Chilinism

Some people were on the pitch. They thought it was all over. And if Halifax Town do not placate the taxman by the time the season ends at Runcorn next weekend, it will be.

Invading the playing area is a spring ritual in this neck of West Yorkshire. Two years ago, when Halifax surrendered their League status, they poured on. On Saturday, after seeing them lose what may be the last game at The Shay to the outgoing Vauxhall Conference champions, Kidderminster, most of the 1,754 crowd converged on the players' tunnel in another show of solidarity and sadness.

Tearful men wished they had not come in fancy dress as the Pink Panther or Yasser Arafat. Children clung to mothers like mourners at a funeral. The defiant chants of crew-cut lads - "The Shaymen!" - were tinged with despair. Halifax have threatened imminent closure before, but with debts of pounds 170,000, few believe they are bluffing this time.

Then the chairman of two months, John Stockwell, took the microphone. He had struck a deal with the Inland Revenue whereby they could pay pounds 30,000 by the end of this week and the balance of pounds 55,000 over the next year. Several fans had pledged four-figure sums, he announced, and they were nearly half-way towards the target.

Stockwell worked his audience as if it were the Batley Variety Club. "Wouldn't it be a shame if there was no next season for the sake of pounds 15,000?" Yes, they roared. "Manchester United make that in an hour on the commercial side. Are the people of Halifax going to let Town die for 15 grand?" No! Buckets were passed, and pounds 2,000 thrown in.

The scene was given added poignancy by the thought that Blackburn Rovers - from another textile town, separated by 35 miles and about pounds 60m - are close to their greatest triumph. Twenty years last week the teams drew a League fixture at The Shay. They were happier times for Halifax, among the few since 46 enthusiasts put up pounds 1 each to form the club in 1911.

There have been heady days, such as when Tottenham, Alf Ramsey et al., drew 36,885 for an FA Cup tie in 1953; and a Watney Cup victory over Manchester United, complete with Best, Law and Charlton, in 1971, the year Halifax finished third in the old Third Division, above Aston Villa.

Yet they were always better acquainted with snakes than ladders. In 1993, when they finished bottom, there was no re-election vote to save them. Although, in theory, the Conference offered a way back, problems off the park hardly provided an atmosphere conducive to recovery.

To cut a long story short, Halifax lease The Shay from Calderdale Council for pounds 37,000 a year. For their money they get the dressing-room pegs and the pitch on match days (Leeds reserves hire the same facilities for pounds 500 a time).

There is no security of tenure, none of the bar or shop profits that sustain other outfits with an average gate of 970. Even after selling players that might have taken them back up, they owe pounds 60,000 to landlords who argue that a peppercorn rent would mean "soccer on the rates".

The council is "hung", at least until Thursday's elections, its Tory leader perceived by Town followers as undermining the club's viability in order to sell the site for supermarket development.

Other villains of the piece, real or imaginary, include the conurbation's major employer, the Halifax Building Society, and the Evening Courier newspaper. One allegedly snubs all attempts to persuade it to sponsor the team, the other is said to be biased towards rugby league.

As a London-based fan, Bob Holmes, put it: "Saving the club would cost little more than a 30-second TV ad for the building society." Meanwhile, Saturday's Courier ran just three paragraphs setting up the "final game" at the bottom of its front page, with the 13-a-side code splashed on the back.
Stockwell has not given up on the Halifax - "I'd love to see their 'X' on our shirts" - but the loyalists dare not wait for a miracle. Bernard Lowery's 39-year devotion inspired him into a sponsored circuit of the Shay complex. "It's his life," his wife, Doreen, said. If anyone from the council canvassed her, she warned: "I'll wring their necks."

A member of the Supporters Club committee, Peter Dobson, felt the "fragmented" nature of Calderdale explained official apathy. "It stretches from Todmorden, where people follow Burnley, to Brighouse, where they incline to Huddersfield or Bradford City," he said. "In those places, councillors of whatever party aren't interested in us."

If the worst happened, he would help to re-form the club, even if it meant starting in a park league. "We've fewer fans than Aldershot when they went out of business, so it might take longer, but I'm confident it would take off again." In contrast, Stockwell insisted there was "no way back" once the club closed.

Revealingly, Dave German, the longest-serving player is only 21. By his own reckoning he has had 109 colleagues during five years in the first team.

"The constant chopping and changing hasn't helped," he said. "I feel great affection for this club because they gave me a chance when Sheffield Wednesday let me go, so to see the decline has been terrible."

Halifax have tried to remain full-time, but German admits semi-professionalism is inevitable if they do continue. "The board would have to make cut-backs . . . take the people on pounds 300 and put them on pounds 100."

Dave Worthington, brother of Frank, would have been representing Halifax's most famous footballing family even if his son, Gary, was not leading Town's attack. "The stadium Kirklees built at Huddersfield shows what's possible," he asserted. "It's a source of civic pride, so why can't Calderdale do it here? The Shay's an ideal site, a natural bowl. All it needs is investment and vision.

"People say this is a rugby town, but their gates dropped to 800 when we were getting 2,500. Suddenly they found a chairman prepared to invest in players. Now they've been to Wembley twice and are in the Super League. But if the Shaymen did well, the crowds would be back. This isn't a rugby town, it's a success town."

That image is hard to square with a place that has already lost speedway and basketball teams. The final countdown still shows five days left and pounds 10,000 to find - but where there is life there is hope for Halifax Town. from the tunnel at The Shay - perhaps for the last time.

