Rangers

In full: Document sent to SFL clubs to put Rangers into the First Division

The 30 clubs in the Scottish Football League received a proposal on Thursday outlining proposals for league reconstruction.

The presentation was sent by the SFL to its clubs, following talks between the league, the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football Association.

They include allowing Rangers to play in the First Division. The SPL has warned that if these are not voted through by the SFL clubs in the coming weeks, they will create a breakaway SPL2.

The document has been seen by STV and has been reproduced in full below.

The proposal to SFL clubs, titled "Your Game, Your Club, Your Future

WHY DOES RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN FOOTBALL EXIST?

•Fear of the unknown

•Lack of involvement

•Lack of information

•Threat to power, or status

•No perceived benefits

•Fear of failure

•Unless behaviour changes, nothing changes

UNDERSTANDING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

•Perceptions of being “worse off”

•If the reasons for change are not clear

•If implementation plans are not clear

•If there is no clear “link” with your own objectives

•If a change is seen as a threat to your long term security or well being

WE THEREFORE NEED SOME CLEAR COMMUNICATION PRIORITIES FOR THE SFL

•Logical and positive communication to eliminate doubt, threat and insecurity

•Fully explained in terms of short and long term benefits to you and the organisation

•Not left to the last minute

•Involving you at an early stage

•And seen in the context of a wider strategic plan

CURRENT REALITY

•Rangers have no where to go

•SPL Clubs have indicated their voting intentions

•SFA wish to see a solution in the interests of the game

•Moral/sporting question vs financial collapse

•Are The SFL are in a position to accommodate a solution?

WE HAVE CONSIDERED FIVE SCENARIOS

1.Rangers stay in SPL

2.Rangers to Third Division

3.Rangers to First Division

4.Rangers to SPL2

5.Rangers terminated or suspended

1. RANGERS STAY IN SPL

•Not an option

•SPL clubs have indicated no

2. RANGERS TO THIRD DIVISION

•Takes approximately £16 million out of the game

•Commercial partners walk away and seek compensation

•The settlement agreement becomes a major risk

•The sporting opportunity is quashed for other clubs

3. RANGERS TO FIRST DIVISION

•Reduces SPL income by approximately 30%

•Balances short term need for redemption with a least worst case financial scenario

•It is financially possible to recover from this scenario

4. RANGERS TO SPL2

•Currently not supported by the SFA

•Creates a bigger divide

•Leads to some short term commercial losses

•A legal challenge could paralyse the game

•The overall pot would be much less than anticipated

5. RANGERS TERMINATED OR SUSPENDED

•Complete financial meltdown

•Settlement agreement is obliterated

•Fans are lost to the game forever

•The game survives but where?

SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE BEING ASKED TO CONSIDER?

•Rangers in the IRN-BRU First Division this coming season

•A one off fee to buy out the Rangers media value. (£1million) thus protecting the current contracts in place.

IF WE AGREE THEN WE REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING

•Play-Offs immediately, based on our format

•A new distribution model with the settlement agreement value protected and future proofed

•An amalgamation of the SPL & SFL

•A more balanced governance model (as circulated)

WHICH WILL DELIVER BENEFITS TO THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE

•Immediate cash benefit for all 30 clubs!

•Gate receipt uplift in Division 1

•Potential hospitality & advertising values increase

•Sponsors receive added value through additional exposure

•Scottish Government remain committed to our community strategy

•SFL has more influence at the top table

•Play-Offs restore the sporting meritocracy and deliver additional value

AND BENEFITS TO SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

•A unified plan presented to the Scottish footballing public which offers real possibilities for the game

•Keeps all 42 clubs together avoiding a divisive SPL2 split

•Deals with the need for sporting integrity with regard to Newco

•Delivers innovation in the form of a single league, Play-Offs and a pyramid plan

•Delivers new value for the game

•Potentially narrows the financial gap between Scottish Premier League & Scottish League

•Shows leadership for the game in Scotland

•Allows fans to engage in the bigger picture

•A positive media outcome

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Comments

There are 34 comments

Financial meltdown is pure supposition and speculation. There may very well be financial penalties but clubs will have to cut cloth accordingly.

Absolutely amazed that Scotlands footballing authorities are still referring to 'Rangers' a club that is in the process of being terminated.

Once BDO liquidate the club it will no longer exist.

The company Sevco5088 is the one being invited to apply for SFA membership and should be referred to as such.

Scotland's football fans will not be railroaded down this path no matter what scare stories the SPL,SFL and SFA come up with.

