Incidents, Events & Controversies | About Celtic
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Ref: The Jim Kerr/Kenny Dalglish 1998 consortium who attempted & failed in a takeover attempt in 1998
Date: 1998
Overview
Back in the 1990s, across all the corners at Celtic, every section had gone through the tumultous turbulence of the “Sack The Board” events and then the eventual Celtic Takeover. In the following decade, Celtic began what can be seen by some as a bit of a golden era under initially Martin O’Neill and then Gordon Strachan, much built on the foundations laid by Fergus McCann.
However, the early years were not plain sailing, and if anything, Celtic continued to flounder both on the pitch and off, albeit there was also a lot of progress which wasn’t going to pay dividends for years still to come (as is the case with all long-term investments).
On-field, the first team had failed to stop Rangers matching nine league titles in a row, but despite Celtic having stopped the ten titles in a row, the loss of Wim Jansen had once again created massive friction between the board and the support. A combination of the unpopular general manager Jock Brown (unfairly), allied with the often stoic and unemotive approach to management by Fergus McCann meant the club was easy pickings for critics. This included attackes by certain former players, ex-Celtic board member Michael Kelly and the press in general. This contrasted to the shill coverage that the rampant Rangers received, albeit at least they backed up their praise with success on the field.
In light of all this, a very surprising bid was led by ex-Celt Kenny Dalglish and 1980’s rock music great Jim Kerr who was a genuine Celtic fan. They played to the gallery and tugged the heart strings, promising to bring glory and put in place a contrasting management style in place of the frugal control as under Fergus McCann.
The media loves these kind of adventues, and there were even rumours of involvement from U2’s lead singer Bono, but he claimed he wasn’t at all.
The bid was knocked back by the club, and in any case many weren’t taking it very seriously.
In retrospect, many are thankfull it failed. Jim Kerr admitted he was going through a difficult era in his life at that time (mid-life crisis?), whilst Kenny Dalglish (with John Barnes) failed in his managerial tenure at Celtic. So it’s hard to believe how worse things could have become if they had taken greater control.
For Fergus McCann, he likely swiped it all aside and just carried on as he was already doing.
Jim Kerr, in a future interview many years later, admitted that he got Fergus McCann “slightly wrong” [sic!], misreading Fergus’ McCann bullish stance:
“I don’t need to understand the difference Fergus made to Celtic but back in the day I thought: ‘You can’t speak to people like that. You’ll get chinned’. Fergus used to say that every last cent he had was in the club. When he came back recently I understood that better. So we failed but in the end there was the right outcome with supporters getting the shares.”
In later years, Celtic fans were to look back with pride at what Fergus McCann had done, eschewing short-term gains for long-term benefits that laid the foundations to a successful and prosperous club.
Articles
Jim Kerr/Kenny Dalglish Consortium Statement
See Also: Celtic Finances
CELTIC PLC 22nd December 1998
Re: Celtic PLC Statement by the Consortium
Further to the statement released by the board of directors of Celtic PLC (“Celtic” or “the Club”) at 5 pm on Friday 18 December, 1998 the consortium comprising BT Capital Partners Europe and Messrs. Jim McAvoy, Kenny Dalglish, Jim Kerr and Paul Hewson (“the Consortium”) has today released the following statement:The Consortium is disappointed by the manner in which Mr. Fergus McCann and his fellow board members have dealt with its proposals for the future of Celtic PLC.
Prior to the onset of the publicity surrounding its proposal, the Consortium attempted to conduct discussions with Mr. McCann in private. These discussions were initiated through a written proposal, the content of which was intended to serve as a basis for discussion. Mr. McCann required that any proposals be placed in the hands of his advisors and that ultimately they be submitted to the Board of Celtic PLC. The Consortium complied at each stage with Mr. Mc McCann’s requests.
At no time did the Consortium or its advisors secure a meeting with the Board of Celtic PLC to discuss the content of its proposals. The first indication that its contents were not of interest to the Board came in a letter from the advisors to the Board, Greig Middleton, received by the Consortium’s advisors at 4.30 pm on Friday 18 December, 1998. As a result of the subsequent press release issued by Celtic PLC, the Consortium feels it has no choice but to withdraw the current proposal, which was in any event subject principally to detailed due diligence of the Club and a recommendation from the Board of Celtic PLC.
