o Newco Rangers have £1.2m in the bank and the courts have just arrested £620k, leaving circa £600k available. In early September. Football clubs have their cash high water mark in June, after season ticket money arrives, with the low-point coming the month before, so is liquidation just around the corner? Not necessarily.
The club has a couple of significant problems: it’s short of money and has significant monthly outgoings, but it also has assets, and may have buyers for those assets.
Murray Park is an outrageous folly and should be sold immediately. Protests to secure it have been acts of self-harm; swallow your pride and sell. This is a football club in acute danger, pretentions of grandeur, and Murray Park is exactly that, should be shed immediately. Albion car park and the Edmiston House office building are superfluous property assets and could be sold without stopping football operations.
Mike Ashley has an asset Newco want back – stadium naming rights. He could repatriate these rights as a sweetener in a deal to buy Murray Park, Albion and Edmiston. Newco could leaseback the training ground, Sports Direct would be able to build a stonking big tracksuit shop on the Albion site and the club could boast to fans that they negotiated back Ibrox naming rights.
This might sound like a bitter pill but it will keep the lights on a little longer, makes irrefutable sense and is relatively painless. The original Rangers existed for over a century without Murray Park, one of Scotland’s best run topflight football clubs’ Motherwell, train on a school sports field, Newco Rangers could do the same. A little humility right now would be good for them.
There remains a problem: cumulatively, these assets are unlikely to be worth more than the £4m the club hope to raise in their proposed (not underwritten) share issue. This is still not enough to see them through the season. Expenditure for the last season accounts are available, 2012-13, averaged close to £3m per month. The club will need close to £20m between now and season ticket renewal time.
Creditors must be paid or the club will go into administration. To pay creditors, without sufficient income or credit, more assets must be sold, specifically Ibrox.
If they go into administration before selling Ibrox, don’t expect events to follow a similar path to the one Duff & Phelps took when administering Oldco Rangers. Duff & Phelps were appointed by a liquidation specialist with a specific remit. They even tried to sign a player. Newco in administration would follow a more conventional route: redundancies would take place and assets would be sold to pay creditors.
Ibrox is the only significant asset administrators would have to sell. It could generate enough to pay creditors in full and get the club through to the end of the season. Finding a buyer would be the main challenge, but as we all now know, the club can stand or fall, but whoever controls Ibrox can continue to get a rental return from successor club.
An administrator could dismiss the manager and some other highly paid staff, reducing costs to a more manageable level, and pay ordinary creditors in full.
Newco Rangers need to finish in the top four to be in with a chance of promotion, which would be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one with the right manager in place. They could be a top flight club next season.
This is not how fans wanted the Newco to progress but after they were unable to raise more than the £5.5m Charles Green’s consortium put on the table to buy Rangers assets, the future was mapped out.
Costs for police, insurance, electricity, IT, office staff, security and the million other items needed by a football club who occasionally host 50,000 people will be no less than circa £17m p.a – before you employ a footballer.
Newco’s income could rise from the £19m they earned in season 2012-13 (though possibly not this season), but there’s just not enough money to run a football team. Scottish Premiership football would be a chastening experience, the levels of austerity required going forward would be draconian.
Fans can protest that they are watching the same old club all they like, but it’s not going to look anything like the Rangers you or I have ever known – and I knew them under John Greig. And here’s the nub, the most optimistic financial projections are based on Newco selling the same number of tickets Oldco sold. Would a Newco competing alongside St Mirren and Kilmarnock sell any more than the 23,000 season tickets they’ve sold this year?
The long-term financial fundamentals remain unchanged. In 2012 the Blue Knights concluded there was no viable future for football at Ibrox if Rangers were liquidated. Two years later all the evidence reaffirms that position. This is a dead multi-club franchise.
Looking forward to the Maestro Match tomorrow. See you there.
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Keeping The Faith
That’s a reasonable conclusion.
But to be honest he makes that many points in a hostile way, he alienates folk and negates any chance of persuasion.
If it’s a YES vote, all Scottish Westminster constituencies will be disbanded at the next General Election.
Also, after independence, nobody at Westminster will have the authority to call a second referendum, so can’t imagine where that is coming from.
Ernie,
And from my experience Scotland would be very uncompetitive (in manufacturing terms) compared to England when you consider how far it is from most UK and European consumers.Scotland in population/consumer terms is a tiny market share for most companies.
I have no preference for a Yes or No vote in the referendum.I don’t live in Scotland so I don’t have the right to vote in it anyway.
The main reason I moved from Scotland was precisely because of what I described earlier……the companies I worked for were uncompetitive in getting things to the market on time.
Tom McLaughlin
17:44 on
7 September, 2014
If it’s a YES vote, all Scottish Westminster constituencies will be disbanded at the next General Election.
Also, after independence, nobody at Westminster will have the authority to call a second referendum, so can’t imagine where that is coming from.
As I understand it Scotland will not be fully Independent until 2016 and even then only after Scottish people approve results of negotiations with Westminster.
Just been called to dinner. Back later.
Is the Scotland game on TV? Can’t see it in listings. Saying that Im in Engurland so not much chance! Thought it might be on Sky sports but can’t see it.
