The demise and liquidation of Rangers was never going to be straightforward but the black and white facts are being ignored at every turn.
Whatever the outcomes of the various talks, meetings and votes Rangers are in liquidation with the winding up of the club about to be passed from the friendly hands of Duff & Phelps to the more forensic interrogation of BDO- appointed by HMRC.
The implications will be far reaching with many details unknown such as who will be made responsible for the big tax case- should a verdict ever be delivered- but there are a few certainties that have to be faced upto.
HMRC will not allow a lookalike newco to set up otherwise we’d still have Worthwools and Rock Northern on our High Street. Any football club based at Ibrox won’t be allowed to see the light of day if they are a mirror image of the club that began the liquidation process last month after failing to come up with a satisfactory CVA.
Continued references to Rangers in the media doesn’t help anyone with HMRC imposing stringent conditions in terms of identity on anyone attempting to set up a lookalike newco.
One thing that has been annoying me recently is the amount of articles I have read which still refer to Rangers, the Gers etc. They no longer exist or at least they will no longer exist very very soon. Have they been liquidated yet ? I have read so much conflicting information that I don’t even know if that has officially happened.
Recently, I started a health kick, which I am sure will end pretty soon. You may think this is irrelevant to football but it is relevant. It is pretty much where this article has come from.
This has involved me cycling part of my journey to work and using the train. On said trains, I catch a lot of people who are reading the Scottish tabloids and the amount of headlines that refer to Rangers as if everything is just the same as it always has been is unbelievable.
How on earth can something that doesn’t exist be referred to as a live football club? When I think about it, it seems as stupid as me referring to a random old guy as my Grandfather. Neither my Grandfathers or Rangers exist now and they never will in the future.
I dare say they will turning in his grave at the thought of being used in the same sentence as Rangers so I will apologise to him in the next life. Well they would but both were cremated, anyway, back to the football.
The world of the internet bampot with their ‘news’ and rumours travel very quickly and I think, at times, that has made the situation a bit more difficult to understand. Who do you trust and how do you know that someone isn’t just giving an opinion passing information that turns out to be false?
As it stands, newco/sevco/zombie rangers/the rangers or whatever other name they fancy being known as have no league to play in, only enough players to field a starting 11 with 2 substitutes and very few season tickets sold. Keep in mind that SFL teams will start their season three weeks on Saturday.
Given the amount of SPL clubs who have came out and said no to newco, I’d expect the newco not to gain entry into the SPL although it’s not entirely impossible. There’s already been numerous discussions about the number of fans who will walk away if they are allowed back in but do you really think so many clubs would go against what so many of their fans say?
If there is no SPL place at today’s vote I fail to see how Sevco can create a new football club to play in any division in Scotland this season.
Even if they can get into the SFL at whatever level, would they be able to use Ibrox stadium? Would the costs of using a stadium with a capacity of 50,000 for Third Division football be financially viable?
Could Sevco afford to use the stadium if, for example, there are only 1000 fans turning up per match? Let’s face it, the ticket prices are almost certainly going to be lower than that of an SPL match so whether Ibrox is financially viable to use is an important question.
The dossier that was sent to the lower league clubs which has described as a blackmailing proves the point that desperation is kicking in. That happens when time and options are running out.
What will the board at Celtic be doing in this scenario? Will they secretly be worried about how season ticket sales will be affected without the hate filled fans of the dead Rangers coming over?
Will they be worried about a potential drop in television revenue, despite the fact that Sky have said they will continue to cover Scottish football ?
Will they be laughing so hard that their jaws are hurting? I know the latter of those is what I have been doing.
I’ve said in the past that if Rangers going defunct kills Scottish football then it’s down to terrible management of the game in this country. If it ends up the case that Celtic become a part time club playing at a public park then that’s because the game in this country is rotten to the core and badly needs a shake up from top to bottom.
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Just as frustrating as the continued usage of the name Rangers for this newco is the MSM’s persistent usage of verbs like “relegated” or “parachuted” as if this newco is an existing SPL club facing punishment by being sent down divisions.
No, the newco is new. Like any new club, it’s hoping to not only enter from the bottom (ahead of other candidates like Spartans), but is also asking to be “rocketed” or “launched” from the bottom tier to a much higher one without the due process of promotion that is expected of every other SFL club looking to move up the ranks.
Good morning oh sleekit one. As for the deceased we will say get to SFL3 where ye belong ye cheating so and so’s. For the game to be hit financially surely this would only happen if there was any money at the deceased club as any gate money would go to the many people, organisations and clubs they owe so there is no possible way in my opinion thet they should start from anywhere but where others before them that became liquidated started so there (sticks tongue at pc)… dummies oot
The only stories about a crisis in Scottish Football are coming from the chip wrappers or the badly run Kilmarnock board who are up to their eyes in debt (Sounds familiar). Other clubs can & will stick to budgets and cut their cloth accordingly. TV revenue might make up to 1/3 of their revenue but how many fans don’t attend due to games being on TV – Football with empty stadia is not good for TV / advertisers. SKY don’t hold all the aces, others like BT, ESPN etc – I’m sure other countries have rival broadcasters, or run their own – Spain have seperate TV deals…all worthy of consideration.
Sevco 5088 Ltd have enjoyed massive publicity, more than any other new club…time to completely ignore them. They will not be in the SPL and if they don’t smarten up quickly will not even be in ANY league. Clearly short on funds, desperation kicking in now talk of sueing other clubs for taking players they didn’t employ !! (Writs flying about sounds familiar also)
Let them fester, argue among themselves they are worse than the SFA / SPL / SFL as they totally lack any leadership, ideas, direction and soon will be under intense pressure from the BDO.
