Rangers crisis: Dunfermline wages paid in full as deal is agreed with administrators

Rangers owed £84,000 to their Scottish Premier League rivals following a fixture between the two clubs at East End Park on 11 February. Just days later the Ibrox club went into administration and Dunfermline feared they would not receive the cash owed to them. As a consequence, they were unable to pay their players’ wages for February in full.

However, a statement on the club’s website yesterday confirmed that Dunfermline had now agreed with Rangers’ administrators to accept part of the outstanding ticket money yesterday, with the remainder to follow next month.

The statement confirmed: “Following discussions with the administrator at Rangers FC the club has agreed to accept part of the outstanding ticket money of £84,000 today with the remaining balance due by 13 April 2012.

“This has allowed DAFC to pay in full the February salaries to all staff.

“The only outstanding sums due are for players bonuses which we are confident of addressing in the next ten days.” Dundee United remain the only club Rangers are in arrears to following their William Hill Scottish Cup clash at Ibrox in February, just before the club went into administration.

It is understood the Tannadice club are owed around £100,000 as their share of proceeds from the fifth round tie against Rangers in Govan, which United won 2-0 thanks to goals from Gavin Gunning and Johnny Russell in front of a crowd of just over 17,000. The club are pursuing their claim through the Scottish Football Association, the body which organises the Scottish Cup. No resolution has yet been reached, with the clubs meeting again in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at Tannadice next Saturday.

Hearts, meanwhile, are due to receive further instalments owed to them by Rangers for the transfer of Lee Wallace last summer, although the deadlines set are not yet imminent.

Of the £1.5 million fee agreed for Wallace, it is believed that Rangers paid an initial sum of £700,000 up front. Subsequent instalments of £500,000 and £300,000 are due to be paid in July this year and July 2013 respectively.

Dunfermline were relieved to reach agreement with representatives of Duff and Phelps, Rangers’ administrators, yesterday, prior to a meeting attended by all 12 SPLs clubs at Hampden Park.

The main topic on the agenda was financial fair play, with the gathering having been prompted by Rangers’ plight.

It is understood that Rangers were particularly keen to address the issue of the outstanding payment due to Dunfermline before the meeting got under way, with the Ibrox club aware they might have to rely on the goodwill of their rivals in the future as they reach a critical stage in the administration process.

“The threat of further sanctions against Rangers is now removed by us agreeing to their offer – we don’t get all the money in one, but we look as though we are getting it,” said John Yorkston, the Dunfermline chairman. “We are delighted with that.”

“We have been in talks about it since the end of last week. We were close to a deal on Friday but it was all confirmed before the meeting.

“I don’t want to speculate why they [the administrators] decided to sort it out now – the main thing as far as we are concerned is that we have got something we can live with. It’s not ideal. But it is certainly a million miles better than where we were last week.”

The shortfall left Dunfermline in a difficult situation, as they had to allay players’ fears that the club was on the brink of its own cash crisis.

However, club officials quickly held talks with the squad and reassured them the ticket money owed by Rangers had created only a short-term cashflow problem.