However, the Consortium continues to believe its proposals was in the interest of Celtic PLC, its supporters and shareholders, and regrets that the Board did not wish to enter into discussions. The Consortium also recognises that without the support of Mr. McCann in relation to his majority shareholding, any formal bid for the Club could not succeed. The Consortium has at all times expressed Mr.McCann’s support to be a pre-condition to a bid for the entire issued share capital of the Club.
The Consortium would like to make the following specific points in relation to the Consortium’s proposal.
1. The Long Term Interests of Celtic PLC – The Consortium believes that Celtic PLC requires immediate and substantial investment both in players and in the development of training facilities if it is to return to the top tier of European football. The Consortium is not aware of any substantive plan currently in place to address this requirement. The Consortium’s proposal included the provision of substantial amounts to be available for immediate investment in both areas.
2. Ownership/Exit – In its proposal, the Consortium recognised the importance of securing continued supporter involvement, and included arrangements to cater for this in the structure of its proposal. However, to remain a top tier football club in today’s market requires continued and significant investment, the best source of which is not necessarily supporter shareholders alone. As a result, the Consortium views the involvement of a professional investor with substantial resources as a major strength of the proposal.
Although the Consortium at all times maintained a willingness and expressed a desire to discuss appropriate exit mechanics and corporate governance provisions, this opportunity was never provided by the Board or its advisors.
3. Price and Value – The requirement for detailed due diligence, particularly in relation to current financial performance, makes a detailed discussion of price and value inappropriate. However, the Consortium would like to point out that: (i) its proposal valued the Club in line with the valuation multiples used by potential purchasers of other publicly traded football clubs; and (ii) the market value of the ordinary shares does not appear to take into account the dilution which will occur on conversion of the preference shares.
4. Gearing – The Consortium’s proposal envisaged that the acquisition would have been in part funded through long-term debt. The Consortium firmly believed this structure to be both prudent and appropriate. Contrary to press speculation, there was no intention to fund the operations of the Club through an overdraft facility, and the proposal would have allowed the Club financial flexibility to make further investments as required. As well as the debt and equity capital to have been invested by BT Capital Partners Europe, each of the individuals in the Consortium had agreed to commit substantial personal funds to the proposal. Neither BT Capital Partners Europe nor the individuals would have made this commitment had the proposal not in their opinion been prudently and appropriately financed.
5. Commercial Development – The Consortium expressed a strong interest in working with the Club’s existing commercial management team to optimise the daily operations of the Club. In addition, the members of the Consortium possess considerable commercial expertise and experience. In Kenny Dalglish, the Consortium would have been able to offer the services and commitment of one of Europe’s leading football experts, and a man uniquely qualified to lead an effort to return Celtic to the elite tier of European football.
6. Process – The Consortium also notes the Board’s comment that BT Wolfensohn, the financial advisers to the Consortium were asked to consent to the release of detailed information relating to the proposal, and that this consent was refused. The Consortium wishes to state for the record that this request was received from Greig Middleton at 4.30pm and that a response was required by 4.45pm. When BT Wolfensohn asked for a copy of the proposed detailed statement by the Board prior to consenting to its release, this request was refused.
At no time during the period from November 11th, 1998 when the Consortium’s proposal was first made available to Mr. Cann’s advisors, to December 19th, 1998 when the Board’s statement was released, were any meetings held between the Consortium and Mr.McCann. At no time during the period from December 3rd, 1998 when the Consortium’s proposal was provided to the Board, to December 19th, 1998 were any meetings held between the Consortium and the Board.
The Consortium continues to have an interest in the development of Celtic. However, in light of the Board and the majority shareholder’s stated unwillingness to deal with the Consortium, the Consortium regrets that it cannot unilaterally advance its proposal further.
Articles
Dalglish heads Celtic bid
https://www.theguardian.com/football/1998/nov/11/newsstory.sport1
By Vivek Chaudhary and Laurie Laird
Wed 11 Nov 1998 19.30 GMT
Kenny Dalglish and Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds, are believed to head a consortium aiming to take over Celtic football club, but football finance specialists doubted yesterday whether the pair have the required financial backing.
