Sorting out the contractual issues off the park allowed us a bit of closure on that front, albeit for a short period. I certainly found it easier to concentrate on playing football after that. Of course, what was sort of missed in all of this was the fact we were deducted ten points by the SPL for going into administration. We had no chance of winning the league as soon as that happened. Before we went into administration Celtic were just four points ahead. Had we not been deducted the points I would have fancied our chances of winning the league. From a footballing point of view, that was the biggest crime of all. Mismanagement on so many different levels, for such a long time, cost us. We’ve won more league titles than any other club in the world and we could have had another one in 2012. Unfortunately, four-in-a-row had disappeared, but we had to keep going, try our best to get some victories and make sure we finished in second place.
Through the administration period I was moved up front and I started hitting form and scoring some crucial goals, like one away from home at Motherwell, to make sure Celtic had to wait at least one more week to win the SPL title. I rarely played well when I returned to Fir Park but I thoroughly enjoyed that one. I felt great relief to get the winner. I scored again the following week at home to St Mirren. The fans chanted my name that day and that meant everything to me, it really did. I was then voted the Fans’ Player of the Month and that was a great honour and some satisfying news during such a trying time. Rangers fans are the best in the world, but they can be very demanding. That’s what comes with playing with such a big, big club.
To hear them chanting my name gave so much confidence and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time. We played Celtic in the final Ibrox Old Firm game of the season. In fact, some speculated it may be the last ever Old Firm game between the clubs on our park as there was all sorts of stories doing the rounds by that stage that we might close down. Listen, I never believed that for a minute but I suppose there always was a wee doubt hiding at the back of my mind as we were never totally sure the exact mess the club was in and what kind of trouble Craig Whyte had landed us in.
Celtic could have won the title at Ibrox and it was a game that would go down in history if it didn’t go our way. We didn’t want that happening on our watch. We also had to avoid defeat or else we’d have been the first team in the history of the club to lose four games on the trot at Ibrox.
Ibrox was bouncing that day, in a way I’d never seen before. Talk about our fans being up for it! Before the game the boys were obviously ready and well pumped up in the dressing room. Myself and McGregor kept shouting at each other to go and win the game. We stared at each other, eyeball to eyeball, and kept pushing each other like we were about to fight.
I told him to slap me to get me even more angry and he did so with his gloves on, then I just slapped him back right in the face. We didn’t smile, we just kept on getting angrier and angrier. Steve Davis came over to see what was happening but he got pushed away. He looked at us with a stare as well. We were at fever pitch but we loved it. We were never going to lose that day.
We won 3–2. Amazing stuff. Sone Aluko, Andy Little and big Lee Wallace got our goals. Lee is another winner, my sort of guy. He is quiet and polite but mentally strong. He is one of the best left-backs in the UK. I think he is a definite Rangers captain of the future! Myself and Steve Davis went into Jimmy Bell’s room after the game for a beer and we had a laugh as we recalled the pre-match antics!
I played up front and was absolutely delighted with my performance. I was named Man of the Match. I felt I made a significant contribution to our victory. The fans also spurred us on. They were absolutely first class and they deserved to enjoy that day more than anyone. The atmosphere inside Ibrox was incredible, I think the best I had ever heard and played in front of. It was the last time any of us had the chance to smile for a couple of months.
Over the piece, it was great for our fans to see us winning that game. They had been brilliant during the whole turbulent process and it was because of that the club retired the no.12 jersey in their honour. They set up the ‘fighting fund’ and have raised more than £500,000 that will be put to good use if and when it’s required. Our fans are amazing.
RANGERS TIMELINE 2012
FEBRUARY
On the 13th of the month Rangers apply to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to enter administration proceedings. Owner Craig Whyte announces that the bill for the major tax case, concerning the improper use of Employee Benefits Trust under previous owner Sir David Murray, could amount to £75 million.
Just twenty-four hours later Rangers appoint administrators Duff and Phelps after a court battle with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. They effectively forfeit the title to Celtic after being docked ten points. Duff and Phelps reveal that HMRC lodged their petition to take Rangers into administration over the non-payment of about £9 million PAYE and VAT since Whyte’s 2011 takeover.
Fears grow for the club’s future but the Administrators insist that Rangers will continue to exist as a football club. Administrators announce that parties not connected directly with the club have expressed an interest in taking over from Whyte. Administrators also express concerns over Whyte’s stewardship of the club. Whyte comes out to defend himself against a number of allegations and expresses confidence that investigations will prove ‘every penny has been accounted for’.
The Scottish Football Association launch an independent inquiry into the activities of Rangers, specifically whether Whyte is ‘fit and proper’ to hold a position in the game. Rangers’ attempts to sign Daniel Cousin are thwarted despite having announced his signature prior to entering administration. Manager Ally McCoist welcomes the SFA inquiry after his side’s 1–0 defeat against Kilmarnock at Ibrox.
On the 21st it is revealed that Craig Whyte had made a deal with Ticketus to pay off Rangers’ outstanding £18 million debt to Lloyds, something Whyte had earlier denied. Then forty-eight hours later Rangers Director of Football Gordon Smith and Chief Operating Officer Ali Russell agree to leave the club. A report on the club’s financial dealings is received by Strathclyde Police. McCoist expresses pride at his players’ focus on football following a 4–1 victory over Inverness.
Off the field, Rangers’ woes worsen as they are fined £50,000 for failing to declare that Whyte had been disqualified as a director.
MARCH
On the 1st Ticketus call for a ‘rapid and successful conclusion’ to the administration process and say they are willing to hold talks with any potential new owners. The SFA confirm they will investigate claims made by former Rangers director Hugh Adam that payments made to players were not disclosed to the governing body. Duff and Phelps postpone a final decision on wage cuts and staff redundancies after refusing an offer from players to defer wages. Craig Whyte expresses ‘enormous sympathy’ over impending redundancies at the club. Administrators say redundancies are ‘likely’ as Rangers lose 2–1 at home to Hearts on the 3rd.
The Scottish Premier League have confirmed that their board have instigated an investigation into the alleged non-disclosure of payments made to players by Rangers. Rangers administrators consider a proposal from players overnight after failing to reach consensus over wage cuts.
On the 6th joint administrator David Whitehouse says they have been unable to reach an agreement on a wage-cut plan and that talks will continue on Wednesday. Mervan Celik and Gregg Wylde both offer to leave the club, and twenty-four hours later it’s announced that liquidating the club is inevitable, a claim made by Rangers director Dave King. Administrators announce that the sale of the club has been accelerated after players fail to agree cost-cutting measures. Joint administrator Paul Clark rules out the prospect of European football for Rangers for three years.
Whyte is declared unfit to hold a position in football. The governing body say that Rangers face a charge of bringing the game into disrepute. Rangers administrators announce a package of wage cuts with players that have ‘directly prevented substantial job losses amo
ng non-playing staff both at Ibrox and Murray Park’.
Former Rangers director Paul Murray confirms his Blue Knights consortium is finalising an offer to buy the Ibrox club with the surprise backing of Ticketus.
On the 15th Rangers are issued with notices of complaint over alleged breaches of five disciplinary rules. Whyte is alleged to have breached two rules. A hearing set up to determine whether Craig Whyte did indeed breach SFA rules is adjourned until 17 April.
APRIL
News breaks on the 4th from the administrators and they reveal they have received four bids for the club. Then seven days later Duff and Phelps admit they have had to delay the announcement of a preferred bidder for the club due to proposed changes to Scottish Premier League rules. Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy is told his revised verbal bid for the club is not ‘capable of acceptance’.
On the 23rd all hell breaks loose when the club receives a twelve-month embargo on signing players and owner Craig Whyte is banned for life, whilst Whyte and the club are fined £200,000 and £160,000 respectively. The club intends to appeal the decision. Fans react with anger and disbelief at the SFA’s decision, with many planning to boycott away matches. News also emerges that manager Ally McCoist has suspended striker Kyle Lafferty for two weeks – meaning he may have played his last game for the club – and admitted he’d be open to the club joining the SFL and entering the Third Division.
MAY
The move to find a buyer intensifies. American businessman Bill Miller is granted preferred bidder status ahead of the Blue Knights consortium. That was on the 3rd, and just five days later he withdraws his bid for Rangers. The Blue Knights follow suit and withdraw their interest in buying Rangers after their noon ultimatum to Duff and Phelps passes.
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NEW ERA: THE GREEN SHOOTS OF RECOVERY
CHARLES GREEN and his consortium bought the club and he was announced as the preferred bidder on 13 May, the final SPL day of the season. We beat St Johnstone 4–0 that day at McDiarmid Park. I scored and Sone Aluko grabbed a hat-trick. Mr Green spoke to the players that day.
Then the club went into liquidation after HMRC rejected a CVA on 12 June. A newco was formed and we are now known as The Rangers Football Club. It’s been comforting that the club still exists and we’re still playing football, but it’s not all been easy to take. But at least we have retained our 140-year history. It was sad in many ways. Nobody wanted it to end this way for Rangers but we had to try and keep a positive outlook. It’s my view that we are still Glasgow Rangers and always will be. Nobody will ever take that away from us. What happened in terms of a newco doesn’t change anything for me. Nobody can take away my memories and medals from the past few years. I’m sure if you asked the likes of John Greig and Richard Gough they’d say the same about their time at the club. The supporters will say the same. We all have to stick together to make sure this club can move forward.
With our registrations and contracts being transferred over to a newco, some players were then advised they could walk out for nothing. Quite a number of them chose to go down that road. I wish Allan McGregor, Steve Davis, Stevie Naismith, Steven Whittaker, Sone Aluko, Kyle Lafferty, John Fleck, Rhys McCabe and Jamie Ness well. They all had had enough of the uncertainty surrounding the club. I don’t blame some players for that. They had to keep playing at a high standard to save their international careers and their livelihoods. It should never be forgotten that many jobs were saved by their actions in the wage-cut vote.
On the first day of pre-season, 28 June, seven players had walked and we knew there would be more. When we were booted out of the SPL and voted into the SFL Third Division then that was the final straw. It was yet another low point in our history, perhaps the lowest of all. I felt a bit sick with it all and just wanted it to be over and get back to playing football again.
I made my mind up pretty quickly that I was going to stay with Rangers. I was not for going anywhere. Of course, I would have rather have been in the SPL or the First Division with Rangers. The SFL Division Three didn’t hold too much appeal but I wouldn’t turn my back on Rangers. It was a time to show support and loyalty. I wanted my conscience to be clear. It wasn’t a time to quit the club. That would have been the easy thing to do. Since I was a kid growing up in Motherwell all I wanted to do was play for the club. The last thing I would have done was walk away. Wearing the Rangers jersey is an important part of my life and I’d never have forgiven myself if I’d given that up. I see it as a personal mission to help get the club back up to where it belongs.
The senior players who did turn up for the first day of pre-season – myself, Kirk Broadfoot, Lee Wallace and Neil Alexander – expected to go through a rigorous examination. That is the norm. We thought we’d get blood taken and urine samples tested and plenty more. But it didn’t happen. Again, it was an indication of how the lack of clarity off the park for Rangers was taking its toll with the football department. Everyone was all over the place and, quite rightly, the safety and well-being of the future of Rangers was paramount.
At this stage, Green was being slaughtered by many people in the media and by thousands of Rangers fans. The fans appeared not to trust him and lots of them didn’t want to buy their season tickets. Walter Smith was part of a consortium that made a late bid but it was rejected. During that period, the players spoke a lot but we didn’t know what was going to happen. We were in the dark. Completely. Mr Green saved the club and deserved to be given a chance.
The uncertainty made me feel vulnerable. At the start of July, I received a lucrative offer to go to the UAE and could have earned a net amount of more than £750,000 per year for two years but I turned it down. I felt that I couldn’t just walk away. I was lucky enough to make my dream come true to play for Rangers and they had been so kind to me over the years with medals that I had to stay. I owed it to the club and the fans to stay.
But pre-season was a helluva time. Between administration, liquidation and transfer embargoes, the club didn’t know if it was coming or going. I think I was in a bit of shock that the most successful club in the world could be brought to its knees. Many people and organisations played their part in it all.
The way we were treated by the SPL was the biggest disappointment to me. We had Motherwell in administration and other clubs flirting with danger, Hearts not being able to pay wages, that kind of thing. So why vote us out? They were going to lose money and the clubs had to be stronger and stand up to their fans.
I believe Celtic wanted us down in SFL Division Three. It made sense for them to think that way. It gives them a free run at the Champions League for the next few years. They would have known we’d have had to move our better players on, making us weaker. And they would get stronger. Unfortunately, that’s what has happened in the past twelve months and the gap between the clubs on the park now is pretty big. We have some very good young players, and on our day we could give most teams a game. But, of course, we want to be beating Celtic and teams at that level on a regular basis and there’s no doubt we’ll need to strengthen the squad and add more experienced players as soon as we can. Having been up there until last year, it pains me to think of what has happened and how far we still have to climb to get back up to the top. That’s the challenge we face, though, and we will rise to it in the coming years. I know we will be back. That’s the challenge we have and we will rise to it in the coming five years.
I totally understood why the SFL voted the way they did. It was a no-brainer for them to put us into the Third Division and let us climb the leagues back to the SPL. They were right not to vote us into the First Division. Every SFL club owner/chairman/ chief executive wanted a crack at us for financial reasons so they were right to ‘use’ us for a minimum of three years. It was a Lottery win for them, and good luck to them all. I’m also grateful they gave Rangers a platform to play football on and kept us in the professional game.
I’m also delighted that Mr Green and his financial backers came on board. It has worked ou
t well. As I mentioned, the first time I met him was when we played our last game of the season, away to St Johnstone. He came into the dressing room to introduce himself. He stood in front of the players and told us that there would be changes for the better and that we had to trust him. He assured us he wasn’t another Craig Whyte. We had just been turned upside down by Whyte and none of us knew the new owner. He didn’t have a problem seeing managers off the premises down there and I’m sure that must have been of great concern to Ally McCoist. But Ally more than deserved his opportunity.
He then spoke to us again at pre-season and we got to ask him a few questions. I asked him if the gaffer would be getting money to spend on new players because we had just seen Allan McGregor, Steve Davis, Stevie Naismith and others walk out. In terms of experienced players, there was only myself, Lee Wallace, Neil Alexander and Kirk Broadfoot back at the club. He told me that money would be available.
From there, we have built up a good working relationship and I now trust him. He gave me a new contract in October. I took my lawyer Liam O’Donnell with me into the meetings with Mr Green and it all went well. He gave me a new two-year deal when he could easily have only offered a twelve-month deal. He told me that my deal would expire when I was thirty-seven and if I wasn’t playing at that time there could be a place for me going all over the world representing the club in an ambassadorial role. But it was only mentioned in passing, it’s not set in stone.
Simp-Lee the Best Page 19