Clubs discuss harsher penalties for going into administration

A meeting of all 12 SPL clubs took place yesterday at Hampden Park, where a number of proposals for amending the current regulations, most recently invoked when Rangers went into administration last month, were discussed, The automatic ten-point penalty imposed on the club is felt by some to be too lenient. The number of points already amassed by Rangers this season meant that, despite the deduction, they remained in second place in the SPL.

Another matter under discussion was the consequences for Rangers should they go into liquidation and emerge as a new company.

Neil Doncaster, the chief executive of the SPL, said the talks were not designed to be “specific to one club”. However, there could be no denying that the Ibrox club’s struggles had prompted the gathering, where Rangers were represented by co-administrator Paul Clark and a club official, Andrew Dickson.

One idea mooted would see a club in administration’s points from the previous three seasons averaged, then divided by three to determine how severe a penalty should be imposed.

“I think we all have headaches at the end of it,” said Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston. “We can go under for £250,000, Rangers can go under for anything from £60 to £100 million, depending on what paper you read. Yet the same rules that apply to Rangers apply to us. Ten points has a bigger effect on Dunfermline than it does on an Old Firm team. It’s about getting something that’s fair, and everyone recognises that. But every time you come up with a solution someone else comes up with a situation where it would be problematic.”

One awkward scenario involves the possibility of Rangers going into liquidation and emerging as a new company. Yorkston said he would be uncomfortable with a ‘newco’ Rangers automatically taking their place in the SPL should the current club go into liquidation. A precedent was set when Gretna were demoted all the way down to the Third Division when they began liquidation proceedings in 2008, although the club never re-emerged to take their place in the Scottish Football League.

“Being relegated all the way down to the Third Division is not my preference – it’s just what we have done in the past,” said Yorkston. “It happened to Gretna. Administration is one thing, liquidation is something different. We would all have difficulty with that one. But we were told by the [Rangers] administrators that they did not see that happening. We have to accept their word. They are a lot closer to it.”

The top tier of Scottish football is heavily reliant on the income generated by the current television deal, which itself hinges on the guarantee that there will be four Old Firm clashes per season.

Kilmarnock chairman Michael Johnston said: “There are certainly commercial considerations at play here. There is no underestimating the value of Rangers and Celtic to the SPL and Scottish football in general so I think it would be foolish to overlook the commercial aspects of this for all the other clubs.”

St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour added: “Scottish football needs a strong Rangers and Celtic, that’s my personal view.”

St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown would not address that specific issue but is a supporter of points deductions for clubs who are forced into insolvency scenarios. “We try to run the club the proper way,” Brown said. “Other clubs have been allowed to refinance and I wouldn’t say it annoys me, it’s just unfortunately part of the game.

Rod McKenzie, the SPL’s legal adviser, has been charged with drafting up financial fair play proposals, to be looked at again by the clubs in April.