There’s something undignified at the shenanigans at Ibrox right now. Despite being under no pressure to pay the disputed tax demand, Rangers are tarting around their top player in a desperate attempt to raise money.
After the Plus Stock Exchange suspended dealing in their shares the club stated it would produce overdue accounts for season 2010-11 around the end of this month, which coincides with the end of the transfer window. Any auditor needs to be in a position to state that the company has enough cash to be considered a going concern before he would be in a position to sign-off the accounts. Rangers are now in a desperate bid for cash as their self-imposed (late) date to provide shareholders with statutory information has arrived.
Claims were made that a front-loaded war-chest was made available to Ex-Rangers manager, Ally McCoist (still too early? Hmmmm) at the start of the season and it was subsequently suggested that a £9m bid was rejected for Nikica Jelavic, but now the same player is available for a fraction of that sum – available for cash, that is.
McCoist kept their season alive but as reality dawn and Neil Lennon’s Celtic turned up the heat, his challenge abated.
The trusty old media, for so long a crutch throughout Rangers rather unique history, are set to desert the White Star Line’s most famous vessel. The day draws near.
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RTC now stating it’s worse than he even imagined…… liquidation for sure. This day just keeps on giving and it’s only eight o’clock
Smell the coffee post
“Rangers could go out of business tomorrow and the majority of FF would refuse to believe it, assuming it is some Lawell driven media conspiracy.
The levels of denial on here brings back memories of the deluded ones in the Celtic support who continued to back the Kelly’s, Whites and Grants even after they were removed from the club”
“ROMAN PAVLYUCHENKO’S Spurs career looks over after a training ground bust-up . . .”
A cheeky last day bid for loanin’ Roman and we’ll be singing in the gloamin . . .
Who is really to blame?
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamrockhandandcrown
Don’t forget David Murray said”I will only sell to someone who has the clubs been interest at heart”
This is key!
Murray brought the club to it’s knees. He rubbished other potential buyers (Paul Murray) in his haste to anoint Whitey boy as his successor. He did this because Whyte was the only guy on the horizon willing to take liability for the tax case away from Murray. We now see that the only reason for his willingness to do this was that he has no concern for the future of the club.
Murray should be brought to book by the media over this. The potential implications for the whole of Scottish football are massive, so they can’t ignore his role in that……or can they??
http://rangersfc2012.co.uk/
Mick
I’ll have a wee coffee break. I’m sure the best is yet to come!
tnt
You can not Sir
I demand satisfaction please please just one more!!!!
hehee
This is swell
Mtt
Meanwhile, over at the Beeb, Craig “whiter shade of pale” Whyte, gets a mention under “Other Gossip”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/9690441.stm
Rangers have borrowed £24.4m from London-based group Ticketus against the future sales od season tickets, but owner Craig Whyte has denied that this money was used to fund his takeover, and insists that the arrangement was in place before the takeover. (Daily Record)
OK, so the money was not used to fund the takeover, but the deal was sorted before he paid his pound to murraymint?
So he has £24.4 million in his hipper, won’t spend a penny on players, and also has first dibs on the first £18 million once they go bust?
Does that mean he walks away with £42.4 million for a pound spent? Of course it doesn’t, he had to buy the debt from LBG / BOS – but what %age did he pay to them? Bet it wasn’t the full wad, how about 2/3rds? So he has a mere £30 million for his £1 deposit – and we complain about bankers?
At least whytie is performing a public service and closing down a rascist, sectarian, cesspit of an organisation – perhaps we should start a campaign to get him a statue outside Celtic Park?
Too far? OK.
Ulryc
Mick
I dont usually do encores but since it is a special day – just for you:-)
Originally Posted by sccgers
So quick question
From what I can gather, he has sold the next four years of income with regards to the season tickets
What has happened or is happening to this cash ?
What is happening to the jelavic cash ?
What is happening full stop !
100 % with you on this. He has borrowed all this money where the **** is it. We have spent very little, Wallace 1.5 million but still owe 800k. In total we have probably shelled out 1.5 million in total.
Selling papers, eh?
Do any of them cost more than a pound?
Don’t…….
Don’t buy – read it here!
————————————————————————————————–
CRAIG WHYTE sold off four years of fans’ money to help fund his Rangers buy-out, it was revealed last night.
