Hail Mary, full of grace……
A statement to the stock market by Rangers International today confirmed that they are not a sustainable business, have no bank credit facilities and are unable to accept debit or credit cards for season ticket purchases.
These revelations contravene SFA licence requirements, which would need to be met if the club wanted to participate in Scottish football in season 2014-15. Before attaining a licence for the forthcoming season a club must demonstrate that is has the finance available to complete its commitments. Newco Rangers have confirmed they are currently unable to meet this requirement.
Perhaps anticipating their next move, the statement added, “Should the Club suffer a substantial decrease in season ticket income in the next two months, then it would be unable to trade in the short term without seeking additional external funding”. You suspect this two month timeframe will prove to be significant.
That supporters who chose to automatically renew their season tickets cannot do so is demeaning. The financial uncertainty behind a season ticket purchase is such that people have been asked to pay by cash, cheque or direct bank transfer. Utterly, utterly, demeaning.
I sincerely hope whoever is in charge of taking money from fans is in a position to pay them back in the event the club fails. With this weight of evidence, to bank and spend the money regardless would be despicable.
A few points to bear in mind:
No one is in control of this situation, it was not planned for and there is not a silver bullet to resolve things.
The shareholders and are not a homogenous unit, they have different priorities, aspirations and stress points.
These two things being the case, any amount of carnage can take place once the inevitable crash occurs.
The only plan I can think of goes along the lines of, “Hail Mary, full of grace……..”
Sandy Jardine
I know several CQN’ers were good friends with Sandy Jardine, each of whom assured me of the man’s good character. Sincere condolences extended to all his family and friends.
Signed copies of Yogi Bare – John Hughes autobiography, are available now: