Rangers newco set to make last attempt for SPL spot

REPORTS today suggest Charles Green has hatched a last-ditch plan to get his Rangers newco into the SPL.

They claim Ibrox chief executive Green has held emergency talks with other top-flight chairmen and wants them to change their minds in tomorrow’s Hampden vote and allow Rangers into the SPL.

It is believed he has offered a six-point plan of punishments in a bid to win their approval.

Green’s plan would see his Rangers newco:

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• Back SPL voting reform and slash the Old Firm’s influence;

• Agree a fairer split of revenue and cut payments to the Old Firm;

• Accept the transfer embargo given by the SFA appeals body;

• Pay all Rangers’ football debts at home and abroad;

• Take a points deduction for at least one, possibly more seasons;

• Issue a public apology for Gers’ past wrongdoing.

However, Rangers look certain to lose the vote tomorrow after eight clubs – including Hearts and Hibs – said they would not back them.

If any plan to include Rangers in next season’s top flight were to prove successful it would be met with outrage by fans of other SPL clubs, the majority of whom have strongly backed their clubs’ stance to deny the Ibrox outfit a route back into the SPL.

Green, though, is confident SPL club chairmen will listen to his pleas to consider the impact on Scottish football when he presents his application to join the league.

Motherwell will become the eighth SPL club to confirm their opposition to the plan today, 24 hours before members vote.

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Green is also struggling to garner support from Scottish Football League clubs for a plan to put his club in the Irn-Bru First Division.

But Green told www.rangers.co.uk: “I know the chairmen will listen. The problem some of them have to a lesser degree than I have here is fan pressure. I said to a number of them over the weekend that if they’re concerned about their fans, they should come to Ibrox for a week and sit in my chair.

“Fans are the lifeblood of all clubs and without them we have no product so we have to engage with them.”

Green’s Sevco consortium are also awaiting news over their application to join the Scottish Football Association, who have yet to confirm plans for an appeal hearing into oldco Rangers’ failure to pay tax last season. The club overturned a transfer embargo in court but the alternative sanction could be suspension or termination of membership.

Green said: “We think the important thing is Scottish football and we need to draw a line and move forward. There is now a clearer understanding of the implications of football without Rangers because, remember, this is not just about Rangers not being in the SPL.

“Lord Carloway may even just withdraw the licence to play at all if we go back to the tribunal.

“There are some big decisions and none are more material than Rangers being excluded from the league and the financial incomes this club drives for the benefit of all Scottish clubs.”

The attention will be on the 30 Scottish Football League clubs today as they meet at Hampden to discuss the governing bodies’ First Division proposal.

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Hamilton chairman Les Gray, whose club have yet to reveal their voting intentions, pleaded for “harmony”.

“When Ronnie MacDonald bought the Accies in 2003 we were within a few days of administration or indeed Liquidation due to the club’s enormous debt level for a club of our size,” Gray said.

“We had a total breakdown between our board and the supporters in addition to the punishments from the authorities.

“No club, until now, has been in such a critical position and we hope Rangers will be the last club to be in such a desperate position.”

He added: “Harmony must be restored between all clubs for the good of our game and the continued existence of all Scotland’s clubs.”

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