Latest news with #WillieHaughey
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Celtic hold talks with another SPFL club over co-operation agreement after issues arise amid plans with Queen's Park
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CELTIC are in talks over a co-operation agreement with another SPFL club after discussions with Queen's Park stalled amid their financial issues. The Scottish Championship club have been unable to commit to a long-term partnership with Celtic after Willie Haughey decided to withdraw his financial backing next year. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 1 The decision will allow some of Brendan Rodgers' youth players to get more first team opportunities Credit: Kenny Ramsay Queen's Park previously spent a staggering £5.7million in the second tier but will now need to slash expenditure to around £1m per year without the backing of Haughey and his company City Facilities Management. He will officially walk away from the club in June 2026, when the current five-year deal is due to come to an end. The current situation at Lesser Hampden leaves Celtic in a predicament as they were close to reaching a co-operation agreement with the Spiders. It comes after the SFA gave clubs the green light to form partnerships with the aim of providing more pathways to first team football for young Scottish players between the ages of 16 and 21. Aberdeen have already confirmed agreements with League One side Kelty Hearts and League Two outfit Elgin City. That has allowed defenders Dylan Ross and Jamie Marcy to join City, while Lewis Carrol, Joseph Teasdale and Cooper Mason have headed to Fife. St Mirren have also formed partnerships with League Two side Dumbarton and Lowland League club Clydebank. But as talks between Celtic and Queen's Park ground to a halt, the Hoops have now decided to look elsewhere. SunSport understands Celtic are now in discussions with Ayr United instead. It's believed an agreement between both clubs is set to be reached which will be a major boost for Celtic hero and current Ayr boss Scott Brown. Celtic launch new away kit with trailer featuring Scottish music icon and Hoops legends It's suggested midfielder Jude Bonnar will be the first Hoops youth star to make the move to Somerset Park. Another two-team partnership already in place includes Hibs and newly-promoted League Two side East Kilbride. Goalkeeper Freddie Owens and forward Dean Cleland have already sealed loan moves to K Park. Meanwhile, Rangers are expected to form an agreement with Championship side Raith Rovers too, but no deal has been officially reached as things stand. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Scott Brown benefits from Celtic cooperation agreement U turn as Queen's Park link up ditched over 'issues'
Ayr United are in talks over an agreement with the Premiership champions with the first player to make the move already earmarked Celtic have ditched their co-operation agreement with Queen's Park and will go with Ayr United instead. The Premiership champions had forged a link with their Glasgow neighbours, which have been introduced this season as part of the Scottish FA's pathway framework, allowing clubs to send players between the ages of 16 and 21 to others further down the food chain in order to play first team football. Celtic had been due to send their young hopefuls to the Spiders, but major cost cutting has left the Championship club unable to commit to a long term partnership. The Hampden based outfit are having to cut their spending by around £1million a year after splashing a massive £5.7m in the second tier last year. But with backer Willie Haughey and his company turning off the tap in the future, Queen's have been forced to belt tighten. That's caused Celtic to look elsewhere and it will be their former skipper Scott Brown trusted with their younger stars on the fringes of the first team. The Herald reports that talks are underway between the Hoops and the Honest Men, with Jude Bonnar the first player set to make the temporary switch to Somerset Park. Up to three players can be placed on a co-operation list, allowing them to move freely between two clubs. Aberdeen already have two agreements in place with Elgin City and Kelty Hearts. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
The National
4 days ago
- Business
- The National
Celtic co-operation agreement plans change amid Queens Park problems
