Stuart Bathgate: Gird your loins, Rangers saga has a way to go

To those who think that the collapse of Charles Green’s proposed Company Voluntary Arrangement spells the death of the club, some more advice. Think again. Rangers will recover.

It has taken four months to get this far. Craig Whyte took the Ibrox club into administration on 14 February. Tomorrow, when the creditors’ meeting will decline to accept Green’s CVA, is 14 June. It will take a lot longer than four months for Rangers to get back to the position they were in before Whyte’s takeover, but they will get back there. Given the size and loyalty of the club’s fan base, there is little doubt about that.

Of course, yesterday’s announcement by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs that they will oppose the CVA is a historic moment. It represents a break with the past: with the club which played its first matches in 1872, which was incorporated as a company in 1899, and which has won more Scottish titles than any other team.

That break is what has filled Rangers supporters with sorrow and some other football followers with schadenfreude. But it’s not the end of history.

If we take Green at his word – and it remains to be seen whether he can deliver on his promises – the recovery will start almost immediately. A new company will assume the Rangers name, and the team will play at Ibrox. But where else will they play? That is the biggest single question to be answered before we know how long the recovery will take – what division, if any, Rangers will be in.

Under SPL rules, at least eight of the 12 members have to vote in favour of the transfer of a share from a member to a newco if it is to be accepted. The vote will take place at a general meeting of the SPL clubs, at a date to be decided – but at least 14 days away, as that is the notice period for calling such a meeting.

Some officials of SPL clubs have already said they will oppose the admission of a newco Rangers on the grounds of “sporting integrity”. Others are more inclined to bow to the economic might of the Ibrox club and vote in favour of their inclusion. With no obligation on any club to show its hand before the meeting, it is impossible to tell at present how the vote will go – though that will not stop thousands of supporters from lobbying their clubs.

If Rangers are not allowed back into the SPL, they will have to apply for admission to the SFL, starting in the Third Division. In either case, they face being thrown out of the league by another method – the appelate tribunal to be called by the SFA.

That tribunal was called after a judge declared illegal a 12-month transfer ban imposed by the SFA after it investigated how the club was run under Craig Whyte. Although it was Rangers who appealed to the civil authorities, they could still decide to accept the original punishment. If they do not do that, the tribunal will have three potential penalties at its disposal: suspending Rangers from the Scottish Cup, suspending them from the league, or expelling them from the league.

Rangers will be included in the SPL fixture list for next season when it is published on Monday, but whether that document becomes a reality remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that no matter the domestic opposition they face, Rangers will not play in European football for the next three seasons – Uefa’s punishment for any club which goes into liquidation.

That ban will clearly have an impact on the club’s revenue, and it also appears sure to have an effect on the calibre of player that Rangers can attract. Of more immediate concern to Green, though, is the legal status of the current squad, and whether their contracts would automatically be transferred to the newco or whether they would be free agents.

Legal opinion has differed on the matter, and it may take a test case before anyone knows for certain. But last night Green said he was confident that under Tupe (transfer of undertakings protection of employment) regulations, the current squad would remain with the club under its new guise.

“Tupe regulations are very, very clear,” he said. “We were notified by HMRC this morning and we immediately called a meeting of the staff. We explained where we are likely to go. Newco will have Tupe regulations and we would expect that all of the employees including the players would transfer into newco. While under Tupe regulations, we are obliged to take up on all of the contracts, obviously someone may decide that they don’t want to be part of the newco. But at that point they would be in breach of contract.”

Paul Clark of Duff & Phelps agreed with Green. “Tupe legislation says that if a business moves from one entity to another then the staff that are employed also move,” he said. “Unless the staff agree otherwise their contract terms move in their entirety.

“There is no intention for us to make anyone redundant. Everyone will move across on Thursday or Friday on exactly the same terms.”

Such matters will take some time to sort out – but almost certainly not as long as the inquiry that HMRC are to hold into the goings-on at Rangers over the past few years.