Rangers Again: The Buck is Passed to the Scottish Football League

A Wretched Piece of Work

Last week, a document landed on the desks of Scottish Football League clubs. Badly written and shoddily presented, it was filled with figures plucked from nowhere, cheap threats, and one-sided arguments. It came with a clear message from the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football Association: the lower league clubs must bail out the top flight by accepting a new Rangers into the First Division, no questions asked.

This document, whose author remains unclear, outlined several scenarios for the future of Scottish football. The option of Rangers remaining in the SPL was dismissed instantly as “not an option” because the clubs had already indicated their opposition. For every other scenario, however, the only analysis offered was a panicked tally of lost television and sponsorship money. There was no mention of sporting integrity, the wishes of supporters, or the very reasons the SPL clubs themselves had just voted no. It was a crude instrument of blackmail, and it has backfired spectacularly.

The SPL clubs made their decision last Wednesday, formally denying the application to transfer the old club’s share to a new company. They did so not out of a sudden conversion to the principle of sporting integrity, but because of overwhelming pressure from their own supporters. Fans across the country, including a great many Rangers supporters, made it clear they believed the rules should apply to everyone. Having underestimated this strength of feeling once, the authorities are now making the same mistake again with the SFL.

Misjudgement and Social Unrest

Before the SPL vote had even taken place, a deal was being thrashed out behind the scenes. The SFA and SPL, desperate to minimise financial damage and placate Sky TV, concocted a plan: Rangers would be parachuted into the second tier in exchange for league reconstruction. The SFA, long frustrated in its attempts to implement the McLeish report, saw an opportunity to force through reform by tying it to the Rangers crisis. They may have imagined being congratulated for their leadership.

It was a profound misjudgement.

Supporters in the lower leagues proved just as opposed to special treatment as their top-flight counterparts. The plan’s explicit link to saving Rangers caused an immediate backlash. Clubs like Morton, Raith Rovers, Dunfermline, Stranraer, East Fife and Clyde quickly issued statements opposing any such deal. The SFA’s attempt at leverage had only served to galvanise opposition.

Faced with this defiance, the authorities have doubled down. At an SFL meeting on Tuesday, SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster and his SFA counterpart Stewart Regan addressed the clubs. According to an account from Clyde, Doncaster was still playing hardball, threatening the creation of an ‘SPL2’ if the SFL did not vote the way he wanted. Regan, for his part, gave an interview in which he insisted placing Rangers outside the top two divisions was not an option, before making extraordinary comments about potential “social unrest” if the club were lost to the game. Though he later clarified he meant a scenario where Rangers were not admitted to the leagues at all, the damage was done. The SFA’s fixation on the Old Firm, and its inability to conceive of a Scottish game without them, was laid bare.

The Bankrupt Model

The argument from the authorities is one of pure financial necessity. The threats, whether of an SPL2 or of an ‘armageddon’ scenario where broadcast deals collapse, are designed to terrify clubs into submission. But some are seeing through it. As Clyde’s statement articulated last week: “If things are as bad as indicated then Scottish Football is in a far worse state than is being acknowledged. In which case it is time to accept the bankrupt model needs fixed and not supported and perpetuated on the back of this proposal.”

This is the core of the issue. If the entire financial structure of Scottish football is so fragile that it depends on one club being granted an exemption from the rules, then the system itself is unsustainable. The fallout from the Rangers collapse is not a freak accident to be papered over; it is a symptom of a systemic problem that must be confronted, regardless of the short-term pain. Supporters have rallied around clubs that have taken a principled stand, a reminder that the loyalty of regular customers cannot be taken for granted. While the money raised may not cover an immediate television shortfall, it represents the long-term health of the sport. These are the fans on whom the game will depend for years to come; they cannot be sacrificed for a quick fix.

A decade ago, the chairman of the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association was fulminating about the actions of his club’s owners. A few years later, as chairman of the supporter-owned AFC Wimbledon, he was proving that a club run with integrity, for its fans, was not just a moral good but a viable business. The lesson is that when supporters see the right thing being done, they will respond.

While most SFL clubs appear to be holding firm against the pressure, cracks are appearing. Stenhousemuir broke cover this week, becoming the first club to state publicly that it supports Rangers being entered directly into the First Division. The chairmen of the SFL will meet this Friday, 13th July, to make their decision.