Make your choices wisely.

It's either Sevco5088 in the 3rd Division, or no fans at all at football matches.

This move should lead to football fans suspending purchase of season tickets until a conclusion is reached.

Hell mend Scottish football if they make the wrong decision.

SevCo1690 28/06/2012 Report this place
Under the heading Current Reality-Rangers have no where to go.

Should say Rangers do not exist anymore BUT Sevco5088 have no where to go....How can they be "assisted" to take the place of the now defunct Rangers FC?

Remember there are other clubs desperate to gain a place in the Scottish League setup (Spartans etc). It's hardly their fault that Rangers went into Liquidation due to continued mismanagement however they are being totally ignored in favour of the percevied need to provide something for "The Bears" to follow follow.

Rangers have had their ooportunity to hold down a successful place in the top league but THEY CHOSE to act Illegally and are they are now paying the price. It's very hard on their fans but only a few years ago Rangers were desperate to leave Scotland to follow follow the cash in Engerland. Do you honestly think they wouldgive a thought about the fallout in Scottish football if that had been allowed to happen then?

Jistme 28/06/2012 Report this place
The only benifit to the SFL is less upheaval as only 1 Div.changes either Dunfermline or Dundee for The Rangers FC. Problem though any other team in the position would be lucky to be allowed straight into the 3Div..
Threats to create SPL2 in next few weeks is nonsense. As I think all the SFL teams decide not just 1 Div. there is little chance they'd vote to let them straight into 1 Div..
Only concesion I'd make to Newco and help resolve the biggest problem in Scottish football. Would be reconstruction creating 3 divs of 16 teams from 2013/14 season. Allowing the 6 new teams that may be miffed at newco preference 2012/13 season. Fans get back to having their teams playing each other twice in the league. We could replace some of the missing fixtures with a Group stage in the League Cup. Which I'd play at the very start of the season home and away and entering teams in earlier round os the Scottish Cup.

Housty45 28/06/2012 Report this place
1. RANGERS STAY IN SPL
2. RANGERS TO THIRD DIVISION
3. RANGERS TO FIRST DIVISION
4. RANGERS TO SPL2
5. RANGERS TERMINATED OR SUSPENDED

I must have been asleep for the last 2 months. I had this awful dream that "Rangers" were being liquidated.

MacBloscaidh 28/06/2012 Report this place
Rangers should go to the 3rd division full stop. Those appear to be the rules. I agree entirely. Remember that point!
However my issue is with people's reporting, commenting on the issues. They seem to be driven by more than simple rivalry. I have never heard such bile and hatred for any business/club or person for such a sustained period in my whole life. Step back and take a long hard look at yourselves people!
There are some very decent Rangers supporters who have lost out in this. What have you lost? nothing. What have you gained? A chance to have a laugh at your rivals . Crack on! Thats what should happen in the natural order of things but we have gone way past that now. It's sickening to be honest
The SFA and SPL should be investigated as to why they failed to protect or ever represent this member club before or during this time
Sir David Murray and Craig White should be investigated by the law (Currently planned)
Nothing illegal has been done by Rangers football club Directors (apparently). If this was Joe Bloggs engineering using the same tactics no one would be interested. White drove a business into the ground for his own benefit. Rangers fans lost more than any other group of people in this (Excluding the Taxman --FACT) Most Rangers fans are disgusted by the whole affair. They have "lost" their club. YOU get the chance to be all high and mighty and want one more dig and then another and then another
The EBT case has yet to be given for or against (when will this happen?)
If it does go against Rangers (The old "backend" business) it will NOT be a crime, it will be deemed as the incorrect application of tax regulations. The two contracts issue is still to be fully explained/punished or not but most assume guilt (integrity? they say... people in glass houses ....)As for the future, well it's obvious that the game will reach a different level without Rangers Football Club
No one can say for certainty.
If Division 1 is the choice then Rangers will still be available as a cash cow for those in the SPL and debts will be paid off as per the proposal apparently. Cash stays in the game. DEBTS should be paid!
The 3rd Division will cause Scottish Football to seek a "new level" that we will all have to live with. I have no crystal ball and no one else does either so it's stick or twist time guys but be careful what you wish for.
After the "kicking" the club and Fans have had in this tiresome affair life long Rangers fans are now coming round to the notion of the 3rd Division football and to heck with the rest of the clubs.
I will buy my ticket wherever they play but if it is the third division which IS my preferred option we will be waving to a few clubs on the way down as we progress up the way.It will take a while but as more SPL clubs get liquidated the quicker Rangers Football Club will return. keep your bigotry guys

footballfanforever 28/06/2012 Report this place
The rights to use the name Rangers will be transferred as part of the liquidation - the Old rangers will change its name to a "new" company to allow the name to be sold. Green would have bought this as part of this purchase. http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/infoAndGuide/faq/changeCompNameRes.shtml

Right or wrong the SFL have been handed a poisoned chalice and they have to deal with it. ALL their options are bad for someone. Sure send Rangers to Div 3 and watch as other teams go bust and join them in Div 3 if they survive. Div 1? SPL income down by 30% - how many of you could take a 30% pay cut overnight?

