The Herald goes mainstream over Ibrox cash crisis

The Herald has become the first mainstream publisher to alert their readers to the Ibrox cash crisis.

It seems that stopping Celtic from winning 10-in-a-row plus the departures of Dave King and Steven Gerrard has allowed The Herald to take a look inside the accounts that were published on November 5 with very little analysis in the wider media.

In today’s @heraldscotland . . . Why Rangers are on track to achieve self-sustainability – despite posting losses of £23.5m. https://t.co/E0vPEcd21D

— Matthew Lindsay (@MattLindsayHT) November 6, 2021

Losses of £23.5m were generally put down to the impact of the pandemic while it was noted that Dave King’s loan plus interest had been repaid although there is wriggle room in the date that Douglas Park made that claim, the date that the loan was due and publication of the 2021 report.

What hasn’t been picked up is that while other ‘investors’ were repaid in worthless shares King was repaid in cash plus interest. That money came from other directors who now, like King, have provided interest paying loans to keep the lights on.

A further £7.5m is needed before the end of this year, the Aston Villa compensation will go towards that but there is still a deficit if Tav and Alfie are to get their December wages with HMRC getting their cut.

In their premium content section The Herald reports:

AUDITORS have raised a ‘going concern’ warning over Rangers FC as it emerged the club has accumulated nearly £80m in losses since the Dave King regime change six years ago.

The ‘material uncertainty’ warning came as the club confirmed a loan facility with an unidentified high street bank for the first time since Mr King wrested control of the club from Sports Direct supremo and former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.

The facility is not a bank, but from 3 RFC investors.

Of interest is Bennett has joined King in no longer wanting shares. He loaned £5.5m that was repaid.

Maybe this is why RFC wanted more STM upfront. Only £7.2m remains receivable v £14.9m last year. Need to pay Bennett. pic.twitter.com/AMZDGS5LyC

— GrandOLTeam (@JBLuvsCeltic) November 6, 2021

The unidentified high street bank isn’t identified because it doesn’t exist. Two years ago the company switched from Metro Bank which is for start ups with no overdraft offered to Barclays Bank who like Metro offer a facility to make and receive payments but don’t offer an overdraft facility.

Auditor’s ‘going concern’ warning on Rangers FC as cumulative losses reach nearly £80m over six yearshttps://t.co/S7RIip1sJk

— The Herald (@heraldscotland) November 14, 2021

Martin Williams has followed the Sevco story in depth since formation in 2012, always putting the best possible spin on matters such as court victories over Sports Direct. In one report he referred to the ‘engine room Rangers subsidiary’ as he attempted some financial gymnastics from the factual reporting of the death of the club in June 2012 when a CVA was rejected. Rangers Football Club went into liquidation not a mythical company of engine room subsidiary.

In a similar article to today’s, published in February 2015 to gather support for the Dave King revolution, Williams told Herald readers:

Directors of TRFCL, the engine room Rangers subsidiary, in making its ‘going concern’ assumption said forecasts were “critically dependent on the football performance for the rest of the current season” and that the team were promoted to the top flight club at the end of this season.

It seems that the extent of the £2m/month losses is causing real concern now that Celtic’s 10-in-a-row bid has been halted. All of those overheads remain although the loss of Gerrard and five coaches will make an impact on the monthly pay-roll.

It wasn’t until January 2012 that the mainstream started to publish fears over the future of the old club, for seven months Craig Whyte enjoyed his billionaire status with joyous reports of bids for Nikica Jelavic being rejected despite a Champions League KO from Malmo.

With investors now insisting on interest paying loans rather than worthless shares things are getting tight with seven weeks to go until the transfer window opens with Ross Wilson expected to bring in Dembele Dollars for workmanlike stars. With Jon Dahl Tommason aware of the financial crisis at Ibrox there will be no bidding wars to sign Alfredo Morelos, Connor Goldson or Ianis Hagi.

The day after the accounts were published Matthew Lindsay of the Herald reassured readers:

RANGERS are firmly on course to achieve self-sustainability for the first time since the current regime seized control of the Ibrox club back in 2015 despite announcing an operating loss of £23.5m, a leading football finance expert has forecast.

The devastating impact of the Co**d-19 pandemic – which resulted in their fans being locked out of the stadium for the whole of the 2020/21 campaign – was laid bare in the annual report that was released yesterday morning.