And Record Sport can also reveal high-ranking HMRC officials are investigating alleged non-payment of VAT since Whyte gained control of the club last May.
Current director Dave King and former board member Paul Murray have been quizzed by the tax authorities as part of their enquiry which has revealed £24.4million has been borrowed against future season-tickets sales.
Tranches of tickets over four seasons have been sold to Ticketus, a London-based group linked to Octopus, and it’s claimed this deal helped finance Whyte’s operating costs after the takeover.
Whyte himself last night confirmed he had sold off the tickets but denied he used the money to pay off Lloyds Bank. He insisted the £18m for the bank came from one of his companies.
When Whyte took over Rangers’ debt was £18m to Lloyds Bank and their wage bill had been reduced to £14m but it is believed the club could owe much more than that.
It’s thought the current debt is £21m to Ticketus plus £5m VAT on the ticket deal. But there could be other bills due and of course Rangers are awaiting the final verdict on their £49m EBT (Employee Benefit Trust) tax case.
Last night Whyte insisted the Ticketus deal was normal practice for clubs and his spokesman said: “The suggestion that the Rangers takeover was funded through financing arrangements on season tickets is categorically untrue.
“Rangers FC is no different in that it has a working capital facility with Ticketus, as have many, many other clubs. It is a common arrangement in football. This facility was in place at Ibrox long before the takeover.”
The EBT ruling is due within weeks and if Rangers lose they will be facing financial meltdown.
Their debt could then be in the £75m region with liquidation a stark reality.
But many now fear Rangers could be tipped over the abyss and into some kind of insolvency even before their Judgment Day over the tax case.
Rangers fans put their faith in Whyte believing he would get rid of the club’s debt and also provide transfer money for manager Ally McCoist, who has been an impoverished bystander during this transfer window.
But the Ibrox club’s support will be shocked by the detail of invoices and letters now in the revenue’s possession. It is claimed these show Whyte sold off massive chunks of Rangers’ future season-ticket sales.
And former board member Murray believes the takeover wouldn’t have been possible without the fans, even though they had no idea future tickets had been sold off to raise extra cash.
Murray said: “These documents prove to me that Rangers fans have actually paid and will continue to pay for the sale of their club.”
He added that HMRC have told him they are also due VAT, as much as £5m, on the deal with Ticketus and insists he has seen details of letters and invoices held by HMRC.
Murray claims that in one of the documents, a letter dated March 8, 2011 and signed by Whyte, it is alleged he made it clear that through Wavetower, his bid vehicle at the time, he would be entering into a deal to sell the season tickets to a company called Ticketus.
They are part of London-based Octopus, a perfectly legitimate lender who grant immediate loans based on future ticket sales. Record Sport managed to speak with most of the people who were on the Rangers board at the time of the takeover and they insist they knew nothing about the sale of season tickets. In fact they tried to ring-fence supporters’ money.
The papers, which are being pored over by HMRC officials, are said to reveal borrowing against ticket sales for seasons 2011-12, 12-13 and 13-14 that Whyte was able to raise £24.4m.
Then on June 27 he was hit with the first of his repayment bills from Ticketus, who were demanding a total of £9.5m, their share of that summer’s season-ticket sales. Whyte could only come up with £3.5m cash and to fill the shortfall mortgaged off part of season 2014-15 to the value of £6m.
Opening in March last year Murray claims the detail contained within HMRC’s file is extensive and explosive.
This is the timetable and interpretation of events: March 8, 2011: A letter from Liberty Capital (one of Whyte’s companies) is signed by Whyte and addressed to Ticketus.
In the letter Whyte confirms the intention to sell Rangers’ season tickets to Ticketus.
April 7: Lawyers on behalf of Ticketus deposit £24.4m into a Collyer Bristow (lawyers for Whyte’s bid) client account. A further £2m was placed in the same account from a company called JLT Benefit Solutions with £1m from the Merchant House Group, a firm of corporate finance specialists with whom Whyte is closely linked.
May 9: An agreement was entered into between Ticketus and Rangers to sell the season tickets.This was just three days after the takeover date of May 6. The bank was repaid the £18m.
June 27: Ticketus raised an invoice to Rangers seeking first repayment of £9.5m on their agreement. Rangers paid only £3.5m of that amount in cash and borrowed £6m more from Ticketus by selling another portion of 2013-14 as well as a portion of season 2014-15. Analysts stress there is nothing illegal in selling future ticket sales. In fact, it is common practice in British football, although the problems encountered by Leeds United and Newcastle United, who both borrowed too often and too much, are proof of the dangers.
