John Yorkston believes that the SFA must suspend or expel Rangers.
The Dunfermline chief will never win any popularity contest amongst Celtic or Rangers fans but hasn’t been afraid to speak his mind during the financial crisis that has hit the Ibrox side.
Yorkston was the first chairman to speak out against a newco being welcomed sanction free into the SPL as Dunfermline were relegated back to the SFL.
Rangers decision to go to the Court of Session to overcome a 12 month transfer embargo has alerted FIFA to the Ibrox crisis with the SFA facing a stark choice with their next move.
According to their own rules the only punishment open to them is to ban the club from the Scottish Cup or to expel or suspend the clubs SFA membership.
In Yorkston’s view the Scottish Cup ban isn’t an option.
“Most of us feel that because they are who they are, Rangers would get away with the lesser sentence but a cup suspension is not enough,” the Dunfermline owner told the Daily Record.
“This is more than a small administrative error that saw us and other clubs expelled from the Scottish Cup.
“None of us want to see Rangers go out of business but given the choice between the options available to the SFA, there is only one decision.
“I always thought relegation was the appropriate measure but I don’t know if they can find a middle ground any more because they tried that already with the transfer embargo.
“That’s what makes Rangers’ decision to go to the courts so foolish. They were badly advised because everyone knows you don’t go to court. People will blame the administrators for that but there are still folk at Rangers who should have known you just don’t do that.
“You don’t go to court unless you know all the facts and not enough research was done to check what the consequences would be.”
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Nothing to do with the fact that his side would probably end up back in the SPL at the cost of that mob getting punted. If losing Rangers didn’t serve Yorkston’s agenda then he’d be looking for them to be catapulted back into the SPL under any circumstance… in my humble opinion.
James in this instance I think you do the man a disservice. Dunfermline have already been relegated. They can’t come back. It’ll be Dundee as the second placed team that will benefit. The only way dunfermline could have been saved was if Rangers had been liquidated during the season and now that we know they did not pay Income Tax and NI, even after they went into administration, that is what should have happened.
To be fair to Yorkston in the same Record interview he discusses how the club is budgeting for First Division, players have been released, wages altered for Division One. Dundee are in the same boat with one of those clubs benefiting if Rangers are expeled.
With Raith, Falkirk, Dundee and no trips to the Highlands life in the First Division for Dunfermline next season should be quite appealing without the hassles of 12 noon Sunday kick offs and the other ‘benefits’ of the SPL.
Aye. Rangers decision to go to court was foolish unless the whole plan of Craig Whyte and duff and duffer is to destroy any possibility of them playing football again thus enabling him to sell ibrox and murray park to tescos!!!! Hope paddy mccourt stays. Honestly he does more for me in his few seconds of magic than most of the players in the spl do in an entire season!!
In reply to james, I believe that in the event of a vacant slot in the spl, this position would be awarded to dundee and not dunfermline.
If Yorkston is trying to get back into the SPL at ragers expense, why shouldn’t he?
One of the teams above them wasn’t paying any tax so they could maintain a better team than they could afford: That is- they were cheating. I was surprised that he accepted relegation so quietly.
Maybe the SPL and SFA should relegate the cheats. Or would that be to honest and dignified for them?
James, do you not think he’s unhappy that Dunfermline could go to the wall because Rangers haven’t paid their bills? I think that would be the reason for his anger than faux-outrage to get back into the league.
He’s already said himself that there is far more competition in the First Division, and has at least a chance of winning trophies there.
I would probably say it would actually be better financially – more people attending the games in the First, not having to spend so highly to compete with those in the First Division, so I’d imagine balancing the books might be easier, and for a club in trouble that might be the best thing for them. Of course, I’m no financial expert and I’m sure someone may prove me wrong, but that’s my opinion. I’m happy for someone to prove otherwise.
Even if he’s outraged because he has been denied a place in the SPL, then I agree with Para above. Why shouldn’t he be? He has been cheated by Rangers twice: in the form of monies owed and by cheating so that they can keep winning.
I, and no-one else should, have any problems with that.
Yorkston has been a grade A tit for years! He’s happy to do business with clubs and take players on loan etc (Kyle Hutton) yet he still feels he has the right to speak out against said club in a slanderous manner. Think his club would already be down the swanny if it werent for years of Celtic and Rangers financing them through away support! These tiny little clubs forget these things!