Rangers were allowed to get out hand, this is a wake up call. You've seen the banks & the too big to fail? Well guess what Scottish football has the same problem - the Old Firm. Rangers going bust has nearly brought down football

still water 28/06/2012 Report this place
This hilarious report should be re-titled 'SFA/SPL Sporting Integrity Abuse'.

Livingston FC were relegated to the 3rd Division. Rangers should be too. But this story is all about how much revenue the SFA and SPL clubs can retain or increase isn't it?

In regard to the subject of the name Rangers Football Club, either some football fans are very stupid or they despise Rangers to such a degree they are only comfortable when they deny inconvenient (for them) facts. Rangers Football Club and any past, present or future owning company remain seperate - that is the verdict of Lord Glennie, Scottish Civil Court of Law.

P.S.
FAO: SevCo1690 (yawn) or should I say Phil McThree Names,
I expect nothing but your usual biased and selective view. What I don't except is you commenting that you represent and speak for all Scottish football fans of all persuasions as a matter of fact. You never have and you never will.

Johnny 28/06/2012 Report this place
I forgot to add,

What is happening to the SFL is nothing short of bullying. How sad.

Johnny 28/06/2012 Report this place
Rangers cannot be relegated. The newco which aims to replace the defunct Rangers, should apply for admission to the 3rd division. Simple.

@ footballfanforever

It is obvious that you are a fully paid up member of the "A BIG BOY DID IT AND RAN AWAY" brigade. It is, therefore, unsurprising that you fail to see the irony of accusing others of bigotry, when the team you supported were guilty of the most sustained bigotry on and off the football field.
Hypocrisy, denial, greed, bigotry and hubris. Learn a lesson and leave these rather unpleasant and damaging characteristics behind if you transfer your allegiance to Sevco5088.

timesup 28/06/2012 Report this place
As a supporter who (like many others) has advocated a reorganisation of scottish football for a while, the demise of Rangers, whilst terrible for their fans, should not have been seen as a disaster for scottish football but as a great opportunity to get things right.
Sadly the governing bodies in their rush to accomodate Sevco before the start of the season are going to miss this opportunity.

Sevco should be suspended for 12 months, partly as a punishment for the court of session appeal and also to get their own house in order as it is still crumbling about their ears.
The SPL this season should be played with only 11 teams (4 games each - 40 matches). This would stop any rearranging of fixtures affecting the other 3 leagues and any arguments between dundee and dunfermline about who takes the club 12 slot in the SPL.

The 12 months would also give the footballing authorities the time to get the reorganisation right rather the have a half-arsed rush job which gets us nowhere. Lets get it right :-
One governing body
Three larger leagues
Voting rights addressed
More equal split of TV / Sponsorship money
Summer football

Also, if Sevco are to apply for a place in the SFL surely the guardians of scottish football, the SFA, should be protecting the rights of all their members including those of the highland league, east of scotland league, etc,etc who would also like membership of the league. What would happen if these clubs appealed to the CAS regading this.

There is a price to be paid for sporting integrity and what teh SFA/SPL/SFL have to decide is whether this price is going to be paid by Sevco or by every other club, as the fans will disappear and no money from SKY will come close to the loss of thousands of fans.

pelewizokay 28/06/2012 Report this place
Football fan forever
What can we say to your comment that we have lost nothing! Really!, other fans actually lost the moment -yes the moment when your clubs cheating z- yes cheating robbed Ayr Utd of the best chance they have had to win a mark trophy ever ! The 2002 league cup final. Rangers football club played improperly registered players against a wee club like AYR UTD to massage the egos of "RA PEEPUL"
SHAME ON YOU ALL WHO DENYTHIS WRONG DOING. Remember this is only one example there are any more MOMENTS you know what they are when For any football fan his team get on to the big stage and achieve the unlikely even if it is a small thing to some to them it is huge and your erstwhile club STOLE THEIR MOMENTS --SHAME ON YOU,

Murciabhoy 28/06/2012 Report this place
The Cheats Charter.

