Liquidation may prove a relief for Rangers fans but there is a lack of transparency behind the plans of Charles Green
The sad reality for supporters of Rangers is that the corporate entity they have come to know has become so toxic that its liquidation may actually prove a relief. At some point, it has to be presumed, Rangers and Scottish football must move on from this most complex, unseemly mess.
News that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will reject the company voluntary arrangement (CVA) put forward by Charles Green, the would‑be Rangers owner, is no great shock. It also represents another public relations blow for Duff and Phelps, the firm which has presided over a particularly curious process of administration at Ibrox. Already, the administrators have sought to point out that no alternative offer would have been acceptable to HMRC.
Funds equivalent to less than 10p in the pound were not likely to be acceptable to the tax man in such a high-profile, political case, in which he is owed more than £21m.
HMRC clearly believes this move not only sets an example, but allows it to pursue any monies owed via alternative routes. With that in mind, it cannot be ignored that a tribunal result between HMRC and Rangers relating to the club's historic use of employee benefit trusts is still to be announced. Those schemes were operated when Rangers were firmly in the grip of David Murray and his business group.
In a statement, HMRC said: "A liquidation provides the best opportunity to protect taxpayers, by allowing the potential investigation and pursuit of possible claims against those responsible for the company's financial affairs in recent years.
"Liquidation will enable a sale of the football assets to be made to a new company, thereby ensuring that football will continue at Ibrox. It also means that the new company will be free from claims or litigation in a way which would not be achievable with a CVA. Rangers can make a fresh start."
The result is the inevitable liquidation of the Rangers Football Club plc. At the height of Rangers' brash ways under Murray's guidance, such a prospect would have seemed laughable. Rangers actually had aspirations of leaving Scottish football behind; what irony that they now require the support of fellow clubs just to remain in the top flight.
Quite enough has already been said about how Rangers regressed into the most damaging tangle in their history. In the immediate future, the stance of both Green and Rangers' fellow Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs will be fascinating.
Green is adamant he will continue with the purchase of a club which is now banned from competing in European competition for three years and therefore consigned – at best – to the commercial revenues afforded to SPL sides. Against this backdrop, Green may well argue it makes sense to sell players; that in itself could prove complicated with union officials, and many players themselves, adamant it is not the club which holds the automatic option to transfer contracts to what will be a "Newco" Rangers.
With players perfectly aware of the on-field struggles Rangers are about to face, Green must convince onlookers that he wants the team to remain as competitive as possible for the foreseeable future rather than break it up as a means to meet running costs. So far, understandable scepticism surrounds this takeover bid and the motivations behind it; there is a shortage of transparency behind and reasoning for the former Sheffield United chief executive's plans.
An element of the Rangers following would rather exit the SPL and pay penance when building back from the lower leagues, rather than remain so hampered that competing for the main championship was impossible in any case. Still, it would represent a major surprise if Green was willing to absorb the deeper short-term cashflow impact such a scenario would trigger.
Plenty within SPL boardrooms are desperate to douse the suggestion of Rangers being demoted, on the simple grounds of their own self-interest and commercial necessity. Neil Doncaster, the league's chief executive, has forcefully tried to downplay any difference between a CVA being accepted and a Newco being formed in either an attempt to gauge public mood or an ill-advised attempt to alter it.
The reality is those with a grievance will always shout loudest. Nonetheless, clubs have a real problem in balancing the continued objections of their supporters over a newly formed Rangers in the SPL – not least one possibly minus further punishment – against financial need. The SPL's television contract with Sky and number of supporters Rangers carry to away grounds are two of the more simple issues to quantify against the total unknown of having no Ibrox outfit in the league. Bluntly, so many clubs are too close to the breadline to be in a position to gamble but the political backlash for such a stance should not be undermined. This is an immediate issue, with the release of next season's fixtures now imminent.
In football terms, Scotland has seriously declined from the position of the late 1980s where Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee United started campaigns with legitimate aspirations of challenging the Old Firm for the championship, on the simple basis that they all had fine sides. Celtic's fans will understandably take delight in the fact that league flags have been all but guaranteed for the next few years. Yet those who point to potential advantages of a weak Rangers to the SPL confuse competition with quality and ignore the current standard in the league. Even that competitive edge will exist way behind first place; a matter Rangers themselves routinely bemoaned when unable to make European progress in the 1990s.
The corporate form in which Rangers will continue is now apparent, in itself at least movement in this epic tale of woe. Both Green and the other SPL clubs will determine how fruitful, or otherwise, that business will open its first chapter. Read More
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