http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/football/Sale-of-Rangers-FC-39will.6650410.jp

 

Quote

Sale of Rangers FC 'will go ahead by mid-January'

 

Published Date: 05 December 2010

By Tom English

 

A DEAL to sell Rangers Football Club to Scots venture capitalist Craig Whyte will go though by the middle of January, according to senior sources at the club.

Whyte, 39, met with Ibrox chairman Alastair Johnston in Glasgow to discuss the purchase of Sir David Murray's shareholding in the club.

 

The proposed £33 million deal will wipe out the existing debt that has stymied Rangers in the transfer market for two years.

 

Yesterday, sources at Rangers said the deal, barring any late hitches, could be completed before Christmas but it is more likely that it will be done by the middle of January. "We can't say with 100 per cent certainty, but Whyte has the money and is very convincing. We think the deal will happen," said the source.

 

Murray has presided over Rangers for 22 years but has been keen to sell his stake for some time.

 

Hopefully the debt thing is not true as that is what is holding them back at the moment.

Why wasn't a further punishment given for "clearly coming the cunt"?

 

 

You should know how this works now.

 

SPL ran by: Huns and Tims.

Teams punished less than others: Huns and Tims.

Teams punished for frivolous appealing: Dons, Arabs, Pars, Jambos, Hibs, Killie, Helen, Caley, Well and St. Johnstone.

 

:hammer:

 

Foster leaving Dons? Lafferty out for 7 weeks? Am I dead and in heaven?

 

You should know how this works now.

 

SPL ran by: Huns and Tims.

Teams punished less than others: Huns and Tims.

Teams punished for frivolous appealing: Dons, Arabs, Pars, Jambos, Hibs, Killie, Helen, Caley, Well and St. Johnstone.

 

:hammer:

 

Foster leaving Dons? Lafferty out for 7 weeks? Am I dead and in heaven?

 

It is thoroughly transparent. SFACUNTS.

Somebody's just told me they've signed/signing Garry O'Connor?

Somebody's just told me they've signed/signing Garry O'Connor?

 

Read this rumour few days ago on P&B and he didn't play yesterday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-16471831

 

Shares in Rangers football club have been suspended from trading on the Plus stock exchange after the club failed to file accounts on schedule.

 

The club said it expected to file accounts around the end of this month and that the delay was down to the ongoing dispute over tax.

 

It added that it was considering giving up trading on the Plus exchange.

 

This follows the takeover last year of the controlling stake of 85% of shares by chairman Craig Whyte.

 

Rangers is disputing a tax bill and penalties of £49m with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Tick tock.........

 

Huns or Hearts.....who is going first

Tick tock.........

 

Huns or Hearts.....who is going first

 

How about both?

 

At the same time.

Whittaker out for 6 weeks 

:wave: :wave: :wave:

Chris Harvey on twatter:

 

Neil, I think this it. RT @NeilKDrysdale: Just got a message: rangers have to pay hmrc £35.8m. And cant pay it. Bankruptcy looms.

Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy

 

I'm so excited a bit of wee just came out

 

You know when you were a kid and you got so hyper about xmas that by the time the day came it was a bit of an anticlimax?

 

 

This is nothing like that

Chris Harvey on twatter:

 

Neil, I think this it. RT @NeilKDrysdale: Just got a message: rangers have to pay hmrc £35.8m. And cant pay it. Bankruptcy looms.

 

Please, please be true!

 

After Aberdeen win at Iprix on 210112 

 

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

How good would it be to see that wee Hun Bastard Aluko looking for a new job again!

 

Sandaza has turned them down too

Ally McCoist says he has his "fingers crossed" ahead of the start of the club's tax tribunal.

 

A first-tier tribunal is set to be held in Edinburgh on Monday over the Ibrox club’s main dispute with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

 

Rangers have been under investigation for payments made to staff in benefit trusts and the case could cost the club up to £49million.

 

Chairman Craig Whyte, who was aware of the issue before buying the club from previous owner Sir David Murray, hasn’t ruled out administration as an option for the Glasgow side if they lose the case.

 

And McCoist admitted his concerns to a number of Sunday newspapers.

 

He said: "The club feel they have a strong case, I would imagine HMRC feel they have a strong case.

 

"Craig has been informing me of the situation and, like every other Rangers supporter, I am sitting with my fingers crossed.

 

"Let's make no mistake about it, we'd far rather it wasn't there.

 

"I am not going to tell you everything is rosy, because it is not."

 

The tribunal is scheduled to last three days but March is the likeliest time scale for an outcome.

 

"The most important thing from where I am sitting is resolution," McCoist said. "We need a result so the club can move forward."

