Glasgow Rangers

The SPL has set up an independent commission chaired by Lord Nimmo Smith, to investigate the Glasgow Rangers FC’s alleged use of improperly registered players from 2000 to 2011.

This relates to Rangers’ use of an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) scheme to pay players over that same period.

EBT’s were a legal tax avoidance scheme, whereby companies paid money into an independent (ahem) trust, which would then “loan” the employee sums of money which in most cases need never be paid back.

As loans, monies paid via EBT were not subject to tax—employees could earn a lot more money than would otherwise be the case.

The problem with EBT’s is that there had to be a large element of trust between employer and employee.

EBT’s could not be used to make contractual payments to employees.

In fact, the employee had to “apply” to the trust for the loan, which—in theory—the trust could reject.

Rangers ran into trouble for their use of EBT’s because the payments players received from the trust were contractual in nature.

The UK tax authority, HMRC, has presented Rangers with a tax “assessment” for £36m in unpaid taxes, with a penalty still to be imposed.

Rangers appealed the assessment, and we still await the result of the tax tribunal which was asked to decide on the case.

Unquestionably, the use of EBT’s gave Rangers a sporting advantage against the competition over the course of a decade.

For example, let’s say Rangers wished to sign player x and offered him £20,000 per week, and Celtic wished to sign the same player, and also offered him £20,000 per week.

By having his wages taxed at Celtic, player x would take home roughly £12,000 per week, while at Rangers, the majority of his wages being paid through an EBT, the player would take home closer to £18,000 per week.

Paying players by means of EBT enabled Rangers to assemble teams they could not otherwise have afforded.

There is always the possibility that the tribunal will find in Rangers’ favour, but even if it does, the Rangers’ problem with the SPL remains.

SFA rules state that all payments made to players must be clearly recorded on their contracts which are lodged with the soccer governing authorities.

If Rangers’ EBT’s were administered properly, then the payments cannot have been registered on the players’ contracts.

The respected Scottish legal firm Harper McLeod has already conducted an investigation for the SPL and has concluded that there is a prima facie case for Rangers to answer.

That is, on the face of it, Rangers appears to have made undeclared payments to players over a ten year period.

As I explained in my previous article, The Rangers Football Club—the company formerly known as Sevco Scotland—purchased the business and assets of Rangers from the administrators Duff & Phelps. They also agreed to several conditions in order for the SFA to transfer Rangers’ membership of the SFA to Sevco Scotland (now The Rangers FC).

Amongst those conditions was that The Rangers FC would accept any punishment imposed as a result of the SPL investigation regarding the issue of improper registration of players.

Punishments could range from anything from a fine, to expulsion from the game. The thing that seems to worry “Rangers” more than anything though, is that SPL titles and Scottish Cups won between 2000-2011 could be stripped from the club.

This agreement has seen a belief emerge amongst Rangers fans and certain sections of the Scottish soccer press that they have been punished enough.

Typical examples can be found here and here.

So let’s look at exactly how “Rangers,” and their supporters claim to have been punished:

1)      10 point deduction (season 2011-12)

2)      £160,000 fine

3)      12 month transfer embargo

4)      Relegation to Division 3 of the Scottish Football League

5)      Loss of most of their squad from last season

6)      Banned from UEFA competition for 3 years

It looks as if the Rangers FC has been heavily punished—does this belief stand up to scrutiny?

There are two things that must be considered when addressing this issue.

First—there is a big difference between “consequences” and “punishments.”

Secondly—we must consider which “Rangers” we are talking about. Is it Rangers FC, or The Rangers FC?

Let’s go through them in turn:

1) Rangers FC were deducted 10 points by the SPL when they entered administration on February 14 this year. The rules have changed since then, but in 2004, the SPL introduced a rule that 10 points would be deducted, and a transfer embargo imposed, on any club entering administration. So Rangers were not “punished” with a 10 point deduction, it was simply a consequence of entering administration.

2) An SFA judicial panel fined Rangers FC £160,000 in April 2012, after being found guilty of five charges of impropriety in their financial affairs, including failing to pay their taxes over a 12 month period. This is without a doubt a punishment.

3) The same SFA judicial panel imposed a 12 month transfer embargo on Rangers FC. Administrators Duff & Phelps challenged this in Scotland’s highest court, the Court of Session, as it was not on the list of sanctions available to the panel. The Court of Session upheld the appeal and ordered the issue to be returned for the judicial panel to select a punishment from those available. The 12 month transfer embargo was never imposed on Rangers FC. The Rangers FC has accepted the embargo.

4) Contrary to popular perception, The Rangers FC has not been relegated to Division 3 of the SPL. They have never before been a member of any league, and as a completely new club, applied to the SPL for membership. The SPL rejected the application, so The Rangers Football Club applied for membership of the Scottish Football League and as a brand new member, was placed in the bottom tier, Division 3. Relegation then, has not been a punishment imposed on “Rangers.”

5) “Rangers” has indeed lost a lot of players from last season’s expensive squad. Players such as captain Steven Davis, Steven Whittaker, Steven Naismith, Allan McGregor,  Kyle Lafferty, Jamie Ness and Rhys McCabe have walked away from Rangers FC. These have not though, walked away from The Rangers FC, for whom none of them ever played. With Rangers FC consigned to liquidation, the players’ contracts were voided and they were free to sign for other clubs. Loss of players then, is not a punishment imposed on “Rangers.” It is simply a consequence of Rangers FC being liquidated.

6) The Rangers FC will not be able to compete in UEFA competition for at least three years. This though, is not a punishment, it is a simple fact. A UEFA license cannot be granted to any club who do not have three years’ worth of audited accounts. The Rangers FC was founded as Sevco Scotland on May 29 this year, so The Rangers FC is not “banned” from UEFA competition, they simply do not fulfil the criteria to enter any UEFA competitions.

So how has “Rangers” been punished so far? It amounts to a £160,000 fine on Rangers FC, and a 12 month transfer embargo on The Rangers FC.

Even the transfer embargo is not a punishment though. Accepting the transfer embargo was a condition of membership for The Rangers FC, and the SFA helpfully agreed to delay it until September 1, thereby enabling The Rangers FC to strengthen their squad before embarking on their great adventure through the lower leagues.

Let’s turn our attention now to the possible stripping of titles won by Rangers FC from 2000-2011, the sanction which The Rangers FC appears to be most concerned about.

Ally McCoist and Charles Green have pledged to fight any attempt to remove titles from Rangers FC historical record.

This is like Ben Johnson telling the IOC in 1988, “Hell no, you’re not having my medal back!”

If Rangers FC are found guilty of using improperly registered players from 2000-2011, then losing those titles will be a consequence of effectively cheating to win them.

Stripping titles from Rangers FC’s record will effectively have zero impact on The Rangers FC.

They should be far more concerned about what the real punishment could potentially be.

The SFA has shown not just a shocking lack of leadership in dealing with the “Rangers” crisis, but also an unwillingness to apply its own rules to The Rangers FC, who by rights should not have been granted membership of the SFA at all, as they do not meet the requirement for three years’ of audited accounts.

The SFA has deliberately fudged the issue of how they regard The Rangers FC. Is it the club founded in 1872 or not?

Of course The Rangers FC is not the club founded in 1872. That club remains in administration, is no longer a member of the SFA and will shortly be liquidated.

The SFA granted Sevco Scotland membership by allowing Rangers FC’s accounts to “count” towards their application (despite Rangers FC failing to produce audited accounts for last year).

The SFA transferred Rangers FC’s membership to The Rangers FC but have avoided the question of whether The Rangers FC can claim Rangers FC’s historical record.

The SFA has a responsibility to ensure the good governance (including financial governance) of the game in Scotland.

By allowing the fiction to develop that the “club” and “company” are separate, the SFA have created a situation whereby “clubs” are not responsible for the debts they accumulate.

Scottish clubs who cannot pay back their debt can now simply liquidate, sell their stadia to friendly businessmen, and enter the lowest tier of the SFL as the, “same” debt-free “club.”

By granting The Rangers FC membership, the SFA has set a very dangerous precedent. They have allowed “Rangers” to tell creditors that they are not the “company,” which owed them over £100m, but tell their supporters that they are the “same club” which profited on the pitch from the debt they have walked away from.

If the SFA recognise The Rangers FC as a club founded in 1872, then Scottish soccer clubs really will be free to run up astronomical debts, with no need ever to pay them back.

Who would provide new credit or banking facilities to any Scottish soccer club now?

Follow Daniel O'Connell on twitter @DanielO'Connel18

Less than a month into the new Scottish soccer season and the SFA’s newest member club is causing trouble.

Before I go on, you may consider the repeated use of “Rangers Football Club” and “The Rangers Football Club” unnecessary.

This is actually a necessary distinction to make as “Rangers Football Club” is the club formed in 1872, which is no longer a member of the SFA and will soon be liquidated.  

“The Rangers FC” is the new name of Sevco Scotland, a consortium fronted by former Sheffield United FC Chief Executive Charles Green, which purchased the assets of Rangers Football Club in June this year.

They are two separate, unrelated legal entities, one of which has purchased the real estate of the other.

A fiction has emerged amongst Rangers supporters that somehow the “club” and the “company” are separate and that The Rangers Football Club Ltd has purchased Rangers Football Club from Rangers plc.

This is emphatically not the case.

There is no legal distinction or difference between the club and the company. They are one and the same.

In 1872, Rangers Football Club was a club. That is, a group of individuals who have come together to form an association with members and are run by a committee.

A club’s members pay an annual subscription, and its members are personally liable for any debts incurred by the club.

Around the turn of the 20th century, most soccer clubs in the UK incorporated, partly to raise funds and partly to protect members from having to pay debts from their own pockets.

Incorporation means that the club sells shares in itself, and the new directors are not personally liable for any debts incurred.

