After weeks of claim and counterclaim, Rangers will take the field at Brechin's Glebe Park tomorrow

Chief football writer

Saturday 28 July 2012

F OR most of the day it was the Macbeth or Voldemort of football matches: some people were wary of even mentioning it.

Merchandise for the Brechin City game against Rangers sold at pre-season match with Inverness Caley Thistle. Picture: SNS

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Michael Grant

Brechin City versus Rangers in the Ramsdens Cup was as elusive as will-o'-the-wisp. A game listed in the fixtures, with all tickets sold and two clubs having prepared their players for it, remained shrouded in total uncertainty. Would it go ahead at all? Not until a statement was released at 9pm – the very moment the Olympic opening ceremony began – was clarity belatedly brought to the picture. The tie will go ahead at 3.05pm tomorrow after all.

Rangers hold press conferences before every fixture. Ally McCoist and a player speak to the media at Murray Park. But not before this one. There was no event held yesterday, the club's attitude – understandably – being that their men could not sit and preview a match they did not yet have the authority to play. Everyone around Rangers has been anxious about publicly assuming the cup tie would go ahead all week, as if looking presumptuous about it would appear foolish if their application for SFA membership was unsuccessful. This historic match – the first under Sevco Scotland's ownership, the first since the old company was condemned to liquidation – barely got a mention on the club's website.Only at 9pm, absurdly late given supporters could not fully plan their weekends without it, did the information come. And then it arrived in torrents. A joint statement from the SFA, SPL, SFL and Sevco. Then another from Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray. Then another – pointedly released in his own name and sulphuric in content – from McCoist.The essence of the breakthrough was that Sevco blinked first. The major sticking point – whether the newco could yet be punished if the oldco is found guilty of undisclosed payments via Employee Benefit Trusts – was not removed as Sevco (and especially McCoist) had wished. Sevco appear to have felt they could no longer jeopardise getting event getting conditional membership of the SFA in order to play Brechin City and all other fixtures.The joint statement confirmed that the SFA had received all the information it required from Sevco about the individuals who now own Rangers. Sevco have agreed to accept the punishments dealt to the oldco for bringing the game into disrepute, namely a 12-month registration ban beginning on September 1 plus fines and costs. Sevco have also agreed to settle all outstanding football debts to clubs.But crucially the statement also said: "The Scottish Premier League has reserved its position in relation to the on-going investigation into EBTs." Sevco had been deeply reluctant be held responsible if found the investigation returned a guilty verdict and potentially ruled that previous league titles could be stripped from the club.The SPL and Scottish Football League confirmed, too, that a deal had been done with Sky and ESPN to allow the broadcasters to continue covering the top flight and also many of Rangers' games in the third division. SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement. Discussions will now continue with our broadcast partners and we expect to be in a position to make a further announcement next week on [TV] rights and the on-going EBT investigation."Predictably the governing bodies sounded upbeat. "There were a number of complex and challenging issues involved but, primarily, the Scottish FA had to be satisfied that the new owners of Rangers would operate in the best interests of the club, its fans and Scottish football in general," said SFA chief executive Stewart Regan."In the months ahead, the Scottish FA will resume discussions on the subject of league reconstruction. We remain committed to this process in order to re-energise the national game and will work closely with the SPL, SFL to provide a dynamic product appealing to our supporters."Sevco Scotland may have the EBT investigation still hanging over it but the conditional SFA membership will be completed when the oldco Rangers' SPL share is transferred to Dundee next week. "This is a new beginning," said chairman Malcolm Murray. "The club and supporters have the chance to make new friends throughout our journey and at all times we will strive to maintain the highest possible standards for this great institution. We still have outstanding issues with the SPL but we will challenge them at every turn."The football landscape is changing, not just here in Scotland but across Europe. With the exception of a few, clubs cannot run with huge debt burdens and there will undoubtedly be many more casualties. Rangers was a casualty but now we can rebuild."This is still Rangers and the next chapter of our history has the potential to be one of the greatest stories in the history of sport. The Rangers revival begins now and I, for one, am looking forward to the journey."And at last everyone knows where it will start: in Brechin.

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After weeks of claim and counterclaim, Rangers will take the field at Brechin's Glebe Park tomorrow

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