That will all change over the next seven days. The Scottish Premier League has decided that they will not let the Rangers newco into their division and now it is up to the 30 Scottish Football League clubs to decide whether they want the fallen Ibrox giant and in which of their three divisions they are willing to accommodate them. The views of Annan Athletic, Brechin City, Cowdenbeath et al rarely register on the consciousness of the nation but, until they convene for their emergency meeting next Friday, those clubs will enjoy something of a captive audience.
Rangers supporters have suffered almost without respite since their old club fell into administration on February 14, but the idea that clubs who play regularly to crowds of several hundred at best having Rangers' future in their hands must feel particularly galling. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
David Longmuir, the SFL chief executive, refuted the idea that events of the past few days have imbued them with genuine power but there is no doubting they are in a strong position from which to bargain. Issues likely to be discussed in the coming days include the level of payments from the SPL, play-offs featuring clubs at the foot of the SPL and the top of the SFL, the sale of broadcasting rights to Sky and ESPN to show matches involving Rangers, and the political football that is league reconstruction returning to the debating table. Similar to their colleagues in the SPL – panicking about the prospect of commercial revenue shrinking or disappearing altogether – those in the SFL have to weigh up just how much they can afford to lose. The £2m settlement agreement they receive each year from the SPL, a legacy of the latter's breakaway in 1998, is worth around £50,000 to each club and, if Rangers were to go into the third division, that money would no longer be paid. Stenhousemuir, in a refreshingly transparent statement posted on their website yesterday, explained that that shortfall would be "significant" to them and their aspirations, and others may feel similarly. But that is not to say the SFL, in general, are not in a strong position.
With Stewart Regan, the Scottish Football Association's chief executive, making it clear that he sees Rangers in the first division as the only viable way forward, those in the lower leagues must be tempted to put on their best poker faces and ask: just how badly do you want it?
With the SPL clubs also keenly awaiting the outcome of the SFL vote, it would seem to place a lot of responsibility on those clubs who will be taking it. Longmuir, though, feels they would make the most of the rare opportunity to have their voices heard.
"I'm just pleased, happy and comfortable that it is the SFL clubs who are being asked to make a very important decision about the future of the game," he said.
"I have great belief that the game will come out of this better. Because what we are about to embark on is a plan of change which will radically shake up the game and let fans and other stakeholders see what we are trying to achieve here.
"It's not about the status quo, it's about moving the game forward. There are one or two different strands of structure we are looking at – not just in terms of governance, but the make-up of the leagues as well, how the game is financed and how the finance trickles through the game.
"You are never going to do what we are going to do in just two weeks' time. There will be a step-by-step approach to what we do. But it will become very clear quite quickly what we are going to do next week. But the clubs have to have the freedom to make the right decisions."
The vote next week will be eagerly anticipated but Longmuir feels the real work will happen in advance.
"The important week is between now and Friday," he added. "If we can get the groundwork done and knock a few heads together and get it sorted, then next Friday should hopefully be a good meeting. And everything should be quite clear after that.
"Trying to bring everyone with you in football is difficult. It's a herding butterflies scenario as the president [Jim Ballantyne] likes to say. You'll never get everybody but you can get most of them and that's what we'll try to do."
An image has been painted over the past few weeks of the SPL trying to cajole their SFL counterparts into doing their bidding. Longmuir acknowledges that pressure, and hopes his clubs will now be given some breathing space to make the right decision.
"The concern that clubs are being bullied has been manifested in many different ways over the last few days. The president and myself have taken on board everything that has come our way. We've stood up to it, handled the pressure and it's now time to just give us a break. I feel for our clubs, I absolutely do. They have been put in a position that nobody would have wished. But the converse of that is that I'm glad it's our clubs who are faced with the task because I trust them implicitly. We're confident we know what's right for the game because of our closeness, passion and feel for the game. Those are the key things for us. I believe we have the pulse of Scottish football and that's something we can use for everyone's benefit."
Of course, there is a chance that the SPL clubs will ignore the SFL's decision if it doesn't suit them and hastily set up an SPL2 instead to ensure Rangers take their place in the second tier one way or another. That, though, remains a distant threat. For once the smaller clubs are in the spotlight. They would be advised to make the most of it.