I shall now name names.

These comments are not in breach of the STV rules against naming of private individuals, as these are public figure who must be held account for their statements and actions.

Neil Doncaster : Chief Executive of the SPL: Architect of plan Save Rangers. Claimed that RFC(In Liquidation) would not be liquidated. Stated that there was no perceivable difference between a club being liquidated, and one which agreed a CVA. Claimed that a share in the SPL could be 'transferred', despite there being no rule which permit such.

Stewart Regan: Cheif Executive of the SFA. The SFA have put their name to this proposal, and the chief executive must take the blame for it. He has put his name to a proposal which blatantly states that one club will not have to abide by the rules every other club does, one club will be given extra money, which no other club will, and that one club will openly be permitted to break every rule which is currently in place. Stewart Regan can no longer be viewed as being impartial. He is now part of the group which wishes to carve up Scottish football for the benefit of one club.

David Longmuir: Cheif Executive of the SFL. Has yet to come out and support fairness in football, and has hinted that he may be willing to shadt 20 clubs which he purports to represent, in order to save one club which is not even a member of his organisation.

Campbell Oglivie: President of the SFA. EBT recipient. General Secretary of Rangers FC (In Liquidation) at the time they were using EBTs. Head of the organisation charged with investigating EBTs.

Jim Ballantyne: SFL President. Chairman of Airdrie United. Most recently seen at the Linfield v Rangers FC (In Liquidation) game, wearing a Rangers Fighting Fund badge.

Donald Findlay: Chairman of Cowdenbeath FC. Resigned from Rangers FC after coming to public attention for singing songs which were allegedly sectarian in content.

Of course, there is no corruption in Scottish football, all of these people have the best of intentions.
Any suggestion that these people are working for the benefit of one, newly formed, two week old, club, at the expense of the other 41 clubs who are actually members of the SFA, SFL, and SPL, would be totally unfounded.

I am issuing a demand, that these people come forward, and explain to their customers why it is that they ignore the demands of those who pay their money to watch the game.

I won't pay to watch a tournament which is rigged,and neither will 99% of other supporters.

Declan Murphy 28/06/2012 Report this place
Rangers, SFA, SFL, SPL — June 17, 2012 6:17 pm
SFL Chief Executive David Longmuir states that Rangers newco must start in Division Three
Posted by Andy Muirhead
After several reports in the mainstream media this morning, related to Rangers starting life as a newco in the First Division rather than the Third, David Longmuir, the chief executive of the Scottish Football League slammed the door on such a suggestion by stating that they must start life in the Third Division.

If the SPL clubs vote against the re=introduction of Rangers, then the Ibrox side will have to apply to join the SFL but there will be no option for them to join the First Division. Such talk is on the cards in a bid to salvage the £80 million deal with SKY and ESPN, which has failed to be signed despite all the back slapping and publicity surrounding the talks and its ultimate conclusion.

Since Rangers went into administration, Scottish football has heard that the deal will be dumped by SKY if they do not get their four Old Firm games which are supposedly pre-requisites for the deal to stand, according to SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster.

However, over the past few days SKY have used their twitter account [Help Team] to tell curious fans: “We have no plans to pull out of covering the Scottish Premier League.”

If that is true then the scaremongering which is evident from certain quarters within Hampden, can then be shot down in flames.

Despite these claims, David Longmuir is clear what must be done.

“The decisions that have to be made by the SPL and SFA in the coming weeks are far more crucial than the knock-on effects that come to the SFL,” he said. “There are no winners in this situation. The good of the game is balancing sporting integrity with the finances available, and to be realistic about the future.”

Longmuir also suggested that a Rangers newco would not be welcomed to submit an application to join the SFL unless they are prepared to start life at the bottom.

“It would be a newco scenario and the only way we could accommodate any new application would be to create a gap in the Third Division through the play-offs with teams shuffling up,” said Longmuir. “We would then judge every case on its own merits. There would be no provision for any newco Rangers to go into the First Division rather than the Third Division.”

Source: Daily Telegraph

SevCo1690 29/06/2012 Report this place
Today's proposals have been approved by David Longmuir, as Chief Executive of the SFL.

His name is on them, he has to stand by that.

Just come out in public and explain why it is that you are changing the entirety of Scottish football to suit one team, which isn't even a member of it yet.

Declan Murphy 29/06/2012 Report this place
I want to go to D3 & will openly laugh as the "commercial partners" walk away & seek compensation.

