Holker Street Newsletter 324 - 22nd March 1999

Barrow featured in the UK national press at the weekend and not for the reasons we would have liked (again).

DRUG BARONS TARGET SOCCER
Exclusive by Jonathan Calvert, The Express

A major police investigation has been launched into the laundering of drugs money through football clubs, The Express can reveal.

It is believed that the cash is linked to the missing millions of Curtis Warren, one of Britain's most notorious drug barons. Detectives from the National Crime Squad are looking into the targeting of a First Division club for a possible buy-out and allegations that money from drug deals was channelled through a non-League club.

The investigation is part of a wide-ranging inquiry into the proceeds of drug smuggling by Warren and a separate inquiry into his father-in-law Philip Glennon, nicknamed the Silver Fox. Last year police found more than UKP1 million in cash buried in the garden of Glennon's Merseyside home. It was alleged in court last year that Glennon had become a wealthy man as a result of drug dealing. Glennon has no convictions. Detectives believe that Warren, who is serving a 12-year jail sentence in Holland for drug trafficking, amassed a personal fortune of more than UKP40 million which is largely unaccounted for. Football clubs are thought to be vulnerable to crime gangs keen to legitimise their ill-gotten gains by presenting the cash as money earned through the turnstiles and in club bars. In the early Nineties the notorious Adams Family crime gang was behind a failed bid for the London Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur. In the new case, detectives are looking into the way that an off-shore company gave the non-League club, from the Nationwide Conference, a UKP300,000 loan even though the company does not appear to have ever traded. The Nationwide Conference, formerly known as the GM Vauxhall Conference, is the feeder Division for the Football League. The First Division club is already interesting several businessmen, although there is no suggestion that any of them or those involved in the management or ownership of the club are suspected of any wrong-doing. Police are also looking into claims that drugs cash has been laundered through several property deals involving an investment company based in the Isle of Man. A spokesman for the National Crime Squad, whose Liverpool-based unit is conducting the inquiry, declined to comment. Glennon has gone to court to try to make the police return the money found in his back garden but they are contesting the case.


DRUG CASH LAUNDERERS TARGET FOOTBALL CLUBS
by David Leppard and Chris Hastings, The Times. Additional reporting: Maeve Sheehan, Alex Clarke

At least five professional football clubs have been targeted by suspected drug barons seeking to launder hundreds of thousands of pounds, according to police. An investigation by The Sunday Times has found that crime syndicates and drug bosses have bought shares or property in top clubs, including Everton and Celtic. Police inquiries have also linked suspected drug barons to businessmen who have tried to invest in other clubs, including Barrow, Tranmere Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur. There is no suggestion that any of the clubs knew they were being targeted by criminals.

The Football Association (FA) is so concerned about the possible threat to some clubs that it has appointed a special troubleshooter who will vet dubious potential investors. While some criminals are attracted by the multi-million-pound turnovers and the property portfolios of big clubs, which make them ideal for laundering drug money, others just like the glamour of football. The FA became concerned after it helped customs and police officers who were investigating alleged links between Curtis Warren, one of Britain's biggest traffickers who is now in jail in Holland, and Barrow, a semi-professional club in the Conference League. The National Crime Squad is investigating Warren's links with Stephen Vaughan, Barrow's former chairman and owner who resigned three months ago, and who is not a drug dealer. Customs officers have interviewed a helicopter pilot who claims Warren boasted to him during a flight over the Barrow ground that he owned the club. Warren, who was once included in The Sunday Times Rich List as the 401st wealthiest person in Britain, owns property that includes casinos and nightclubs in Britain and abroad. He once boasted that he had drugs profits of UKP87m hidden away.