So it was that in 1899 Rangers Football Club incorporated.

Investors bought shares in the club, which changed its legal status from a club to a private company limited by shares.

The new investors owned shares in Rangers Football Club, which was now called Rangers Football Club Ltd, the wording which to this day adorns the gates of Ibrox Stadium.

There was, and is, no separate company and club.

In the early 1980’s, Rangers Football Club Ltd was floated on the stock market.

This involved another change in legal status, from a private limited company to a public limited company.

In the UK, the names of public companies are not allowed to end in "Ltd,” or “Limited,” so Rangers Football Club Ltd became Rangers plc.

As a public company, a controlling interest in Rangers plc could be purchased by anyone with the cash to buy the necessary number of shares and a willing seller.

So it was that in 1988 a controlling interest in Rangers plc was purchased by David Murray and Rangers plc became part of Murray International Holdings.

Then in 2011, Murray’s shares in Rangers plc were purchased by  Wavetower, owned by Craig Whyte.

After completing the purchase, Wavetower adopted the name, “The Rangers FC Group Limited.”

Neither of these takeovers required a transfer of Rangers’ membership of the SFA to the new company who had bought Rangers plc.

Charles Green’s Sevco Scotland (now The Rangers Football Club Ltd) consortium did not buy Rangers plc, the legal entity formed in 1872.

They purchased Ibrox Stadium, the Murray Park training complex and a car park.

That is why Rangers’ SFA membership had to be transferred from Rangers Football Club to The Rangers Football Club.

You cannot "transfer" something from yourself to yourself!  

The Rangers FC did not qualify for SFA membership as they do not have the three years’ worth of audited accounts required, so in a quirky deal, the SFA agreed to transfer the membership of the now defunct Rangers FC to the company who purchased the assets and business of the old club.

As a condition of transferring the membership, The Rangers FC had to agree to pay all debts owed to Scottish soccer clubs by the now defunct Rangers FC.

This week, following rumblings of discontent over The Rangers FC signing several players beyond the price range of most SPL clubs, Green announced that The Rangers FC has paid all debts owed by the now defunct Rangers FC.

That it seemed, was that.

Until yesterday, when Dundee United FC released a statement that, contrary to Green’s announcement, they have still not received their full share of the gate money for the Scottish Cup tie played at Ibrox in February.

This statement has sparked a great deal of confusion, with Green claiming that the SPL had earlier agreed to pay the money to Dundee United, which the SPL deny.

The dispute hinges on a letter written by the SPL to Rangers FC on May 18, informing Rangers that their prize money from finishing in second place in season 2011-12 would be withheld and distributed to those clubs owed money by the now defunct club.

Green stated:

 “A letter from the SPL to the club—dated May 18, 2012—stated: ‘The board decided to accede to the application of Dundee United and accordingly, the sum will be withheld from the next sum payable by the SPL Limited to Rangers and the sum will be paid by the SPL Limited to Dundee United.’ Why the SPL have not paid Dundee United the outstanding sum as previously agreed is a question that they need to answer. We wrote to Dundee Utd on Monday explaining the SPL had previously confirmed they would pay it.”

Not strictly true. On May 18, The Rangers Football Club did not exist.

It was formed on May 29 (as Sevco Scotland) and did not buy the business and assets of Rangers Football Club until June 14.

So the SPL wrote to Rangers Football Club at a time when it was still a member of the SPL and clinging on to life by its fingertips.

Working on the assumption that Rangers Football Club would still be a member of the SPL this season, the SPL agreed that they would withhold prize money from Rangers Football Club and distribute it to its Scottish soccer creditors.

The SPL’s agreement, then, was with Rangers Football Club.

No such agreement was made with The Rangers Football Club, which is a different club, and has no right to the prize money won by Rangers FC last season.

Following protracted negotiations, The Rangers Football Club was granted Rangers FC’s membership of the SPL with several conditions, one of which was that The Rangers Football Club would pay any money owed by Rangers Football Club to other Scottish clubs.

Charles Green and The Rangers Football Club agreed to that condition but are now claiming that they should not have to pay money owed to Dundee United.

The Rangers Football Club appears to be in clear breach of the agreement by which they were granted membership of the SFA.

The SFA must now either act to ensure The Rangers Football Club keeps its agreement to pay Rangers FC’s Scottish soccer debt, or lose control of the situation altogether.

Whether there exists the will within the SFA to do so remains to be seen.

Breaking its own rules to admit The Rangers Football Club is turning out to be a major mistake by the Scottish Football Association.  

Follow Daniel O'Connell on twitter @DanielOConnel18

Rangers were voted into the Scottish Third Division Friday by a 25-5 vote of Scottish Football League members. The vote ensures that Rangers will not play in the Scottish Premier League for the next three years as the club attempt to climb back through the ranks.

The effects are already starting to be felt among other Scottish clubs, especially in the Scottish Premier League. The Scottish Premier League members had previously voted the new Rangers consortium out of the SPL on July 4th.