Huns sign Celik

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/scotland/default.stm

 

 

Wonder how many differnt way chick dung will find to pronounce his name so it doesn't sound like that "other" glasgow SPL club? 

Spouting aff in the gutter press today about not being called Celik.

Funny that, thought that was his name

SIR David Murray made a surprise return to his old club Rangers yesterday.

 

The former owner's visit to Murray Park came as Ally McCoist's bargain-basement January recruitment drive was descending into farce.

Zlatan Muslimovic

 

The 60-year-old appeared at the training complex for what senior sources insist was a scheduled appointment with the club doctor.

 

But Record Sport can also reveal Murray spent more than an hour with McCoist, who was left reeling by the latest double blow to his transfer plans.

 

Bosnia striker Zlatan Muslimovic failed to report back to the Auchenhowie base for the second day of what was supposed to be a week-long trial.

 

Instead, the 30-year-old packed his bags after just one training session and headed for Wearside in a bid to win a place in Martin O'Neill's Sunderland squad.

 

And in a further bizarre twist, bewildered full-back Enar Jaager fled back to Estonia fearing his dreams of a deal are dead - even though he was expected to play in a closed-door bounce game against Carlisle.

 

Instead, it was Murray who turned up while Jaager jetted out of Glasgow without a contract offer, despite McCoist confirming publicly he wants the free agent signed up for at least the rest of the season.

oops:

 

A Rangers player will go on trial charged with chanting sectarian slogans.

 

Ibrox reserve goalkeeper Grant Adam is accused of shouting, swearing and singing sectarian slogans in Glasgow’s Merchant City.

 

The 20-year-old, whose older brother Charlie plays for Liverpool having previously featured for Rangers, denies committing a breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice in Ingram Street on November 6 last year.

 

Adam, of Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday, represented by lawyer Paul Sweeney.

 

The case was continued for trial, which is scheduled to take place next month.

 

Adam has been at Rangers since leaving school and is the third-choice keeper for the team behind Allan McGregor and Neil Alexander.

Sky Sports claiming fee agreed to sell Jelavic to Everton. Hopefull to close to the window to allow Sally to sign any replacement.

Sky Sports claiming fee agreed to sell Jelavic to Everton. Hopefull to close to the window to allow Sally to sign any replacement.

 

Emergency loan of Darren Mackie will be on the cards 

CRAIG WHYTE sold off four years of fans' money to help fund his Rangers buy-out, it was revealed last night.

 

And Record Sport can also reveal high-ranking HMRC officials are investigating alleged non-payment of VAT since Whyte gained control of the club last May.

 

Current director Dave King and former board member Paul Murray have been quizzed by the tax authorities as part of their enquiry which has revealed £24.4million has been borrowed against future season-tickets sales.

 

Tranches of tickets over four seasons have been sold to Ticketus, a London-based group linked to Octopus, and it's claimed this deal helped finance Whyte's operating costs after the takeover.

 

Whyte himself last night confirmed he had sold off the tickets but denied he used the money to pay off Lloyds Bank. He insisted the £18m for the bank came from one of his companies.

 

When Whyte took over Rangers' debt was £18m to Lloyds Bank and their wage bill had been reduced to £14m but it is believed the club could owe much more than that.

 

It's thought the current debt is £21m to Ticketus plus £5m VAT on the ticket deal. But there could be other bills due and of course Rangers are awaiting the final verdict on their £49m EBT (Employee Benefit Trust) tax case.

 

Last night Whyte insisted the Ticketus deal was normal practice for clubs and his spokesman said: "The suggestion that the Rangers takeover was funded through financing arrangements on season tickets is categorically untrue.

 

"Rangers FC is no different in that it has a working capital facility with Ticketus, as have many, many other clubs. It is a common arrangement in football. This facility was in place at Ibrox long before the takeover."

 

The EBT ruling is due within weeks and if Rangers lose they will be facing financial meltdown.

 

Their debt could then be in the £75m region with liquidation a stark reality.

 

But many now fear Rangers could be tipped over the abyss and into some kind of insolvency even before their Judgment Day over the tax case.

 

Rangers fans put their faith in Whyte believing he would get rid of the club's debt and also provide transfer money for manager Ally McCoist, who has been an impoverished bystander during this transfer window.

 

But the Ibrox club's support will be shocked by the detail of invoices and letters now in the revenue's possession. It is claimed these show Whyte sold off massive chunks of Rangers' future season-ticket sales.

 

And former board member Murray believes the takeover wouldn't have been possible without the fans, even though they had no idea future tickets had been sold off to raise extra cash.

