Glasgow Rangers set to go into administration

I couldn’t believe my eyes this morning when I read that SPL giants Glasgow Rangers are serving notice to go into administration.

I knew money was tight at Ibrox but this really does seem unreal. One of Britain’s biggest and oldest football clubs going into administration.

Questions

Questions were asked on transfer deadline day why Ally McCoist couldn’t spend any of the £5.5million received from the sale of Nikica Jelavic to Everton. It was obvious that Rangers needed a replacement but Rangers Chairman Derek Whyte told him that the club simply couldn’t afford to spend the money.

Decline

In recent years Scottish football has suffered a decline, not only in the quality of the teams but also the financial states of the clubs. In years gone by the likes of Rangers and Celtic could bring in top players and still stay financially viable.

However in recent years even the two goliaths of Scottish football have struggled to attract top players and have struggled to keep their heads above water when it comes to their finances.

Debt

Celtic have recently revealed that their debt is currently in the region of £7million, which has been reduced in the last year by £2million. In big football club terms £2million really isn’t a lot of money.

However the reports I have read about Rangers say that the Gers could have to pay the taxman in the region of £75million, that is just incredible for any football club. That is a figure that would take most British clubs into administration.

How?

Rangers are an icon of Scottish football, alongside rivals Celtic. How have the people behind the scenes at the club allowed it to get so bad? I’m not a big expert on finance but surely somebody in the club hierarchy must have realised just how much trouble the club were in.

Chairman Derek Whyte is taking a lot of the flack from this situation but he hasn’t been at the club long enough to have built up such a hefty tax bill. The bill must have been huge before his arrival at the club.

He does however have to acknowledged that he should have came across this issue when he first arrived at the club and looked at the clubs finances. As I understand it any prospective owner of a football club,  like any other business will get a chance to look at the clubs financial records.

Surely something like this would have stood out like a sore thumb. It just seems like an incredible debt to owe and I’m just wondering why action wasn’t taken before it got to this point.

Existence

A lot of fans mostly Celtic supporters have been talking about Rangers going out of existence. I believe that Glasgow Rangers as an institute is far too big to be allowed to go out of existence. The club has too much history and tradition just to be allowed to go out of business.

If the club did cease to trade then it would be the fans that suffer not the people responsible for this travesty. Those fans are fiercely loyal to their football club and deserve better than this.

Hopefully there is a solution to the awful mess that Glasgow Rangers now find themselves and the club can comeback stronger in the future. For now though the hard work begins trying to put the pieces of a once great club back together.

Who is to blame for Rangers financial problems?