“Celtic and Rangers financing them through away support! These tiny little clubs forget these things!” you say David.
So Yorkston should doff his cloth cap and be grateful he can have the crumbs from the toffs’ table?
And what did he say that was slanderous?
Like every other club manager, Yorkston places the interests of his own team first — and rightly so. And if he thought parachuting a Newco into the SPL would benefit Dunfermline, he’d probably be all for it!
Every fan from ALL other clubs should be demanding that FIFA and UEFA BAN Rangers from European Competitions for 1 year for every season that they fielded players in Uefa Champions League & Europa Cup games who had dual contracts. That would be a punishment of around 15 years out of Europe for their cheating over all those years.
As for the SPL they should be Suspended from the league for the 1st 3 games against all oposition that means ALL other teams in the SPL would only play them once and the 4th set of games would not start untill after the 1st February therefore ensuring from the suspension that they can’t sign anyone.
Now togeather both of those suspensions would be a fair outcome and a deterant to others.
Anyone agree should email FIFA and demand the above sanctions be taken against Rangers for both their cheating over the last 15 years or so by fielding players with under the table dual contracts and by doing so cheating other teams out of millions in prize and gate receipt money that they might have had had they progressed to further rounds.
I can not agree, Pat. Forget the cheating etc. The vilest crime is the humiliation to and disdain for Scottish football that they have displayed and been let away with over and over (excuse the potential pun!).
I am sorry, no I am not, but if you want to be outside the rules then you should be outside the organisation. RFC for all these years and many more have been allowed to believe this is their entitlement and has resisted and challenged, often successfully, the imposition of regulations and punishments detrimental to ‘their cause’, domination!
They have for nearly a century regarded themselves as a club apart – ‘we ‘r a peepul!’. For this conduct, the only right penalty should be expulsion.
Their misdemeanours have implied they will only accept a Scottish football association designed for them. This can not be the SFA, SPL or SFL. Let them find their own league that accepts their right to dominate.
H H
well said yorkie. can’t see anything wrong with what he said. are those taking offence rangers fans?
Im of the opinion that we could debate and debate till the cows come home, but think its going to be the one outcome the rankers will get off with a slap on the wrist because the SPL don’t have the spine to do anything other than play “pass the parcel”, and the SFA is corrupt in that some of its members were former directors of rangers and will try and be seen to be doing something about it ,but in reality will just let them do as they want with impunity.
They’ve already given them so much time to give in these EBT,”that surely to god the dog on the street” will know have been doctored.Im read a neutral persons comments on another blo g that mirrors my thoughts, that is if does happen that they get off with all their cheating ways that it will spell the beginning of the end for scottish football…
Just think it will all end in a bitter civil war.The s.f.a.the s.p.l.do not have the bhalls or the desire to give shame fc their just deserts.They left shame fc with the EBT documents for 3 months wouldnt take delia smith that long to cook the books.If any fan group think they have got away lightly there will be the mother of all football rebellions.Get ready for WAR.
Fed up with Tainted R*ngers FC blaming individuals for their problems. Whyte WAS representing their club he was allowed to get into that position means they have no one to blame but themselves so it was THE CLUB who committed those breaches of the rules. The same goes for D & P.
The Scottish Cup? That could mean only ONE game to punish them, not likely to be seen as a punishment by FIFA. It’s good to see FIFA keeping a watch because we all know the SFA would have found away to keep the EE happy. I question why the embargo was given in the first place, those in power would have know that it would be fought & not allowed to stick. If they took the correct route it would have gave them time to ‘fix’ things.
Read ‘the hoards’ have already started bombarding FIFA with emails to protest I wonder if the usual bullying & threatening will work with them, i don’t think so.
Yorkston may be a twit of a person, but this time I can’t find fault in what he said.
All he’s doing to telling the dealer at the BJ table: Hey look! He has 22! You should take his money like you just took mine!
As for the rest of it… I’m ready for them to go away! Enough of “them”!!!
best outcome from this im`broke crap is uefa and fifa getting there act right and investigating the sfa and spl. then we can say .cry wolf,my ball`s. we told you there corrupt years ago.