I wonder how long it will take fans of those SPL clubs making up the numbers (that is all 11 of them who aren't Celtic) to realise that their chairmen paid them lip service only, knowing full well what intelligent people have been saying is 100% correct. Ultimately they know that if Rangers are out of the SPL for 3 years Sky will walk away, they know that such an action will drastically reduce the amount of money in the game & know it will ultimately sink their clubs. So in their worry over that this is what they came up with, they can't live without Rangers for 3 years so said "we'll vote no" knowing this proposal was on the table.

Far as I'm concerned though, this is still 100% in Rangers hands, we do not need to accept this situation, we can say "fair play, but you want "sporting integrity" so you can have it, we're applying for Division 3". We owe no one in the SPL any compromise, after all the stuff we've taken over the last few months ultimately I know the Rangers supporters have zero desire to cut the SPL any deals - they made their own bed, but they don't want to lie in it. The rest of the SPL's "fans" have stood there and spouted "no to newco" "send them to Division 3" and all that sort of stuff, so let them have it, see how they like it and when administrators are running their club we'll see how loud they are then. They want to chime in "oh we won't go to games if Rangers are allowed in" because we ALL know they go to games as it is, so tell me, how many of you are going to pay £25 to watch diddy team v diddy team on an average weekend? Not many I would suspect, otherwise the average SPL attendance wouldn't be around 50% of capacity.

What's even funnier is all the Celtic fans bleating about rules, lets be fair, how many times have Celtic broken the rules down through the years, ranging from fiddling attendance figures through abusing officials & claiming for more years than I care to remember that the SFA are anti-Celtic? Need we remind you who has a permanent member on the SFA board? There IS no conspiracy against you, there is no conspiracy against (or for) Rangers, the SFA as any sensible person has known for decades is a bunch of incompetents! (incidentally, a lot of them are the same sensible people who warned you of the cataclysmic reality of no Rangers)

I would love nothing more than to start in Division 3, but ultimately that's not acceptable to the SPL chairmen who know that if we're not there, they're going to go bust too - the SPL's new theme, "this is a self preservation society" from The Italian Job. Only, they're not playing Michael Caine's part, they're playing Benny Hill's - comedy every step of the way.

bluenoseam 29/06/2012 Report this place
I count 7 mentions of a club which doesn't exist in @bluenoseams diatribe.

Anyone find any more?

Declan Murphy 29/06/2012 Report this place
So many "facts" in the comments and so many of them either wrong or taking the most tenuous of links and giving them a meaning they do not have. Come on guys lets try and see past the hatred and take a rational look at what's going on here. Wasting time here arguing about whether a club exists is pointless, who really reads these comments now with any emotion and who cares what the club are called, its a pointless dig that takes attention away from the real issues and devalues sensible comment that appears beside them. Right in the interests of fairness that's my pro Rangers part over with.

On to my pro football part.
This plan must fail.
It's design I believe is not "to save Rangers" but to save a product for the top dozen or so clubs as a whole, a product that doesn't need to be saved or shouldn't be saved depending on your viewpoint. They think the top of Scottish football will implode without Rangers and to a certain extent they are right, however I say let it implode, we'll survive. It'll be tough for some but with cost slashing it'll be survivable, a couple of clubs might end up in administration and I feel terribly sorry for them and hope to god my club isn't one of them as it'll not be their fault but the game will ultimately survive and with luck any club in administration will also survive. If our standards have to be lowered then that's what'll happen, over a period of years they'll build again to a sustainable lower point and Scottish football will be at it's true natural position and the game will be healthier for it.
SPL2 is not a threat, it only becomes one if the clubs in the SFL bow to the buck and accept a place in it. If they make it clear they will not accept a place what's the point of forming a league with no or possibly only one team in it.... there's an integrity test for you right there SFL teams. What will the SPL do if the SFL clubs dont accept invitations? Cut out promotion and relegation altogether? How interesting will a league be that has no chance of any team being relegated and a winner thats decided before a ball is kicked? Pretty much every game in it will be pointless. Without promotion and relegation the SPL will die, SFL clubs hold all the aces here it's time they woke up and saw this.

