Rangers owner admits he sold 4 years' worth of season tickets to keep club running

[tototoner]

seems they are in a lot of trouble and could even be liquidated

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/0...ts-to-keep-ibrox-club-running-86908-23728301/

CRAIG WHYTE sold off four years of fans' money to help fund his Rangers buy-out, it was revealed last night.


And Record Sport can also reveal high-ranking HMRC officials are investigating alleged non-payment of VAT since Whyte gained control of the club last May.


Current director Dave King and former board member Paul Murray have been quizzed by the tax authorities as part of their enquiry which has revealed £24.4million has been borrowed against future season-tickets sales.


Tranches of tickets over four seasons have been sold to Ticketus, a London-based group linked to Octopus, and it's claimed this deal helped finance Whyte's operating costs after the takeover.


Whyte himself last night confirmed he had sold off the tickets but denied he used the money to pay off Lloyds Bank. He insisted the £18m for the bank came from one of his companies.


When Whyte took over Rangers' debt was £18m to Lloyds Bank and their wage bill had been reduced to £14m but it is believed the club could owe much more than that.


It's thought the current debt is £21m to Ticketus plus £5m VAT on the ticket deal. But there could be other bills due and of course Rangers are awaiting the final verdict on their £49m EBT (Employee Benefit Trust) tax case.


Last night Whyte insisted the Ticketus deal was normal practice for clubs and his spokesman said: "The suggestion that the Rangers takeover was funded through financing arrangements on season tickets is categorically untrue.


"Rangers FC is no different in that it has a working capital facility with Ticketus, as have many, many other clubs. It is a common arrangement in football. This facility was in place at Ibrox long before the takeover."
The EBT ruling is due within weeks and if Rangers lose they will be facing financial meltdown.


Their debt could then be in the £75m region with liquidation a stark reality.
But many now fear Rangers could be tipped over the abyss and into some kind of insolvency even before their Judgment Day over the tax case.


Rangers fans put their faith in Whyte believing he would get rid of the club's debt and also provide transfer money for manager Ally McCoist, who has been an impoverished bystander during this transfer window.


But the Ibrox club's support will be shocked by the detail of invoices and letters now in the revenue's possession. It is claimed these show Whyte sold off massive chunks of Rangers' future season-ticket sales.


And former board member Murray believes the takeover wouldn't have been possible without the fans, even though they had no idea future tickets had been sold off to raise extra cash.


Murray said: "These documents prove to me that Rangers fans have actually paid and will continue to pay for the sale of their club."
He added that HMRC have told him they are also due VAT, as much as £5m, on the deal with Ticketus and insists he has seen details of letters and invoices held by HMRC.


Murray claims that in one of the documents, a letter dated March 8, 2011 and signed by Whyte, it is alleged he made it clear that through Wavetower, his bid vehicle at the time, he would be entering into a deal to sell the season tickets to a company called Ticketus.


They are part of London-based Octopus, a perfectly legitimate lender who grant immediate loans based on future ticket sales. Record Sport managed to speak with most of the people who were on the Rangers board at the time of the takeover and they insist they knew nothing about the sale of season tickets. In fact they tried to ring-fence supporters' money.


The papers, which are being pored over by HMRC officials, are said to reveal borrowing against ticket sales for seasons 2011-12, 12-13 and 13-14 that Whyte was able to raise £24.4m.


Then on June 27 he was hit with the first of his repayment bills from Ticketus, who were demanding a total of £9.5m, their share of that summer's season-ticket sales. Whyte could only come up with £3.5m cash and to fill the shortfall mortgaged off part of season 2014-15 to the value of £6m.


Opening in March last year Murray claims the detail contained within HMRC's file is extensive and explosive.


This is the timetable and interpretation of events: March 8, 2011: A letter from Liberty Capital (one of Whyte's companies) is signed by Whyte and addressed to Ticketus.


In the letter Whyte confirms the intention to sell Rangers' season tickets to Ticketus.


