First or third? Fans vote on punishment

Sports writer

Saturday 30 June 2012

Rangers fans are to be polled on whether they want the team to be housed in the first division next season or the third division.

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Richard Wilson

For many of them, it is the first time they have been able to articulate their own view of what should happen to the club as a penalty for the reckless financial mismanagement that led to administration and, some time in the coming years, liquidation of The Rangers Football Club plc.

A grassroots campaign among ordinary supporters of other clubs led to SPL chairmen being unable to think only of the financial implications of denying newco Rangers entry into the top flight. A compromise solution, involving Rangers playing in the first division next season while reducing the losses incurred by the clubs they leave behind, is now being lobbied for by the SFA, the SPL and the Scottish Football League.But some Rangers supporters would prefer that the club moves to the third division and climbs its way back up the leagues. There is a certain appeal to the notion of absolving themselves from the sins of the past two owners, and the club could never be accused of not being punished. But is it a case of the heart ruling the head, or an attempt to regain control over the destiny of their own club?The poll, being run by the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund in co-operation with the club, will go some way to revealing the mood of the Ibrox support. It is clear enough what the rest of Scottish football supporters think, with the No To Newco campaign now spreading into the first division. Chairmen there will still listen to the concerns of the people who effectively pay their wages and remain the lifeblood of their clubs, so it cannot be taken for granted that the compromise solution takes effect.No clear evidence has been provided to reveal the true cost to Scottish football of Rangers moving to the third division. A document sent out to all SFL clubs yesterday said that £16m would be taken out of the game as a consequence of this, with Sky and other commercial partners looking to reduce their financial input if Rangers are no longer in the top flight. But the figure is not broken down or explained, so any analysis of what is best for Scottish football has to be subjective. So, too, does the response of Rangers fans.The Ibrox support has grown weary of being helpless. They cannot protest at the consequences of the damage wreaked by Sir David Murray and Craig Whyte, but nor do they feel directly responsible. The only way to regain control is to push for a move to the third division, so that no rivals can complain that a situation was engineered to make life easier for them.There will be a certain romance to the campaign to climb back through the leagues, and a hardcore of the support will continue to follow the club as diligently as before. Crowds will falter, though, and setbacks will feel debilitating. At least three seasons out of the top flight will also feel like a long time in the wilderness for fans – and a club – who have become used to measuring success in major trophies and appearances in the Champions League.In effect, though, it is going back to basics. It would be a story of redemption, although for some fans there is also an element of striking back in their willingness to reject the compromise solution. The SPL clubs know, even if it has been publicly quantified and accounted for, that they will lose significant amounts of money if Rangers are no longer in the top flight.Putting the Ibrox side in the first division would lessen the blow, and limit it to one year, probably. But Rangers fans feel that the club is being manipulated to suit others.The No To Newco movement would agree. They still want Rangers put in the third division, as a form of justice, even if it does damage Scottish football in the meantime. Perhaps the game does just need to suffer this moment of crisis, and the consequences, if it is not to suffer a lingering malaise. The same could be said of Rangers, and perhaps explains why the long, slow climb back up to the top is the better route for them, too.It is, in truth, the only way for the club and its fans to truly put this crisis behind them.

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First or third? Fans vote on punishment

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