Pop goes cash for music superstars;
RECORD COMPANY BOSSES TIGHTEN THE PURSE STRINGS AS CHART TOPPERS DEMAND MORE
by Richard Newton

RECORD companies are about to turn the cash screw on the pop world's superstars.

Janet Jackson's £54 million deal with giant Thorn EMI may mark the turning point for massive recording advances.

Dennis Exton, music industry analyst at Nikko Securities, says: 'Industry growth rates are slowing from 12%-13% in 1994-95 to 8%-9%. If that continues, these deals will become unviable and the record companies will abandon them in a flash.'

Record company executives fear voicing their views because it might antagonise stars and managers. But one industry figure said: 'It's getting to the point where people are turning down top artists.

'A couple passed on George Michael because they weren't going to make any money and it would have used too much of their budget.

'I believe the stars could price themselves out. Meanwhile, record companies will struggle.'

Prince, now trying to cut short his £40 million contract with Warner Brothers, is said to have put together previously unreleased recordings and told the record company to accept them or sue.

Superstars have exploited record companies desperate to sign artists who can guarantee album sales in the millions. Advances have gone through the roof. But executives argue that if the market fails to continue growing at double-figure rates, the stars will never see such deals again.

Many insiders expect the big five record companies - Sony, Thorn EMI, Warner Brothers, Bertelsmann and Polygram - to start tightening the purse strings. One record company lawyer blames agents from outside the industry.

He said: 'Many lawyers who haven't worked for record companies before are suspicious of the companies' claims that margins are tight.

'They think their job is to make as much from the record companies as possible. But if the record companies don't make enough to give the product a big marketing push, they will get a royalty of 20% of nothing.'

In the wake of the Janet Jackson deal, many in the music industry insist that Thorn EMI will be unable to make a profit and only paid up to keep one of the world's most bankable stars before demerging the record business this year.

Thorn EMI said: 'One does not do a deal with an artist as a loss-leader.

Only a handful of artists have that sort of world appeal. The art is knowing how long it will last.'

Insiders say that advances are so large they could threaten vital marketing budgets that record companies lavish on their stars. Yet it is the record giants' formidable marketing resources that draw the stars to them.

Stars' lawyers argue that record companies are richer than they claim.

Pink Floyd's Howard Jones, of Sheridans, said: 'My opinion is that contracts have not reached their peak. After all, what are the marketing costs? They are not that great.

'The best marketing is touring, and the bands are doing their own marketing when they go on tour.'

Stars set for court battle
Richard Newton

THE stars of two of the biggest supergroups of the Seventies are set to challenge each other in the courts.

Rick Wright, one of the founders of Pink Floyd, is demanding almost £1 million from Jon Anderson, the singer and songwriter of Yes.

Anderson was made bankrupt last April by the Inland Revenue for £222,000, although his US lawyer claimed the judgment was a mistake.

Then three months ago, the official receiver, who had tried for months to get the California-based Anderson to sign formal insolvency documents, had to resort to cunning to complete the task. The Receiver finally caught up with the rock star during a rare weekend visit to the UK in November to sign copies of his new compact disc at a record shop in Oxford Street.

Rather than presenting Anderson with a CD to sign, one of the 'fans' presented him with a statement of affairs from the receiver and asked for a quiet word.

Anderson will face more serious problems if Pink Floyd - who shared the same accountant, Martin Stainton - prove that £1 million of their royalties were diverted into his account, even if, as he is understood to claim, it was done without his knowledge.

Stainton had power of attorney over Jon Anderson's financial affairs for about 16 years and was accused last year of stealing millions of pounds from Pink Floyd.

CD pirates winning £38bn war
Lisa O'Carroll

MUSIC giants today admitted they are losing the war against pirates as the black market for CDs and cassettes doubled to a massive £38billion.

Bootlegs and near-perfect counterfeits are costing bands such as U2, Pink Floyd and REM millions of pounds a year, the British Phonographic Industry said today.

Sara John, the BPI's head of legal affairs, said: 'Some of the bootlegs are so sophisticated they can even fool the high street chains.' And consumers are being duped into buying poor-quality counterfeit tapes and CDs because the artwork is so good they can pass as the original.

Ms John said Pink Floyd was one of the most pirated bands, with illicit recordings on the market within 48 hours of each concert of their 1994 tour.

chiseller
/ˈtʃɪz(ə)lə/
noun1. Also *-eler. e19.
[ORIGIN: from chisel verb + -er1.]
A person who cuts or shapes with a chisel; slang a cheat, a swindler, a confidence trickster.
[quote]

[quote]
chisel
/ˈtʃɪz(ə)l/
verb trans. Infl. -ll-, *-l-. e16.
[ORIGIN: from chisel noun1.]
1. Cut, shape, etc., with a chisel; transf. shape, give form to. e16.
A. Miller You can chisel the wood out around those bolts. fig.: R. Macaulay Time chiselled delicate lines in her fine clear skin.
2. Cheat, defraud; treat unfairly. slang. e19.
Derivatives:
■ chiselled ppl adjective cut or shaped with a chisel; fig. (of features etc.) finely or clearly cut: l16.

For some reason there are a load of Halifax supporters in The Fall fan club," he explains. "They're going through this really horrible scene where these grey suited guys are trying to shut their team down. All about money. They were asking us to do benefits, but we couldn't do it. Instead I said, look we're writing a song called The Chiselers, it's about people like that, so we'll dedicate the song to you."