Rangers F.C.: In case you were wondering…
A Ranger I Actually Like
…I have tried on three different occasions to write a lengthy and well-reasoned post about what has happened at Rangers F.C. and is going to happen in the future. On each occasion I have gotten about three paragraphs into the piece before wanting to bash myself over the head with my laptop until I fall into a blissful unconsciousness. The main problem is that while there is a logical procedure and outcome that this whole scenario should follow, it won’t. There’s not a chance. There is too much money involved, there are too many governing bodies involved, the government is involved, and there are more shady characters around than find in a million mafia movies. So, until this whole episode is over, here is all I have to say on the subject.
- Any Rangers’ supporter who thinks the club- in whatever new form it takes- should be allowed to stay in the SPL because the SPL or Scottish football in general would “fail without them” needs a reality check. This is the same club that in the recent past has openly campaigned to join the English football pyramid AND indicated that it would be interested in playing in some sort of “North Atlantic League” with the big clubs from Scandinavia, the Low Countries, etc.- where was your concern for Scottish football then?
- The last club in Rangers’ position- Livingston F.C.- was relegated to the Third Division (they have since moved back up to the First Division). If anything less happens to the Rangers “newco,” the SPL and the SFA will have lost whatever modicum of sporting integrity they still have.
- Should #2 somehow happen, Dunfermline Athletic F.C. will still be relegated and Dundee F.C. would be promoted to the SPL to replace Rangers, with a chain reaction carrying down to the Third Division which would now have a vacancy. And speaking of that vacancy…
- As Rangers F.C. have been liquidated any reformed version of them is technically a new club and should have to apply for admittance to the Scottish Football League- which means they could be refused entry. Perhaps the league would choose to take Spartans or Whitehill Welfare instead? This, of course, won’t happen, but I offer it as just one example of the way in which justice will not be served in this case. Speaking of which…
- …not only will the NewGers not have to worry about becoming a non-league side, the SPL can apparently vote them right into the SPL. Presumably there would be penalties for their past malfeasance (although technically it will be a different club, so I’d imagine there will be a lot of legal wrangling over whether they could actually be punished for another club’s sins…), but they would be in the SPL- and Scottish football would become an even bigger laughing stock. My guess is that unless there are five clubs that find the courage to vote against this, it’s exactly what will happen.
So, my final word on this whole debacle?
To all of those involved in creating it and all of those who are absolutely, positively, 100% going sell their souls and the soul of Scottish football to “resolve” the situation in favor of Rangers 2.0, I say:
