[Westbars Spireite]

spireman, on 13 December 2018 - 08:54 PM, said:

Typical of posters on here, give the guy a chance. Haven’t you heard the saying it’s who you know not what, most businesses operate like this. They know this guy and he has good experience in football clubs. His past failures doesn’t mean he won’t be a good appointment. Will be interesting in seeing if he does get Carson out of the day to day decision making process, I hope he does for the clubs sake.

Hi Ashley x

[Westbars Spireite]

moondog, on 13 December 2018 - 09:09 PM, said:

Actually according to his own linkedin profile he's only worked within one football club, Newport County for a very short period and done some consultancy work for Leeds. His expertise is in regulatory matters, this is not to say he won't be successful as a CEO if he's allowed to manage but this appears to be a cosmetic appointment 



https://www.linkedin...m-bean-626ba17/

On the plus side he knows the way to FA for the next disciplinary meeting we're called before.

[Somerset Spireite]

"Graham has a wealth of experience in the running of football clubs and is no stranger to Chesterfield, being involved with the investigation of former chairman Darren Brown in 2000".

I'm still trying to get my head round that quote. It must be a fairly unique attribute to look for in a successful applicant? Still, the way we're going on, most people involved in compliance matters at the FA or FL will have investigated us for something at some point in their careers.

In a graph of staff employed versus league position (in "the pyramid" that is, of course!) we must be one hell of an outlier ...

[Looker-on]

The Times, November 3rd, 2017:
"Leeds United officials were involved in a deal to cover up a secret £250,000 payment to an unlicensed agent, the findings of an FA investigation have disclosed.

They show that Graham Bean, a former policeman who was the FA’s first compliance officer, and the club’s former chairman Massimo Cellino were instrumental in setting up a sham scouting agreement to hide the payment — which breached FA rules — surrounding the forward Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham in 2014."


Full article here, possibly behind a paywall: https://www.thetimes...yment-06j9zszp2

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

Blue5, on 13 December 2018 - 07:46 PM, said:

Two liquidated businesses to his name too, Football Factors and Fan Plaques.

Going for the hat-trick?

[moondog]

Looker-on, on 13 December 2018 - 09:19 PM, said:

The Times, November 3rd, 2017:
"Leeds United officials were involved in a deal to cover up a secret £250,000 payment to an unlicensed agent, the findings of an FA investigation have disclosed.

They show that Graham Bean, a former policeman who was the FA’s first compliance officer, and the club’s former chairman Massimo Cellino were instrumental in setting up a sham scouting agreement to hide the payment — which breached FA rules — surrounding the forward Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham in 2014."


Full article here, possibly behind a paywall: https://www.thetimes...yment-06j9zszp2

Oh dear, once again the fans have to perform due diligence



"Bean, who turned whistleblower after being sacked by Cellino from his position with Leeds, later demanded £1,800 from the FA to act as a witness and tried to retract his evidence after his claim for the money was refused"

[Tha Knows...]

moondog, on 13 December 2018 - 09:23 PM, said:

Oh dear, once again the fans have to perform due diligence

Seems like the kind of guy the boss man can work with

[Looker-on]

Here is the FA report into the case:

https://www.sportsla...WUSso0kaipliY6a


While he was not charged with any wrongdoing, it might be considered that GB does not come out of it terribly well. While recognising his role as whistleblower, the FA noted that he "played a central part in the preparation and signing of the Scouting Agreement." and were somewhat disappointed when GB attempted to withdraw his evidence after the FA declined to pay him £1800 for providing it:

"We note that on 26 October 2016, several weeks after the Main Hearing... Mr Bean wrote to the FA asking for the Regulatory Commission to be notified that he would be withdrawing all his assistance and evidence relating to that hearing. That was his ill-judged reaction to the FA’s rejection of his claim for a fee of £1,800 for acting as a witness in this case."

[Siberian Spireite]

moondog, on 13 December 2018 - 08:06 PM, said:

Confirmation he recently represented the club before the FA

https://www.chesterf...latory-hearing/

Somebody buy up all domain names relating to AFC Chesterfield, sharpish.

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

Looker-on, on 13 December 2018 - 09:27 PM, said:

Here is the FA report into the case:

https://www.sportsla...WUSso0kaipliY6a


While he was not charged with any wrongdoing, it might be considered that GB does not come out of it terribly well. While recognising his role as whistleblower, the FA noted that he "played a central part in the preparation and signing of the Scouting Agreement." and were somewhat disappointed when GB attempted to withdraw his evidence after the FA declined to pay him £1800 for providing it:

"We note that on 26 October 2016, several weeks after the Main Hearing... Mr Bean wrote to the FA asking for the Regulatory Commission to be notified that he would be withdrawing all his assistance and evidence relating to that hearing. That was his ill-judged reaction to the FA’s rejection of his claim for a fee of £1,800 for acting as a witness in this case."

Money over morals?

He'll fit right in...

[Tha Knows...]

The impression Im getting is one of greed.

[moondog]

Looker-on, on 13 December 2018 - 09:19 PM, said:

The Times, November 3rd, 2017:
"Leeds United officials were involved in a deal to cover up a secret £250,000 payment to an unlicensed agent, the findings of an FA investigation have disclosed.

They show that Graham Bean, a former policeman who was the FA’s first compliance officer, and the club’s former chairman Massimo Cellino were instrumental in setting up a sham scouting agreement to hide the payment — which breached FA rules — surrounding the forward Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham in 2014."


Full article here, possibly behind a paywall: https://www.thetimes...yment-06j9zszp2

To save folks registering full article below


Leeds United officials were involved in a deal to cover up a secret £250,000 payment to an unlicensed agent, the findings of an FA investigation have disclosed.

They show that Graham Bean, a former policeman who was the FA’s first compliance officer, and the club’s former chairman Massimo Cellino were instrumental in setting up a sham scouting agreement to hide the payment — which breached FA rules — surrounding the forward Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham in 2014.

Bean, who turned whistleblower after being sacked by Cellino from his position with Leeds, later demanded £1,800 from the FA to act as a witness and tried to retract his evidence after his claim for the money was refused.

Cellino, who sold his remaining stake in Leeds in May, was banned by the FA for 12 months last week but Bean was not charged and continues to work in football as a “regulatory and governance expert”.

The ultimate recipient of the £250,000 was Barry Hughes, an unlicensed agent from Scotland who has convictions for fraud, money-laundering and a nightclub attack. The FA’s findings said Bean and Cellino set up the sham agreement to pay Derek Day, a licensed agent also based in Scotland, for scouting services and that the money was then passed on to Hughes’s associates. Day was also banned by the FA for 18 months, 11 of which were suspended.

The findings of the regulatory commission state that Bean “was actively and knowingly instrumental in setting up the deceptive scouting agreement” and played an “unedifying” role in the matter. The report adds: “Even though he is not being charged in relation to these events, he still makes and will want to continue to make his living in football, including representing clients in front of FA regulatory commissions and appeal boards”.

Bean, who was employed by Leeds as a consultant through his company Football Factors Ltd but was effectively working as the club’s company secretary, initially resisted paying the money to Hughes following McCormack’s £10.75 million sale but was called into Cellino’s office in September 2014, where the Italian was with Hughes, and was told that the £250,000 had to be paid despite it being against FA rules.

A scouting agreement with Day’s company Shadow Brands was set up on September 22, 2014, stating that the £250,000, minus £65,000 that Leeds had loaned to McCormack, would be paid in instalments for “scouting services”. “None of those involved had any intention or expectation that [Derek Day] would actually carry out scouting activities,” the commission said. The report adds: “It is clear that substantial sums received by DD [Day] from LUFC were passed on by him to associates of BH [Hughes].”

Bean, who denies breaching any rules, was sacked by Cellino for unrelated matters just three days after the sham agreement was set up and blew the whistle to the FA, whose investigator, Ian Ryder, decided to use him as the key witness and not press charges against him.