Dalglish, who made 324 appearances for Celtic, and Kerr, a fantical supporter of the Scottish Premier League team, are reportedly intending to invest in the club themselves and hoping to take control in an estimated #140 million buy-out with backing from the City.
News of the proposed deal is contrary to the publicly stated desire of the chairman and managing director Fergus McCann that he wants to sell his 51 per cent holding to fans and existing shareholders. McCann does not want a single powerful consortium to dominate Celtic.
McCann said yesterday that he was “aware of the speculation surrounding my shareholding. I have had inquiries from various parties. My feeling remains the same, that the best plan for Celtic is to make shares available at some point next year to the existing shareholders and season ticket holders in the first instance.”
Speculation in the City helped push Celtic’s share price up 45p to 307.5p, adding #12.9 million to the club’s market value.
McCann has said repeatedly that he wants to sell up and return to Canada following the completion of his five-year plan to transform Celtic which has included building a 60,000-seat stadium, the largest club ground in Britain.
Celtic plc said in a statement to the Stock Exchange yesterday that the Dalglish-Kerr consortium had requested a meeting with McCann but no formal bid had been made.While the club is valued at #77 million, it is believed that any consortium would have to bid around double that for outright control.
Analysts suspect that McCann might face the wrath of fans if he tried to engineer a corporate sell-out along the lines of the proposed sale of Manchester United to Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB. But if the consortium led by Dalglish and Kerr fails to find sufficent financial backing, McCann might find it easier to make a case for a corporate buy-out, having at least made an effort to find an owner with a sentimental link to the club.
Nonetheless, Celtic might eventually fall into the hands of a media group. “Ultimately, Rangers and Celtic will be key players in broadcasting in Scotland,” said an analyst. The Celtic price tag is small beer for a group like Scottish Media, worth more than #430 million.
A spokeswoman for Soccer Investor, which specialises in football finance, said: “Rumours about this consortium have been going around for some time. They claim that they have City backing but there is not a lot of evidence for this. Prior to this year’s agm it was known that Kerr was a member of the consortium but Dalglish has obviously been brought in because of his connections with the club.”
Kerr has estimated personal wealth of around #20 million and has been critical of McCann’s handling of the club. Dalglish is also wealthy, following high-profile managerial jobs at Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Dalglish, who played for Celtic between 1968 and 1977, would, it is believed, not only take on the role of owner and shareholder but would also be invovled on the footballing side. He has already been linked with the general manager’s post at Celtic following the resignation of Jock Brown.
Celtic kick out Dalglish consortium's buy-out deal
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12015850.celtic-kick-out-dalglish-consortiums-buy-out-deal/
19th December 1998
Herald and Times archive
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CELTIC last night rejected the approach by a consortium headed by former player Kenny Dalglish and Jim Kerr, of Simple Minds, to buy out chairman and leading shareholder Fergus McCann.
Although the club has not received a formal bid, the board of the public limited company decided that there has been so much publicity surrounding the approach by the consortium that it should announce its decision to reject the proposals put before it.
Mr Brian Quinn, vice chairman of the plc, said: ”We have considered the consortium’s proposals and, after discussions with our advisers, are unanimous in our view that this approach is not in the best interests of Celtic, its supporters, and shareholders.”
He and Mr McCann repeatedly made the point that they would like to have gone into full details of their rejection but were prevented from doing so by the refusal of the consortium’s advisers, BT Wolfensohn, to allow them to breach the confidentiality agreement.
However, the club did say that in their assessment the proposals were below the market value of Celtic.
Mr McCann added: ”They also take no account of the value to Celtic shareholders of having a significant say in the future of their club, so
BONO JUDGES JIM KERR OFFSIDE ON CELTIC SHOWBIZ CONSORTIUM
Bono denies involvement with Simple Minds’ JIM KERR in a consortium to invest in Glasgow Celtic Football Club…
By
NME
28th April 1998
https://www.nme.com/news/music/bono-43-1390343
Bono has denied he is involved with Simple Minds singer JIM KERR in a consortium seeking to gain control of current Scottish Premier League champions and Scottish Cup finalists Glasgow Celtic Football Club.
