'd have been the one sticking even more money in to keep the club going, so why is he now looking to get the money?

Don't see why this is any different from Nixon's case tbh, if he can't get his director loan because it would put the club in danger then why would McDougall be any different? Agreement or not, he must know the clubs financial position and understand he wont get his money at all if the club folds. Actually just who was in charge of finances the past 6 months when McDougall was meant to be in charge of the club, has Rankine taken any money that was going and not bothered paying McDougall?

Ford is talking about a compromise being made so you've got to wonder what went on at the meeting yesterday that they couldn't reach one. Just another fecking court case going to piss up the seasons feel good mood after a reasonable amount of good news on the playing side since Rankine fecked off and the embargo was lifted.

This repayment plan for me amounts to something different than the Nixon agreement where money couldn't immediately be demanded back.

My question is why now if he hasn't been receiving the money for 6 months? Why wasn't he forcing the issue while Rankine was still there? If this was a legal contract since 2013 why was it not an issue when the first payment was missed?

Ford seems to be saying that the club can't afford a lump sum payment, which is obvious from the Nixon case, while it appears McDougall has an agreement in place it was with the previous ownership but he now wants it from the new ownership, he obviously knows the club can't afford a lump sum so should be willing to agree a repayment plan. Obviously the new ownership becomes liable for the outstanding debts but without a massive injection of cash the financial position will not change. So for McDougall to now be demanding a lump sum given his position when Nixon was demanding one is hypocrisy at best.

I agree he was very generous during his time here but he could still have been involved and getting repayments restarted but instead he wants to force the issue and jeopardise the clubs existence, that loses any goodwill I would have for him with regard to the money owed to him.

I have to say I respect the club for coming out and actually saying what is the case after being embarrassed again on STV news this evening. McDougall looking slightly less saintlike, particularly if the rumours about him siding with Nixon when Rankine was selling his shares, are true.

Bertie Bassett wrote:My question is why now if he hasn't been receiving the money for 6 months? Why wasn't he forcing the issue while Rankine was still there? If this was a legal contract since 2013 why was it not an issue when the first payment was missed?

Ford seems to be saying that the club can't afford a limp sum payment, which is obvious from the Nixon case, while it appears McDougall has an agreement in place it was with the previous ownership but he now wants it from the new ownership, he obviously knows the club can't afford a lump sum so should be willing to agree a repayment plan. Obviously the new ownership becomes liable for the outstanding debts but without a massive injection of cash the financial position will not change. So for McDougall to now be demanding a lump sum given his position when Nixon was demanding one is hypocrisy at best.

I agree he was very generous during his time here but he could still have been involved and getting repayments restarted but instead he wants to force the issue and jeopardise the clubs existence, that loses any goodwill I would have for him with regard to the money owed to him.

Exactly, didn't seem to be urgent till Ford took charge.

Statement up on the OS:

Livingston Football Club is disappointed that internal matters were featured on STV news last night.

The Club had hoped that it could still reach a settlement with Gordon McDougall, and had in fact made two offers which reflected the current budgetary position the Club finds itself in.  However, Livingston FC is still willing to engage Mr. McDougall in constructive dialogue for the sake of the Club, which means so much to everyone.

The Club believes that a strong playing squad which brings success on the field will, in turn, generate financial success off the field. This combination should ensure that there is a cash reserve to repay creditors; a position the Club has not been in for many years.

As Petrofac Cup Holders, the journey to further success begins against Clyde on Saturday, when football once more takes centre stage.

I'm not taking sides here as we've been down this road too many times and have been lied to then left with egg on the face after sticking up for certin parties, just want the club to survive and all this shite to be sorted out. Not impressed with McDougall making this public via STV news and the sudden urgency to get his money after 6 months of not bothering though.

Hopefully an agreement can be reached so they stay out of court.

All a bit strange; as the Chairman for the 6 month period why didn't he make sure he was being paid? I hav e worried before about McDougall's financial management; a very nice guy by all accounts and works very hard for the club but seems to have been run rings around on various financial matters (extra commission to an unnamed agent etc.); likewise its pretty clear that the commercial marketing appeared fairly appalling.

I would also question the due diligence of Ford and his team; at the time of the fans forum he mentioned that the club had been slapped with a bill for £45k to an agent as a result of Scougall; McNulty and Donaldson's transfer and presumably this agreement is also a surprise. The whole purpose of due diligence is that you know about all of these things at the outset and not knowing can only be down to two things; one that your agents have been negligent in their DD process or secondly that someone at the club have purposely hidden salient facts?

As an aside I notice Dunfermline have now sold 2000 season tickets; we have sold less than 600? We have a larger catchment area; playing in a higher league and frankly have a better team and stadium. We're seriously missing a trick here somewhere; and it can't all be blamed to continual upheaval; cost or outer Livingston allegiances.

Doesn't help though D, constant bad press with money troubles and in fighting certainly does nothing to attract fans, whoever said there's no such thing as bad publicity should've tried owning Livi. Even some of our ardent & loyal fans were hanging back a bit waiting to see if we were going to have a team this season with the transfer embargo etc.

As you mentioned in your post about McDoug, the promoting of the club and commercial marketing has been dreadful, good guy that plowed his own money in when Rankine stopped doing so and had to contend with the Rankine v Nixon debacle, while also getting stuck in with any manual jobs around the stadium but doesn't seem suited to the business side of things.

It's a shame he can't sort out an amicable arrangement and continue to help out around the club with the youth footballing side of things which he enjoys.

I'll always have respect for McDougall as he was part of the rescue team but this has damaged his popular reputation and my views of the man. Yes he was on the board when Nixon, Rankine etc dragged the club through the ground, but his dedication was second to none outside of the boardroom. I knew he would rightfully be due what he's owed but not like this.

No doubt this will reduce the interest in people wanting to come into the club following the advert that went out in the newspaper.

Liviforever wrote:Doesn't help though D, constant bad press with money troubles and in fighting certainly does nothing to attract fans, whoever said there's no such thing as bad publicity should've tried owning Livi. Even some of our ardent & loyal fans were hanging back a bit waiting to see if we were going to have a team this season with the transfer embargo etc.

As you mentioned in your post about McDoug, the promoting of the club and commercial marketing has been dreadful, good guy that plowed his own money in when Rankine stopped doing so and had to contend with the Rankine v Nixon debacle, while also getting stuck in with any manual jobs around the stadium but doesn't seem suited to the business side of things.

It's a shame he can't sort out an amicable arrangement and continue to help out around the club with the youth footballing side of things which he enjoys.

Also not sure how many season ticket holders didn't renew as a result or the reallocation of section A and some seats in the centre were reserved for hospitality as well? This was all before the new regime came in wasn't it? Also the closing of the Almondvale suite to kids was a really silly move.

Incidentally I notice that McDougall is back on the club site as a director - pretty sure yesterday he was removed altogether?

That's a fairly interesting development, in my book.

Strange situation indeed once again at our club.

Don't like the insinuations of some posters against McDougal especially on other forums .

That man has given a lot of his time and effort for Livingston FC and deserves respect not tittle tattle to suit others agendas.

There's a lot of rumour and supposition going on really.

For me I prefer to concentrate on football and merely trust the the boardroom issues will sort themselves out

I note that Stefan Scougall has now played 49 competitive matches for the Blades whereas Marc McNulty has 32. Both were RUMOURED to have the transfer fee split between up-front and based on appearances - is someone at the club keeping count because this could result in a five figure sum - Scougall's alone was said to be in the region of £150k

Smithy, it doesn't matter a jot what he has done before if his actions now destroy the club.

No one complained about the way the club was being run under Dominic Keane but once we went into admin & the longer he delayed in handing over his shares to Pearse Flynn then he became a pariah.

I have no agenda against McDougal but any respect I have for what he has done will disappear if he continues down this avenue.

Bertie Bassett wrote:Smithy, it doesn't matter a jot what he has done before if his actions now destroy the club.

No one complained about the way the club was being run under Dominic Keane but once we went into admin & the longer he delayed in handing over his shares to Pearse Flynn then he became a pariah.

I have no agenda against McDougal but any respect I have for what he has done will disappear if he continues down this avenue.

I'd agree with this tbh Bertie. I support Livingston and the club only. No individual.

Maybe McDoog is trying to make a point that there is still serious wrongdoings going on by going public. Similar situation by McCoist saying he was leaving, that qas when lots of Rangers fans wakened up and realised that their club was in the wrong hands and changes started to happen.

I don't think speaking out against who us controlling your football club makes you a bad fan or a traitor at all.

When people like Martindale are still at the club, getting a fairly easy ride from the fans,and Gordon McDoog is ousted and getting flack from the fans then I think..... Wait a minute surely something not quite right here.

Clearly there is something wrong, the man hasn't received an agreed amount for 6 months, but the new guys are only in the door for 1 month so why be hard on them when as chairman he could have ensured he got his monthly payment? If I was a judge reviewing a case in which a plaintiff was suing a business for money due and I found out the plaintiff was the chairman of the business for most of the time during which the business was in arrears I'd kick the claim out in a heartbeat.

Martindale's presence is strange on the face of it unless a. He is a reformed character or b. He is an even bigger rogue and is ruling the roost behind the scenes like bad mobster movie script.

I'd like to think, given Ford's reputation the former is more likely than the latter.

As for Martindale getting an easy ride compared to McDougall...as far as I am aware the former has not demanded a payment that woukd jeopardise the future of the club...unless of course scenario b above is correct...but given our well documented cash flow issues, I think not.

It didn't sound a very positive situation but I appreciated the Trust email that came out this evening updating us on this situation and playing an active part in trying to reconcile the situation. I think there have been a lot of hidden agendas in the past and I'm glad the current leadership looks to be changing that.

Yes, a very positive approach from the current trust board; & good to see the informative communication from them.