Five clubs could be forced into administration within weeks, St. Mirren chairman Steven Gilmore said in an interview with The Telegraph. This is a result of a potential 16 million pound loss of television revenue per season due to the loss of four telecasts per year of the Old Firm rivalry with Celtic.

A new television contract with BSkyB and ESPN, which was agreed to in November 2011, was set to begin this season. However, the contract, which was worth 80 million pounds and would run through 2017, was never signed and required both Celtic and Rangers to be in the Scottish Premier League according to an article in The Guardian.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron took an even dimmer view of the future of Scottish football in the same article from The Telegraph.

“None of us will escape the financial fallout from this,” Cameron said. “There was an opportunity on the table, in terms of the joint agreement tabled at [Friday’s] meeting for us all to come together and a genuine willingness to improve the game substantially over the coming years."

“But it now looks as though this will once again be kicked back in to the long grass. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring forward change may well have been lost," Cameron continued.

“The loss of either our fans or our sponsors was never going to leave any of the clubs in Scotland in a healthy financial position and for some this could spell the end of football as we know it.”

Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster is trying to save the SPL and keep Rangers within striking distance of the SPL by forming SPL2, which would be made up of Rangers and several teams currently in the Scottish First Division.

Teams in the lower divisions will be affected as well. Yes, teams in the Scottish Third Division will surely get a bump at the gate when Rangers make their two visits to town each season. But teams in the lower three divisions may not receive their 1.9 million pound settlement payment from the SPL that was agreed upon when the Scottish Premier League broke away from the rest of the Scottish Football League.

It's no sure shot that Rangers will even gain promotion this season. Several players, including Steven Naismith, Steven Davis, Steven Whittaker, and Allen McGregor, refused to have their contracts transferred to the new Rangers and became free agents.

Meanwhile, Rangers have allowed international players Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Doran Goian to leave the club after being voted into Division Three, according to the BBC. Rangers are still under a transfer embargo, so the club cannot add any players until the embargo is lifted. The current Rangers squad would be a mix of holdovers and youth players.

If the Scottish football pyramid further deteriorates, the long-standing rumor that Celtic and Rangers would abandon Scottish football and join the English Football Association may gain weight.

The Sun reported in June that Rangers were looking into buying Bury FC, who currently play in the npower League One, the third tier of English football, and take their spot. Without Celtic and Rangers, the Scottish football league structure would surely crumble. While that plan looks very unlikely at the moment, it shows how close to the brink Scottish football is because of a few bad decisions.

Friday is Judgment Day for Rangers FC. At least that’s the idea, anyway.

Three resolutions are being presented to the member clubs of the Scottish Football League for vote concerning the placement Rangers within the SFL structure.

Via Herald Scotland, those resolutions are as follows:

1. That the Scottish Football League Members agree to admit Sevco Scotland Limited as an Associate Member and agrees to permit Rangers F.C. to play in the League during Season 2012/13.

2. That the Scottish Football League Members direct the Board of Management of The Scottish Football League (the “Board”) to provide that Rangers F.C. shall play in the Third Division of the Scottish Football League during Season 2012/13 unless the Board shall have to its satisfaction negotiated and reached agreement with The Scottish Premier League and The Scottish Football Association on a series of measures which the Board shall consider to be in the best interests of the game, how it is structured, how it is governed and how it is financed, whereupon the Board shall be authorised to provide that Rangers F.C. shall play in the First Division of the Scottish Football League during Season 2012/13.

3. That the Scottish Football League Members in terms of Rule 12 approve the resignation of either Dundee F.C. or Dunfermline Athletic F.C., whichever shall be admitted to join the Scottish Premier League for Season 2012/13, such resignation to take effect as at the date of admission of such club to the Scottish Premier League, notwithstanding that the requisite notice under Rule 12 shall not have been given. Details of the series of measures referred to at (ii) above shall be made available to the Members in advance of the meeting and an opportunity for full discussion of those measures will be given prior to the proposals being put to the meeting.

Or, if you prefer a more simple explanation, they go like this:

1. Rangers are voted into the SFL.

2. Rangers are voted into the Third Division unless the SFL, the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football Association concoct a scheme to get Rangers into the First Division.

3. Allowing whoever takes place of Rangers in the SPL (Dundee United or Dunfermline Athletic) to do so.

Since the time for most of the talking about these "decent" proposals has been done, let us instead handicap the votes.

Given that the SFA and SPL are desperately trying anything to get Rangers into the First Division, the odds presented are liable to fluctuate a little bit.

With reports coming in, however, that many clubs are not ever remotely on board with the additional proposals, Friday has the ability to be quite contentious at Hampden Park.

Vote on measure 1: 70 percent chance of success

It’s not hard for most clubs to vote Rangers into the SFL. There will be some that may feel that if they even so much as concede Rangers into the SFL in the first place that they will be at the mercy of the titular heads of Scottish football.

Thus, the odds on Rangers being accepted are pretty good, but not anywhere near a slam dunk.