“It’s rubbish,” the U2 singer (pictured) says. “I’ve been to a couple of games and I’m a fan, but I’ve got no financial connections.”
A report in The Scottish Daily Record on Monday, May 25, quotes Kerr as saying he had joined a consortium led by local property magnate and former Celtic board member Brian Dempsey and would use his “huge influence” on the music industry to attract celebrity investors to the club. He claimed that Bono was interested along with Rod Stewart and comedian Billy Connolly.
Despite reports that Kerr will be investing ’10 million and that his current net worth is around ’40 million, some Scottish football insiders are more cynical. “It’s a middle aged guy’s idea of lending credibility to his bid. He doesn’t carry much weight in Scotland or anywhere else,” an informed commentator told NME.
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“Rod Stewart and Billy Connolly both have seats at Parkhead (the Celtic home ground) and have opened stands here. Now they’re talking about Kerr putting up ’10 million, but it’s doubtful that he could come up with money like that these days,” the commentator added.
Jim Kerr, who owns homes in Nice and Dublin as well as a 20-room mansion in Perthshire that entitles him to be known as the Laird Of Ardchullaire has also been co-opted as an advisor to the government’s music industry forum in Scotland.
JIM BACKS CELTIC BID; Simple Minds singer and showbiz pals join buyout.
Link/Page Citation
Daily Record 25 May 1998
SIMPLE MINDS star Jim Kerr is backing a bid for control of his beloved Celtic.
Former director and fans’ hero Brian Dempsey is trying to buy Fergus McCann’s 51 per cent shareholding and Kerr is also involved.
The multi-millionaire singer has also approached showbiz pals Rod Stewart, Billy Connolly and Bono of Irish band U2.
Kerr said last night: “I can confirm I have been in discussion with Brian Dempsey with regard to Celtic’s future.
“It is well known that I love this club and the people who support it.
“I am delighted to support Brian Dempsey and others in our attempt to ensure that ownership of the club goes back to Celtic shareholders and supporters as Mr McCann promised.”
Pals claim Kerr has talked about putting a quarter of his pounds 40m fortune into the club.
In March he told a TV interviewer he wanted to buy Celtic and bring Paolo di Canio back to Parkhead.
He said: “I’d like to get a consortium together to take over and Paolo would be my first signing.”
It’s understood the Dempsey consortium includes former director Willie Haughey, publican Jack Flanagan and Scotland’s biggest lottery winner, John McGuiness, who bought Haughey’s shares for pounds 1.4m when he was ousted from the board.
Dempsey will neither confirm nor deny who is in his group and says his ambition is simply to hold McCann to his promise that, when he leaves Celtic, his shares will be redistributed among fans and shareholders.
His spokesman said last night: “We have more rumours concerning the future of Celtic every day but one thing is clear – the fans want Brian Dempsey to bring stability and to return the old Celtic ethos to the club.”
Moves to float Celtic on the stock market began last week with the appointment of Japanese bank Nomura and Glasgow brokers Greig Middleton to sell McCann’s 51 shares to a mixture of fans and financial interests.
The move is designed to prevent a single individual or consortium taking control and could be a stumbling block to the Dempsey bid.
But a source close to Kerr said: “Jim’s very keen to get this thing going. He’s fanatical about Celtic and it has been a lifelong ambition of his to get involved with the club.
“Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before his dream becomes a reality.”
Celtic reject Dalglish buy-out
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/celtic-reject-dalglish-buy-out-1.227353
The proposed buy-out of Celtic by the Kenny Dalglish-Jim Kerr consortium was turned down by the Parkhead club’s directors yesterday…
By PATRICK GLENN
Sat Dec 19 1998 – 00:00
The proposed buy-out of Celtic by the Kenny Dalglish-Jim Kerr consortium was turned down by the Parkhead club’s directors yesterday, even before they had made a firm offer.
Dr Brian Quinn, the vice-chairman and spokesman for the Celtic plc board, made it clear that neither the price the syndicate was prepared to pay – understood to be well below the £100 million that had been speculated in the media – nor their business plan for the club’s future met the criteria of the directors.
