To be rendered speechless over Rangers' outstanding tax bill

[Tanith]

£9 Million!!!

£9 Million!!!

How...??? Where...?!? I mean...HOW??!!

£9 MILLION!!!!!

I think pacific is right.

I have an entirely unworkable theory that all football clubs should be community owned and any profits reinvested in their local area and in grass roots development work. I won't bore you with it but it would change the whole sport for the better, it's unworkable because getting from where we are now to there seems impossible to me.

MULLY oh god yes fans crying over bloody football. and I have hidden ever so many of my faceebook friends, rangers fans and celtic fans as some of their staus updates are verging on bigoted

It's a pity it was only 10 points they were deducted, they should ahv ebeen moved to the bottom of the league then perhaps whats left of the league could have a proper league with it open to all to win for a change

at these amount

I fucking quake* in my boots doing my pathetic little tax return every January, finger trembling over the SUBMIT button

Jeez

*scuse my langwidge

But saltire the old firm were so far ahead of the rest of the league that the ten point deduction didn't even remove rangers from second place!

There is no chance of anyone else winning the league this season unless parkhead is sucked into an alternative universe. No matter where rangers end up.

Oh, the distressed fans, that's a whole other thread; I just don't get that level of devotion to a sports club, any sports club. Or band. Or popstar. Or actor.

And these are the people who often spent what little money they had on strips and tickets and crap. It really is appalling!

Did Rangers securitize their gate receipts? I remember when that was all the rage (Building Societies and mortgage receipts too). No mention of it now, not the repercussions, which seems odd.

I strongly suspect that there will be more major league football clubs out there whose finances will be in dire straits as well - this is not likely limited to the Old Firm, surely

One half of the old firm lets be clear!

Celtic investigated the same tax vehicles and chose not to use them. They are still just about trading at a profit despite lack of European football and debt is reducing.

Would securitising gate receipts mean pre selling season books? Cost that's how the whyte takeover was funded.

Yip Pacific, but I think its more dire for scottish teams because they get such a shite deal from sky.

Well, now that is has become abundantly clear that I know nothing about football, Scottish football, SKY deals, ticket receipts or anything, I am off to bed .
Such financial management is just Wrong and should not be Allowed. But I agree, Rangers are likely to survive as a club.

Yes, rhonda. But the time I am thinking of is pre-crash. It was the sexy finance thing to do when the good times were rolling. I am guessing the holders of the products are the ones feeling the pain but they are keeping quiet about it.

Just musing, really.

I don't think its right to say that football fans are wrong to be so devoted to a club, fair enough if its not for you or your dh fine, but a lot of the men I know ARE ABSOLUTLEY(oops) football daft and its a big part of their lives, so ridiculing them and their lives isn't on, to me

if you are rangers daft right now you must be feeling pretty shite

in my its the opposite and they want to knight CW, but thats another thread

in my house I meant

I'm on the same side of the great divide as your lot Ccs as you may have worked out but I think the whole thing is a disgrace and Craig whyte and a lot of other people associated with it should be string up.

Every super hero needs an arch villian to be their nemesis ater all!

Ccs?ssd! Ffs!

of course you;re right rhonda

I feel really sorry for the ordinary fans, if it was the other lot my family would be gutted , especially dh

as usual its the ordinary fans who save up for their tickets and treat their kids to the very expensive kits who are the losers

its crap all round

Haha. Yes, major disclaimer I also know nothing about football but it does make me laugh, sorry SSD. Only on mumsnet would you get pulled up about sniggering at the pantomime of football. I am biased though because I think the old firm is a scurge on glasgow. I know this is not a popular view.

Rhonda, this isn't an "old firm" issue, this is Rangers. Sir David Murray spent most of the 90s overspending , and paying players by way of EBTs, which were trusts which avoided tax. Everyone knew EBTs were dodgy , Celtic looked at them in the 90s and decided they weren't worth the risk. Other clubs, including some in EPL used them ,but none to the extent that Rangers did. Through this, Rangers could afford players that they couldn't otherwise have done, and that no other SPL team could. This is called financial doping, or in common parlance, cheating. Only Rangers did this, the "old firm" tag is very misleading, Celtic have lived within their means and don't deserve to be tarred with this. Fwiw, the tax bill could be way into 80+ million, lovely from a team that professes to love their country. How many nurses and soldiers could that fund? Hope HMRC get every penny.

I don't know much about football myself, but I don't snigger at those who enjoy it

actually I disagree with you, I think most posters on mumsnet would willingly snigger at football fans and think them ridiculous, you are probably in the majority here

Erm auntmargaret that's just an extended version of my post up there a bit?^

Thanks for reinforcing it though!

eh, auntmargaret, I think rhonda knows that, read her posts

I thought I put it better :)

Well in my house the boys are worried and sad.

The Rangers fans have grown up with their team and it means something very special to them. They are not responsible for what has happened.

Yes, the money is mind boggling.

Yes, the business stuff that has been going on in football has got completely out of hand, I personally think that local teams should be just that (but I get laughed at).

The sectarian stuff is just awful.

But I'm still sad for the fans and I hope Rangers can carry on, for them.

This stuff has been on the Internet for years, I'm sorry if any real fans are shocked, but really, where did they think the money came from? Always Gerry Maguire, always follow the money. I knew this was coming, why didn't Rangers fans?