Okay THIS is the last (five) throws...

We're back to those good old dice again folks. And, this time, I'm afraid it really is the last chance saloon for the petition.

I have decided to take Stuart Thomlinson's advice and write to the "relevant football authorities". Due to my honest belief that writing to the SFA and the SPL will bear no fruit whatsoever, I have decided to go one or two steps further than that.

I have written to both of those governing bodies, but I have also sent a copy of the letter to three larger football authorities.

The letter and a copy of the petition (now containing 2,470 names) has been sent to the following people (from smallest to largest):

• Mr Lex Gold - SPL
  
• Mr Gordon Smith - SFA
• Dr Manuel Macedo de Madeiros - European Professional Football Leagues
• Mr Michel Platini - UEFA
• Mr Joseph S. Blatter - FIFA

Now, I know that some of you will scoff at this list and will quite rightly question if ANY of these men will ever actually see the letter in person. But, they just might see it. Even if they don't, somebody within those organisations already have seen it and will have seen a list of recipients printed right at the top of it.

This week, we have heard that the SPL is putting more stringent controls in place regarding clubs finances yet they still seem to ignore the fact that their two biggest clubs are deliberately weakening the finances of the other 10 clubs in the league.

Whether clubs like Hearts, Hibs and Falkirk are distributing the tickets themselves or clubs like Motherwell and Caley Thistle are bowing to the full 5% charge. They are ALL losing money this season that they have not had to pay in previous years.

I will await the replies to all five of these letters and I will keep you all posted. If I get any glimmer of hope at all from those replies, I will keep going with this little fight. I will continue to be a fly in everybody's ointment. But if, as I suspect, I yet again get no joy from the people that CAN do something about it, then I'm really sorry, but I will have to admit that it's the...

David Murray reveals his brass neck

In this morning's Scotsman newspaper "Sir" David Murray has poured his wee heart out on why he believes the Old Firm will never be allowed to play in the EPL.

I found this passage particulary interesting.

"We are restricted by playing in Scotland, we compete with Celtic. Hearts split us one year and, early in my tenure, Celtic weren't always second but really, it is a bit of a foregone conclusion most of the time. That does not make the menu as interesting as it could be."

Dear Mr Murray

Try NOT charging your competitors an extra 5% to play against you! Try NOT buying up all their talented young players as soon as you see that they might be a threat to you.

That way, you might not win all the time, but you might find that the "menu" is far more palatable for yourself AND the rest of Scottish football.

Scottish Government not interested in helping Scottish football!

That is the sad truth I'm afraid folks. I have finally had a reply from the Scottish Goverment regarding the 5% charge. (you can click on the picture to read the letter i full)

It was good of them to reply but as you can see from the scan of the letter, it was very short and of absolutely no help whatsoever.

If this situation - the two largest clubs in Scotland bullying the rest out of money "is not something in which government can directly intervene" - what is?

I will be replying directly to Mr Thomlinson shortly, I will also heed his advice and contact both the SPL and the SFA. We all know that it will pretty much achieve the square route of zero but I'm going to do it just the same.

In case you are wondering about the lack of updates. That, I'm afraid, is simply down to the lack of anything happening. It took the government almost a month to reply and I have STILL had no reply of any sort from club owners or chairmen other than Campbell Ogilvie at Hearts.

I know that this plea might fall on deaf eyes and ears. But, if you are a supporter of one of the clubs that have agreed to pay ANY of this charge, then contact your clubs. Make an absolute pest of yourselves, get your main supporters clubs, trusts etc involved and let YOUR clubs know that you demand, yes DEMAND that they do not pay this "tax" to be able to play against Rangers and Celtic.