After being away from my computer for the last few days I thought i would write a quick summary of where Scottish football is at and what still has to be done before the end of the season in regards to Rangers/Sevco
So it seems this is the beginning of the end for Sevco. It is certainly the end of there being any chance of top flight football at Ibrox for the foreseeable future.
It’s a certainty that when clubs vote on July 4th it will confirm what I wrote on this blog last week. There will be no NewCo in the SPL.
St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Inverness have joined Hearts, Dundee United and Hibs in announcing their intention to vote against Sevco gaining entry to the SPL.
Even if the other 6 SPL members vote in favour of Rangers SPL share being transferred to Sevco it wouldn’t be enough as Charles Green’s company required 8 out of the possible 12 votes to go in their favour.
If the vote goes ahead on July 4th it will be a formality confirming that Charles Green has failed to achieve a SPL share for Sevco, one of his many failures since his arrival at Ibrox.
So what’s next?
There is now a vacancy in the SPL that has to be filled, most likely by either Dunfermline, who were relegated after finishing bottom of the SPL, or Dundee, who finished second in the First Division last season.
Whoever gets the place of Club 12 on the SPL fixture list will then leave a vacancy in the SFL. Clubs will be moved up the pyramid until the vacancy is in Third Division.
For this there is precedent, this is the way it should happen.
The SFA has plans to restructure the league. Chief Executive Stewart Regan and his SPL counterpart Neil Doncaster have made it very clear they intend to do everything in their power to ensure Sevco enter the Scottish football pyramid as high as possible.
This is the motive behind the fast track reconstruction, nobody buys the SFA’s reasoning for change and if they want fans to back change they need to be transparent and stop trying to deceive.
So Sevco apply to the SFL, most likely in the Third Division. If they have competition for membership it will come from teams such as Cove Rangers and Spartans, who applied for membership when Gretna were liquidated in 2008.
The applications will be considered and the 30 SFL clubs will vote on which club should gain entry to the league. Raith Rovers and Falkirk have already stated their intentions to vote against Sevco but I fully expect them to gain the most votes and be playing their football in the Third Division.
So Sevco will have a league to play in but who will be playing for them?
As much as Charles Green insists player contracts have been transferred from Rangers FC Plc to Sevco 5088, TUPE employment regulations state that employees of the company are not obliged to join the new company and can leave if they wish to.
Many players have said they have received no information on the transfer of their contract which is against TUPE regulations and may incur penalties; I am currently trying to find out what these penalties could mean for Sevco.
Also four players have already lodged objections to the transfer over the last few days and now consider themselves free agents. Steven Naismith and Steven Whittaker have joined Rhys McCabe and Sone Aluko in choosing not to join Sevco and start looking for a new club.
Now that it’s all but guaranteed that the NewCo will be playing in the lower leagues of Scottish football I expect many more to exercise their right to terminate their contract.
Rangers will be left with a skeleton squad, which is probably just as well because with Third Division football it will be impossible for Sevco to maintain a high wage bill.
Matchday revenue will drop along with attendances. Also the money received from the league and sponsorship will be considerably lower. Also it’s already well known Charles Green has struggled to gain investment in his company, even going as far as approaching rival bidders such as the Blue Knights to invest, and he has failed to find a bank that will provide Sevco with banking facilities.
So between now and the end of the season we will see Sevco have to apply for membership with both the SPL and SFL. They will then have to convince the playing staff to agree to the transfer of their contract. Charles Green will then need to find the funds to pay what’s left of the squad. All of this whilst the SFA tries to completely restructure the league system. And this is just what’s happening with Sevco.
Rangers FC Plc now faces an investigation from Strathclyde Police regarding Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club. They still await the outcome of the big tax case, the SPL investigation into dual contracts and the SFA Appellate Panel.
The beginning of the new season seems so long away with all this going on but it’s not, it’s in just over six weeks until the SFL season starts.
But things should not be rushed to accommodate one club and if things at Ibrox are not ready in time for the coming season then they must sit it out.
Anything could happen in the next six weeks.
MickC
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