Vaughan, who bought Barrow three years ago and is widely credited with saving it, was arrested 18 months ago and questioned about his links with Warren. He has been told he is still under investigation by the National Crime Squad, which Vaughan said was examining fraud allegations about the club's purchase. Vaughan said last week he had sold an option on the ground to Asda, the supermarket giant, and the UKP100,000 contract had helped to refurbish a stand. "Of course I know Warren," he said. "I used to employ his security company for my boxing promotions and paid him about 28 or 30 cheques for about UKP300 each. He once put UKP17,500 into my solicitor's account to buy a council house I wanted to sell, but the deal never went through and I gave him his money back. I did buy a Toyota Land Cruiser from him." He did not understand why Warren should have claimed ownership of the club: "People are making all sorts of allegations. I just tell them I'm no angel. But at the end of the day, what's gone into Barrow football club comes from me alone." Vaughan's problems have thwarted his bid to organise a consortium to buy Tranmere Rovers, a First Division club. After Tranmere heard rumours of his links with Warren, they refused to meet him.

Investigators claim criminals have targeted several other unwitting top clubs. Customs officers point to the case of David Parry, a drug trafficker jailed for 15 years in 1994 for importing cannabis. After he was sentenced, customs investigators say they discovered he had bought shares worth UKP12,500 in the Premier League club Everton - and a confiscation order had to be amended to include them. Drug traffickers have invested in several Scottish clubs, including Celtic, also without the clubs' knowledge. In the past four years, Crown Office investigators in Scotland have traced the finances of 43 top criminals and found six had cash tied up in football clubs. Police were first alerted to the problem in the early 1990s after telephone intercepts indicated that a north London criminal gang alleged to be involved in drug trafficking and money laundering, planned to buy Tottenham Hotspur. The renewed concern comes as Scotland Yard continues to examine claims that a betting syndicate from the Far East may have been trying to fix Premier League matches.


ARNOLD OUT FOR SEASON?
NLOTN, Monday 22 March 1999,

Southport's hopes of avoiding relegation took a knock at Hayes on Saturday when the Missioners inflicted a decisive 3-0 win over Paul Futcher's side. He was without leading player's David Gamble, Tim Ryan and Scott Guyett plus four other regulars, through suspensions. The biggest "knock" though, had already been inflicted on Ian Arnold in the previous game against Dover Athletic, when he received "contact" with Dover's Stuart Munday who was sent-off, forcing the former Kidderminster and England striker to have x-rays on his jaw. NLOTN have been informed that Ian Arnold's jaw is broken, it could cause him to miss the remainder of the season.


RYMAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION, 20 MARCH 1999

Aylesbury United - Basingstoke Town....................3:2
Billericay Town - St Albans City.......................3:3
Boreham Wood - Enfield.................................3:2
Bromley - Dagenham & Redbridge.........................0:0
Carshalton Athletic - Dulwich Hamlet...................2:0
Chesham United - Bishop's Stortford....................0:1
Hampton - Gravesend & Northfleet.......................1:0
Heybridge Swifts - Harrow Borough......................2:4
Slough Town - Hendon...................................1:1
Sutton United - Purfleet...............................2:1
Walton & Hersham - Aldershot Town......................0:4

P W D L F:A Pts
Aylesbury United............32 21 7 4 59:26 70
----------------------------------------------------------
Sutton United...............31 21 4 6 65:31 67
Purfleet....................35 18 6 11 59:42 60
Enfield.....................32 16 7 9 61:38 55
St Albans City..............32 14 12 6 58:42 54
Dagenham & Redbridge........31 15 8 8 56:37 53
Billericay Town.............34 14 11 9 45:37 53
Aldershot Town..............31 13 9 9 66:30 48
Boreham Wood................33 12 12 9 48:49 48
Gravesend & Northfleet......31 14 4 13 40:36 46
Hendon......................31 12 9 10 53:50 45
Slough Town.................33 12 8 13 45:44 44
Harrow Borough..............34 12 7 15 49:56 43
Basingstoke Town............31 11 8 12 47:43 41
Chesham United..............29 10 6 13 46:52 36
Dulwich Hamlet..............33 9 7 17 37:50 34
Heybridge Swifts............31 8 8 15 35:62 32
Carshalton Athletic.........34 8 8 18 39:70 32
Hampton.....................34 7 10 17 31:63 31
Bromley.....................32 7 9 16 42:54 30
Walton & Hersham............34 8 6 20 35:70 30
Bishop's Stortford..........32 6 8 18 40:74 26