Vote on measure 2: 10 percent chance of success

As currently written, most clubs certainly feel that the three governing bodies have several schemes brewed to drive Rangers into the second tier of Scottish football.

That hasn’t set well with a lot of clubs, and with the language construed as it is, it might require a later vote for Rangers to be admitted to a division period. Not that there’s any rush or anything.

Vote on measure 3: 90 percent chance of success

The gist of Rule 12 (on page seven) is that, with a two-thirds vote, the clubs will allow whichever club is chosen to go to the SPL to leave the SFL and do so.

The only thing that might complicate matters is if the governing heads decide at the meeting to force Rangers in the First Division.

If they were to do that before the third vote is taken, the SFL clubs could create a massive issue by not creating a space for Rangers to join.

To say this whole situation is a clusterbomb would be modest at best. Rangers are being pulled in two different directions and are at the mercy of both sides.

One wants them to be taken down to the Third Division. One wants them to be rammed into the First Division.

Either way, Friday’s vote has the opportunity to create a new, harrowing mess in the land of Scottish football.

In a week’s time, Rangers will know whether or not they will re-enter Scottish football in the second or fourth tier of the Scottish Football League.

It is fair to say that Rangers could end up at either level, though to listen to the heads of the SFL and Scottish Premier League, you would think Scotland will disappear as a nation if Rangers are driven to the bottom of the game.

So much is the wailing from the heads of the SPL that the perceived “SPL 2” option is gaining more steam by the minute.

This brings up a rather important question: If the SPL clubs knew ahead of time that sending Rangers to the hands of the SFL clubs had about a 50-50 shot of seeing them end up at the bottom of the barrel, and that the repercussions would be great, why did they do it?

Maybe it’s because the clubs listened to the fans rather than their pocketbooks for once.

Unfortunately, the SPL and Scottish Football Association authorities have no such fans to listen to.

And they’re not about to let their jobs go without a fight.

Much has been made of the “SPL 2” letter that was released to the media a week ago. (Full letter here) It detailed, for lack of a better term, why the SFL should simply accept Rangers as a SFL 1 squad.

In the noted scenarios, it describes the possibilities of each level of Rangers’ return (from the non-SPL return through suspension of all play for next term) but then simply says why the SFL squads should be putting Rangers in the second tier.

There’s no explanation outside of “ruin” for anything other than Division Two play while somehow maintaining “sporting integrity.”

Taken at face value, this screams as a “Bail us out!” moment for the SPL.

And not necessarily the clubs, either. This looks more like a case of the SPL, SFA and SFL crying out for the structure to remain intact so that they themselves will not have to lose their own jobs.

Certainly there is a financial hit that will be taken without Rangers. How much so is open to debate as there are no concrete figures that have been laid out by the three organizational heads.

It’s entirely conceivable that the sponsors might all pull out and sue for damages. They could also simply shift their support only to Celtic and cut some of the cash flow.

Saying that all the television rights are based solely on the Old Firm fixture is denying the appeal that Celtic have by themselves.

Certainly, in tandem with Rangers, they would have a broader reach than without them.  But to say the whole of Scottish football will lay in tatters if Rangers aren’t admitted into the second tier is downright fear-mongering.

It is a desperate message sent out by the three organizations to scare clubs into sending Rangers into a division where the governing bodies can still profit from them, after the SPL teams voted the Glasgow club out of the league..

Knowing this, perhaps it is no surprise that SFA chief Stewart Regan went on an outlandish verbal spree after the SPL vote was handed down.

Some of the best highlights include the following (from the Scotsman):

“Without Rangers, there is social unrest and a big problem for Scottish society,” claimed Regan. “They have a huge fan base and to contemplate the situation where those fans don’t have a team to support, where those fans are effectively left without a game to follow, I just think that could lead to all sorts of issues, all sorts of problems for the game."

“There is a lot of emotion around this subject because Rangers are a huge institution in Scottish football history and they are where they are. Their fans have been hurt, they don’t know what’s happening. There hasn’t been a great deal of leadership at the club and there hasn’t been a huge amount of communication from the football authorities."

“The only solution for the game now is that Rangers come into the Scottish Football League and they come into it in the First Division. If Rangers were to go anywhere other than the First Division, then there would something in the region of £15.7 million worth of losses to the game."

Quite clearly, Regan is off his rocker.

There are a couple of conclusions one can draw from these statements:

1. Rangers fans are a derelict group of miscreants and that taking their placebo away will cause mayhem of unprecedented levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNlhVt2Qi4E

2. Rangers fans are uneducated masses who have no idea why they’ve been booted from the SPL. The new ownership is incompetent. The football authorities in question, obviously, are not people like Regan, according to the man himself.

3. Having said that, Scottish football is squarely based on Rangers, and that any failure to accommodate them will kill the league where it stands.

What Regan's full interview really should have said is something like this (translated by this author):

“We’re in a situation we never foresaw coming and even when we knew that Rangers had entered administration we sat on our hands and figured they’d take care of things.”