Quinn added that the directors favour the plan by Fergus McCann, the major shareholder with a controlling interest of just over 50 per cent of the equity, to sell his shares next summer to Celtic supporters and existing shareholders to give the club a broadly-based ownership.
McCann himself disdained the Kerr-Dalglish approach when he said: “I have not given five years of my life to Celtic, along with my fellow directors, to take it from bankruptcy to a point of strength and then recommend a proposal which fails to reflect Celtic’s values and aspirations.”
READ MORE
Celtic are at home to Dunfermline today. The coach Jozef Venglos was still trying yesterday afternoon to sign the goalkeeper Steve Banks from Blackpool as his regular number two, Stewart Kerr, is a long-term injury victim. Venglos revealed that Tony Warner of Liverpool has had his loan period extended by two months but it appears he would also like to buy Banks, who will probably cost around £350,000.
Jim Kerr on Celtic, Toryglen and playing at Ibrox
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/jim-kerr-on-celtic-toryglen-and-playing-at-ibrox-1518187
JIM Kerr is all apologies when he arrives, when he comes in, comes out of the Glasgow rain. “Sorry I’m late,” he says in breathless, theatrical tones that belong to nowhere and right here. I check my watch; his tardiness amounts to a whole three minutes. Call himself a rock star?
By AIDAN SMITH
Published 13th Dec 2014, 01:19 BST
There were occasions when Kerr was maybe too much of a rock star; all leather-trousered bombast and self-importance. But today we don’t discuss his band Simple Minds, how they sold 60 million albums and then plummeted into the bargain bins, only for a late-career renaissance as their singer became a grandad. Instead we talk about sport, about Glasgow’s newly-cemented reputation as a great sporting city, and about football. How many rock stars, precious about image and rampant of ego, would agree to that?
Well, some might. Maybe not right now in Scotland with football in a pallid state, but a few years ago the celebrity fans were everywhere. They’d declare their passion, usually for Celtic. Some might have been bold enough to mention Kenny Dalglish. But few like Kerr could describe in anoraky detail and obvious love the way King Kenny used to tie his boots.
Most of us could smell a rat when actors and their kind alighted on football’s coolness. Did Kerr, and did these chancers and chanty-wrasslers annoy him? A smile breaks out across that classic Scottish ba’ face. “The showbiz-isation of fitba,” he says. “We get very purist, don’t we? Guard our teams jealously.” Rod Stewart’s name crops up, though he’s surely not the worst offender, having booted footballs into the audience for 40 years. “I got into trouble after that Barcelona game when Rod cried [Champions League, 2012] for saying that was his reaction to having to buy a round of drinks for the boys. Well, I can’t remember him greetin’ when Partick Thistle were humping us in the League Cup final – or [Billy] Connolly for that matter!”
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Elsewhere in the stands, away from the TV cameras’ gaze, Kerr watched Celtic beat the best team in the world with his father Jimmy and son James: the man who bestowed the obsession and the lad he passed it onto. “It was the last game Dad saw; he’s going to be 80 soon so not a bad one to end on. And it was my boy’s first Celtic Euro match. James is London born and bred and an Arsenal fan and that’s fine. I try not to be one of these dads who foists their innate good taste onto their children. But he came up for that game and there was a horrible, wonderful dark sky like the one outside our window right now. I thought: ‘Great, Xavi and Iniesta won’t fancy that.’ On the drive to the stadium we listened to all those nutty phone-ins. A bloke playing an accordion lurched in front of the car – I don’t think they have them at the Emirates. James was like: ‘This is fantastic.’ Then he said: ‘Dad, I’m not supporting England any more. For one thing, they’re rubbish. For another, Scotland’s fans are great and Scottish music is great.’ He doesn’t mean the Minds – he likes the cooler stuff. But for all those reasons, for the gallusness of Celtic near the end putting on an attacker and for the lad from Coatbridge [Tony Watt] racing away to score the winning goal, but running in what seemed like slow motion it was so brilliant, that was a very special Glasgow night.”
Another one is imminent. Tomorrow the BBC return to the banks of the Clyde where they installed themselves during the Commonwealth Games for the Sports Personality of the Year and Simple Minds are the house-band. SPotY is quite a circus these days but a good gig offering high exposure before the Minds tour in support of the album Big Music which has earned them their best reviews since Jimbo gave up that ginormous coat which billowed like a sail behind him.
