Former Rangers chairman, Alastair Johnston, made it clear on BBC Radio Scotland last night that putting the company into administration was never Sir David Murray’s plan. There was, he said, an understanding that should the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) decide against Rangers, the new liability would be absorbed into the Murray International Holdings (MIH) group of companies, just as MIH absorbed £50m of Rangers debt in 2004.
Johnston explained that the potential Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) tax liability was only 3% of MIH bank debt and that the group, which owned the overwhelming majority of Rangers anyway, would not find its position materially changed by absorbing the debt directly.
MIH would continue to manage its portfolio of investments back to rude health and neither it, nor its bankers, would have blood on their hands for putting Rangers down.
All this changed when Our Hero arrived on the scene with his £1. Johnston explained, as he had done in explicit detail before, that Lloyds Banking Group gave MIH and the independent board of directors at Rangers no choice but to accept the offer from Mr Whyte.
When the offer arrived last year Lloyds were already reaping a whirlwind of negative sentiment from being Rangers bankers and would view any exit from the situation as desirable. The bank itself, now significantly owned by the taxpayer after a government bailout, was also under immense financial pressure with a fiduciary responsibility to reduce their exposure to bad debt. They were hardly in a position to refuse £18m to clear existing debt with the removal of a potential £50m liability.
Once the offer materialised it was inevitably accepted. The old board’s plan to successfully steer the club through the potential loss of the FTT intact was usurped.
Neither MIH, the independent board nor, it could be argued, Lloyds, had any choice. Although while Mr Johnston insisted his hands were tied, he failed to see the bank’s decision makers were also between a rock and a hard place.
One final push (this week) for the Vanessa Riddle Appeal. We have a Celtic top signed by the first team squad available to auction on eBay. You can bid on the auction and help send Vanessa for the treatment she needs by clicking here. Thanks to Penfold for the donation and to Taggsybhoy for organising (yet again).
We don’t need no stinkin’ Rangers.
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Dharma Bam
Magnificent…….i just cant get enough…..
The Gallagher Classic….
That literary work will find it’s way into the curriculum at all ‘faith’ Schools in years to come in this wee country I am sure !
Thank you
Kittich explains better than me. My ‘they’re fecked’ perhaps a simplification :-)
markocooper @markocooper Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Coral not offering odds for Rangers winning the SPL. Instead just offering for combinations of trophies Celtic will win sports.coral.co.uk/sport/en#/dril…
Retweeted by Celtic Underground
Just cancelled today’s appointments, I’m staying home!!
The momentum is picking up rapidly now. Coupled with the mounting delusion of brer hun, this week and the coming weeks are going to be beautiful.
Dig it, dig it deep. And bury them.
Broonsauce
HM Revenue and Customs has lodged an application to put Rangers into administration.
On Tuesday HMRC lodged the order with the Court of Session in Edinburgh calling for the court to appoint an administrator.
The Court of Session confirmed to STV that the application is scheduled to be heard before a judge from midday on Tuesday. HMRC is due to make a statement on the steps of the court afterwards.
The move comes after the Ibrox club had lodged its own notice of intent to appoint an administrator on Monday. The court will now have to decide whether the administrator should be appointed by Rangers or the tax authorities – with important implications for the future of the Glasgow-based club.
Rangers are currently awaiting the result of a crucial tax case with HMRC, which owner Craig Whyte has confirmed could leave the club owing up to £75m.
On Monday, Rangers lodged its own notice of intention to appoint an administrator. This meant that Rangers had ten working days before having to call in insolvency experts to take over the running of the club.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/14/rangers-administration-scottish-football
Nice we summary in guardian in particular exposing the self interest of the scottish hacks
Bellahouston Park, 7pm Friday- ‘TedsAid’
-‘Save our Bears’.
A galaxy of loyal fans from the loyal fan galaxy hit the stage to raise funds for their beleaguered club
Starring Wet Wet Wet!
And…
Wet Wet Wet
And…
Kittock – thanks.
Partizan – thanks. And are we happy? :0)
RL – thanks, thanks, thanks. So admin today? WOOHOO.
Just been on 5 live.
SwanseaBhoy
My money is on the court appointing HMRC administrative choice
What da ya think ?
Hail Hail
SwanseaBhoy loves wee Craigy Whyte and Rangers going into Administration. says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:22
anybody got Joanna Lumleys phone number.
i just cant get enough.
fritzagrandold just tweeted today is now officially called the ST Valentines massacre lol can this day get any better you bet lol any one who missed the last game against the huns well that was the last game against the huns lol
I would love to know why people who blatantly seek to evade tax on this scale do not go to jail in this country ?
intead we make them knights of the realm……
Maybe deterents might work……mayybe high profile examples should be sought……but i am not bitter !
Tax expert on SSN after the break to explain developments at Ibrox
Guys
Dipping in and out of FF – so any strange posts from me are Copy and Paste jobs.
Starting with:
Riot Police at Murray park
Dont know much details but a lot of goings on at MP, contracter just came into work and said.
Awe_Naw; if they do it’s a game changer.
Lads
For what its worth a pal of mine is in a fairly senior position with the tax authorities in the republic of southern eire.
I asked him if he thought Rangers could wriggle off the hook in relation to HMRC by going into admin and here is his answer
As far as I am aware, the UK system is slightly different from the Irish system when it comes to tax appeals.
“Under Irish law, 5 years ago or so legislation was introduced to provide for the suspension of the collection of tax pending the outcome of an appeal. The appellant may choose to pay the tax to avoid the interest implications but there is no statutory obligation placed on him/her to do so.
However, under the UK system, as soon as an appellant loses the first stage of the appeal the tax becomes due and payable (as was the position in Ireland prior to the above legislation) although HMRC would generally not “pull out all the stops” to recover the money until the appeal had been settled. Furthermore, at all times the interest clock is ticking when the tax hasn’t been paid.
So, I do not think Rangers can avoid their obligations just by calling in the administrator. Also, as far as I am aware, administration merely gives a company some breathing space to come to some agreement with its creditors and if a major creditor like HMRC does not agree with the debt write down then it can oppose the process. Also, in preparationof the clubs accounts, a provision would have to be made for such a possible debt.
When administration is over a new company does not emerge. Rather the old company emerges with its debts written down by agreement.
Also, under UEFA rules, a club cannot just begin to trade under a new company. There are certain sanctions for doing this as you will be aware from the LOI and such sanctions include relegation. That is probably why Rangers want to go the Administration route. HMRC unlikely to agree because of the precedent it would set.”
Surely only their friends in low places can save them
The Administrators turn up in Edmiston Drive to dole out the Jelly
No prisoners. Put them to the sword. End this now……
Whooohoooo….
tomtheleedstim says:
14 February, 2012 at 10:50
Perhaps we could run a poll to see if Truth4767 is right.
If you are a season ticket holder, will you renew if the huns go pop?
I am, and I will.
My season ticket is to watch Celtic, not who they play, I’m in.
@St. M De P
Excellent article, cheers for the link
HH
February 13th 2012
Swanseabhoy. Happy? Me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwrFPUoADJs
No as happy as this guy
just watching t.v .there.newspaper headlines “heaven help us”.i thought they did away wi heaven ,christmas,confession ,the sacraments,anything decent. well thats the impression i got after all these years.mmmmmmm
Ragers tax case ,the gift that just keeps giving.
The MBB must rue the day he bough Eh Bers. Now every discrepancy in every one of his businesses is being brought to light. Poor, stupid man.
Brother aiden @11.10
Good thinking and a solid idea. However nice the idea, there are all the hun friendly peepul who will not let their diseased mob be disadvantaged.
Great idea though, mate.
KINGLuBO
HMRC will IMO gladly put the huns into liquidation to send out a message to any football club that wants to try and dodge their taxes.
THIS IS SUCH A BRILLIANT ARTICLE IT HAS NOT BEEN AWE NAWED AND MIKE SMALL WILL NEVER BE AWE NAWED
Rangers’ demise might not be such a bad thing
The club’s slide into administration could help rid Scottish football of ritualised bigotry and intergenerational hatred
Share 1 reddit this
Comments (23)
Mike Small
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 Feb
are a quintessentially British institution. This is the Queen’s XI. Their fans sing Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen – but they are in deep trouble, and may well fold completely before it’s time to launch the Jubilee barge. Football writer and Rangers fan Graham Spiers has called this the club’s “bitter harvest”, and railed against the club’s inability to cope with its own sectarian songsheet, which has been the source of grief and resentment for years.
But this is a story about financial stupidity more than cultural insolvency. The emerging collapse of Rangers football club is an allegory for a different game that’s not so beautiful anymore, where we can’t run failed institutions just because it’s what we’ve always done. Rangers may go bust owing the tax man almost £50m.
How did this happen? After the loyalty she has been shown over the years, how can Her Majesty allow her Revenue & Customs to behave in this manner? The reality dawning on the Scottish sports press and supporters of Rangers FC (two groups that are not always entirely distinct) is that the Scottish champions are perilously close to administration and, potentially, liquidation.
Rangers chairman Craig Whyte (himself currently under investigation by the government’s intelligence and enforcement directorate for his acquisition of the Ibrox club) said there is no “realistic or practical” alternative to getting ready for administration. The problem relates to a claim by HMRC for unpaid taxes over a period of several years dating back to 2001, which could result in massive liabilities.
The collapse of such a footballing giant after decades of mismanagement tells us a story not just about football as a bloated dysfunctional cultural spectacle, but of feral businessmen, media collusion, and a society witnessing key institutions collapse and teeter while desperately denying that such a thing is happening.
As bitter reality dawns, other certain truths are clung to amid the wreckage. Two of these stand out. One is that Craig Whyte is a shrewd guardian with a secret plan. Rumours swirl that Graeme Souness waits in the wings like a moustachioed Sauron. A Blue Knight to replace Craig Whyte. The second is that Rangers will emerge from the ordeal stronger, and, er, leaner.
