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Rangers Killed Scottish Football In The 80s And Have To Be Relegated
Some say if Rangers aren't allowed back into the SPL the league will fail. Here's why they shouldn't be allowed back in for the good of Scottish football.
As the Rangers saga rumbles on with more daily twists than an American daytime soap, fatigue has well and truly set in. Rangers fans have had enough, neutrals stopped caring weeks ago, and even a fair number of Celtic fans have retired from the gloating fields to watch Euro 2012 on the telly instead. We’ve heard all we want to hear about alleged tax evasion and Employee Benefit Trusts. The demonisation of former chairman Craig Whyte has been replaced in the press by the demonisation of chairman-elect Charles Green, to a chorus of indifference. The questions about CVA versus liquidation have been answered with the dissolution of the old club and Green launching his Rangers ‘newco.’ While many details about the shape and form of Rangers remain unresolved, these minutiae have largely lost the interest of the public. Only one question retains the power to fascinate those interested in Scottish football – in what division will newco Rangers ply their trade next season?
Green’s consortium has applied for newco Rangers to take up the old club’s place in the Scottish Premier League and the league members will vote on July 4th, with an 8-4 majority required to approve their entry. Club chairmen, while providing plenty of rhetoric about ‘sporting integrity,’ are being predictably cagy about how they will actually vote. Meantime, many fans are adamant that New Rangers must not be given a get out of jail free card and should do their time in the lower divisions. The counter-argument is, of course, the perceived financial logic. The argument goes something like this – an SPL without Rangers is simply not financially viable. TV revenue will disappear. Smaller clubs will be hamstrung by the drop in income stream from not playing Rangers four times a season. Rangers’ banishment from the top table will kill Scottish football.
The way Rangers won the title in 1987 would change the landscape of Scottish football, and ultimately drive a healthy league into its current shambolic mess.
The doom-mongers are, however, somewhat late to the party. How can demoting Rangers kill Scottish football when Rangers already did that more than two decades ago? That’s right – Rangers killed Scottish football, and they did it years ago. Not convinced? Then cast your mind back to the 1980s.
Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen have conquered Real Madrid to win the 1983 Cup Winners’ Cup. Dundee United make the final of the 1987 UEFA Cup, knocking out Terry Venables’ Barcelona along the way. Celtic are regularly achieving quarter-final respectability in European competition. By the middle of the decade, three different teams have won the Scottish title and solid attendances around the country illustrate mass engagement with a healthy, competitive league. Big Scots names from England’s dominant clubs Liverpool and Everton are struggling to hold down a place in the national side because they’re being kept out by players from the Scottish league. The national team is in the middle of a run which will see them become the first nation ever to qualify for five consecutive World Cups (although granted, they inevitably get cuffed upon arrival). A small country punches above its weight.
When Lloyds TSB finally called time on Murray’s debt, Rangers’ demise was inevitable. The very practices Rangers used to stick the knife into the competition brought about their own downfall.
Then something changed – in 1987, Rangers won their first title for nine years. The way they did it would change the landscape of Scottish football, and ultimately drive a healthy league into its current shambolic mess. Graeme Souness arrived as player-manager and, with a series of blank cheques, followed his own arrival with a string of high profile signings, the like of which the Scottish game had never seen before. It started with Terry Butcher and Chris Woods and before long half the England team and a string of European imports were helping Rangers steamroller their way to title after title. The subsequent arrival of David Murray as Rangers’ owner took this a new level entirely, with the likes of Gascoigne, Laudrup and Amoruso thrilling Ibrox fans, while megabucks flops like Van Vossen, Salenko and the £12m disaster Tore Andre Flo showed that Rangers had money to burn. The culture of Scottish football changed. No other club could hope to match Rangers’ prolific spending, but they had to try. Celtic tried, but their own modest attempts at splashing the cash failed to halt the Ibrox juggernaut and almost drove them to extinction. As the rest of the league tried to narrow the gap, they had little choice but to implement Rangers’ model as best they could relative to their own finances. Importing foreign players became the norm and youth development was little more than a sideshow. It didn’t work. Rangers swept all before them, and with competition a thing of the past and fans struggling to identify with teams full of international journeymen, attendances plummeted.
The rest is history. Murray’s millions were intended to buy Rangers the European Cup - they failed. The other clubs drove themselves to the very edge trying to keep up, and it would be many years before most eventually dragged themselves back from the brink by returning to producing their own players. Many are still paying the bills. This brings us back to the present: bereft of money and with two decades of the negligence of youth development behind it, Scottish football is a spent force. Lack of home-grown talent, along with the emergence of new nations across a changing Europe, has consigned the national team to also-ran status at best. The artificially-funded runs of Martin O’Neill’s comparatively expensive Celtic side and Walter Smith’s EBT-fuelled Rangers to UEFA Cup Finals, although relatively recent, seem a distant memory. Scottish football is a joke and it’s hard to see a day when it can aspire to anything better.
Celtic will be rubbing their hands at what will probably be an extended period of domestic domination, but Hearts, Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and others could realistically be vying for a Champions League place next season.
The punch line, of course, is that, Rangers didn’t really have the money. The SFA investigation and HMRC case against Rangers could prove that they did all this illegally. As Mark Daly’s recent BBC documentary Rangers: The Men Who Sold The Jerseys showed, David Murray’s so-called investment in Rangers was on the never-never. He was robbing Peter to pay Paul; borrowing heavily and moving money around between his various companies. If the BBC’s allegations are true then he was actually taking money out of Rangers, via the now-infamous EBTs. When Lloyds TSB finally called time on Murray’s debt, Rangers’ demise was inevitable. The very practices Rangers used to stick the knife into the competition brought about their own downfall.
So why should the Scottish game’s executioners be granted a staying of execution by the league they murdered? Why should Scottish football, out of short-term and arguably flawed ideas of economic self interest, protect a club that treated it so badly? If playing Rangers four times a season is the basis for your financial stability, it’s time to find a new model. Reliance on the customers of others for your own business plan is precarious at best and financial lunacy at worst. As for TV revenue, well, it’s not going to disappear. In the wake of the Rangers uncertainty, Sky stated that, “Scottish football is still very much in our plans for the future. Walking away has never been on our agenda.”
The much-vaunted TV money that many claim will be affected is embarrassingly low compared to many other leagues. Eighty million over five years, split between 12 clubs is hardly a fortune.