April 7: Lawyers on behalf of Ticketus deposit £24.4m into a Collyer Bristow (lawyers for Whyte's bid) client account. A further £2m was placed in the same account from a company called JLT Benefit Solutions with £1m from the Merchant House Group, a firm of corporate finance specialists with whom Whyte is closely linked.


May 9: An agreement was entered into between Ticketus and Rangers to sell the season tickets.This was just three days after the takeover date of



May 6. The bank was repaid the £18m.


June 27: Ticketus raised an invoice to Rangers seeking first repayment of £9.5m on their agreement. Rangers paid only £3.5m of that amount in cash and borrowed £6m more from Ticketus by selling another portion of

2013-14 as well as a portion of season 2014-15. Analysts stress there is nothing illegal in selling future ticket sales. In fact, it is common practice in British football, although the problems encountered by Leeds United and Newcastle United, who both borrowed too often and too much, are proof of the dangers.


Whyte has never declared the deals with Ticketus although HMRC documents suggest he has cashed in on fan loyalty.
The tax officials quizzed Murray and South African-based King, who was on conference call, as recently as last Friday morning.


They insisted they had no knowledge of what had been happening and Murray, who last year offered to take the club off Lloyds' books and invest £15m in the team in a last-ditch attempt to prevent Whyte from getting the club, said he couldn't believe what he was reading when presented with the HMRC file.


"HMRC asked for a meeting at the end of last week to find out what knowledge I, having been a director of the club at the time, had of these transactions prior to the takeover," Murray said.


"I knew nothing about this and although I have been questioned by HMRC and seen some especially revealing documents which are in their possession, it is still very hard to take in what has been going on.
"Collyer Bristow were acting for Craig Whyte during the takeover and I have been shown their client account, from the opening of it until today.
"I've also seen all invoices from Ticketus to Rangers and Rangers to Ticketus supporting all these actions.


"I can't believe Rangers have been handed over in this way.
"Remember also, the Independent Board, set up to make sure any potential buyers were capable of making the purchase and then funding the business, asked repeatedly where Craig Whyte was getting the money.


"He said it was from his own personal wealth and through Liberty Capital, which he insisted he owned 100 per cent, in the British Virgin Islands.
"Plans were being made to sell off future ticket sales but the directors were never told. This was all being done behind our backs."


King was also shocked to learn of the seasonticket sale and said: "Securitising season tickets is a valid seasonal funding strategy to smooth cash flows within the year - but no longer."


Whyte's spokesman added: "The takeover team instigated discussions with Ticketus prior to the takeover because the relationship with Rangers was already in place and the new owners wanted to continue it.
"They were clear from the outset they wanted to ensure there were robust working capital provisions in place that could deal with the many financial challenges the club faces.


"The takeover was funded by one of Mr Whyte's companies. Several months before then - and long before any discussions with Ticketus - Mr Whyte was asked to provide proof of funds for the takeover and he did that to the satisfaction of the previous owners, Lloyds Banking Group and professional advisers."

 

[tototoner]

well look at the mess they are in now, Daily Record were spot on 2 weeks ago

 

[Spursking]

Rangers is another example of a club that do not have people with a sense of how to build a good team. Just boring players there. They used to be a rich club, and could win the league every year, if they had sense of what a good team is.

 

[tototoner]

Going from bad to worse for Rangers

Rangers in crisis: Police now involved in Ibrox cash probe as Craig Whyte signals intent to stand down



http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/0...-signals-intent-to-stand-down-86908-23760446/

POLICE last night confirmed they are in talks with administrators probing the Rangers cash crisis.


The dramatic development came hours after owner Craig Whyte was exposed as a liar – when he was forced to admit he did fund his takeover by selling off future season tickets.


Strathclyde Police said: “We can confirm we’ve had initial conversations with the administrators of Glasgow Rangers Football Club.”


Whyte was forced to break cover when administrators Duff and Phelps confirmed the Record’s story that £18million of season ticket cash was used to complete the takeover and pay off the club’s bankers, Lloyds.