HH
Agree 100% BCW , I suppose if he’s on here persuading nobody then he’s doing no harm.
BCW,
Great to meet up, and thanks for donation to the Shay fund :-)
Oh
I would resign Jackie Mac right now, the Bhoys still got it
Thoroughly enjoyed the day oot
Oh
Sipsini, how did you get get PL’s seat :-)
phil’s on the ball again
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/the-name-game/#more-5040
Keeping the faith
Is that faith of our fathers … Or you got someone locked in your cellar :)
Ernie –
Just reading back. Can’t confirm or deny that it was no 64. If it was, I have to admire your powers of memory.
I used to work in the IS/SWP Bookshop and often sold the paper outside Central Station, Union St exit. Got a lot of grief from the Govanites.
I remember Tariq was very vocal in his support for the Provos. Would that explain the Kelly reference?
Hooptastic.
Its on SS5
A trip to the pub beckons for this ex Sky subscriber.
HH
Scotland are on SS5 at 1900
TBJ I’m Keeping the Faith in Celtic with a nod to Northern Soul..
And mass once a .. Month
ryecatcher
17:19
Scottish Labour MP’s decided the outcome of election to Westminster twice; 1964 and Feb 1974 …. Both short-lived Parl; total period of Lab Govts – under two years.
Tom McLaughlin
17:44 on 7 September, 2014
‘If it’s a YES vote, all Scottish Westminster constituencies will be disbanded at the next General Election.’
No they won’t.
######
Also, after independence, nobody at Westminster will have the authority to call a second referendum, so can’t imagine where that is coming from.
In the period between a yes vote and independence being declared they would.
And I could imagine a scenario where it might happen, namely after the negotiation have been concluded, it transpires there is to be no currency union and membership of the EU is either delayed or is on markedly different terms than at present.
In that scenario Scots might well think they’ve bought a pig in a poke.
A 1-1 draw would prob suit us in this game.
Tom McLaughlin
17:50 on 7 September, 2014
The IMG paper Red Mole? used to have a cartoon strip which featured a character called Tarry Kelly.
Which is basically how he pronounces his name.
Cowiebhoy
Likewise, and thanks again for the ticket.
Enjoyed the match and the company.
Hail Hail.
islescelt
Better watch out. When you use pronouns like US certain people lose their minds.
But yeah a 1-1 is probably a good result for Scotland/US
LOL
If Scotland win tonight I reckon Independence is a done deal.
A very slim chance of a result tonight though.
There is now a better chance of a YES vote in 11 days and I would be lying if I wasn’t enjoying some people who have put their faith in polls for two years hitting the panic button.
quonno
17:34
I was with Fintan last night, he was full of admiration for those prepared to vote for Independance. He also told some interesting stories about Dermot Desmond.
Eddieinkirkmichael……
I seem to remember that the SNP assisted Thatcher coming to power in 1979
leadership needed at ibrox
the vote will distract their loyal hearts
nae chance
ernie lynch
18:00 on 7 September, 2011
Same plot as last week when I came back from football you still posting about politics. You are one sad boring man and everyone who answer your post falls into that category. Sad people get a life.
ryecatcher
18:06
and?
ryecatcher
I seem to remember Labour hid the McCrone report and put in the 40% rule to rig the Referendum in 1979.
The SNP did not assist Thatcher, their actions allowed her an opportunity. They were wrong and they paid for it but their reasons for doing so are understandable when you put those two facts on the table.
eddieinkirkmichael
18:05 on
7 September, 2014
quonno
17:34
I was with Fintan last night, he was full of admiration for those prepared to vote for Independance. He also told some interesting stories about Dermot Desmond.
___________________________________________________________________
Pray tell,Eddie I hate a tease,come on lhad spill the beans.
ryecatcher
1979…………….do the math.
Hello, thoroughly enjoyed the hurling. The speed and skill of the players was breathtaking, no shortage of lunacy amongst them as well, at times they were racking up points NBA style.
Tried to read back a few pages but the man with Repetitive Sh#te Injury made it too painful.
can’t wait for the football tonight.
Thick Together
Snake Plissken
18:12 on 7 September, 2014
Why are you so tetchy about the nats letting in Thatcher?
The nats didn’t mind the economic side of Thatcher so much, did you?
Righ, who is fed up with the blog getting dragged into the Referendum debate day after day ?
skyisalandfill and Keeping The Faith
Cheers for info. Don’t have sky myself can’t stand it. Will have to find other means of watching it.
HH
Bcw
Me
I hate blackmail
Good game today at CP for good causes. Nice to see so many talented people at CQN corner and on the pitch :-)
BigCupWinners – thanks for the donation for Shay.
HH
CRC
BCW……I’m fed up with the debate on here and in the real
world, I reckon 99% of folk know how they will vote, what’s
left is point scoring.
BIG-CUP-WINNERS
18:15 on
7 September, 2014
Right, who is fed up with the blog getting dragged into the Referendum debate day after day ?
Philbhoy
Great display of gingerness by Alan Quinn in the Ireland game
Onlyafewofusleftcsc
BIG-CUP-WINNERS
If CQN is representative of the wider debate you might as well tow Scotland out into the Atlantic and sink it!
EmptyhoosefightCSC