Maybe it’s time to look at the bigger picture. Yes, maybe SPL clubs will lose a few quid if Rangers have to start at the bottom but that’s short term thinking. What about the impact of greater competition on attendances? Since Rangers’ administration prevents them entering European football next season, Motherwell will take their place in the Champions’ League qualifiers. Should Rangers be out of the top-level picture for a few years, what other clubs might benefit? Celtic, not being directly reliant on Rangers for their income, will be rubbing their hands at what will probably be an extended period of domestic domination, but Hearts, Dundee United, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and others could realistically be vying for a Champions League place next season. If everyone shifts up one place in the hierarchy, virtually every SPL club could have a sneaky eye on Europa League qualification. Surely that will fill a few stadiums - and what a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the teams that make it. This could create a redistribution of wealth in Scottish football, and not just for SPL clubs. As Rangers inevitably make their way through the lower divisions, virtually every club in Scotland will receive gate receipts from playing them along the way. These are serious sums for clubs that are run on a shoestring.
Maybe it’s time for a change. If New Rangers start in the Third Division, just maybe, by the time they arrive back in the SPL, they will be returning to a healthier, more competitive league, with a resurgence of supporter engagement that the Scottish game needs, possibly breathing a tiny glimmer of life back into the corpse of Scottish football. On the other hand, maybe all this is optimistic to the point of delusion, but what’s the alternative? Let the organisation that contributed most to the current parlous state of affairs walk back in and just go on the same? The status quo is unsustainable. Scottish clubs are an embarrassment in European competition. The much-vaunted TV money that many claim will be affected is embarrassingly low compared to many other leagues. Eighty million over five years, split between 12 clubs is hardly a fortune. What price a more competitive league? And what price a league that puts real sporting integrity first? Maybe it’s time to find out.
Follow John Clarke on Twitter: @johnclarke1
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COMMENTS
Nail on the heid.
only 1 champions league place next season, check your facts at least
I've been saying the same thing since the start of this farce. Rangers killed Scottish football with two decades of cheating. It's time to let the league flourish without them.
Agreed
So it's all the fault of big bad rangers eh? They forced other spl teams to run up debts they now debt sustain
Can't sustain
This is absurd - or a wind-up. Other clubs are responsible for their own actions. They can't blame it all on big, bad Rangers. Aberdeen aren't going to win a European trophy again. Look at the world beyond the borders of Scotland. The whole football world has changed. It's about money to a far greater extent than before - and Scottish football basically doesn't have any.
Willie - you're right, but I'm talking about the mid-term future here. Coefficients change
They forced others to buy mediocre foreign players and abandon their youth setups did they? I didn't realise rangers had so much influence in the boardrooms of other spl clubs! What nonsense.
Excellent article. Nice that someone's articulating the problems Rangers caused both to the league and the national team. This is our best chance to breath life back into a tragically staid competition, and if it doesn't work, it was at the very least worth a shot.
Willie the author is obviously aware that Celtic will win the Champions League next season, so the place will go to second spot ;)
Nothing like an over simplistic piece of finger pointing littered with factual inaccuracies to brighten up a dull wet Friday. The club rightly seems to be heading for div3 where the rebuilding should be begin. Do we really need more gloating pieces of embarassing fanzine-esque whining coupled with gloating comments from those with as loose as a grasp on facts as the author?
"Celtic are regularly achieving quarter-final respectability in European competition." Sorry just a blatant lie.1979-80 was their last quarter final till the UEFA final run in 2003.
Bang on John. Send them down to the Third. Years and years of tainted trophies and titles. They are a disgrace and Scotland's Shame.
I think there's wisdom in the suggestion that if one club has success with a certain model then it's natural for other clubs to imitate that so as not to get left behind.
What killed Scottish fitba was Sky ramming the Premier League down their throats seven days a week.
Article is spot on, yeah they didn't force everyone else to try and match them, but as has been made clearer through the EBT scandal and financial crisis is for years rangers were being bankrolled by the bank of Scotland, which seemed to operate its own shady corporate version of an EBT. Until they went belly up, Rangers would have carried on spending money they didn't have, with no plans to pay it back. And to think Celtic almost gt put out of business for next to nothing. Rangers need to atone for their sins and division 3 is the only way, it will give the lower leagues a shot in the arm and if/when thy return it will be because they deserve to. If only they had taken the 12 month ban with a bit of grace and humility, you would be seeing a hell of a lot more leniency from other supporters, instead we just heard no surrender and we are ra peepl
Completely agree with the sentiment John. Other clubs were duty bound to attempt to catch up (Fraser, don't be so naive). This caused the run up of debts we saw over the past dew years. Livingston, Dundee (x2), Gretna, Motherwell, Hearts: all either gone to the wall or damn close. Celtic too, to an extent. I'd welcome a sustained and sustainable return to the promotion of Scottish youth and extended scouting (where the budget allows). The Scottish game would be better for it, would retain integrity and as and when the club that rises from Rangers ashes is promoted in a few years, they'll be able to compete on an even playing field without cheating their own fans, themselves and the rest of the game.
I'm a Rangers supporter but I agree with much of what you say. However, is there any evidence that Rangers did anything wrong prior to the Murray days, except splashing lots of money? That may be unpalatable to some but is a different argument to the current one about EBTs and the likes.
"scotland's shame" - The most ironic comment used regarding Scottish football.
There are many more factors at play here John than simply Rangers. The Bosman ruling, for one, that effectively ended the possibility of small clubs building, maintaining and re-generating teams (through lucrative sales of star players) hit many succesful 80s clubs as diverse at Notts Forest, Aberdeen, Dundee United, Aston Villa, Cologne and probably even Liverpool etc very hard and continues to do so today. The teachers strike of 1988-89 (from memory) in Scotland broke the link (probably forever) between schools football and the professional game by seriously diminishing Scottish boys mass participation in playing organised football at a decent standard on a regular basis. Currently, in the lower leagues of the Scottish Football League the impact of the moneybags Junior game that robs Division Two and Three of probably a good 100 decent pros every single season is far more profound, on Scottish football generally, than the impact of Rangers you describe above. Finally, the globalisation of culture generally and football specifically has been bad for Scotland as couch potato youngsters now live out their football dreams watching La Liga on Sky, playing games consoles or wearing Barcelona strips rather than supporting a local team and playing themselves. As comparatively sized nations, the likes of Croatia and Denmark out perform Scotland in producing talent and profile on a consistent basis. Croatia has a very specific and ingrained football culture, Denmark is an affluent country which has enjoyed the benefits of Morten Olsen's modernising influence as part of project begun in 1989 when he became national manager. Otherwise Scotland does relatively well for a country with a five million population. I suspect Scotland is caught in that cultural hinterland between extreme poverty and extreme affluence that seems to produce the best footballers. In footballing terms being middle of road as an economy (like Scotland) is seldom great for a nation's football. Rangers can be blamed for many things: financial doping, over-dominating a simple-minded media debate in Scotland and pursuing their own interests above and beyond those of the game, are but three. However, the 1980s purple period you describe was both created and ended by far more complex and dynamic factors than David Murray's financially unsustainable Rangers project, as reckless as it was.