Who will do the introductions – Clare Balding or maybe Gary Lineker himself? No offence, but this is a band who’ve been fanfared by Jack Nicholson – Live Aid, the Philadelphia portion – and Pele. “The night before the 2006 World Cup in Germany we played at the Brandenburg Gates. I spoke to him afterwards, couldn’t hear a word. The lads in the roadcrew were like: ‘What did he say? What did he say?’ They’d all played in the Holyrood High football team. So did [future Ipswich Town and Scotland striker] Alan Brazil; he had thighs like Canadian redwoods even then. I didn’t get a game but used to wind them up with my running joke about being the star man. Then I went: “It’s amazing, guys – Pele was following my career. ‘Jim,’ he said, ‘even though it was way back when and even though we were in Brazil, we got to hear about all your games for Holyrood’.”
We meet in Gorbals Sound, a recording studio in an old railwayman’s club run by ex-Teenage Fanclub drummer Paul Quinn where Simple Minds are rehearsing Waterfront which will open the Hydro spectacular. Kerr is 55 and looks good on the rock lifestyle of glamorous wives (Chrissie Hynde, Patsy Kensit) and glamorous addresses (Sicily, Nice). Never really one for the full bacchanal, he went vegetarian 30 years ago, putting his butcher’s-boy days well behind him. The complexion glows, but no more than his fan heritage does.
“My first-ever game was at the 1966 World Cup. The old man was a bricklayer’s labourer, on a job in the north-east of England. One weekend the rest of the family went down to see him and he took me off to Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough for the Soviet Union versus North Korea. Dad was a Red so he was in his glory. I think everyone in the crowd was a Commie. Me, I had a World Cup Willie football. I wasn’t yet six so can’t remember much about the match apart from Lev Yashin, dressed all in black.
“My next game was only a few weeks later but is much more vivid. Manchester United came to Parkhead for a friendly with Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles, who’d just won the World Cup, and George Best who was of course a Beatle. They also had Paddy Crerand whose family had lived in my mum’s close.
“I went with my Uncle Johnny, probably because Dad was the worse for wear. Most men often were back then, though he’s not had a drink for 40 years. I had to sit on Johnny’s shoulders because the crowd was so big and I was pretty scared but everyone said: ‘Ach you’ll be OK, son’. Celtic won 4-0 and of course that was the season which would end with Lisbon.”
Kerr’s favourite players included Jimmy Johnstone and Bertie Auld. “I remember Dad telling me to watch Bertie down in the corners where he’d aye stand on guys’ toes. I loved the story I heard later about him, when studs were checked before European matches, putting his arm round the ref and saying: ‘Right, son, if any of this lot cause you trouble come and see me’. That was probably him trying to gain some leeway for his skulduggery. But my big hero was Joe McBride for the tragedy of him scoring all those goals [36 by Christmas when he got injured, a total which stayed unbeaten for the rest of the ’66-’67 season] and missing the European Cup final. He had a crewcut and looked like an astronaut. Before I started going to games I thought his name was ‘Joe McBride Burst-the-net-again’. These were the words of the old man, every Saturday without fail.”
Football dominated Kerr’s young life. The whole family was Celtic-mad, though his mum Irene would confess to a crush on Hibernian’s Pat Stanton. His cousin, Brian Ahern, who babysat him and his brothers, went on to play for Clyde. And football also influenced some of his key decisions.
Born in Govanhill and later a high-rise dweller at Toryglen overlooking Hampden Park, he bonded with best pal Charlie Burchill over jerseys-for-goalposts kickabouts. “Charlie had this big bassy laugh which we’d all love to hear. I’m ashamed to admit this but we’d try and make Jimmy Scotland, who was prone to fits, bang his head off goalposts.” Burchill, who became the Minds’ guitarist, is still by his side today.