A spokesman said: “It is now apparent that the proceeds from the Ticketus arrangements amounted initially to a sum in the region of £20million plus VAT. Subsequently, £18million was transferred to Lloyds Banking Group.”


Whyte, who has dismissed our story as “not true”, finally confessed: “My corporate advisers came to me with the proposition that it was entirely possible, as well as highly beneficial, to negotiate a deal with Ticketus that would allow us to complete the takeover.”


He added that he will not be Rangers chairman after the club’s “restructuring” is complete. The administrators are speaking to police, who could launch a criminal investigation into Whyte.


Whyte’s regime began to crumble the day we revealed he’d used the £24.4million raised from the deal with Ticketus – a deal he categorically denied when we first shone the spotlight on his methods last June.


He lied about the arrangement and banned the Record from Ibrox, claiming the story was wrong.


Then, weeks ago, we confronted him with dates and figures on the arrangement to mortgage off future season-ticket sales to the London firm.


Whyte continued to insist “categorically” that he hadn’t used the Ticketus money to buy Rangers. But the evidence being unearthed as financial experts pore over his dealings proves that is exactly what happened.


And just moments before those findings were officially announced by Duff and Phelps yesterday, Whyte decided to confess.


He continues to insist he was acting only in Rangers’ best interests. Clearly, Duff and Phelps and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs see it differently.


In fact, we can reveal questions were asked about the legality of Whyte’s Ibrox takeover in the taxman’s petition to the Court of Session last Tuesday.


The move by HMRC, over £9million of unpaid PAYE and VAT, forced Rangers into administration.


The revenue’s petition, we believe, raises serious concerns about the takeover. And now there will be further moves to discover if there was any breach of the Companies Act, which outlaws Financial Assistance.


Basically, this means it is illegal to use a company’s shares or funds to raise money to buy that same company. It’s a crime that carries a maximum jail sentence of two years.


After the taxman went to court, Duff and Phelps moved into Ibrox. And they have now confirmed that £18million of the Ticketus cash was paid to Lloyds.


Joint administrator David Whitehouse said investigations were ongoing into what happened to the rest of the Ticketus money, as well as into “all the circumstances” surrounding Whyte’s takeover and “the flow of funds which stemmed from the transaction and were intended to fulfil the purchasers’ obligations at the time of the sale”.


Whitehouse refused to comment further. But we can reveal the true, alarming extent of the deal that has brought Whyte down – and raised questions over the involvement of Rangers’ club secretary, solicitor Gary Withey.


Ticketus are now able to claim 60per cent of Rangers’ season tickets over each of the next three seasons. As things stand, the club will be saddled with this burden at the start of every season until Ticketus are paid off.


Rangers and many other clubs have used Ticketus on a regular basis, but rarely for more than £5million and usually always for 25per cent of the tickets at most. Rangers have more than doubled that percentage, which will leave the club hamstrung for years.


More details have also emerged of Whyte’s failure to resolve the “small tax bill” dispute with HMRC.


Through David Grier, one of Duff and Phelps’ partners, Whyte was given a couple of repayment options on the bill, which he agreed to take on when he bought the club.
Grier and the taxman were anxious to find a way of preventing Rangers from toppling, but Whyte didn’t act 
on either offer.


He was asked to pay £500,000 of the bill upfront and the rest over almost a year, but he wanted to hand over only £250,000 as a down payment.


Grier managed to persuade HMRC to agree to this new arrangement but again Whyte didn’t come up with the cash.


The “small tax bill” is now standing at just more than £4million and was also a factor in forcing last week’s 
insolvency event.


HMRC got to the point where they believed there was little point in trying to do any more deals with Whyte.

Grier, who was with a firm called MCR at the time, also helped Whyte in his dealings with Lloyds. But even so, it wasn’t until Ticketus demanded their first payment on the £20.3million (£24.4million including VAT) deal last summer that Grier and Rangers became aware of the season ticket sell-off.