absolute tosh,I have never read an article with so many factual errors in my life,and to enlighten you the season after next there is only one champions league place for Scotland
Mick - You believe that Rangers are to blame for everything that's wrong with the Scottish game and that no other club has made bad decisions? And I'm the one that's naive? Please read Greg's comments above and educate yourself!
Hard to add anything to what Greg said above. Just two points from the article, what's it going to be a period of Celtic dominance or greater competition? Or is the competition only for second place? That would be real progress wouldn't it, finishing behind only one of the OF. Also these debt killing Europa League games (assuming teams qualify and don't go out to a team from Liechtenstein like Falkirk did a few years ago), I'm sure they're going to be star studded affairs with teams like Shamrock Rovers, no wait, Spurs with Modric, Defoe, no wait, they're rested aren't they? Hmm. Better rethink that one.
I don't just blame ranger, their brothers in arms celtic have to take some responsibility too. The pair of them have exploited their sectarian divide and worked together to create a defacto league of two drawing fans and money away from the other clubs in scotland for years.
Poorly researched,cliched bollocks.
Fraser, at no point did I lay the blame entirely at RFC's feet for the situation Scottish football finds itself in. They have directly played a massive part in it though. Greg, your comment is excellent, and I couldn't agree more with the vast majority of your points. Much of what you touch on is based in our societal and cultural evolution over the last 20 years too. So on that note Fraser, Rangers are indeed heavily culpable for the environment they were directly involved in, as opposed to one, two or three steps removed: the teacher's industrial action for example. Please don't let your calls for others to educate themselves preclude you from taking your own advice.
I have to be honest, I think this is a great article and I agree with 99% of your points. rangers did cause the death of the game, the stole from every club, they have to be punished, their scaremongering that the league is done without them is a terrible approach from Green. Is this really the best he has to offer as an argument? But if one key point was left out, it is that while all this was going on, there were people in the SFA and SPL who knew about it. Make no mistake, there were times when refs were questioned because of the arrogance of their decisions in favour of rangers. We all know rangers have been exposed as a very corrupt organization, but to get life back into the game in Scotland, the beneficiaries of the corruptions also have to be weeded out exposed and punished. As Celtic fans have been saying for the last two seasons, this is not the end, it is only the beginning, and not just for Celtic, for all of Scottish football.
CoCo Bryce, you clearly are a hurting rangers fan. Otherwise you'd know your claim is 100% inaccurate and borne purely from wishful thinking and blindness. Celtic have been for years, against religious bigotry. Sure there are some fans who won't let go, but the club have been against it. Rangers on the other hand still to this day, after they actually exist, still hang on tight to the anti-catholic connections. Get you facts right if you plan making comments. At least talk sense.
as a neutral english football fan I can't see how having a league with Celtic 'and the rest' is possibly going to help re-invigorate the whole of Scottish 'fitba'. I suppose it's like betting on a race with reduced odds and excluding the favourite. Celtic use the league as a warm up for their efforts in the ECL and the rest compete for the win without celtic. I suppose the upside is it will even out the league structure by putting revenue into div3/2 etc for a while
Bang on, although I think from next season there's only one Champions League place
regardless what other clubs did, rangers spent money they didn't have and achieved success on the back of that. they should and will be punished. i think sending them to div 3 is best for scottish football. hopefully it will be a lesson to everyone else.
So it's alright for Rangers to fill the coffers of the lower divisions then but not the SPL? They should go south and play in the Big Boys League and leave Scottish football to its' own devices. Sky won't be leaving the SPL then? you trust Sky do you - they use the SPL as a filler before the big games (Stoke v Fulham or Wigan QPR), don't hang your hat on them!
Joe G. regarding your comments on bigotry, do you know any Irish catholics(or decendants)who support Rangers, I know plenty of Scottish Protestants who support celtic and, having lived and worked in the republic for several years you have no idea of the meaning of the word BIGOTRY
@JoeG. As you've pointed out about getting facts right can you please enlighten us to the facts you have about Rangers still hanging on tight to the anti-catholic connections? You are correct about Celtic being against religious bigotry - they keep giving those Green Brigade boys a real telling off!
JoeG - I'm a proud Hibs fan. If you can't see your clubs own agenda you must be blind! Celtic and Rangers have both been culpable in using Irish politics for their own ends to the detriment of Scottish football as a whole.
Just an aside on the naming issue... Is it now time to 'rest' the "Rangers F.C." name? "Glasgow Saint Mungo's F.C." anyone?
BRILLIANT ARTICLE. Let's not forget during the period in th 80's when the league was healthier & greater attendances... RANGERS WERE ABSOLUTE CRAP & FEW OF THEIR FANS WENT TO THEIR GAMES!
Great article & will real information & not the propaganda we get from all sides these days. One thing however i'm pretty sure our UEFA coefficient will mean we only have one Champions League spot from next season also meaning our clubs European campaigns will be start weeks earlier.
Mick - You say "at no point did I lay the blame entirely at RFC's feet for the situation Scottish football finds itself in." but you say in your previous post "Completely agree with the sentiment John.". John's article is entitled "Rangers Killed Scottish Football In The 80s And Have To Be Relegated" and he DOES then go on to blame Rangers. You seem to be contradicting yourself somewhat.
Great aricle but yes, the part about Celtic reaching regular quarter-finals of euro cups in 1980's. That's incorrect.
CoCo, you are telling little prokies. No Hibs fan would have made such a stupid statement. Then again, are you saying nowe that you have no rangers to support you have adopted Hibs? Welcome to the green side.
Oh Bob M!!! Silly boy!! You just made my point for me and made yourself look stupid in the process!! This was exactly what i was saying. the bigotry is all one sided! get yourself a history book and have someone read it to you.
As for attendances in the early 80s, contrary to popular myth, over the 3 seasons right before Souness came to Ibrox Rangers had the highest average attendances in the league. David Murray did not come in until later incidentally. Any club, with the possible exception of Celtic, who tried to copy what Rangers were doing was incredibly stupid. How could they possibly have competed with the money Rangers were spending? They'd have done a lot better to have concentrated on youth development.
I haven't lived in Scotland for some time now and obviously I was born and grew up in a different Scotland to most Celtic fans who are currently writing on blogs all over the web. On here again we hear about the bigoted and sectarian Rangers. I'm not denying there is truth in it but come on are you seriously saying its all down to the blue side of the divide. The green side are portraying themselves as some sort whiter than white angels of human nature. I find this strange as I remember the days in the late 70's through to the early 80's when there where people out side Celtic park every week with buckets collecting money for the Ra ( the IRA ). Yes this is true and those of my generation know its true. The loud and active support for such paramilitary groups has been clear and obvious at Celtic park all of my life. In the 70/80 they wouldn't even fly the flag of Scotland above the stands. Then when the press brought up this subject they then begrudgingly put a small one up at the corner of the main stand...but never over the jungle. Only last year one of the Celtic players fathers was arrested in the republic for holding guns and fire arms in his pub. He was also then in trouble for the massive banner he put up for the Queens visit to Ireland. The local council forced it to be removed. I you would like I can post the links from you tube that show Mr Lennon in a pub singing about DOBs after an old firm match. It's all there and very clear. I don 't want to make these points to start a slaning match...really I don't care about anybody's sectarian views...after growing up as a child thinking I was orange ( usually followed by the B word ) coloured I've had enough insults . I make these points because I am absolutely utter amazed at the way Celtic people have transformed in wonderful angels of humanity. Let's stop this nonsense, each force has creates and equal and opposite reaction. The truth is if I was tto visit some pubs in Glasgow or even go to a Celtic match and pretend to be the same as everyone around me we i would hear the same level of bigitory as you would hear in the blue side of the argument. This is still truly Scotland's shame...but then when you tell kids at the age of 5 ''you can't go to school with Tommy as he's a...." what can you ever expect from such a society. Finally, the word bigot is defined as 'someone who plays blind allegiance to one faith, cread or colour ' ask you self if you are a bigot.
This artical is a joke and panders the men with huge chips on their shoulders. Did Celtic kill football when matin oneil went on a spending spree in the two thousands. When a team up,s the ante it's up to everyone else to catch up that's competition
lol unadulterated pish!
@ Jock U and the mask slips right at the very end! -----This is still truly Scotland's shame...but then when you tell kids at the age of 5 ''you can't go to school with Tommy as he's a...." what can you ever expect from such a society------------------------------------- So it's because Tommy is a what? Catholic? Protestant? Jew? Muslim? I assume you're meaning Catholic schools? There shouldn't be any? They should all be go to the same school at 5? But Jock,,,,,,, why isn't there any of this Bigotry in England? Wales? Canada? America? Australia? You've just taken a blog about football and all you have ranted on about is IRA this, I was Called an Orange B that, Lennon singing this, not flying a Saltire that, A Celtic players father being involved in some illegal activities? And it's this players fault why? Is he responsible for what his father does? Are you accusing this player of being involved in this because his father was? You're masked slipped at the very end when you're rant collapsed and numerous places inbetween. I am glad people like you don't live in Scotland. :)
it seems there,s alot of jealous people here rangers will never never die.catch yourselves on where will all these teams get money from without the rangers its them that got the smaller teams money from away support.just lets see what happens at the end of next season without the gers money from away fans .trust me there will be alot of these so called teams joining rangers in the lower leagues.just watch this space
Um...no. Scotland's top division went to shit when it was reduced in size. I remember the days when Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, whoever, could draw or lose to Ayr United. Dropped points which had a bearing on the destination of the title, huge home gates which had a bearing on Ayr, or whoever, remaining 'competitive' (i.e. lower mid table). Much less to do with Rangers as with the formation of the SPL and the closed shop. It's a situation increasingly familiar in England now too, with the unlikelihood of a team (say, Notts Forest) getting promoted, winning the league and then the European Cup.
'So it's alright for Rangers to fill the coffers of the lower divisions then but not the SPL? ' Haha, great point Andy. Scottish League Division 3 gets huge gates (bigger than Div2, Div 1 and 2/3rds of the SPL) and someone like Berwick Rangers or Annan have their financial difficulties, assuming they have any, solved in 90 minutes. In the meantime Celtic, Hearts, etc find their finances and financial plans destroyed by fewer huge 'pay days'. Let's face it, relegation is not an option. 'Club 12', come August, will be Rangers newco, because the SPL chairmen depend on them. And there we have global football in a nutshell. Finance wins over romance or morality every time.
celebrations of our relegation will be spoiled by the now diddy 11 outvoting sellick and bringing in even gate split. even club 12 whoever they may be will be taking home half the gate receipts from sellick park. Enjoy your expensive jelly and ice cream now bhoys!
Well written piece, but not factually correct. When it comes to Rangers not having the money, that is not strictly true. The EBT "tax evasion" issue runs from 2001 when the EBT loophole came into being through Tony Blair,s labour government up to 2010 when the Tory government probably rightly closed it, The EBT tax evasion situation would not be the catastrophic issue it has become (probably rightly) if SDM and his professional cohorts had set them up correctly. There is no truth in your belief that Rangers did not have the money or the ability to raise the money before and indeed after 2001. The probelm lies with MIM,s bankers Bank of Scotland being bought by Lloyds TSB and Lloyds TSB,s desire (probably rightly to see MIM reduce their level of borrowing, pressure was put on SDM to pay back the relatively low sum of £18m owed by Rangers. MIM,s total indebtedness is reported to have been circa £700m. MIM and or SDM,s value is said to have withered from circa £700m to £110m following the credit crunch of 2007/8.
Instead of finger pointing, lets use this scenerio as a platform to improve the game as a whole. Scottish football is having to adapt due to the financial power of the English market. The league structure is a mess and Neil Doncaster hasnt done enough to justify his credentials for his current role. The TV deal is not as important as many have claimed, nor is it as lucrative an option as Rangers/Media/SFA have said. The main issue however is player development! In the past few years more scottish players are beginning to break through and impress north and south of the border. It looks likely that Rangers will be in DIV 3 next season which should give them a chance to rebuild and hopefully have a new initiative to invest in scottish youngsters. In terms of the SPL, Celtic will win the league (no argument there) reduced competition also reduces the need for marquee signings, instead more emphasis may be put towards encouraging an already successful youth system. Scotish football as a whole is failing, Rangers may have used dodge methods to exploit the system and im sure will be punished if the EBT case is proven but to blame them for the shambles we find our football in now is unfair. The SPL will suvive without Rangers/Newco. However it will not flurish under the current SFA.
I'm not wasting my tim reading the "sporting integrity" or we hate Rangers. All I will say is Rangers fans will gladly go to the 3rd division and take our punishment. Lets not forget there's still no guilty verdict. You cannot blame one club for how other clubs spend there cash trying to catch them. Finally this is the another in a long line of Anti Rangers articles on this site and the last straw for this reader. Good bye Sabotage. Goodbye Obsessed Celtic fans. Goodbye "sporting integrity" - when it suits you - enthusiasts. We will be back and we won't forget.
Good article in the main, the underlying theme is how money has ruined football. Not just in England but across the world. The problem is once the genie is out of he bottle it's not so easy to get it back in.
Two questions for all the Celtic supporters talking about 'sporting integrity'. In 2007-08 the SPL programme couldn't be extended, because of Celtic's proposed tour of Japan. I've never seen any results from this tour. Who did you play in the end? In the same season an Old Firm game was called off because of the death of Phil O'Donnell, who had played 90 games for Celtic, a week earlier. Why didn't you cancel any games five months later when Tommy Burns (400+ games for Celtic and ex-manager) died?
So what you are saying is fans of other Scottish teams stopped going to support their club when they werent't winning? I'm fed fans having a go at Rangers when they don't turn up to watch their own team. If you do John then I apologise to you personally but the attendances of the other Scottish clubs are rubbish. Rangers undoubtedly deserve punishment and I agree and indeed hope that we end up in division 3. But what all these other Scottish football fans seem to be missing is that we exist as one of the two biggest teams in the country because more of the Scottush people choose to support our club, not because of the actions of David Murray- we dominated the record books before that. You can all knock us as much as you wan't but the fact of the matter is we have been and will be again a dominant force for one reason and one reason only-our fanbase, which has always existed. There is nothing in contradiction to 'sporting integrity' about that. The 80s was before my time but it was obviously a fantastic period for Scottish football. I would LOVE to see a strong Aberdeen, Dundee United, HIbs, Hearts etc and I indeed have supported them with enthusiasm in their brief European forays over the years. But the truth is they perform pitifully. I have to disagree with your comment that Scottish teams are an embarrasment in Europe. Scottish teams OUTWITH the old firm are an embarassment in Europe. Celtic and Rangers consistently punch above their weight, and if you want to say its because of the money we spent then I have to give the example of Celtic and indeed commend them on their European performances. The rest of them are dismal. I can actually take most of the stick I get from Celtic supporting friends, but not from the supporters of other Scottish clubs. Its infuriating. We are taking our punishment-indeed most fans want us to be playing in the third division. Give it a rest.
It's only when you go abroad and see your fellow countrymen spew religious bile that you realise how backward this behaviour-on both sides-makes the country look. Murray's spending,more glory hunters with Old Firm fans here,there and everywhere,Sky TV,Bosman,the decline of youngsters playing due to a variety of factors,exorbitant prices(when compared to England)and blatant bias towards in particular Rangers have all helped to kill our fitba as has the stitch up where 2 clubs monopolised TV money and then had the audacity to charge smaller clubs a 5% levy for selling tickets are some of the many reasons why our once respected football is up the Gary Glitter. If my club-and others in The First Division-allow them to drop only 1 League,then this will exacerbate an already perilous position. Scottish football faces the most critical period in it's history.The wrong decisions made and the game up here will die for good.
Dave-who was it who got a game V "Mighty" Gretna cancelled the weekend before you played Lyon in the Champion Lge which later added to you fixture pile-up and 3-4 games cancelled in the new year because your pitch was in such a mess!!! Think the other reason games not cancelled for Tommy Burns was unlike Phil O'Donnell he never died on the pitch during PLAY!!!
"DAVE" you really showed yourself up with that comment Re: Phil O'Donnell / Tommy Burns. Enjoy the 3rd Division son.
Why are there sectarian comments on this blog, are we all so unable I discuss football without Irish politics. What do they have to do with me? Stop me if I'm wrong but I'm Scottish and ireland is a different country and they sure dont care about us. THIS is the problem with Scottish football. When England realised how rubbish they were on the international stage they built the burton training ground . We are all still so busy squabbling over some other countries politics to prevent us creating any sort of cohesive training or international programme. We have seen Croatia mentioned above, having fought wars of race and genocide, the Croats still seem to be able form a better footballing structure and leave politics to the politicians and keep football for the fans. Any sectarian commenter on this blog should hang their head in shame for the death of Scottish football.
this is one of the best articles i've read. all those saying that rangers had nothing to do with other clubs spending, you are a bit naive. yeah the other clubs at the time, although not completely in another dimension to the old firm, did not possess the same money power, but they realised that they had to import foreign players and abandon the youth system. this is what he says is the turning point. why would you expect the other clubs to just stand there and not try n compete, its the self entitlement again you rangers fans, that your entitled to everything at all times. glad your gonna be in div 3 , its where you belong
NEWCO enjoy 3rd division:-))))
Jock U- please dont go down the road of blaming the trouble in Scotland with bigots on the schools. Every city in Britain has Catholic and non-Catholic schools,yet their are only probley 2-3 citys where this may be a issue...Glasgow Belfast and maybes Liverpool wonder why this may be. All of the bigitory starts in the home...end of!!! And another thing which club never signed a Catholic for over 100 yrs of their history..or not knowingly anyway!!!
What a load of pish!! someone needs to actually look into the REAL facts before posting silly articles.
