Whyte concedes administration is likely if Rangers lose HMRC case

RANGERS owner Craig Whyte has admitted for the first time that administration is a realistic possibility should the Ibrox club lose a tax tribunal case scheduled to be heard in November.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is pursuing a sum believed to be as much as £49 million in back-taxes, interest and penalties from Rangers. The case has meant that a dark cloud of uncertainly continues to hang over Ibrox despite a change in ownership and series of promises from Whyte.

In an interview published in one newspaper yesterday, Whyte confessed that “administration is one of the possibilities we have looked at” in the event of the tax case going against them. “The choice, in terms of an adverse finding, is pretty obvious really,” Whyte added.

The businessman has always insisted there are plans in place to cope with the “worst case scenario” should the HMRC case go against Rangers. To date, however, he has declined to offer any details of what form these plans might take although it is clear from Whyte’s latest interview that calling in administrators has not been ruled out.

The Motherwell-born businessman purchased a controlling stake from Sir David Murray last May for £1 and assumed responsibility for £18 million of bank debt and the tax liabilities in the process. Whyte repaid the £18 million to Lloyds Banking Group and then transferred the debt to Rangers’ holding company, owned by the businessman’s Liberty Capital Limited company. This structure means Whyte will be left as the largest secured creditor, leaving him in control of any administration and able to agree to the Creditors’ Voluntary Arrangement required to exit the process.

Rangers fans yesterday urged Whyte to step back from the brink if he is indeed considering such a move. Stephen Smith, the former chair of the Rangers Supporters’ Trust, stressed that “everything should be done to avoid administration”.

One of the implications could see Rangers heavily disadvantaged in their bid to win a fourth successive league championship. The Ibrox side, who can go ten points clear of second-place Celtic with a win over Hibernian on Saturday, would, according to Scottish Premier League rules, receive a ten-point penalty in the event of administration.

“It is not just the blow of losing ten points,” said Smith. “You have to also consider what it would mean for prestige and the sense of itself as a club. It would also reflect badly on Scottish football if the Scottish champions are in administration. The back-wash would affect other clubs.

“It is a big worry,” he added. “I don’t want Rangers to be remotely near that situation. People say Whyte is a shrewd businessman and will know what he is doing but people used that adjective to describe David Murray and the ruin of his legacy has yet to run its course.”

One Scottish football financial expert yesterday described administration as a “high risk option”. He added: “Administration is not always straightforward, there can be all types of complications. It is not a plan B just to let a club go bust and then hope to build it up again. There are more imponderables to it to be able to just do that and then start again from scratch.”

Whyte also resuscitated a subject considered during Murray’s tenure as chairman and which involves the profound question of where Rangers might aim to play their football in future. In Murray’s time an ‘Atlantic League’ was proposed, as was a relocation to the Premier League in England. Whyte revealed that the possibility of a move to England is being examined “behind the scenes”. He added: “But there are other potential ideas in terms of European leagues, joining some of the Nordic countries, the Netherlands to create a league. Whyte described Rangers as “a Premier League club with the revenue of a Scottish club”.

He also proposed the possibility of Rangers running two teams, one each side of the Border.

“Whatever happens Rangers will be moving forward,” he said. “I will not allow the club to go bust. I can control the debt process absolutely, and whatever happens Rangers is going to be there playing in the SPL at Ibrox.”

However, he sees Rangers’ future as lying further afield as well. “I think I can turn this around and sort out the problem,” he said. “I have put money in and I’m prepared to put money in but I have said it is not a bottomless pit. We are in Scottish football so it is not a viable proposition to go put £100 million into the team. If we went forward into another league set-up, say the English Premier League, then it is very viable to put £100 million more in. We are not there at the moment but we would like to be.”

Whyte also made it clear he would not be drawn on his own personal wealth. “It would make my life a lot easier, if I did, but, frankly, I’m not going to have journalists going into every aspect of my private life,” he said.