The troubled Spiders are slashing costs ahead of Lord Willie Haughey and his company City Facilities Management withdrawing their financial backing next year. Previously spending a staggering £5.7million in the Championship Scotland's oldest senior club need to slash expenditure to around £1million a year. With Queen's unable to commit to a long term tie up, Premiership champions Celtic have now held discussions with Ayr, managed by former Parkhead captain Brown, with midfielder Jude Bonnar expected to be first to move to Somerset Park. The SFA have given clubs the green light to team up to boost the number of first team opportunities for young Scottish players between the ages of 16 and 21. Recent figures from CIES Observatory show that St Mirren offered just 0.8% of their available first team minutes to players aged 21 or under last season. Dundee had the highest figure in the SPFL Premiership with 24.8%. Under the new rules, up to three players can be placed on a co-operation list and allowed to move freely to move between the co-op club and parent club in order to increase their first team experience. Aberdeen have confirmed agreements with League Two Elgin City and Kelty Hearts of League One. Read more from Stephen McGowan: Defenders Dylan Ross and Jamie Mercer have joined City with Lewis Carrol, Joseph Teasdale and Cooper Masson heading to Fife. Director of Football Steven Gunn claims the agreements: 'create a clear pathway for promising young players to gain valuable senior football experience, learn from good professionals and be better prepared for the demands of first team football at Aberdeen.' St Mirren will team up Dumbarton of League Two and Lowland League team Clydebank. Carrick McEvoy, Thomas Falconer and Theo McCormick have already joined Dumbarton while Billy Hutchison has moved to Clydebank. St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson said: "I firmly believe in the loan system to develop our young players and something that hindered that previously was not being able to bring them back at certain stages or leaving yourselves short in numbers. "With the cooperation agreement we are able to get them into men's football and develop under other coaches. Hopefully we can also help the coaches and the clubs they are going to. It will be a great benefit for both parties. "All in all, I believe it's a brilliant way to develop young players in Scotland and doesn't compromise any young players coming back into the first-team." Newly promoted League Two side East Kilbride have also agreed a deal with Hibernian. Goalkeeper Freddie Owens and forward Dean Cleland have already moved to K Park. Rangers are expected to confirm a co-operation agreement with Championship side Raith Rovers.
Glasgow Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Famous Glasgow names to be awarded honorary degrees
Gorbals-born, Lord Willie Haughey will add an honorary degree from Strathclyde University to his already impressive list of titles. The Labour peer, OBE, KB, and founder and owner of City Facilities Management Holdings, is among 11 names to be given the recognition from Strathclyde Uni at graduation ceremonies this summer. Lord Haughey with his wife, Susan, founded City Refrigeration in 1985. He is a former non-executive director of Celtic, a sponsor of the Scottish Cup and helped save Hampden as the home of Scottish football by part-funding a deal to buy the stadium from Queen's Park. Also being recognised for her work is crime writer Denise Mina, a former student of the university and successful novelist with top-selling books, many of which are set in Glasgow like Garnethill, and The Long Drop, her true crime story about murderer Peter Manuel. Politicians are also being awarded honorary degrees. Glasgow's Lord Provost, Jacqueline McLaren, a Glasgow SNP councillor and Mary Robinson, former President of the Republic of Ireland (1990-97) and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Strathclyde Principal and Vice-Chancellor, said: 'It is a pleasure and privilege to see so many high achievers, from such a wide range of fields, receiving honorary degrees from our University. 'Each has excelled in their respective professional careers and activities and, between them, they reflect every aspect of Strathclyde's ethos as a leading international technological university that is socially progressive. 'They are inspirational and present exceptional examples for our students and graduates to emulate. We welcome them all to the wider Strathclyde family.' Honorary degrees will also be awarded to Professor Dame Anne Johnson, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London, Jon Stanton, Chief Executive of the Weir Group, Fiona Drouet MBE, founder and CEO of the Emily Test charity, Dr Ruth McKernan, neuroscientist and venture partner, SV Health Investors, David Garbutt, Chair of NHS Education for Scotland, Lady Eileen McDonald, Ambassador for the University of Strathclyde. Awards of Alumnus and Alumna of the Year will also be made to, respectively, Colin Gray, Head of the Scottish Government in the USA, and Lena Wilson, former CEO of Scottish Enterprise.