“Once that wasn’t the case, we still figured the SPL clubs would nail them with sanctions galore but let them stay in the top league.”

“Once we figured out they had no intention of keeping Rangers around, we decided we needed to put safeguards in place to ensure that once the SFL votes them into the second tier, that we can still look authoritative without punishing them to the point of not making back to the SPL in 2013.”

“Once we figured out that the SFL clubs have no intent to let them into the second tier, we’ve decided to hell with the SFL and we’ll make our own league and make sure that Rangers get back to the top quickly so our money doesn’t run away.”

If the organizational heads would simply let this play out, then Scottish football would stand a chance of restructuring in a way that actually benefits all levels of the game.

Instead, the SPL figureheads intend to get their own way or make a league of their own to cover their own backsides.

If they wanted a way to smash Scottish football into the ground, they might have just found it.

July 4 might be Independence Day in two countries this year.

The U.S. might have to make room for Scotland, who may be celebrating the SPL’s independence from Rangers.

Reports are circulating that at least five clubs have said on the record that they will vote to prevent the blue half of Glasgow from returning to the top flight of Scottish football.

While this can’t be necessarily a shock to Gers fans everywhere, the specter of what looms now is close to becoming a reality.

Coupled with reports that Craig Whyte is to be investigated for his handling of the club and that current owner Charles Green intends to challenge the TUPE regulations, Rangers’ reputation is taking a hellacious blow at the moment.

At this point, the worst possible outcome may be sending Rangers into the second division instead of all the way down the ladder.

With a large portion of the club’s players likely to opt out from taking part in the "newco" (under TUPE regulations), there’s likely to be little squad remaining.

Even the name recognition of Rangers is not likely to be able to draw in recruits that will help them challenge for the second division title.

In short, it may become Rangers’ youth squad that becomes the basis for the bulk of the club in the 2012-2013 campaign.

While it is certain that there are fine talents swimming around at Murray Park, asking a squad of reserves and youngsters to step in and win the division, even at the second division level, is a bridge too far in all likelihood.

That’s why it might be better if the squad landed in the fourth division and steadily built their way back up through the ranks.

Rangers’ youth and reserves would likely have little trouble sweeping away the competition of the fourth and third divisions. With extended playing time, those players could become the basis for a strong core once the matters of the club, as a whole, are settled.

By that time, the recognition of Rangers as a club would again have some value and the squad could begin to find players available in the transfer market that could help the squad through back to the SPL.

With top flight status resecured, the squad would have the pull (if not the sympathy) that it formerly had in the transfer market.

Also by this time, the club would have had the ability to lay out a secure financial plan that keeps the squad from having to go through such a sorry state again.

Much of what has been described, of course, depends on what happens when the brain trust of the SPL, SFA and SFL get together and try to salvage Rangers in the second division.

At this point, this is possibly the worse of the two options because any signs of regression (i.e. not winning the second division) will be stained on to Rangers’ history books.

It also may stunt any changes in the ownership and management structure.

This is where the heart of the problem really lies and anything that inhibits a clearing out and a principled rebuilding of the club’s framework will lead to problems further down the road.

Rangers will be punished and removal from the SPL is looking to be a forgone conclusion.

But there is a right and wrong way for Rangers to rebuild itself. Settling the off-pitch matters will help the club break away from the chains that currently bind them in the public sphere.

Only with time and a sound strategy will Gers be able to reclaim the place that it has held so many times before.

It has been another momentous day in Scottish soccer, and again, the news is not good for fans of the now defunct Rangers FC.

Following announcements by former Rangers FC players Rhys McCabe and Sone Aluko that they would not be transferring their contracts to Sevco 5088, senior established players Steven Naismith and Steven Whittaker yesterday announced that they are also declining the opportunity to continue their careers with Sevco 5088.

There has been speculation that other senior players, including goalkeeper Allan McGregor, club captain Steven Davis and USA internationalist Carlos Bocanegra will announce their refusal to join Sevco 5088 in the next few days.

Should this come to pass, it would call into question whether or not Sevco will actually have any players under contract by the time preseason training begins.

Announcements by Saint Johnstone FC, Hibernian FC and Aberdeen FC makes five total SPL clubs who have declared that they will vote against allowing Sevco 5088 (who would like to call themselves “The Rangers FC” once Rangers’ liquidation process is complete) into the top league.

When the SPL clubs meet on July fourth to decide on Sevco’s application, they will not now garner enough votes to see them gain an SPL place. So, next season, for the first time since league soccer began in Scotland in 1890, there will be no club called “Rangers” in the top flight.

If Sevco are to play anywhere next season, it appears that the Scottish Football League will be their only option, with the governing authorities keen to rush through a reorganisation of the game in order to parachute them into a proposed “SPL2.”

This idea is sure to be unpopular with the clubs presently in Division 1 of the SFL, with Falkirk FC having already released a statement voicing their opposition.