And in 1977 it was some teenage melodramatic disillusionment with football which cause Kerr to flounce off and form his first band, Johnny and the Self-Abusers. “King Kenny got sold. I remember watching a reserve game at Lesser Hampden and this boy with a big arse and red cheeks being the standout. Before long Dalglish was in the first team, scoring against Rangers with a penalty after taking ages to tie his laces – that was cool. And we loved the story of how he’d supported Rangers and Sean Fallon had nicked him from under their noses. But when he was transferred to Liverpool I was distraught and had to spend three days in bed. ‘F**k it’, I told myself, ‘music’s the thing now’.”
Kerr has always had great stories about Toryglen, where Irene worked at the baker’s next door to the bookie’s where Burchill’s mother Ellen collected the betting slips. When the band flew to the United States for the first time, Ellen said to Irene: “Charlie’s gone to America and he’s not got his keys so I’ll have to wait in. He’s not got a jacket either.”
Today’s tale speaks of the sense of community that existed within the notorious tall flats, although it begins back in Govanhill. “One day the man on the floor above us asked my mum: ‘Can you get Joseph up in the mornings?’ Joe Donnelly was in my class at school and his parents had split up, which was quite a rare thing in those days. So that’s what Mum did, with Joe coming back to ours for lunch as well, and when we moved to Toryglen he asked his dad, Shuggie, if he could come too. Shuggie was aye working and was glad of the help but Joe would see his dad at the weekends for the football and then I started to go to games with them. Our matchday routine began in the ‘family room’ of a pub at Gorbals Cross called Benny’s Bar. That name made me think I might bump into Top Cat. Joe was only meant to be with us for a week but ended up staying 14 years. And later he played bass guitar in The Silencers.”
Some other key football-related dates for Kerr: in 1986, Simple Minds played the lair of the enemy, Ibrox. Like in football where supporters can be over-protective, some of the band’s fans didn’t like that they’d turned into stadium rockers, but Kerr remembers a great gig and much malarkey. “Rangers weren’t very good back then and I think I said I’d had a peek in the trophy room and found Shergar. Did we sprinkle holy water in the goalmouths? I can’t remember, but it didn’t do much good, did it? Rangers promptly won nine-in-a-row.”
In 1998 Kerr was a member of a consortium which fancied running Celtic. Our man famously told Fergus McCann: “Get the kettle on.” Glasgow businessman Jim McAvoy, Kenny Dalglish and Kerr sought to persuade the majority shareholder to sell to them. “Looking back, that was ill-advised.” Still, he must have fantasised about becoming the rock-idol supremo of Parkhead. “It would have been wrong. That was a time in my life when I was a bit lost. The band were at a low ebb.” He’d also just come out of his marriage to Kensit.
Like many Celtic fans Kerr admits he got McCann slightly wrong, misreading his bullish stance. “I don’t need to understand the difference Fergus made to Celtic but back in the day I thought: ‘You can’t speak to people like that. You’ll get chinned’.” Kerr makes a hoarding gesture with his arms. “Fergus used to say that every last cent he had was in the club. When he came back recently I understood that better. So we failed but in the end there was the right outcome with supporters getting the shares.”
So Kerr returned to being a rock star and just recently he’s gone back to being a Glaswegian, calling the city home again. The death of his mum four years ago is behind this. He visited a lot when she was ill, drove her round favourite haunts to cheer her up, and these journeys inspired the song Honest Town on the new album, which is dedicated to his and Burchill’s parents, who clubbed together to pay for the band’s first demo tapes. “After Mum died my daughter Yasmin badgered me to get a place here so that’s what I did. Was I looking for my roots? I don’t know, but her passing made me conscious of time, of wanting to be near Dad.”
Maybe this is a less than golden era for his beloved football team. “How did Mum put it? ‘If you can’t think of anything nice to say, don’t say anything’. I worry about the future of the game.” But he’s just seen Glasgow in fantastic light. “Didn’t we do the Commonwealth Games proud? Eilidh Child was great and wee Charlie Flynn, the Mailman, was a brilliant character.
“But ordinary Glaswegians played their part. They had a blast, as I always knew they would, and I don’t think any visiting athlete or fan would have gone away not having enjoyed themselves. We’re mental about sport and we know how to put on a show.”
Simple Minds aim to have a blast tomorrow night even though Jim Kerr, fifth reserve for that Hollyrood football team, has missed out on a Sports Personality nomination.