Whyte has never declared the deals with Ticketus although HMRC documents suggest he has cashed in on fan loyalty.
The tax officials quizzed Murray and South African-based King, who was on conference call, as recently as last Friday morning.
They insisted they had no knowledge of what had been happening and Murray, who last year offered to take the club off Lloyds’ books and invest £15m in the team in a last-ditch attempt to prevent Whyte from getting the club, said he couldn’t believe what he was reading when presented with the HMRC file.
“HMRC asked for a meeting at the end of last week to find out what knowledge I, having been a director of the club at the time, had of these transactions prior to the takeover,” Murray said.
“I knew nothing about this and although I have been questioned by HMRC and seen some especially revealing documents which are in their possession, it is still very hard to take in what has been going on.
“Collyer Bristow were acting for Craig Whyte during the takeover and I have been shown their client account, from the opening of it until today.
“I’ve also seen all invoices from Ticketus to Rangers and Rangers to Ticketus supporting all these actions.
“I can’t believe Rangers have been handed over in this way.
“Remember also, the Independent Board, set up to make sure any potential buyers were capable of making the purchase and then funding the business, asked repeatedly where Craig Whyte was getting the money.
“He said it was from his own personal wealth and through Liberty Capital, which he insisted he owned 100 per cent, in the British Virgin Islands.
“Plans were being made to sell off future ticket sales but the directors were never told. This was all being done behind our backs.”
King was also shocked to learn of the seasonticket sale and said: “Securitising season tickets is a valid seasonal funding strategy to smooth cash flows within the year – but no longer.”
Whyte’s spokesman added: “The takeover team instigated discussions with Ticketus prior to the takeover because the relationship with Rangers was already in place and the new owners wanted to continue it.
“They were clear from the outset they wanted to ensure there were robust working capital provisions in place that could deal with the many financial challenges the club faces.
“The takeover was funded by one of Mr Whyte’s companies. Several months before then – and long before any discussions with Ticketus – Mr Whyte was asked to provide proof of funds for the takeover and he did that to the satisfaction of the previous owners, Lloyds Banking Group and professional advisers.”
t n t
You know how to keep your audience riveted,
Take a break kid but come back harder and stronger
Mtt
twists n turns
Cheers as I still could not bring myself to buy that paper.
Getting all emotional this morning.
I love you all… (sniff)
this is a fecking joke of a stitch-up, daily retard at it’s worst and i don’t like any of it
i’ll wager it’s the first time Ticketus has been mentioned in this rag, like it’s some kind of revelation and all that can be heard from every bear in chrisendom
is a collective penny dropping……
Here’s where I first heard of Ticketus, check the date.
Also from day one there has been intelligent debate and discussion (often laced with plenty humour, well, who doesn’t enjoy a laugh at their expense?) around CW’s credentials
as presented to us by the LL, of course we knew all along they were talking guff but that’s not the point.
I am extremely suspicious and not falling into the trap of belly laughing at the huns finally hearing it from their media, I suspect this is the start of the machinations to apportion blame
in CW’s direction, again we were also told this would happen
from RTC 12/12/2011
“While Whyte bounces from crisis to crisis keeping the wolf from the door (something he has done well assuming that there is no more cash), Sir David has been all but forgotten by the Scottish media. His role in mismanaging Rangers seems to be destined to become a footnote. His friends in the media seem reluctant to paint him as the architect of disaster. In the months ahead when this train crash reaches its conclusion, expect to see lots of media placement about how “Sir David tried his best to secure a new owner who could take Rangers to safety, but he got duped” or similar.”
When this “news” breaks down south, I would encourage every football fan, regardless of club, yup, them too, to contact every mainstream english news outlet., email links to Phil Mac’s site, RangersTaxCase, CQN….
All the groundwork and then some has been done for a colossal “scoop” centred on the malpractice of the Scottish sports media and it’s allegiance to Rangers FC (RIP)
HH
BBC shortbread sports reporters are sounding slightly strained .
Sports news- a bit of transfer tittle-tattle but they seem to be paralysed by todays revelations .
“Stick our heads into the sand, see nothing and the nightmare will go away .
We will wake up and it was just a bad dream .”
