Hamilton Accies, despite Lord Carloway's assertion that they are "absolutely insolvent", are frequently cited as a perfect example of how a modern Scottish football team should be run.
They have recovered from financial peril and possible extinction to reinvent themselves as a viable and worthy addition to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
For that, they are grateful to self-made millionaire and the former owner of Cullen Packaging, Ronnie MacDonald. In 2003 he took over a club that had only just escaped relegation to the third division for a second time.
In the five years since then, Hamilton have regained top-flight status and reared a crop of young players who will yield the club a financial windfall when the time is right for them to spread their wings.
James McCarthy, the 18-year-old Republic of Ireland internationalist, is a prodigious talent.
He made his debut under Billy Reid, the Hamilton manager, at 15 and has been coveted by such illustrious suitors as Liverpool and Celtic.
James McArthur, the Scotland under-21 internationalist, has also made an instant impression in the Premier League, attracting interest from both Old Firm teams.
The players have been instrumental in Hamilton's creditable quest for survival in their first season back in the Premier League.
Only recently, Mr MacDonald reiterated to The Herald that he had no inclination to cash in on the club's prized assets, but the club could easily command in the region of £4m for the pair.
Success has been borne out of adversity. Their financial problems culminated in a players' strike in season 1999-2000 and a 15-point deduction and relegation to the bottom rung of Scotland's senior set-up after they failed to turn up for a league match against Stenhousemuir.
Jock Brown, the former Celtic chief executive, pulled out of a proposed takeover, clearing the way for Mr MacDonald to assume control.
The chartered surveyor, who bought Cullen Packaging in 1988, formed Knightswood Amateurs and Knightswood Juveniles, both of whom went on to become successful in their respective echelons.
In 1991, he took over Maryhill Juniors - a club on the brink of extinction - and went on to win three first division titles and three cups as manager.
He was appointed Clyde manager in 1998, appointing his financial director at Cullen Packaging, Allan Maitland, as assistant. They signed 24 players from the junior ranks, re-establishing Clyde as a credible first-division side.
His words upon taking over at Clyde 11 years ago have proven prophetic. "I am disgusted by the state of Scottish football,'' he told The Herald. "There is no window of opportunity for young Scottish players, but I aim to provide one."
Accies are now reaping the benefits of that philosophy on the pitch, if not in the courts of law. But Mr MacDonald is determined to keep up the fight.
He said: "If you get to the bottom line, the only person who can wind up Hamilton Accies is myself. I own 98% of the club, so why in the world would I want to wind up?"
He added that he had been offered a "substantial sum" for the club before Christmas but had turned down the request.
"Why would you spend five years getting the club from the second division into the Premier League just to say now it's time to walk away and go and lie in the sun?"
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article