Doncaster, Regan & Ogilvie will very soon be history and we have a chance to rebuild a new Scottish Assocation. Do we lead or follow follow the mindless rabble squabbling for titbits.
Im just waiting on the day BDO advise that ibrokes park is to be dismantled, stripped and sold off.. Im gonna get down there to that fire sale and get some new turf for my garden, it wont bother me so much when i see my neighbours dog take a crap on it! HH!
We’re you drunk writing this? Lol. What’s all that about yer granda and health kicks like lol
Lol. the health kick is why I am on the trains (instead of driving) which is how I’ve known about the tabloid headlines Pat.
I don’t buy papers, just see headlines on ones that other folk have bought. The Granda reference is just that both them and Rangers are dead and nothing will change that.
Cheers for the comment 🙂
Doncaster, Regan & Ogilvie need to resign with immediate effect. Why? They have proven they are prepared to decimate the whole of Scottish professional football and tear up the rule books in order to facilitate a new un-registered club that claims to be Rangers only when HMRC are looking the other way.
They really need to read the Insolvency Act of 1986 to see that if Sevco are really old rangers in disguise, then Messrs Doncaster, Regan & Ogilvie are openly liable to arrest for legally aiding and abetting a criminal offence. It is ILLEGAL for a business to get rid of its debts by liquidating the company then metamorphosing into a debt free new company with ANY associations of the liquidated old company.
I think Messrs Doncaster, Regan & Ogilvie need to get advice from a competent lawyer versed on the law regarding the insolvency of a business.
Ignorance is not an excuse!
If as the papers would have us believe that scottish football dies, and celtic end up playing on a red ash park in glasgow, I would still be there cheering the bhoys on. In fact I hope that happens – as there might still be a chance of me fulfilling my dream of pulling on the glorious hoops haha.
When the old Rangers are officially liquidated and BDO move in; the MSM will leave themselves open to contempt of court if they continue to refer to Oldco as a going concern.
Williebhoy and Thai Tim
I really hope you are right but I have a horrible feeling that you may be too hopeful.
I would not be surprised if Newco were voted into the SPL today. A complete volte face by the clubs is not out of the question. I do reckon its too little, too late for this but believe me that is what the chairmen want! Remember supporters are always treated with contempt and the chairmen loathe their own supporters. I feel that they are 50/50 going into the vote, willing to risk a few thousand who they believe will drift back anyway, due to their junkie-like dependence on football.
Our board are the same. We even have some of our own fans talking about the best thing being the new entity being allowed into the SPL. They seem incapable, shamefully, of contemplating a life without Rangers, which makes them ‘Old Firm’ rather than Celtic supporters.
However, I think that the pressure will put them in Division 1, which would be just as big a catastrophe. They will accept some sanctions, buckle down and in two years they will be in the SPL, practically debt free. They will be facing a Celtic with between 5 and 10 times the debt that they have and the sad, pathetic landscape of Scottish football will be unaltered. An opportunity lost. the high-point of it all will be the past five months. And they will still call themselves Rangers, as will the media as will Celtic’s supporters. However, I will not be hanging around to join in.
So kneel donkeymaster says that a vote might be postponed now (i wonder why) the spl clubs should give him the impression they will now after all consideration vote yes.Then when they cast their votes all say NO and stick it right up him.
I don’t want sevco in the spl next season for the simple fact, as you so clearly state ‘they are a NEW club’ therefore they MUST apply to join the sfl, to do this you must apply for membership of the sfa then when that is granted you can apply to join the sfl division 3. The level at which NEW clubs can apply to join the league is not up to the NEW CLUB to decide, it must start at the bottom and work it’s way up to as high a position as it can regardless of how many fans it has, if and when that NEW CLUB reaches Scotland’s premier division if it decides to walk, talk and act like RFC* (r.i.p) then I will play along and join in the booing and hissing and ye rest of the circus but I will always know in my heart of hearts, and so will this NEW CLUB and it’s supporters that this is merely a tribute act to the most shameful ‘institutions’ in Scottish footballs history, also when the vote goes to the sfl/ spl chairmen all they have to do is ask theirselves one simple question … ‘what would happen to my club if it was liquidated?’ therin lies the answer to this mess……simples!
It has been clear for months and months that the media esp bbc, tabloids, sky etc would always ignore the fact that dead rangers were in factDEAD. If they can talk about them as if nothing has changed then they will be allowed to put out the same old crap about the ‘old firm’ record titles, traditional club etc, etc,. This suits the msm down to a ‘T’ as they then don’t have to win new audiences, listeners and readers for their daily crap but just tap into the brain dead bigots who are awaiting their brand of $hite to see them through the day.
This latest “possible vote postponement” has taken Farce to an unacceptably low level.
Forget about votes etc; and just think on this…
We are witnessing the most incompetent and biased situation this footbaling nation has ever seen.
The Three Stoogies need to be brought to account and sacked…NOW…
This is spiralling out of control and the lunatics are now running the asylum.
May your God help us all…
With it becoming more apparent that the spl will delay their decision, why have Celtic again said nothing? If nothing is decided today I feel its important that Celtic make a statement….why the indecision?
wonderswillnever even killmarnock wouldnt vote for tax dodgers fc they abstained it would be nice for the fans of the rest of the spl to abstain from going to rugby park
Follow Follow we will follow sevco 5008
Everywhere anywhere we will follow on
Follow follow we will follow sevco 5008
If they go to Annan we will follow on
For theres not a team like sevco 5008
No not one and there never shall be one
Queens park know all about their troubles
We will fight till the day is done
For there’s not a team like sevco 5008
No not one