Establishment voices mutter confidently of the club’s fanbase and that the “”club will never die”. Such macho posturing is a default setting from the club’s supporters (who numbered 17,822 at the recent home defeat to Dundee United), but the full extent of the club’s debts are unknown. Closely tied to this belief that RFC will re-emerge is the notion (repeated like a mantra on all broadcast frequencies) that “the Scottish Premiere League without Rangers is unthinkable”, and “Scottish football couldn’t survive without the Old Firm”. But this idea was quashed by Celtic’s chief executive Peter Lawwell only this week, when he stated plainly that his club “don’t need Rangers” to flourish financially. Lawwell said the eventuality of their Old Firm rivals going bust “would have no material effect on Celtic”.
The idea that the two clubs are mutually dependent persists only because the idea of Rangers and Celtic is so deeply embedded not just in Scottish culture, but also in Scottish press circulation. The Old Firm flog papers. But, in reality, the idea that splitting the Old Firm would be a travesty for Scottish football is upheld only by people who have vested interests in our (already) hopelessly failing game. Scotland’s Sky TV deal is already pitiful, and BBC Scotland’s coverage is reduced to a poorly produced highlights package.
Michael Grant of the Herald wrote: “Celtic and Scottish football could live without Rangers but, boy, it would be as dull as dishwater.” For the absent-minded and unobservant, Scottish football has been in dire terminal decline for some time now. The idea that it would be worse in a league that would immediately present more opportunities for success is patently absurd. It’s the sort of logic that could only be expressed by members of a closed group.
Life After Rangers Football (Larf) would mean for every other club a chance that the thousands who migrate towards Ibrox from towns across Scotland every other Saturday might show an interest in their local team. They would have realistic hope of winning trophies. But the positive reality of a Scottish game without Rangers is not primarily about a sport rid of a substantial element of ritualised bigotry and sustained intergenerational hatred, but the prospect of top-quality football being played by young Scotsmen in an atmosphere of optimism. That’s something worth aspiring to.
The mainstream press have been fatally blindsided on the impending crisis at Ibrox despite excellent blog coverage. But let’s not blame the clubbable journos. The real culprits are the management and board of the club who piled profligacy upon spending spree, from Dick Advocaat’s dubious £12m Tore Andre Flo to David Murray’s gigantic vanity project. But who’d blame them? Our culture lauds these dodgy geezers. Murray, the club’s previous owner, was quoted as saying: “For every £5 Celtic spends I’ll spend £10.” That doesn’t seem so clever now.
It just gets better and better. Gaun yerself Hector!!!
Just trying to convince my lad that Hector is a suitable choice for a confirmation name. Surely there must be a St Hector :-)
HH
CRC
Partizan says:
14 February, 2012 at 11:33
I saw that this morning, nearly wet myself..what a great day to have lived to see!!
SP
Paul67
Johnston’s testimony is further insight into the mindset of ra peepul.
Nowhere, EVER, has there been the merest hint of “so how can we pay this – how can we pay what we owe?”. Nothing – and this concept has never been raised in the phone ins and the media.
What gets asked is:
Where is the Ticketus / season book / Jelavic money?
Dose administration mean we don’t have to pay HMRC?
Who is to blame?
When can we buy players again?
They have NEVER had any intention of paying, and indeed have made that situation impossible by increasing player contracts, by perpetuating the EBT scheme until 2011, by continuing to pursue sporting success over ALL other considerations. They have literally eaten themselves and now ask for clemency.
It is this total lack of remorse, total lack of responsibility, total lack of accountability from the custodians that means THEY HAVE TO DIE.
This is an absolute necessity for us all to move on and those whose lives are soon to be empty to find humility, self awareness and think about building a better future.
HH
TLK
johann Murdoch, you’ve been shared.
Great article by the Guardian.
I’m loving ‘LARF’ Life After Rangers Football
Now that the HMRC are actively pushing administration the huns are looking a bit perplexed
But the man in the big hoose said this was to protect us FROM the HMRC
Hmmmm.
SSN
Q To TAX EXPERT – Who is right Rangers or the revenue?
A In my view, the revenue!
LARF
Love it.
Broonsauce
HMRCCSC or CRAIGWHYTECSC
Choices, choices…
Paul, as you know, I’ve been pretty much a lurker on this site for years.
Now we’re really witnessing the the massacre that you had predicted all those years ago.
It’s early days yet, but you must be odds on for picking up a few bob (and apologies along the way)
For all this predictions of a G.O.D!
I think there’s now no need for us to force that hosepipe down the throat that we all hoped for. Others are doing it for us now.
Fair play to you, RTC, Phil, et al!
You have all played the angles, whether intentionally at times or not, but the fruits of your labours are now there for all to see.
I for one will shed absolutely no tears for an “institution” that tried to change the definition of cheating.
Hell mend them, they’ll get what they deserve!
Incidentally, I had cancelled
My C67 subscription 6 months ago as I can now watch all hoops games on TV thanks to our 2 Korean tigers (tin hat on). Tomorrow I’ll be renewing he subscription with the hope that it’s at least another nail in the coffin and a signal that regardless of who we play, we are Celtic and we will not be moved!
I think it was Fargo that used to say “you keep tellin it kiddo”
Peat
PS – did Fargo become Kojo? Hmmmmmmmm (where’s Mabel)!