CELTIC'S SHAME
BlooBear
Friday Evening Times
CELTIC Boys' Club founder Jim Torbett is still making money from the club he
disgraced in a sex scandal. Torbett was jailed
for two years in 1998 for acts of shameless indecency against three young
players and his name was placed on a register of
sex offenders.
But Celtic Football Club continue to deal with the company he owns and is
its biggest client. Now after being released from
Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison having served just half of his sentence he has
walked back to the profits which had been piling
up for him through his business with the club. Torbett (52), who was
released at the end of November, holds 95 per cent of
The Trophy Centre Ltd, a company which supplies football memorabilia and
gifts. Despite his conviction, his firm's contract
with Celtic was not terminated and the club continued to buy its stock for
its shops and hospitality gifts. It also allowed
his shops throughout the city to sell licensed Celtic goods, adding to his
profits.
Former Celtic chief Fergus McCann said through a spokesman at the time of
Torbett's conviction that the club would be
"reviewing" its contract with the firm. It was stated at the time that the
club still had around a year of the contract
left. Celtic continued to honour it and has now renewed its links with
Torbett's enterprise. Old Firm rivals Rangers, who
also bought goods from Torbett's firm, have now severed its links with The
Trophy Centre. The lbrox outfit's last order was
two years ago when the offences came to light.
But Celtic's alliance with Torbett's company has helped boost the profits of
The Trophy Centre despite his conviction. The
last accounts for The Trophy Centre filed in October last year show Torbett
as the main shareholder and director during the
time he was in jail.
The abbreviated accounts are dated for the end of January 1999 and show an
increase in the profit and loss account up from
£1.2 million to £1.47 million. Club insiders say the value of the Celtic
business accounts for up to £250,000 a year.
Torbett has kept a low profile since his release and has seldom been seen at
his firm's headquarters in Aitkenhead Road in
the South Side nor at his plush West End flat. His secretary at the Trophy
Centre said she did not know when he would be in
the office and offered to take a message. The only other shareholder, Derry
McAleer, who owns the other five per cent of
the company was "not available". Neither was former Celtic director Kevin
Kelly, a non-shareholding director of The Trophy
Centre. Another former Celtic director Jack McGinn, now on the executive of
the SFA, was also a company director. His name
has been removed from the company files but the name of Anne McGinn remains.
Torbett's victims included Alan Brazil who became an international star for
Scotland. Others were not so lucky and blamed
Torbett for putting an end to their careers. One is David Gordon, now a
39-year old Glasgow taxi driver. Mr Gordon, who is
planning to sue Torbett, said today: "This man is a convicted sex offender
and registered paedophile so why is Celtic still
doing business with his company?" Celtic Boys' Club secretary Robert Wilson
said: "I'm sick of this. We just run the boys'
teams. We have six of them and how we've still got them after all of this I
don't know." Peter Rafferty of the Affiliation
of Registered Celtic Supporters Clubs, declined to comment. So too did Peter
McLean, official spokesman
for Celtic Football Club.
But a Celtic insider revealed that the club had discussed "long and hard"
the issue of continued dealings with Torbett's
firm, knowing the benefits he could receive. He added: "We would never
condone the actions of a man like Torbett but, as
far as the club is concerned, there has been no contact with Jim Torbett. We
never see him or hear from him. "The matter was
discussed internally and the fact that The Trophy Centre employs 40 people
and provides a good service to us was enough to
convince us to continue with the business."
Andy
BlooBear wrote:
> Friday Evening Times
> CELTIC Boys' Club founder Jim Torbett is still making money from the club he
> disgraced in a sex scandal. Torbett was jailed
You never miss a chance to show your hatred do you toiletbear.
Andy
BlooBear
"Andy" <awesome...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3892C0EF...@yahoo.com...
> You never miss a chance to show your hatred do you toiletbear.
Maybe why you should ask why your club are still dealing with a convicted
child abuser who just happened to work for your club.
A sordid affair, which you lot did your damndest to cover up.
BlooBear
Andy
BlooBear wrote:
> Maybe why you should ask why your club are still dealing with a convicted
> child abuser who just happened to work for your club.
>
> A sordid affair, which you lot did your damndest to cover up.
Again Toiletbear, you are using this as an excuse to show your hatred. ANY
other club and you wouldn't have posted it. You don't give a fuck about the
abused kids, you just want a chance to slam Celtic.
Andy
Stoo
> other club and you wouldn't have posted it. You don't give a fuck about
the
> abused kids, you just want a chance to slam Celtic.
>
> Andy
To be honest, I think there's a lot of gloating in the original post, but
the Celtic fans should organise a demo against the continued involvement
with this man.
The only way that Celtic, and all decent people, could make anything up to
the men who were abused, is to boycott all to do with his company until he's
bankrupt.
Bloobear - it's too serious a situation to gloat over.
Stuart
Andy
Stoo wrote:
> To be honest, I think there's a lot of gloating in the original post, but
> the Celtic fans should organise a demo against the continued involvement
> with this man.
>
> The only way that Celtic, and all decent people, could make anything up to
> the men who were abused, is to boycott all to do with his company until he's
> bankrupt.
Celtic and all decent people have nothing to make up for. That's not to say that
they SHOULDN'T do something but it's important to emphasize that *I* and the
other aforementioned decent people were in no way responsible.
> Bloobear - it's too serious a situation to gloat over.
That's what pissed me off. Almost as bad as the abuser, is the one who finds
some way to profit from it. (Doesn't need to be a finanical profit).
Andy
Johnbhoy
this. If Rangers had not stopped would the paper still carry the story?
NO CHANCEnews:3892F84E...@yahoo.com...
JIMMY TRAINOR
I sold an amount of them to this b------ Torbett.
I had just started business and knew nothing about having to obtain a
licence to sell these types of products baring football logos.
When the invoice was overdue and I enquired about payment Torbett told me
that, because the goods were not licensed he wasn't paying for them.
When I asked for them back he said that he was holding on to them and giving
them to Celtic so they could consider suing me.
When I said that the goods were still being sold in his shop he simply said
that if I caused trouble he would personally see that I was sued as he had
good contacts within the Celtic management.
As I couldn't afford to risk a costly court case I let it go.
You can imagine how I felt when he got his just dues.
CELTIC HE IS BAD NEWS!
ooBear <sth...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:86ueg6$5v$1...@plutonium.btinternet.com...
>
> Friday Evening Times
> CELTIC Boys' Club founder Jim Torbett is still making money from the club
he
> disgraced in a sex scandal. Torbett was jailed
John McWilliams
news:8706an$8br$1...@plutonium.btinternet.com...
> About ten years ago I manufactured goods relating to Celtic and
Rangers.
> I sold an amount of them to this b------ Torbett.
> I had just started business and knew nothing about having to
obtain a
> licence to sell these types of products baring football logos.
> When the invoice was overdue and I enquired about payment Torbett
told me
> that, because the goods were not licensed he wasn't paying for
them.
> When I asked for them back he said that he was holding on to them
and giving
> them to Celtic so they could consider suing me.
> When I said that the goods were still being sold in his shop he
simply said
> that if I caused trouble he would personally see that I was sued
as he had
> good contacts within the Celtic management.
> As I couldn't afford to risk a costly court case I let it go.
> You can imagine how I felt when he got his just dues.
> CELTIC HE IS BAD NEWS!
I think the Celtic board should give the Trophy Centre about 6
months to sever all links with Torbett and if they haven't done so
by that time then cancel the contract with them and give it to
someone else.It isn't enough to say that he has very little contact
with them if he is still a majority shareholder then he benefits
somewhere along the line.
BlooBear
> Again Toiletbear, you are using this as an excuse to show your hatred. ANY
> other club and you wouldn't have posted it. You don't give a fuck about
the
> abused kids, you just want a chance to slam Celtic.
No you are very wrong. I am not trying to heap shame or hatred on Celtic
or their fans.
What I am trying to make you aware of is why are Celtic still trading with
a known sex criminal. How do those who were abused feel about this?
And their families? These peoples lives have been wrecked (I know what
I'm talking about here, it happenned to a friend of mine) and the people
whose lives were abused are the most important people here.
Celtic are sending out a message to say it's OK, we dont mind doing
business with you Torbett, we'll help you get back on your feet and ensure
that you have an income.
WRONG! the message should be that you have done wrong and we want
nothing to do with you for the sake of those who were abused.
Hope I've made myself clear.
BlooBear
Andy
BlooBear wrote:
> Hope I've made myself clear.
You've certainly tried but I find it highly suspicious that you've cancelled
both of your previous messages in this thread. I suppose I could go to deja.com
to get quotes (they archive everything, I don't think you can cancel THOSE
posts).
So I'll just quote something from your 2nd post.
> "A sordid affair, which you lot did your damndest to cover up."
Doesn't sound to me like you're telling the truth in your third email. It sounds
like your entire reason for posting was to show your hatred of Celtic and it's
fans.
Andy
Andy
JK wrote:
> Am I alone in refusing to buy Windfall tickets while
> their name is on them?
No you aren't alone.
I'm not questioning the validity of the idea of a boycott, just the
reasons behind the original posts (which have now been canclled by the
author).
Andy
ade
John McWilliams <johnmcw...@clara.co.uk> wrote in message
news:UoQk4.26773$lN.5...@nnrp3.clara.net...
> JIMMY TRAINOR <jimmyt...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
> news:8706an$8br$1...@plutonium.btinternet.com...
> I think the Celtic board should give the Trophy Centre about 6
> months to sever all links with Torbett and if they haven't done so
> by that time then cancel the contract with them and give it to
> someone else.It isn't enough to say that he has very little contact
> with them if he is still a majority shareholder then he benefits
> somewhere along the line.
>
These sound like fair points - so why do we trade with them? Why doesn't
someone write to Peter McLean if they feel so strongly. Post his reply up
here. Best of luck and don't hold your breath.
btw would the trophy centre see much of a drop in business if we did :) ?
Ade
Jimbhoy
also sell Rangers' items ?
Jimbhoy
(who thinks that it's a disgrace Celtic have any links
with any proven child abusers)