In October last year, while the hearing was taking place, Bean wrote a letter saying “he would be withdrawing all his assistance and evidence”.

The report says: “That was his ill-judged reaction to the FA’s rejection of his claim for a fee of £1,800 for acting as a witness in this case. The purported withdrawal of his evidence was just part of his petulant reaction over his fee claim. It remains evidence in the case.”

Leeds and Day admitted the misconduct charges but Cellino denied the same charge, appealed the decision and finally took it to arbitration, where he lost. Hughes was not dealt with by the FA because, as an unlicensed agent, he is beyond their jurisdiction.

The evidence to the commission did include reports of Hughes’s criminal convictions and its report concluded: “We noted that in his interview by Mr Ryder and his evidence to this Commission, DD [Day] was resistant to being drawn into any negative comment about BH [Hughes] and under cross-examination he was distinctly uncomfortable with any questions about BH.

“We conclude that Mr Hughes is a man to be approached with caution in any financial or business dealings.”

[Looker-on]

I found the Leeds case particularly interesting at the time, as a "sham scouting agreement" is just the sort of thing one might set up with one's newly-appointed International Scouting Consultant. I always thought that people outside of the immediate CFC International Academy circle may have been set to benefit from such a thing.

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

Tell you what - folk on here are doing some damn good digging for a bunch of drunken twelve year olds...

[Westbars Spireite]

Looker-on, on 13 December 2018 - 09:19 PM, said:

The Times, November 3rd, 2017:
"Leeds United officials were involved in a deal to cover up a secret £250,000 payment to an unlicensed agent, the findings of an FA investigation have disclosed.

They show that Graham Bean, a former policeman who was the FA’s first compliance officer, and the club’s former chairman Massimo Cellino were instrumental in setting up a sham scouting agreement to hide the payment — which breached FA rules — surrounding the forward Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham in 2014."


Full article here, possibly behind a paywall: https://www.thetimes...yment-06j9zszp2

It's almost as if Google doesn't exist for those hiring him. Enormously damning whichever way you dress it up.

I've requested to follow him on Twitter - if he accepts I'll ask him to explain why he should be welcomed at the club with this on the record.

[Mr Mercury]

Spire-Power, on 13 December 2018 - 09:30 PM, said:

The impression Im getting is one of greed.

Maybe somebody could have a year or two as a paid FA bigwig, looking into wrong doings etc for a decent wage, then whilst performing those duties sees the opportunities to change tack and make a killing, that wouldn't happen would it?

[Mr Mercury]

Westbars Spireite, on 13 December 2018 - 09:37 PM, said:

It's almost as if Google doesn't exist for those hiring him. Enormously damning whichever way you dress it up.

I've requested to follow him on Twitter - if he accepts I'll ask him to explain why he should be welcomed at the club with this on the record.

Let's hope Mr Bean, as I think we should now always call him. Is at the AGM, ready made questions!

[meowdmucker]

Perfect C.V. I bet the owners couldn't believe their luck he was available.

[The Rev.]

So the club has appointed a self-acknowledged expert in `sharp practice' as our new CEO? - if this appointment was meant to appease the fans, then given Mr Bean's track record of `sharp practice', deceit, and borderline fraudulent behaviour in the `sham' set up at Leeds - and other dubious matters already highlighted on here which at very least bring the man's honesty & integrity into question; I suspect that rather than appease, it's merely added to the long list of debacles perpetrated by the CFC hierarchy and left many of us infuriated and aghast. Mr Bean is certainly not the calibre of person we need at our football club - we should be ridding ourselves of `sharp practice' people, not recruiting them - a disgraceful appointment.

[The Earl of Chesterfield]

Benno Spire, on 13 December 2018 - 09:37 PM, said:

Can’t believe how many times the words fraud and money laundering keep appearing with people associated with running CFC.

My eyebrows raised when I saw the words 'twenty five years' alongside Carson's name.

But then I realised it was simply describing his time at the Assay Office...