The solution here is easy.
The SPL clubs vote no, Rangers do not get the share transfer.
Rangers apply to the SFL and the SFL say "fine, we have an opening in Division 3".
The SPL try to start SPL2 and no-one accepts a place in it so it dies before it starts and no changes happen within the SFL.
Everyone cuts their cloth and tries to live through the "financial meltdown" as best they can.
The SFA and SFL lose some sponsors and a fair whack of cash but ultimately survive, hopefully a few heads roll for bad handling of this whole affair.
Rangers get investigated for dual contracts (if they are deemed to be the same club) and are punished if found guilty.
The SPL clubs fans are happy with Rangers being punished.
The top SFL teams are happy as nothing is compromised for them.
The lower division SFL teams are happy as they make a few bob from Rangers.
99% of Rangers fans are happy as they get the move they say they want and the chance to re-build with dignity.
With all this happening Scottish football has the chance to re-structure to a model for the future wellbeing of the game.

Everybody's happy, well some chairmen and a load of suits in office have brown trousers but in general everyone is happy.

What stops this?
Distrust among SFL clubs that the others wont stick to an agreement so jump on SPL2 in case they get left behind.
Greed, SFL clubs jump to SPL2 because they see a few more quid for their clubs and care more about that than the good of the game.

HonestFan 29/06/2012 Report this place
how tiresome has it become to listen to Rangers fans saying that the club have been punished enough ? that it isn't their fault ? well , rangers fans were happy to lord it over everyone else when they were the beneficiaries of their clubs wrong doing and trophies kept rolling in !
also , i don't understand how they have been " punished enough . they were docked 10 points in the league which is standard practice for a team going into administration . their previous owner (mr. whyte ) was fined which will never be paid . their original club was also fined ( was it £160 0r £200k ) that will never get paid .any outcome on the dual contracts inquiry or the big tax case would penalise the old rangers . so far the debt has been dropped and the name has been changed to " the rangers ". punishment indeed for years of wrong doing when trophies and prize money have continued to arrive at the big hoose . they are also being allowed entry into the SFL when their newco don't have 3 years audited accounts ?
from were i stand this is scant punishment indeed guys so dry your eyes , show some remorse , pay your debts and taxes , roll your sleaves up and start at the bottom and get on with it .

kenny 29/06/2012 Report this place
This document really is one HUGE white elephant who wrote it?

Hilarious- playoffs bring "meritoracy"

Dictionary definition
meritocracy
a powerful class composed of people who have achieved position on the basis of their merit rather than by birth or privilege.

So while play-offs meet the criteria of "Meritocracy" can someone please explain where the "Meritocracy" fits into allowing a new organisation membership in the first place?

concerned Hibee 29/06/2012 Report this place
Diddy team supporters conveniently forgetting the initial statement, I don't want ANY part of Division 1 until season14/15, I WANT to go to Division 3 where sporting integrity says we should go, where the majority of Rangers fans want us to be. But ultimately it's the diddy teams trying to save their OWN behinds coming up with this, much like the rest of their plans which attempt to bring "parity" to the Scottish game, it's parity, but only on a few things, as soon as s**t gets real they don't want to be treated as equals to the big guns. Case in point is the new administration rules, rather than punishing all clubs as equals, they punish better clubs harsher than the real dross of the SPL - meaning if Hibs were to go into administration they would be deducted 10 points, yet if Motherwell go into administration this coming season, it's 21 points. (and if the truly unthinkable happens & Celtic go into administration it'll be somewhere closer to 30 points)

But here's the problem, parity cannot exist in Scottish football where 85% of ALL revenues come from two clubs, the rest of the clubs put precious little into Scottish football. No one outside Scotland pays to watch 10 (11 this season) teams in the SPL, frankly it's a level they deride with excellent cause - using previous example, if under "current" rules last season Celtic had went into administration, they'd have been deducted 27 points (28 most likely as it would have been 27.9), good enough to finish second place by more than a game! Parity cannot exist whereby two clubs are so massive with a huge sphere of influence that they draw the majority of fans, most of whom don't come from the greater Glasgow area but have connections to the area. The small clubs & provincial teams don't have that influence, lack those supporters so by definition cannot achieve the same turnover figures.

I'm also a bit sick of Declan's diatribe over "a club which doesn't exist" - it exists, the corporate entity behind it was liquidated, the actual club was NOT, like it or lump it, Rangers exists and will do for a considerable period of time. Rangers Football Club PLC is in liquidation - those three little letters at the end of that statement are pivotal, that was liquidated, not Rangers Football Club.

