As the football authorities run around hoping that it never happens there is only one certainty about the financial crisis at Rangers.
The OLD FIRM is dead.
No matter what happens in the coming weeks, Rangers, should they survive, will be unrecognisable as a club.
With a mountain of debts and legal issues outstanding the footballing landscape will alter forever and the sooner that the clubs and authorities accept the new reality the better.
The head-to-head title races between Celtic and Rangers that have grabbed attention over the last 15 years will be a thing of the past.
In a best case scenario Rangers face starting next season without the majority of their current first team, unable to get any bank borrowing and with no European football to enjoy.
A far worse scenario is highly likely as legal battles run and run casting a huge shadow over any attempt to stabilise the club.
Whatever sanctions the SPL and SFA attempt to bring in not even the management of Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho will be capable of taking Rangers close to the standards that their supporters have become accustomed to over the last 25 years.
The sooner that the SPL clubs accept that reality the better, dragging things out and hoping that Rangers can continue operating in the transfer market and spending £20m plus on wages isn’t going to happen.
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A reduced television deal and other commercial matters will be a tough pill for clubs to swallow but there is no alternative if Scottish football is to retain credibility and avoid unwelcome attention from UEFA over finacial matters.
Bringing in new rules that make liquidation and transfer to a newco more attractive than managing administration and a CVA will put Scottish football in the spotlight as UEFA atempts to ensure that clubs like within their means.
A ten point penalty and financial fine of around £1.9m for three seasons is barely a slap on the wrist for a club that owes HMRC between £9-15 this season alone.
As other clubs attempt to cut their cloth and pay their way the liquidation offer being proposed by the SPL will become increasingly attractive, almost irresistible
Whether the Scottish game has the character, personality and leadership to make tough but fair decisions is open to debate.
Failure to address the issue will set the game back years, tackling the previously unthinkable head on would provide short term pain but return some credibility to the game that has been battered from pillar to post by this seasons Ibrox pantomime.
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The only answer for Scottish football is to start producing better Scottish players at higher levels, something the SFA has failed to do during its entire history. Producing fitter, healthier, kids, with more technical ability would be a good start- and is surely not impossible.
We also need to forget about TV revenue for domestic games and concentrate on getting as many teams as possible competing in the CL and EL for as long as possible each season. I think that’s where the money lies for Scottish teams in the future.
I’m afraid the internet postings on this scandal are like an alternative reality. The issue of the spl being rigged to allow a newco straight back in is not even being mentioned in any the national media outlets – its just how unfair it is for rangers to be docked a few points that any ref will make up sharpish. So unless someone is willing to do something more radical than put up a wee post – nothing will be done and the cheats wil prosper.
They will do everything they can to help Rangers remain in the SPL and in doing so will cause irreparable damage to football in this country. They will destroy every club in he attempt to save Rangers.
TV money is a smokescreen. Clubs say they cannot survive without it but if they made an effort to increase attendances then they would increase revenue. Kilamrnock had little over 2,000 supporters in their ground for the Celtic game on Saturday. If that is all a top table team can pull in, regardless of the circumstances, then they deserve to die.
Too many clubs too few people. Mergers will be necessary to save football.
However, if Rangers get away with little punishment tens of thousands of fans will never pay to get into a game again. I will be one of them. All integrity will be gone, no integrity, and there is precious little of it in Scotland at the moment, no point.
What is going on now is nothing short of gerrymandering.
Financial Fair Play!
Don’t make me laugh, Scottish Football is OFFICIALLY bent. Why should anyone put one single penny into it anymore in expectation of a level playing field?
UEFA MUST get involved
As it stands the SFA and SPL have all the say in this. UEFA need to be coaxed into this.
Celtic could ask questions regarding our clubs loss in revenue due to Rangers cheating their way into European competition by using tax dodging and double contracts. UEFA would have no choice but to investigate a query like that.
As for SFA proposal… If say the same thing happened to the likes of Chelsea or Arsenal, which it could then do you think for one moment that their governing body or that of any european league would allow rule bending to suit an individual team, when gretna went bust did they bend the rules so why is RFC any different keep digging yer graves ye whalloppers
I’ve checked around other Scottish club fan sites and the majority of Scottish fans agree if the SPL create new rules to accommodate a Newco Rangers into the SPL, it will be regarded as blatant cheating and the whole administration will have lost any credibility it still has.