DR MARTENS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION, 20 MARCH 1999

Bath City - Atherstone United..........................3:1
Boston United - Weymouth...............................2:1
Bromsgrove Rovers - Cambridge City.....................2:1
Dorchester Town - Tamworth.............................0:1
Gloucester City - Burton Albion........................0:1
Gresley Rovers - Crawley Town..........................1:1
Hastings Town - King's Lynn............................1:0
Ilkeston Town - Halesowen Town.........................2:2
Merthyr Tydfil - Grantham Town.........................1:0
Nuneaton Borough - Worcester City......................2:0

P W D L F:A Pts
Nuneaton Borough............35 23 7 5 79:27 76
----------------------------------------------------------
Gloucester City.............35 17 10 8 49:39 61
Ilkeston Town...............34 15 10 9 56:42 55
Boston United...............32 13 13 6 56:35 52
Salisbury City..............34 14 10 10 46:47 52
Bath City...................31 14 8 9 46:30 50
Crawley Town................32 14 8 10 47:44 50
Weymouth....................33 12 10 11 48:44 46
Grantham Town...............33 14 4 15 44:45 46
Halesowen Town..............34 12 9 13 51:49 45
Tamworth....................31 14 3 14 47:49 45
Atherstone United...........32 11 11 10 43:38 44
Hastings Town...............32 12 8 12 33:33 44
Burton Albion...............33 13 5 15 43:45 44
Worcester City..............34 12 8 14 41:46 44
Merthyr Tydfil..............35 12 6 17 44:56 42
Gresley Rovers..............34 11 6 17 40:59 39
King's Lynn.................33 10 8 15 42:45 38
Dorchester Town.............34 8 12 14 42:51 36
Cambridge City..............33 9 9 15 38:55 36
Rothwell Town...............31 9 8 14 32:50 35
Bromsgrove Rovers...........35 7 5 23 31:69 26

THAT WAS THEN ...
11 May 1968 Barrow v Scunthorpe United
The last time we met at Holker Street - Barrow 0 v Scunthorpe United 1

Scunthorpe United's last visit to Holker Street was on March 22 1958, and they gained a 0-1 win through a goal by J Davies. The game provided Fraser and Porter with their Barrow debut and the Birch - Ormond left flank partnership ended after a run of 27 matches.

Barrow: Lowery, Fraser, Jackson, Proctor, Wilson, Keen, Callaghan, McIlvenny, Purdon, Laird, Porter.
Scunthorpe: Hardwick, Hubbard, Brownsword, Marshall, Horstead, Heward, J Davies, Waldock, E Davies, Haigh, Jones.
Referee: Mr J Kelly (Chorley)
Attendance: 4992


FANS UNITED IV

The next installment of the Fans United series will be held at Portsmouth on Sunday 28 March. It's going to involve a rally by meeting up at the Guildhall Square, in Portsmouth, with speeches from various football people, there will be plenty of media people present. The idea is to publicise the "Fans" role in modern football etc, and fans of all clubs are being invited to come along and show their team’s colours. Or, if you don't want to hear the speeches there are several pubs by the Square including a massive Weatherspoons bar. There will be bands playing, face painting for kids (and big kids) and it should be a relaxed carnival atmosphere. There is then a march/procession to Fratton Park where you can then watch the Portsmouth v Barnsley match and enjoy the now legendary Fratton Park atmosphere. Afterwards there are plenty of bars and pubs open around the ground to continue the festivities. If you are interested and want to show your club’s colours and have a good day out, you can get all the info you need at . A Fans United page is being put together now and should be on line by Monday (UK time) at the latest.