Once again, for the benefit of those of you too slow to understand simple logic, stick this plan where the sun doesn't shine, I want Division 3, show some contrition for the sins of Murray & Whyte & come 14/15, but without allowing the spineless to benefit for there scheming. For that ladies & gentlemen is exactly what this is, a scheme to avoid Sky clearing off and leaving the diddy clubs in ruins, which after all the running of the mouth by supporters is nothing short of exactly what you deserve.

bluenoseam 29/06/2012 Report this place
This is an absolute disgrace and MUST be opposed at every opportunity by SFL clubs. That document is a farce. Where is the evidence? Where are the statements that prove £16 million will be taken from the game? Do clubs not realise that their fans will walk away from clubs if that is allowed to pass? That is gate money and other cash spent at grounds every home game for the rest of their lives!
Please, please, SFL clubs, do not be so shortsighted as to accept this grubby, shoddy disgrace of a blackmail deal.

LoonsLad 29/06/2012 Report this place
Where have these proposals come from?

The clubs never asked for it, the fans never asked for it, no-one seems to want it, so who is proposing it and why?

"Who are these people? I want to know who these people are."

Declan Murphy 29/06/2012 Report this place
@bluenoseam

Why was it important to get the shares from Craig Whyte?

Why not just buy the assets separately?

That's right, it's because the shares were the club. Those shares, which can be traced back in one form or another for over a century, have been extinguished, and with them, the club died.

It's pretty silly for anyone to still be claiming that Charles Green FC is actually a dead club. Even UEFA view Charles Green FC as a new club.

Declan Murphy 29/06/2012 Report this place
@bluenoseam

You will be nowhere in 14/15. Well, maybe supporting your own 'diddy club' in some lower division. But you really must stop kidding yourself that you'll be anywhere else.

timesup 29/06/2012 Report this place
Eventually, you just have to laugh at the whole thing. People get so worked up about things that really should not matter. For instance Rangers does it exist or not? Identity is a very complex thing. Everybody that formed Rangers, Celtic and any other football club is dead. The grounds are different, the people are different, the balls are different, the fans are different, everything is different, but do those clubs exist? At least part of any identity and therefore the existence of an entity is those who oppose it, who believe they are its enemy. When those opposed to the team come against The Rangers Football Club (new name) will they treat it like Annan Athletic? We all know that Sporting Integrity is not the issue, punishment, or rather revenge is. Application to the third division is in the rules, so apply them. But will opposition supporters simply shrug their shoulders. For those who say Rangers is dead, I say you will feel pretty stupid being beaten by a club that doesn't exist.
As for the gerrymandering around league reconstruction. Everyone knows this is essential, but it is nothing to do with Rangers, all Rangers want to do is play football next season. They have not instigated any of it.
I think it is time to put away childish and venal things, those visceral hatreds that erode our humanity and move on. I am happy for Rangers to play in the 3rd division, what does it matter really, it is supposed to be playing football that matters. Scottish football is boring. Rangers and Celtic march to titles, they get nowhere in Europe and everything stays the same. At least this has all added some spice, some interest, some prospect of real change.
For me, Rangers have a wonderful opportunity to be a grassroots club again. They can provide facilities and opportunities for the teams they oppose in the lower leagues, building relationships and communities that they could never have dreamed of as part of the Old Firm Oligarchy and I wish them well.

levelplayingfield 29/06/2012 Report this place
@ levelplayingfield

I doubt very much that you know thing one about a level playing field. But I do agree that the club you support (whatever name they go by now), should apply for entry at the lowest level.

timesup 29/06/2012 Report this place
@levelplayingfield

A club is comprised of the shares which it is incorporated by.

The shares which were originally held by the founders of Celtic still exist.

The shares which were originally held by the founders of Rangers FC (In Liquidation), don't.

Celtic FC exist. Rangers FC (In Liquidation) don't.

Declan Murphy 29/06/2012 Report this place
It is very sad to define your existence by a piece of paper. Do you remember the story of Doc Daneeka in Catch 22? Doc Daneeka falls foul of the bureaucratic processes that are central to Catch-22: when McWatt flies his plane into the mountain after he accidentally kills Kid Sampson, Doc Daneeka's name is on McWatt's crew manifest. Doc Daneeka was not on board the plane, but had an arrangement with McWatt to falsely record his name on the manifest so he could collect flight pay. Doc Daneeka attempts in vain to convince the bureaucracy that he is alive, but the process has already started. He tries to convince his wife that he is not dead, but fails. His wife gives up on him as his death leads to her financial benefit. The presence or absence of paper has little to do with the collective intangibility of a football club. Your very insistence on its demise is convincing proof of its existence.
In terms of whether I would recognise a level playing field. I'm afraid there never is one. I started life in Manchester, supporting my local team at Maine Road. I don't recognise the behometh wearing the same colours, but they were bought and they make masive losses and win a league. Celtic won 9 in a row and the European Cup, then they suffered the ignominy of the mid nineties and the board implosian and Lou Macari's indifference. Then they got Henrik Larsson and Fergus McCann and Martin O'Neill. Rangers Lost nine in a row, won the CWC, had the Ibrox disaster, plummeted into the eighties, got Graeme Souness, then nine in a row, then discovered it was a terrible dream. History is never truly over, and nothing is ever fair.
Here is an old, old story about a farmer in China. One year the weather was very good and his crops grew strong and high. All his neighbors told him how lucky he was to have such a fine crop, and he replied, “Maybe.” Then the day before he was going to start the harvest a herd of wild horses came running off the plains and trampled all his crops flat. His neighbors came by and said how unlucky he was to lose his fine crop. The farmer replied, “Maybe.”

The next day the farmer’s son went out with a length of rope and caught a wild stallion and three mares, and the neighbors came by to admire the horses and told the farmer how lucky he was. The farmer said, “Maybe. ” In the morning the farmer’s son started to break in the horses, and no sooner had he mounted the stallion than it threw him, and as he fell on the ground he broke his leg. The neighbors carried him indoors and commiserated with the farmer, saying how unlucky he was that his only son was so badly injured. The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day the emperor’s army came to the village on the way to fight a great battle, and all the able-bodied young men were forced into the army. But the farmer’s son was not taken because of his broken leg. All his neighbors told the farmer how lucky he was that his son had been saved from the army, and the farmer said, “Maybe.”
I support the Bloo Toon too, have done since I moved to Scotland 40 years ago. I won't know what to do next season except to hope at least two teams are promoted from the 3rd division.
Be careful what you wish for and remember to treat others how you wish to be treated if ever you are in need.

levelplayingfield 29/06/2012 Report this place
"The presence or absence of paper has little to do with the collective intangibility of a football club."

No, it's quite clear, the shares are the club. What else are they?

"Your very insistence on its demise is convincing proof of its existence."

Please explain?

Declan Murphy 29/06/2012 Report this place
Shares are a device of legal ownership of a company. Some companies issue shares, some are limited by guarantee or by other means.In fact most clubs have members If someone burnt Celtic's shares, Celtic would still exist. If someone burnt down Parkhead, Celtic would still exist. Clubs are to a very large extent their culture and part of that culture is the rivalry with other clubs. Often these are for deep-seated reasons that have nothing to do with the present generation, but those rivalries exist nevertheless. The very fact of the vehemence and depth of feeling displayed is evidence of existence. If you have an intense rivalry with Rangers or Hearts or Cowdenbeath then the depth of your rivalry with any new entity is evidence of its existence. You hate old Rangers, you hate new company calling itself Rangers therefore it is Rangers. The existence of a club is more like the existence of a candle flame. In this case the old flame is used to light a new candle before it is extinguished, but it is the same flame that has lit the new candle. Just as it is with supporters or stadiums or owners or bits of paper.

levelplayingfield 29/06/2012 Report this place
@levelplayingfield

You're confusing shares with a certificate. Burning a bit of paper would not eradicate the shares. Being liquidated would.

"You hate old Rangers, you hate new company calling itself Rangers therefore it is Rangers"

So, anyone can just set a company, put 'Rangers' in its name, and it suddenly becomes Rangers?

So who is Rangers?

Is it

RANGERS LIMITED?
RANGERS.CO.UK LIMITED?
RANGERS ENTERPRISES LTD.?
RANGERS FC ACQUISITIONS LIMITED?
THE RANGERS FC GROUP LIMITED?
THE RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB P.L.C?
RANGERS FOOTBALL CLUB OF GLASGOW LTD?

They can't all be Rangers, so which is it?

Declan Murphy 30/06/2012 Report this place
i loving the tenacity of # Declan Murphy . heh heh .
no one knows who the club formerly known as Rangers
Fitbaw Club are now . or even who owns them !
SHOW US THE TITLE DEEDS TO THE BIG HOOSE ..........

kenny 30/06/2012 Report this place
Declan and Co, the answer to your question is the easiest and most cliched of all. The true Rangers is the one you hate the most.

levelplayingfield 02/07/2012 Report this place
@levelplayingfield

Are you sure it's not Sevco 5088? Or Sevco Scotland? Or RFC 2012?

has Charles Green set up any others I'm unaware of?

Declan Murphy 03/07/2012 Report this place

Rangers

In full: Document sent to SFL clubs to put Rangers into the First Division

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