So much for the soccer developments.

The big news today is that the Crown Office has instructed Strathclyde Police to launch a criminal investigation into the purchase of Rangers FC in May last year by Craig Whyte and of the subsequent management of the club.

This should really put an end to any hopes of Sevco 5088 being allowed to participate in Scottish soccer at any level next season.

With doubts cast on the legality of Craig Whyte’s purchase of Rangers FC and the subsequent sale of the club’s assets by administrators Duff & Phelps to Charles Green’s consortium, the “Rangers” brand is now unbelievably toxic.

The soon-to-be-liquidated Rangers FC are under investigation by the SPL for the incorrect registration of players over a decade, from 2000 to 2010.

They have gone under, owing creditors a confirmed £55m (possibly rising to £134m). It appears that they have won league titles and trophies with teams paid for at the taxpayer’s expense.

To allow Sevco 5088 to enter the SFL and trade with the “Rangers” name, debt-free, while the team played out of a stadium bought for a ridiculously low price would totally and irreparably corrupt Scottish soccer.

The previously unthinkable may be about to happen. Fans of the now defunct Rangers FC may have to content themselves with a new “Rangers” entering Scottish soccer at a much lower level than the Scottish Football League.

Watch this space.

The chances of a “Rangers” being in the SPL next season are receding by the day after statements by two SPL clubs indicating that they will be voting against accepting the application of Charles Green’s “The Rangers FC” following the liquidation of Rangers FC.

Yesterday (Thursday) Heart of Midlothian FC pulled no punches in a strongly worded statement from their owner, Vladimir Romanov. Romanov said:

“The football mafia represented by former owners of Rangers FC and Rupert Murdoch's media are to blame for some of the worst problems to hit Scottish football and must not be allowed back in under any circumstances.”

He went on:

“"It had to happen sooner or later. Victories were achieved not by sporting merits, but through slander, conspiracies amongst players and their poaching via third parties, unfair pressuring of referees, who in themselves are as valuable to the fabric of football as the football stars themselves.”

Romanov has never been one to mince words.

Heart of Midlothian was the first club to declare publicly against Green’s The Rangers FC, and it was followed a matter of hours later by a statement from Dundee United FC, which was more measured but no less emphatic:

“The Board of Directors of Dundee United are unequivocal in the belief that a form of sporting punishment must form part of the reasoning behind any decision made and, therefore, cannot vote the newco into the SPL.”

These two statements were followed by frenzied speculation that Aberdeen FC had also decided to vote against Green’s The Rangers FC, but this was quickly denied, with Chairman Stewart Milne acting to calm the situation by claiming no decision had yet been taken. He said:

“Contrary to reports, AFC has still to reach a final decision regarding the July 4 vote on the Rangers newco."

"This is a critical decision which will have major implications for all clubs and the future of Scottish football."

“The views of our fans and the issue of sporting integrity will clearly be a major influencing factor in our decision making."

Non-committal then, but it has since emerged that a major shareholder in Aberdeen FC will be very unhappy if a “no” vote from Aberdeen is not forthcoming.  STV reports that Jim Cummings, who holds a 13 percent stake in the club, has threatened to call an EGM if the club vote to accept Green’s The Rangers FC.

Rangers require the votes of at least eight SPL clubs at the meeting scheduled for July 4 , and Channel 4 News journalist Alex Thomson reports on his blog that of around 1600 emails he received in response to a request from Scottish soccer fans on their opinion, not a single respondent was in favour of The Rangers FC being allowed into the SPL.

This is significant because the BBC reports Kilmarnock FC, Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC,  Motherwell FC and Saint Mirren FC have all announced that they will go along with their fans’ wishes when casting their vote.

With Hibernian FC having previously indicated in not so many words that they would vote no, in short, things look bleak for The Rangers FC’s prospects of SPL soccer next season.

There had been speculation earlier this week that The Rangers FC could be parachuted into the SFL Division 1 as a compromise solution, but today, First Division Falkirk FC issued a statement declaring their opposition to any such plans. Falkirk Chairman Martin Ritchie said in a statement:

“It would be totally unacceptable if a Rangers newco were admitted to the First Division on the current rules.”

As things stand, it looks as though The Rangers FC will fail to gain entry into the SPL and can at best hope for a place in the SFL Division 3.

Follow Daniel O'Connell on twitter @DanielOConnel18

The Rangers' situation continues to develop at pace, and some might say the hopes for a continuing "Rangers presence" in the SPL have begun to unravel.

Yesterday afternoon the Scottish Premier League released a press statement in which they said:

"At its meeting earlier today, the SPL Board considered a number of issues relating to Rangers FC.

EBT Investigation

The SPL Board heard a report from its solicitors following the investigation into payments to, or for the benefit of, players allegedly made by Rangers FC outside of contract.

The delay in concluding the investigation was caused by an initial lack of co-operation from Rangers FC.

The investigation has now been completed and, in the view of the SPL, there is a prima facie case to answer in respect of its Rules.