Hi Kev C, For sure you are to some degree correct as it appears the problem is not across all RC schools in the UK. I would argue that it does prevail in most of Scotland and N.Ireland as a real live issue. I am not blaming the trouble on the school themselves as I know lots of fine people that have been educated by them. My point is that when a society allows children to be split at the age of 5 years old into religious and non religious schools it will inevitably bread division in that society. I live this so I can only tell you of my experience and that of others I grew up with. When we were kids we used to through stones at the kids in the RC school because society had set this up. Had we all gone to the same school we would all have grown together and the society would have been much better for it...in my opinion. I defined the word bigitory because its used all the time and I often think people don't know the true meaning. It points out that its about people who play 'blind allegiance to one faith, cread or colour ' and that for me is the issue for society. I have never found paying blind a allegiance to allow openness or to be terribly inclusive in any way. Yes you are right to some degree it does start in the home but I wouldnt say '...end of!!!' as if your stance or opinion is the only one or indeed the correct one. Its also starts in religious places where they preach the only way is their particular way. That sounds a little like blind allegiance to me. Hey Kev religion is a big subject my friend and it would take more than a life time to debate it but the reality of life is that my grass needs cutting and my misses is giving me jip about it. So got to go as she is the superior being in my world. Cheers fella
Hi kev c and jock u, would either of you like to take the time and offer a reasoned argument why religion strife in a different country, has anything to do (at all in anyway whatsoever) with scottish football? Scottish football being a game locals play and support in a local area. Muslims and Jews don't get on in Palestine, maybe the Dundee clubs could base their history around it.... Or would that just be silly. @ Ian Moffat. If we want to talk facts about rangers accounts. It wasn't simply a case of them setting up the EBT's incorrectly. Fundamentally an EBT is never allowed to exist contractually. I.e anyone that is employed by a company. So no matter how it was applied or setup it would never have been legal. It is for self employment only. Companies by law have to pay staff through PAYE unless they use a contractor. Through SFA/FIFA rules this not allowed. rangers not only Gaines £75 million extra (as per HMRC legal case) over 10 years but actually had unlawful employee contract in place (as was their legal defence for the EBT case). 75 million reperesents more than the other non OF clubs put together. A lot of people have been posting about how it was the other scottish clubs fault for them spiralling in decline and losing fans, but how many of us know a "plastic" rangers fan. Not born in rangers and just decided to support them. Each one buys shirts, goes to the match, buys merchandise etc. how many of the rangers fans are there in Dundee or Aberdeen? These people aren't real fans but Rangers don't stop them giving them money. Dundee united, Aberdeen, hibs and hearts have all produced a large proportion of players that play for the OF today. That would make sense and should be celebrated if rangers weren't using money they didn't have and we're defrauding HMRC to achieve. The saddest thing was they didn't really have to. Like many rangers fans had posted they already had a good fanbase, history and youth players to always compete on their merit. All they have achieved is minimising the risk for ever losing and not even bothering to be competitive. It's winning monopoly. Y stealing money from the bank, surely rangers have heated their (and all) fans out of earning a league title through their hard work and quality.
Sorry.... Predictive text. Last sentence reads Its like winning monopoly by stealing money from the bank. Surely rangers have cheated their fans (and all) fans out of earning a league title through their hard work and quality.
Celtic also had EBT as far back as 1967 EUROPES BEST TEAM
Joe G - been a Hibby since I was 7 and have seen the way in which you and your "old firm friends" have exploited the weak minded across scotland to further your own means. FWIW I hope you both go bust!
1. Champions League Qualification and the riches it provides? Well there's one spot up for grabs for the forseeable future and that will be Celtics so no other clubs can dream of that and there are no riches if you don't make the Group Stage which Rangers and Celtic have generally failed to do. 2. Coefficients change? The reason Scotland has 1 representative is that even with Rangers 'EBT fuelled' Uefa Cup run in 2008 Scotland's coefficient has fallen - in fact Rangers account for 50% of all of Scotland's coefficient so I fail to see how Motherwell, Aberdeen, Dundee Utd etc qualifying for Europe will improve this. 3. Rangers spending in the 1980's are responsible for all Scotland's issues? No-one forced the other clubs to spend above their means and given the dominance that Rangers and Celtic showed over the past 25 years all that 'spending' that the other clubs were forced to do hasn't given them much to show for it. If Rangers were destroying Scottish football by signing foreigners over developing Scottish players why did the other clubs not take advantage of this and continue to produce Scottish talent unhindered rather than signing cheaper foreigners? The fact is Rangers never had much of a reputation for developing Scottish talent and if you look at the best Scottish players from the 1970's and 1980's they certainly didn't come from Ibrox - Dalglish, Archibald, Miller, Hansen, Nicol, McCleish, Johnston, McCoist, McCall, McAllister, McStay, Aitken, Gough etc etc etc. The suggestion that other Scottish clubs 'had' to abandon developing their own players is complete and utter nonsense. 4. Greater competition? For the occasional cup maybe - just as it is now. Dundee United are talking about an additional 1,000 season tickets to break even from the loss of Rangers related income. That's a stretch to begin with. Additional competition for 2nd place I think is what everyone means, dominance by Celtic is not much better than dominance by Rangers and Celtic. What excluding Rangers from the SPL will do is make an uncompetitive league even less competitive - rather than the Spanish model of two big clubs feeding off one another to be way ahead of the rest you will have Northern Ireland where there is one artificially big club dominating and winning 6 doubles in 7 seasons. Less money equals less quality may equal greater competition below top spot but certainly doesn't add up to greater attendances or a resurrection of the Scottish game and anyone who thinks it will is in for quite a shock. I'm a Rangers fan and I feel we deserve to be punished for whatever rules we have broken under the existing SPL regulations. If that means demotion to the SFL then fine so be it but articles like this suggesting that Rangers are responsible for all the ills of Scottish football are simply excusing the role played by every other character in the past 25 years.
take away all uefa coefficient points earned by gers last 5 years. what then
John, I read your article three times now just to make sure I got your proposition correct....Rangers destroyed Scottish football because they worked to improve their team and take their club forward. Thats what happened but you idea that they caused the downfall of Scottish football is nonsense I'm afraid. I was there ever other week through the 80's when crowds had fallen to less than 5000! The club was owned by the Marlborough Family and the chairman was a guy called John Patton. Rangers were in the pits of a Celtic 9 in a row run and they couldn't beat a drum. There was only one way out of that and that is what happened. The Marlborough family weren't really interested in Rangers but they knew the potential and sold to Murray for £6m...just £500k more than Green paid last week (who valued these assets!?). Rangers made rapid and radical changes and others naturally tried to follow. This all changed the Scottish game but not for the worse (it was always a 2 horse race more or less) as the England captain and goal keeper where playing in Scotland. Every club raised their game. However the various football authorities are the people to blame not RFC. Even today their are 3 of them SFA, SPL & SFL...its a joke!! The SFA followed the England example and got a foreign manager in old Bertie and that was a bloody disaster. They couldn't run a bath never mind Scottish football. These are the people to blame not RFC. I have watched lots of foreign players play in Scotland over the last 10 years and mostly those outside the OF players are often amazingly poor. This has also impacted the development of young Scottish talent as poor quality begets poor quality. There have been dozens of reports and recommendations written by all and sundry over the last 20 years and NONE of it has been implemented, NONE of it! Ironically the current RFC situation may lead to some positive league reconstruction yet all this has been recommended before but ignored. So this crisis may result in helping Scottish football however, some of these clubs will not be around by the time RFC come back as they are all about to vote to cut each others throats for the sake of ....'sporting integrity'!! Hahahahah....now that really is turkeys voting for Christmas! I like it...the stupidity continues!!!
