One of the great characters of early stages in The Banter Years made a media return today. Finance Expert Neil Patey!
During 2011 and 2012 Patey was the go-to guy for the media as they sought reassurance on the desperate financial position at Ibrox.
With his middle-class voice and reassuring tones Patey would pop up on BBC1 and STV, radio stations and in newspapers to discuss the latest developments under Dave Murray, Craig Whyte and Charles Green.
Whatever the reality was Patey could find a silver lining as the notion of administration, an impossible to pay tax bill and liquidation was regularly dismissed.
Asked about the prospect of Rangers going into administration in April 2011 Patey told Daily Record readers:
That scenario doesn’t mean the club wouldn’t exist any more. It means the administrator would do a deal with the bank and the taxman to pay them off and they would come back out of administration.
The SPL would hit them with a points deduction for going into administration but for Rangers that would probably mean they would still finish second to Celtic that season.
That scenario is not impossible. It is unlikely but there is that possibility. But I would see them coming back out of administration if it were to happen. Rangers Football Club would still be there – it would not cease to exist.
??? Football finance expert Neil Patey says the suspension of Scottish football due to the Coronavirus pandemic could have dire consequences for some clubs. pic.twitter.com/RJ2ri9XzKG
— Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) March 13, 2020
Today Radio Clyde got back on the phone to Patey to discuss the consequences of football being suspended.
While Scottish clubs are hardly flush with cash only one has a Going Concern warning in their accounts.
In 2012 there were dire warnings issued that club after club would collapse without the blue pound but after going into administration Hearts and Dunfermline achieved CVA’s and emerged stronger for the experience. There were no casualties.
The next few months could be very ‘challenging’ for a number of clubs, Patey won’t mention their name but one club is far more vulnerable than any other to a few months without income. Earlier this season that club provided new contracts to Steve Davis and Allan McGregor who also signed new contracts in 2011 strangely enough.