Not all SPL clubs will be welcomed to Ibrox like Motherwell - Rangers chief

Published on 20/09/2012 18:05

RANGERS chief executive Charles Green says he will warmly welcome Motherwell to Ibrox next week, but insists other top-flight clubs would not be given the same treatment.

• Rangers host Motherwell in League Cup on Wednesday

• Charles Green claims some SPL clubs are ‘anti-Rangers’

The two clubs are set to meet in the third round of the Scottish Communities League Cup on Wednesday, in what will be Rangers’ first game against Clydesdale Bank Premier League opposition since they were denied entry to the top division in the summer.

Ten clubs voted against Green’s newco being granted entry to the SPL, with Kilmarnock abstaining from the vote, which took place on July 4 after the Glasgow giants were consigned to liquidation.

Motherwell consulted the Well Society - supporters who have invested in a fan ownership scheme - before lodging their own ‘no’ vote.

But Green firmly believes the Steelmen are not “anti-Rangers” and had no real desire to see the Ibrox side denied a place in the top flight.

He told RangersTV: “What we have to understand is not everyone in that room wanted Rangers out of that league and I know - because I could see glints in eyes - which ones were happy and which ones were not.

“We recognise what happened and when some of these clubs come to Ibrox they will be welcome. When others come, they won’t be so welcome.

“We know that Rangers are bigger than all of this so we ask the fans to get behind the club as they have done so well.

“I want them out there at the Motherwell game cheering, singing and waving the flags.

“Motherwell are a club who are suffering financially because Rangers are not in the SPL and we don’t believe that Motherwell are anti-Rangers.

“We believe that there was pressure; they were under pressure from their own fans and they took a decision and we understand that.

“If you had taken all of these external pressures away then Motherwell and other clubs would have voted differently.”

Green claims half of the clubs who voted would have been happy to see Rangers in the SPL this season despite the votes which were cast.

He added: “We have seen and heard lots of hypotheses on radio, in newspapers and on TV and we understand fans’ feelings.

“But what fans have to understand is what occurred at Hampden over our SPL status when 10 clubs voted against and one abstained.

“Ally [McCoist] and I sat there and we know what happened. We know that only half of those clubs wanted Rangers out of that league.

“I believe that a number of the clubs were bounced into it.

“Why, for example, would Ross County spend all their lifetime trying to get into the Premier League to find Rangers were not there? It’s inconceivable.

“But we understand what happened and we know the reasons behind it. We understand we have to suffer the punishment for the sins of the forefathers and we have done that.”