*8.30 ……..nothing to see ……move on.
CRAIGWHYTECSC
So he has already pocketed about 20 Million and could not even make the first payment back!
To the question “Are the huns dead yet?” Reply, “The family has been asked to gather.”
HH
If I were part of ticketus I’d be worried about receiving any loan repayments, quite a lot of money borrowed there plus the interest due. To be possibly losing that in the current financial climate would worry most people I’d imagine
Son of Dan @ 8.34
That made me laugh out loud
Had the weirdest of dreams last night.
I was in the Broamloan front just before the game was about to start and for some reason the huns had the upper tier. Anyway when the game kicked off it became clear that all the seats in the Broamloan upper were facing backwards, all the huns sat quietly watching the TV’s that were on the back wall! (Jeremy Kyle show!) Then I noticed a horrible wee hun neighbour of mine was a sub for the DOBs and was warming up in front of me, so I started to wind him up, he tried to ingratiate himself to me by offering me half a dozen tramadol!
Anyone care to interpret????
Meanwhile – back on FF (I have had to edit the language here – poster a wee bit irate)
___________________________________________________________________________
Originally Posted by SvenE
The Club need to release a statement, the sooner the f****** better.
Disgraceful
Why the majority of stuff he has said so far has been absoloute s****.
Quote:
Originally Posted by saki2
Lets see – £24m is borrowed, a few days later £18m goes to Lloyds.
According to Whyte, the £18m was his money – if so where is the £24m.
Its garbage, he hasnt had any real money of his own, AJ did warn folk but many on here just dismissed him
He has spent £1.
£1.
He is looking like the biggest conman going
Willl Whyte soon be a Rushdie after the mullahs read they have paid for there own demise?
Forget the Hector masks, I’m going out dressed as Moira Stewart.
CRAIGWHYTECSC
Reject 7 Million on the Friday, accept 5 Million on the Monday.
Maybe he only has room for 5 Million in his suitcase…
HH
TnT
Should l feel any pity, As a christian surly l should feel some sort of sympathy?
Hmmmm l am contemplating mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Nope not a thing
Mtt
BlantyreKev says:
31 January, 2012 at 08:44
Well you have the twin set,why let it go waste.
I can’t get the Benny Hill theme out of my head for some reason.
If I was the Cambuslang Rangers Owner I would be getting a quote for a stand with 6,000 seats in it and asking Mr Park for a loan to build it.
CRFC in a great position right now.
ASONOFDAN
It really is astonishing how badly that mob have run themselves over the last twenty years or so.
After Murray’s miss management the gers needed a steady hand. Thankfully they got it in Mr C Whyte.
Mtt
Sarcasm is indeed funny -)
So is there more to come after the big build up from yesterday? Because we all knew this for months. and why with this revelation are we assuming they will go bust tomorrow.
KLV
CRAIGWHYTECSC
‘It is normal business practice for clubs to sell future ticket sales.’
Is it normal not to be able to make the payments back?
HH
No mention of anything on Talksport this morning thought big Brazil would have been all over it.
KLV
Kittoch says:
31 January, 2012 at 08:51
CR Owner wont need a loan, he can borrow it from Ticketus against advance ST sales. Easy. Easy Eas…….
p
If, like me, you have the acquaintance of one or two reasonably minded fans of Rangers. Do as I am about to do and encourage them to return their season books. They should be due a refund for future games they have already paid to attend. This has two positive outcomes:
1) It hastens the inevitable demise of Rangers; and
2) It’s a GIRUY from them to Mr Whyte.
If they fold I’ll be as happy as anybody here, but in some respects I’d rather it had occurred through some sort of natural order rather than at the hands of a shyster – his actions are likely to have a negative impact on our club, for a while at least, and he’ll make a handsome profit.
bamboo says:
31 January, 2012 at 08:34
BBC cant mention this in the news due to the court action CW has raised against them after the documentry.
That did happen didn’t it
;-)
P
Swindler.
Crook.
Fraud.
Imposter.
Conman.
ASonOfDan@08:45
What’s £2m when you’re a Billionaire? ;)
Snake Plissken says:
31 January, 2012 at 08:48
I can’t get the Benny Hill theme out of my head for some reason.
_____________________________________________________
Thanks Snake,noo it’s in my bloody heid.
Boyd not going back for the Jelavic money… ……shockarooney Gerry