Daily Record
16-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Scots businessman claims he has answer to solving Scotland's housing emergency
Lord Willie Haughey slammed the Scottish Government for 'doing nothing' to fix housing problem. One of the country's leading businessman has slammed the Scottish Government for declaring a housing emergency - then doing nothing to fix it. Lord Willie Haughey has urged ministers to start 'thinking out the box' with more than 16,000 households in Scotland now living in temporary accommodation, including over 10,000 children. The Labour peer says he has a masterplan to create thousands of new homes and claims one year on from a national housing emergency being declared, nothing has been done to turn the situation around. Lord Haughey said: 'The Scottish Government declared a housing emergency 12 months ago and what's happened? It has got worse. 'The Scottish Government needs to start thinking out of the box, look to innovative ideas. 'Local authorities declared emergencies all over the place, but absolutely nothing has been done to address the emergency.' Haughey has also slammed greedy builders and developers, who seek to cash in on the crisis by building on profits of up to 40 per cent on tenders. Despite rents running out of control - to more than £1,000 for two bed flats in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Haughey claims he could create 10,000 new homes in just ten years - with tenants paying just £700 for a spacious and stylish three bedroom home. He said, with Scottish Government support, he could lock in stability in rents, with rises of no more than two per cent a year. Haughey said the situation, as it stands, means all Housing Association Grant funding goes to registered associations and social landlords. He said: 'Whatever they're doing, it's not working. 'They need to free things up and allow the money to be spent directly on homes that can be of high quality and can be put up fast and at scale.' Lord Haughey's scathing comments come as housing charity Shelter claimed that 2.3 million Scots now have their lives blighted by the housing crisis. Since the crisis was declared last year, house building has gone down and homelessness has gone up. More than 10,000 kids are in temporary accommodation. Haughey claims his £700-a-month rent model has already set up scores of families in the Gorbals, in Glasgow, where he was brought up. His blueprint would involve private companies being given subsidies directly. Haughey said current procedures see government grants of £50,000 being paid towards the building of affordable homes and £75,000 for social homes, often for those on benefits or facing extra challenges. But he said that if such cash was paid directly to builders like him, operating at low profit margins on a large volume, the rate of building would dramatically increase. He said: 'I've been very clear that I'm absolutely happy to share my plan, all the costs and the profit projections, with other builders. 'If I had 50 small housebuilders on board, working to the same plan as me, we could fix this problem. And there are companies out there that could step in. 'The only problem that might arise would be that some large organisation wouldn't want to do it for the money I'm prepared to do it for. 'They might be looking for 40 per cent profit - but I'm talking about 4.8% per cent.' He added: 'No-one believes we can do it - because we're stirring up something that needs to be disrupted, that has been broken for 50 years. 'But there is no catch. Everything is open book and transparent.' Haughey said a move to a system like that in England, where a two tier system allows private companies to get Housing Assistance Grants, would bring quick improvements for Scotland. He said: 'I believe that we've come up with a model and a plan that would absolutely get the government a much better, a much better bang for its buck than it's getting at the moment. 'It would mean better houses, much better conditions for people living in affordable houses.' He stresses that his plan would be specifically for 'affordable homes' and not social housing. Critics have been uneasy with Haughey's idea of vetting any prospective tenants, to ensure they will not cause damage to homes or keep anti-social lifestyles. Their calls come at a time when wider cuts in the public services may push more people closer to the brink of homelessness. Housing campaigner Sean Clerkin, of the Scottish tenants Association, said he welcomed innovative ideas but warned against any private organisation benefiting from subsidies then vetting tenants from challenging backgrounds. He said: 'It's laudable that we are hearing about rents of £700 for decent homes and this is a plan that should be discussed. 'But it would be hard to support any development that might end up discriminating against those who are most in need of help. 'We firmly believe that social housing should be at the heart of any fightback in the housing emergency.' Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson said: 'It's been a year since the Scottish Parliament declared a housing emergency. Since then, homelessness has gone up and social housebuilding has gone down. 'Last week the Scottish Government announced a Programme for Government with no plan to end the housing emergency. Instead, we had a Programme for Homelessness which says nothing about the 10,360 children are trapped in temporary accommodation which experts say exposes them to violence, vermin and isolation. This simply cannot continue into the next government.' Scottish Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: 'We engage with a range of stakeholders to explore innovative ways to deliver more homes. The Scottish Government continues to engage positively with Lord Haughey including several discussions this year regarding housing ideas and ambitions. 'We have also announced a long-term commitment of £100 million for Mid-Market Rent – and with institutional investment we will grow that fund to at least £500 million to support the construction of around 2,800 mid-market rent homes. "This is a long-term commitment over several years to make public funds go further and will form part of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.'