Disciplinary charges will be brought when the future status of Rangers FC is clarified and prior to the start of season 2012/13.

General Meeting

An application for registration of transfer of Rangers’ SPL share has been received. Consideration of the application will depend on receipt by the SPL Board of all required documentation and verification.

A general meeting of all 12 member clubs has been convened for 10am on Wednesday 4 July 2012 for members to decide whether to approve the transfer."

Prima facie is a legal term which basically states that a review of available evidence suggests that on the face of it, an offence has occurred.

Last month, a BBC documentary produced evidence that since 2001, Rangers FC made payments to players through an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT), which enabled them to avoid paying huge sums to the UK tax authority, HMRC.

Should Rangers FC now be found guilty of making payments to players which were not included on their contracts (and for an EBT to be utilised properly they cannot be included in the contract), then they have been fielding ineligible players in all competitions and each and every match should now be recorded as a 0-3 loss, meaning they could be stripped of all league titles and trophies won in the period.

This could also have major ramifications for the SFA, as Rangers would have fielded improperly registered players in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League as well.

As I reported yesterday, Rangers FC actually no longer exists. The club entered liquidation Thursday last.

On July 4th, the SPL will consider an application from The Rangers FC, a company formerly known as Sevco Ltd, who last week purchased Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park. In fact, scratch that. The BBC today reports that "The Rangers FC," cannot at this moment be used by the new company. Companies House, the government agency responsible for company regulation in the UK, reports that Sevco 5088 has not as yet changed its name and cannot do so until the liquidation of Rangers plc is concluded - a process which may take up to a year to complete.

Sevco 5088 say (rightly) that it was Rangers plc (in liquidation) which owes HMRC and other creditors a confirmed £55m, and possibly as much as £134m. The Rangers FC are a new company and so, have no debts.

On the other hand, The Rangers FC claim to have purchased the club, with the implication being that they are entitled to Rangers FC's place in the SPL.

Yesterday, the SPL may just have called their bluff.

If The Rangers FC are the club formed in 1872, it must now put its neck on the chopping block for the soccer punishments incurred by Rangers FC.

This could mean a fine, the stripping of honours won since 2001, relegation, suspension or even expulsion from Scottish soccer.

If the Rangers FC are NOT the club formed in 1872, then they must acknowledge that they are a new club, meaning that there is no sporting argument for admitting them to the SPL.

In just over two weeks' time, we will discover if sporting integrity, or keeping "Rangers" alive is more important to the soccer authorities in Scotland.

Follow Daniel O'Connell on twitter @DanielOConnel18

When the fixtures for the 2012-13 season are released tomorrow morning, Rangers Football Club will not be included.

Instead, "Team 12" will replace the now defunct Rangers F.C., which was liquidated Thursday and no longer exists.

For anyone arguing that the new entity applying for SPL membership, confusingly but not so coincidentally to be called The Rangers Football Club, actually is the liquidated club, this is all the proof you need that they are not: Should The Rangers F.C. be denied entry to the SPL, this will not amount to a punishment on Rangers F.C., or an ejection from the SPL, or a relegation for Rangers F.C.

Rangers F.C. is gone, and the only question the SPL have to resolve is: Should they allow a brand new club who have no players and have never played a single football match into the top level of Scottish soccer?

As I wrote earlier today, the owners of The Rangers F.C. are attempting a grand deception on the Scottish soccer authorities (who are only too willing to be deceived) and former fans of the now defunct Rangers F.C.

Have a look at this from the Rangers website as the BBC reports today:

"The governing body is sticking to the schedule of announcing the matches as
planned but have taken the Ibrox men out of the list after the developments of
last week, which saw Rangers FC change ownership under a newco scenario.

"The Sevco consortium headed by Charles Green completed the purchase of the
club and its assets last week when HMRC refused to support an exit from
administration through CVA.

"They are now seeking to transfer the SPL share from the old company -
Rangers Football Club plc - to the new company, The Rangers Football Club."

First of all, Rangers F.C. did not change ownership. While Sevco purchased Rangers FC's assets, they did not purchase a single share in Rangers FC.

Secondly, Rangers F.C. no longer exists. They have "exited" administration via liquidation. It is disingenuous at best for Sevco to claim otherwise. If Sevco had purchased Rangers F.C., then they would owe HMRC an awful lot of money—£21m and counting. Of course, Sevco do not owe HMRC any money, because they have not purchased Rangers, only their assets.

Thirdly, if Sevco had purchased Rangers plc, there would be no need for them to apply to join the SPL. The very fact that they have to apply to join is all the evidence needed to show that The Rangers F.C. is not Rangers F.C.

If I bought a pair of Joe Louis' boxing gloves on ebay, that wouldn't give me the right to claim I'm the Brown Bomber and a former Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The SPL have a duty to ensure the good governance of the game in Scotland, and allowing The Rangers F.C. a place in the SPL would be to issue a cheats' charter.

Follow Daniel O'Connell on twitter @DanielOConnel18