 

Murray said: "These documents prove to me that Rangers fans have actually paid and will continue to pay for the sale of their club."

 

He added that HMRC have told him they are also due VAT, as much as £5m, on the deal with Ticketus and insists he has seen details of letters and invoices held by HMRC.

 

Murray claims that in one of the documents, a letter dated March 8, 2011 and signed by Whyte, it is alleged he made it clear that through Wavetower, his bid vehicle at the time, he would be entering into a deal to sell the season tickets to a company called Ticketus.

 

They are part of London-based Octopus, a perfectly legitimate lender who grant immediate loans based on future ticket sales. Record Sport managed to speak with most of the people who were on the Rangers board at the time of the takeover and they insist they knew nothing about the sale of season tickets. In fact they tried to ring-fence supporters' money.

 

The papers, which are being pored over by HMRC officials, are said to reveal borrowing against ticket sales for seasons 2011-12, 12-13 and 13-14 that Whyte was able to raise £24.4m.

 

Then on June 27 he was hit with the first of his repayment bills from Ticketus, who were demanding a total of £9.5m, their share of that summer's season-ticket sales. Whyte could only come up with £3.5m cash and to fill the shortfall mortgaged off part of season 2014-15 to the value of £6m.

 

Opening in March last year Murray claims the detail contained within HMRC's file is extensive and explosive.

 

This is the timetable and interpretation of events: March 8, 2011: A letter from Liberty Capital (one of Whyte's companies) is signed by Whyte and addressed to Ticketus.

 

In the letter Whyte confirms the intention to sell Rangers' season tickets to Ticketus.

 

April 7: Lawyers on behalf of Ticketus deposit £24.4m into a Collyer Bristow (lawyers for Whyte's bid) client account. A further £2m was placed in the same account from a company called JLT Benefit Solutions with £1m from the Merchant House Group, a firm of corporate finance specialists with whom Whyte is closely linked.

 

May 9: An agreement was entered into between Ticketus and Rangers to sell the season tickets.This was just three days after the takeover date of May 6. The bank was repaid the £18m.

 

June 27: Ticketus raised an invoice to Rangers seeking first repayment of £9.5m on their agreement. Rangers paid only £3.5m of that amount in cash and borrowed £6m more from Ticketus by selling another portion of 2013-14 as well as a portion of season 2014-15. Analysts stress there is nothing illegal in selling future ticket sales. In fact, it is common practice in British football, although the problems encountered by Leeds United and Newcastle United, who both borrowed too often and too much, are proof of the dangers.

 

Whyte has never declared the deals with Ticketus although HMRC documents suggest he has cashed in on fan loyalty.

 

The tax officials quizzed Murray and South African-based King, who was on conference call, as recently as last Friday morning.

 

They insisted they had no knowledge of what had been happening and Murray, who last year offered to take the club off Lloyds' books and invest £15m in the team in a last-ditch attempt to prevent Whyte from getting the club, said he couldn't believe what he was reading when presented with the HMRC file.

 

"HMRC asked for a meeting at the end of last week to find out what knowledge I, having been a director of the club at the time, had of these transactions prior to the takeover," Murray said.

 

"I knew nothing about this and although I have been questioned by HMRC and seen some especially revealing documents which are in their possession, it is still very hard to take in what has been going on.

 

"Collyer Bristow were acting for Craig Whyte during the takeover and I have been shown their client account, from the opening of it until today.

 

"I've also seen all invoices from Ticketus to Rangers and Rangers to Ticketus supporting all these actions.

 

"I can't believe Rangers have been handed over in this way.

 

"Remember also, the Independent Board, set up to make sure any potential buyers were capable of making the purchase and then funding the business, asked repeatedly where Craig Whyte was getting the money.

 

"He said it was from his own personal wealth and through Liberty Capital, which he insisted he owned 100 per cent, in the British Virgin Islands.

 

"Plans were being made to sell off future ticket sales but the directors were never told. This was all being done behind our backs."

 

King was also shocked to learn of the seasonticket sale and said: "Securitising season tickets is a valid seasonal funding strategy to smooth cash flows within the year - but no longer."

 

Whyte's spokesman added: "The takeover team instigated discussions with Ticketus prior to the takeover because the relationship with Rangers was already in place and the new owners wanted to continue it.

 

"They were clear from the outset they wanted to ensure there were robust working capital provisions in place that could deal with the many financial challenges the club faces.

 

"The takeover was funded by one of Mr Whyte's companies. Several months before then - and long before any discussions with Ticketus - Mr Whyte was asked to provide proof of funds for the takeover and he did that to the satisfaction of the previous owners, Lloyds Banking Group and professional advisers."