Dundee could be just one vote away from promotion to the Scottish Premier League now that liquidation for Rangers has become a virtual certainty.
HMRC have indicated they will not accept the proposed terms of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).
Given HMRC are due £21m of the club’s debt, the failure to get the tax authorities on board renders any attempt to avoid liquidation effectively dead in the water.
Once a newco Rangers has been created the SPL board will vote on whether or not to allow the Ibrox club back into the top flight.
Should the new Rangers fail in that bid, they will apply to be allowed into the Third Division which is expected to be a formality and there will be a space left in the SPL.
It is understood that according to SPL rules the club relegated last season Dunfermline will stay relegated and Dundee could therefore be the beneficiary of Rangers’ demise.
While the Dens Park club chose to remain tight-lipped, Scottish Football League chief executive David Longmuir insisted it is ”business as usual” at the SFL.
Despite the prospect of their preparations for a new campaign being thrown into disarray by the emergence of a newco Rangers, Longmuir is remaining calm.
He said: ”The situation that has arisen today doesn’t really change anything for the SFL. The two bodies the SFA and the SPL now have consideration to give regarding the transfer of share ownership to a Rangers newco. And until such a time as that decision is made in terms of how they’ll handle the situation, the SFL will continue business as usual.
”At the moment there are at least two stages to go before any implication could be attached to the SFL, and we will handle any situation that comes to us.”
While Longmuir is reluctant to speculate on what the future could hold for Rangers, he is conscious of the enormity of the coming weeks for Scottish football.
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The decision of the SPL board whether to allow a newco Rangers straight back into the top flight has been painted in some quarters as a choice between morality and money.
And it is a momentous decision to be made, he concedes.
Longmuir continued: ”This is up there with the hardest decisions anyone has had to make about the future of Scottish football. The decisions that have to be made by the SPL and SFA in the coming weeks are far more crucial than the knock-on effects that come to the SFL.
”There are no winners in this situation. The good of the game is balancing sporting integrity with the finances available, and to be realistic about the future.”
Longmuir also confirmed that if Rangers did come to their door with an application to join the SFL, they wouldn’t get in any higher than the Third Division.
He pointed out: ”It would be a newco scenario and the only way we could accommodate any new application would be to create a gap in the Third Division through the play-offs with teams shuffling up. We would then judge every case would be treated on its own merits.
”There would be no provision for any newco Rangers to go into the First Division rather than the Third Division.”
Livingston chief executive Ged Nixon believes it will send the ”wrong message” to fans and bank managers alike if a Rangers newco are allowed straight into the SPL next season.
He said: ”If I’m the bank manager of an SPL club which holds a debt to the bank then I’m going to be a bit concerned about Rangers getting out of this (without relegation).
”I might be on the phone, looking at the situation, saying ‘I need to call in this debt’ otherwise I may not get it. It’s up to the SPL clubs to decide what they want to do with Rangers newco; they are the ones who have to step up to the plate and decide if they want a new Rangers to be part of the setup.
”It’s not an easy decision for anyone to make but I hope they make the right decision. And the fans are making it clear they don’t want a newco Rangers in that division. It sends the wrong message for me if Rangers are allowed back in the SPL.”
Livingston were relegated to the Third Division in 2009 following a second period of administration.
Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire