Rangers' effective demotion to the bottom tier of Scottish football has kicked into touch some of the financial woes faced by smaller clubs, experts have found.
Only League Two clubs showed signs of distress after enjoying a massive increase in average attendances during the last season, according to the Begbies Traynor Red Flag Alert Football Distress Report.
Following the Ibrox club's promotion to League One there has been a massive spike in attendances, with a 700% boost to average gates so far this season.
According to corporate rescue and recovery specialists Begbies Traynor, much of this revenue will go directly to Rangers who were effectively relegated after the oldco company was liquidated last year.
Ally McCoist's side beat Arbroath 3-0 in the league at Gayfield Park in a match televised live on BT Sport last night. The proportion of the extra cash does benefit their opponents as travelling fans supplement gates for the other teams in the division.
The average attendances for this season range from just over 10,000 in the Scottish Premier League, up by 3% this year, to less than 500 in League Two, down 91% after Rangers' promotion.
Four clubs in the top three Scottish divisions were facing "critical" financial pressure at the end of last month, while a further 16 clubs, half of those in the report, are showing early, less serious signs of financial distress.
Ken Pattullo, of Begbies Traynor Scotland, said: "The fact is that, like businesses in many sectors, some clubs are pulling away from others in financial terms and those clubs that are staggering on, barely able to meet their financial commitments, are edging closer to falling over.
"The majority of the clubs are now locked into their cycle of distress.
"It is hard to see what, aside from a big investment, will save these clubs from facing administration, unless they completely revisit their business models and make some fundamental changes.
"Alternative structures such as community interest companies and fan-based ownership may well become apart of the solution."
One in eight clubs are in serious trouble, the same as the last survey which was conducted in March this year.
However, the report said that football club coffers are typically healthiest at the start of the season.
It has also warned that there are likely to be more serious problems for many clubs by early next year if no changes are made.
Alistair Dickson, of BTG Financial Consulting, said: "The clubs need to look hard at their business models and, along with identifying where cost savings can be made, including reductions in the wage bill, clubs need to find innovative ways of generating additional income streams."
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