@slemsman. I would take your facts and say that it actually proves there will be life after Rangers quite easily for these teams. You have mentioned Dundee united need 1000 additional season tickets to make up the difference for losing rangers ticket sales. DUFC season ticket is £265, so x1000 is £265'000 revenue lost. Its not really that much is it? So thats 1000 season tickets they need, considering dundee has a population of 140'000 and dufc's season ticket holders are roughly around 3000 thats not such a huge rise is it? considering rangers have been hoovering up the weak minded in the last 20 years by cheating their way to the title, DUFC can expect a return of some of these fans. This is without any extra money from Europe (even with a lower co-efficent) from extra merchandise from new fans or longer runs in the cups and a higher interest in being involved in a title run off (more ticket sales). It would be a little churlish to expect celtic will now simply not be challenged at all in any part of the season. Smaller clubs will also keep hold of their better players, rather than simply feeding to Rangers who cant really afford them (legally) anyway. A few seasons of keeping the better players and higher revenues and the expected gulf between Celtic and the rest will narrow. It will be a different place for Rangers to return to in 4-5 years time. The reason Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United have already voted no is that it does make good business sense. Why else would these chairman do it? It would seem the economic argument is going to be redundant for keeping them in the league. No real fans hate rangers (or any club for that matter) beyond footballing rivalry, but we do need to see justice for cheating and redistribution of the things that were stolen from the other clubs.
also see here... dundee united have already doubled their normal season tickets sales by selling 1700 in the same time we had only sold 850 last year... so thats another 150 to go then? http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/spl/dundee-united/2012/06/23/dundee-united-see-surge-in-season-ticket-sales-as-fans-hail-club-for-rejecting-newco-rangers-86908-23899693/
@Sharpy...ok good luck and we'll see what happens. It will be interesting to see how the final vote works out. Its ok to say listen to the fans but at the end of the day Chairman have a lot personally at stake. The Dundee United Steven Thompsons own family fortune is on the line here. He has ben brave talking over the weekend but will he actually do it? I don't know it would be funny as hell if he and the rest convoluted a plan to keep Rangers in the SPL...its not a done deal yet. Also you (and the rest of the country) keep going on about how we won illegally or titles. Can I just say nothing has been proven yet so it maybe better to wait and see before making false statements. What about innocent till proven guilty? I mean give us a break, if the people who ran the club did wrong then we will get punished but nothing has been proven on that one. Also whats interesting about the EBT case is that the accounts for all those years were approved by Grant Thornton ( very large world wide accountancy company) so what were they doing, the accounts where delivered every year to the SFA so what where they doing? Lots still to go through on this case I think? Anyway, everyone should have a right good kick at us now because we will be back and much stronger for it! Finally, I hear that Celtic have not yet made their minds up. Apparently Mr Desmond will not be investing in new players until Rangers come back as he thinks they should win every year we are away. He prefers to take advantage of the situation to reduce CFC level of debt. Very prudent I think.
even though there were errors in the article it does outline what in essence destroyed scottish football teams trying to emulate not only rangers but other large clubs from england etc by trying to buy their way to success instead of trying to build a team full of home grown talent i hope all scottish teams take note and start rebuilding scottish home grown football within their respective budgets and one last thing new rangers have to go to div 3
Don't think it’s fair to blame Rangers for all the ills for Scottish football. No one forced other chairmen to spend silly money. They did that themselves. Think other supporters might be more sympathetic with Rangers plight if they weren’t so arrogant, attitude from some of those at Rangers seems to be so what we spent money we didn’t have - big deal We are Rangers we are too big to be relegated. We’ll just form a new club and carry on as normal. Maybe if they used word like sorry we got it wrong, we got an unfair advantage and we will accept our punishment and move on come back stronger. I feel sorry for the Rangers supporters, it must be terrible for the situation they find themselves in. In my league (Ireland) Match of they Day and live English live matches shown on ITV and RTE killed domentic attendances in the 70’s and 80’s. I wonder if the Scottish League has suffered from the problems 90’s and the 00’s when sky ramped up its coverage? It might help things too if UEFA made more of an effort to stop four leagues benefitting from all European money. Long term I wouldn’t be surprised if the Irish Scottish and Welsh leagues are forced to merge ala Rugby long term to survive.
@Joe we are sorry, we are very sorry. Anyone who doesn't understand or believe this is obviously not reading all the blogs. Of course we are sorry but to be honest its not a lot of use to you or other supports and it sure isn't a bloody lot of good to us Rangers fans because there is nothing we can do about it. Furthermore we the fans are being punished for this mess and all we do is buy tickets and shirts and support our team. Yet we are the ones that have to face the baying dogs that snarler at us through anonymous blog posts 24 hours a day. That then leads to some of our own barking and snarling back because quite frankly there is nothing else they can do. We as fans are in a truly unique position of being the dog with a bark but no bit. I am not asking for sympathy here just trying to say we are sorry but also we are the victims in this who are humiliated by people we trusted and expected much much more from. Murray always said "i will make sure the club goes into safe hands"...well how wrong could he have got it!! Now we have the indignity of every other day players we have supported and idolised quite simply walking away with out a backward glance. Never have I seen so many spineless individuals who lack the courage to endure some uncertainty until Thursday when they could meet with the club and the manager and understand the situation. I don't know about others but I for one will never welcome these low life individuals back to Rangers in any way shape or form. They have put themselves beyond the pale for me. The have shown no respect to club, manager or fans. So hopefully Joe you can understand a little about why people are reacting with arrogance and aggression as its almost the only thing they can do sadly. There is an old saying 'no one kicks a dead dog' so thats the good news because all these people who say our club has gone and doesn't exist prove themselves so wrong because they continue to kick us therefore confirming we are still alive. I would encourage all those who want to have a kick to have a good one because the opportunity will not be there for ever. One day we will come back...then it will be a 'square go' and lets see who wins then. See even I have to do it! Cheers
as an englishman,i couldn't care less what happens to scottish football,its teams or its fans.all i know is its a scottish problem for scottish teams to solve,not for the english to pick up the pieces.and as for celtic or rangers joining english football..no way.we will not have english football tarnished by foreign teams support of terrorist organisations,one of which killed numerous innocents in england.if invited it would be carnage every other week,every week if rangers got invited aswell.the only use for scottish football for the english is,when we feel despondent about our teams performance,we cheer up because we know how shite scotlands is....and getting worse.
Interesting and thank you for you constructive feedback. Hoever with a name like Shaun.... Maybe you need to ask yor granny where she came from before you start throwing more bricks. As for English football... now only 28% of players in the PL are eligible to play for England?????
as a scotsman whom holds no contempt for the english as i have lots of english relatives and friends all i can say about the above coment is what a plonker and thank god none of my friends or relatives are like this plonker who has to bring in his dumb coments to a sensible discussion
Larry, if you are referring to my comment...I am a Scotsman who have lived in England for 20 years and I can assure you I love England and the english...why else would I live here. I think you misunderstood my point. The guy is called Shaun and may well find he has Irish ancestry yet he throwing stuff at Scots/Celts. The point about the EPL is a fact, simple!
denying the celtic ira link will never fool us english.
kevibhoy....celtic had other EBT's....EIRE BORN TERRORISTS...
Spot on. Almost exactly what I was thinking Myself. This could be a breath of fresh air for Scottish football...if the executives do not get their way and keep up the new rangers- and reintroduce the cancer. The double stranglehold is gone and even Celtic can be threaghtened at the top. ThisWILL bring back supporters. If rangers were let off unjustly, it could have killed the game. It waswrong of Clubs to try to keep pace to rangers overspend strategy (dodgy too)...but one can now clearly see the prudence of the Fergus Mccann more controled spending approach and not letting debts get out of hand and "gamble buying" titles. Hopefully, other clubs will begin to get strength in their legs and make for a more open league again. There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
Andrew you are a muppet what a lot of garbage you talk rangers a cancer that is the sort of comment that makes you look like a bitter little man because your team can't keep up with other clubs for a start yor idea that Celtic can be caught at the top is wonderful at the best budgets for all the other clubs will be cut Meaning less competition as for buying a title . The light at the end of the tunnel will be rangers letting all other clubs standing on their own two feet rangers fans charged 10 - 15 pounds extra a game get over this fact rangers did not cause all the ills in scotish football
John Sneddon sneddon; Actually, I did not call rangers the cancer; but that attitude of the less wealthy clubs trying to copy ranger's reckless overspending and feed off the rangers fans and spending over their means- understand? And...I am not "bitter" but just interested in the situation: Rangers is not the cancer I refer to but the cause along with the poor attitude of the other clubs...and I will be watching the tennis with more sporting attention. If Rangers go to league 3 at best; the other fans will sustain their clubs at their own level and turn up in greater numbers...if Rangers get off lightly; then the other fans will probably stay away in disgust. Rangers fans already threaghtened to boycott away matches before all this bussines even came into it; so other clubs should not place any trust in the rangers setup anyway: They should get their act together and live within their means- maybe now they will have to. If I were a Rangers fan, I would want suitable and equitable punishment- NOT to hurt other Clubs, but to be more proud of legitimate achievments and get rid of tainted rewards. And also, a fan can ditch a club and choose to support another. If I thought that, for instance, that Jelavic guy had a whole bunch of money owed to His club that Rangers wouldn't or couldn't pay for; yet took Him on anyway for all the goals He scored: I would want any benefits from that wiped away to go on supporting that club. If I thought that My club would vote against fairness just to kiss the backside of a club that think they are above the law and are Royalty compared to the club I supported and wanted sustinance from them; then I would instantly stop supporting that snivelling shower of rrr lickers in disgust. Most of all (a bit off point), If I came to learn that it was the custom of fans to wave a union jack in the place of or above Our Nation's Great Saltire, then I would want the whole setup to rot to nothing...and, for that, rangers IS a cancer.
If the bullying by the media,SPL and SFA results in SFL clubs voting this lot into Division 1 next week,then Scottish football is finished.SPL clubs and the SFA have passed the buck to fans of Division 1-3 clubs like my own and it's disgraceful this has happened.
cant you tell your name was spelled ending in an e big bad rangers and what about the money that has been thrown at the english premiership and how much in debt are they and rangers got the idea from your man utd and liverpools and one more thing before i go if anything rangers has and will again transform scottish football for the best
So the main hook of the article is that Rangers killed Scottish football in the 80s, did they? historically as well as statistically the 80s as well as the 70's were quite a poor decade for them. With only 3 league titles and 1 Scottish cup victory and their only dominance was the League cup, which was no consolation for a club of their stature. Rangers were slowly dying for most of the 80s, from the 9 seasons from 78 they managed to secure 2nd place only once and 3rd place just the twice. Something had to be done and done fast and through a terrible turn of events an opportunity was about to present itself to them. In the after math of the Heysel disaster in 1985 and English clubs subsequent 5 year ban from all UEFA competitions. Souness arrived and turned the way things were in Scotland on its head, our best players were shunning Scotland in favour of playing down south then all of a sudden we were attracting their english counterparts with the likes of Butcher, Woods, Steven, Francis, Wilkins etc to come here with the prospect of european football, but only if they help could secure their footing on the domestic front, which they soon started to do and do well. Professional football is a business first and foremost and as such must speculate to accumulate which Rangers did with relative success at a big financial investment. English clubs were doing it for years and still are and with the exception of the mighty few have very little to show for it regarding footballing triumphs. Diversity in our society as a whole is and has been growing for a lot longer than a few decades and seems to have been embraced in all aspects of our lives but hey Rangers are the bad guys for introducing it into Scottish football. They got it in the neck for many years for their no catholic policy and totally remodeled their club and attitude and it makes you wonder if whatever they do will ever be accepted by anyone outside of the club.
Can someone explain exactly what is the point of these "Championship" play-off games? Scottish football is a Joke....
SABOTAGE
