Posted: Monday 6 February 2012
One really important piece of advice
One piece of advice that I would give to trainees just starting out is to be very wary before revealing what football team you support! Every new starter at Morton Fraser submits a short biography about themselves that is posted on the intranet so that the wider firm can learn a little bit about you. As a keen footballer, it was almost inevitable that I would include that I was an ardent Hearts fan, which I revealed completely oblivious to the fact that I was leaving myself horribly exposed.
As apparently the only Hearts fan at Morton Fraser (which in itself is shocking for an Edinburgh based firm!) I am now the sole target every time Hearts lose, every time my club's eccentric millionaire owner posts another colourful statement on the team's website and every time funds fail to transfer from Lithuania to the players’ bank accounts on time. Most of the time I feel I can hold my own – particularly when I am being ribbed by fans of clubs like Dundee United or Hibs, our greatest rivals whose last Scottish Cup success came before two world wars and the sinking of the Titanic.
Although I sometimes fear the Monday morning consequences of another home loss to Kilmarnock (our bogie team I would allege), this kind of banter does reflect the friendly atmosphere at Morton Fraser and I do enjoy a debate with a colleague over the benefits of being a supporter of our respective clubs.
This season has been a difficult one however, with the club being put up for sale, players expected to leave and SPL sanctions being introduced over the non-payment of players. The latter point raises interesting legal issues of course that I’m sure the employment law team here were keeping a close eye on. In most situations, you would expect that a failure to receive your wages would be a clear breach of contract entitling an employee to treat their contract at an end. Football proved itself to be a special case once again however, with a variety of SPL and FIFA contractual rules applying to the players’ contracts. In the end, the club did face sanctions from the SPL but no players walked away for nothing, providing me with some much needed temporary breathing space. Until of course the players are next due to be paid...