Thousands of regular supporters will no longer pay gate money to prop up such a blatant rigged set up. If Glasgow Rangers are liquidated and a new club is established, they should apply to start from the bottom league and work their way back up like any other club would have to do, legitimately, fairly and squarely. I’m sure we can take for granted the abundant amount of “honest mistakes” will ensure a speedy recovery for the cheats back into the SPL within a 3 year period.
Who do the SPL, SFA and their media cronies think they are kidding with this latest attempt at blatant collusion and corruption?
UEFA must act now, we need an open investigation from them into what goes on in Scotland. Nothing will ever change until Scottish football is taken to task and forced to change.
The Old Firm tag will only go when they no longer vote together for self interest. This is what most Celtic fans don’t understand when they talk about “guilty by association”. The term “Old Firm” was coined as they had respective businesses of similar size and worked together for their own ends. Something they still do. i for one (as a Celtic fan myself) would like to see the voting structure change and see a fairer distribution of cash pots. As for these weak punishments for Newcos? This ruling is terrible and could be dangerous. Rangers could be in the wilderness for years to come anyway, but they should be made to start in a lower division.
Kevak
The Old Firm voting issue is a myth.
The new proposals to make life as easy as possible for Rangers require an 8-4 vote, not 11-1.
Only commercial deals require an 11-1 vote which brought about the ‘Old Firm’ veto story.
The winter break was abolished despite Celtic and Rangers wishing to retain it- there was nothing they could do to prevent that decision.
I still maintain we,and only us,should explore a western european league where the logistics of travelling for the team would be quite straightforward at most two hours travel.There are many airlines would be Queing up to offer the club financial deals to transport the team on a regular commute.Let the home team keep the gate money,while the visiters get expenses.A superior group of clubs to be around and played in a more pleasant background.Also we can tell the brothers bye, bye.
I agree with yogi
Scottish football is on the verge of complete meltdown. If the current legislators who have run our game into the ground are now allowed to make such far reaching decisions then we are in REAL trouble.
Now is the time for someone to actually stand up and take control not just for the benefit of one club but the entire football league structure in Scotland. We used to have decent leadership, albeit not excellent via Ernie Walker, even Taylor at least took clear command. Now with the chuckle brothers Reagan / Doncaster at the helm we have the SPL executive bickering among themselves thinking only of self preservation.
Time to stand up & TELL the rest – abide by the rules or face the consequences in court / UEFA….let them know we will take it the full road if justice isn’t done.
Rangers are going down but, unfortunatley, the other 11 clubs in the top tier are all to happy to sink with then, for the sake of a few extra pounds.
the celtic board will be as guilty as any other, for they re the team that benefits most if rangers newco is allowed immediate re-instatement into the SPL…fkin farce!
I noticed a time back that Celtic had stopped using the ‘OF’ tag.
As example they refer to upcoming games as the ‘Glasgow Derby’.
This is an accurate representation of the teams and denies rangers goodwill by association with Celtic’s good name.
The current situation should be used as an extension of this.
When rangers die the term should be extinguished for good by all.
As the Mayor of Barcelona put it, we are unfortunate to share the same city as them but in truth that’s all we have in common.
Of course Celtic plc should be mindful of this when agreeing sponsorship deals!
Once a company is in liquidation the liquidator undertakes the following tasks:
Sell any remaining assets and collect any debts
Deal with any claims over the assets of the business – e.g. reservation of title claims
Investigate the affairs of the company and report on the conduct of the directors
Agree the claims from creditors as to how much is owed
Distribute any funds from realising the assets to the company’s creditors
Close the liquidation and place the company into dissolution
The whole liquidation process can take from 6 months to many years depending upon the complexity of the case and the issues to be addressed. Further details of the liquidation process can be found at http://www.liquidationhelp.co.uk.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1467573
So if Rangers FC are “liquidised” all Assets MUST be sold to pay off creditors. That means the sale of Ibrox, Murray Park and transfer fees for all players must be used to pay off the creditors.
Any Newco will have to put together a completely new squad of players, and presumably would need to RENT a football ground. There is no way this process could be done by the start of next season.