A source said the entire transaction was kept away from the club’s financial department and said staff were shocked and baffled when a bill demanding £9.5million arrived.


It is also understood that former Rangers director Phil Betts has said he will pay back every penny of the money he was paid during his eight-month stint at Ibrox.


Tax specialist Betts was Whyte’s first board appointment when he took over on May 6 last year, but he quit the board in January.


He was summoned to Duff and Phelps’s London HQ on Monday, where he was quizzed about Rangers’ financial dealings. He said the payments he received were fees for work he’d done on the club’s behalf.


We reported yesterday that Betts had pocketed £160,000, but it’s now believed the amount was significantly higher.


Betts says that if the club’s money was used to pay him, he will give it all back.

Rangers owner Craig Whyte sells off 102 years of Ibrox history by dumping shares in Arsenal


http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2012/0...-by-dumping-shares-in-arsenal-86908-23760448/

CRAIG WHYTE has flogged 102 years of Rangers history by selling the club’s shares in Arsenal.


The latest revelation, which will sicken the club’s supporters, has come to light as part of Record Sport’s explosive investigation into Whyte and the £1 deal he struck to buy Rangers after selling off £24.4 million worth of season tickets to finance his takeover.


Fresh information in our possession now shows how Whyte struck a deal worth more than £230,000 with a consortium called Red and White to sell off the 16 shares and cash in on a historic link between the clubs dating back to 1910.


And brazenly, Whyte then blocked a move for the cash to be paid into the Rangers bank account, demanding instead it stayed lodged in one of his own companies, Pritchard Stockbrokers in Bournemouth.


Pritchard’s assets have now been frozen on the orders of the Financial Services Authority. The FSA moved in on Friday after ruling that Pritchard, who listed Whyte as board *secretary, had used client money to cover its own costs.


The increasingly *embattled Whyte then resigned from his position at Pritchard’s before standing down from two further directors’ posts with related companies, Merchant Corporate Recovery and Merchant Strategic Renewal.


Now Rangers’ *administrators, Duff and Phelps, may attempt to recover the missing money as they fight to clean up the financial carnage which Whyte has created during his disastrous nine months at the Ibrox helm.


The close friendship forged between Rangers and Arsenal spans back to the turn of the last century when the Londoners were experiencing financial trouble of their own.


It’s believed Rangers attempted to help out by buying two shares in *Woolwich Arsenal because their manager, George Morrell, had previously worked for the Ibrox club.


Around 20 years later, a much stronger and vibrant Arsenal gifted Rangers with a further 14 shares in return for their support during troubled times.


This cemented what was already a rock solid *relationship between the then managers, Bill Struth and Herbert Chapman.Struth and Chapman are today revered by fans all over the world as the greatest servants in the history of their clubs.


But Whyte ignored these historic links when he seized control of Struth’s old side and saw a chance to make a killing on the link.

 

[tototoner]

so looks like from this Friday Rangers Football Club will cease to exist

http://www.sportinglife.com/footbal..._Rangers.html&TEAMHD=scotspremiership&BID=425

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have told Rangers they will vote against a Company Voluntary Arrangement.

Charles Green, who is leading the Sevco consortium aiming to acquire the club, confirmed the news on Tuesday morning.

HMRC's no vote is enough to deal a fatal blow to the CVA proposal and Green will now push ahead with plans to buy the club's assets and form a new company.

Green said in a statement: "I am hugely disappointed by the decision of HMRC not to support the CVA proposal and that disappointment will be felt acutely by Rangers fans across the world."


HMRC, who are currently owed more than £21million, believe their decision to force liquidation will allow them to pursue individuals for the debt.

A statement from the tax authority read: "A liquidation provides the best opportunity to protect taxpayers, by allowing the potential investigation and pursuit of possible claims against those responsible for the company'sfinancial affairs in recent years.

"A CVA would restrict the scope of such action.

"Moreover the liquidation route does not prejudice the proposed sale of the club. This sale can take place either through a CVA or a liquidation.

"So the sale is not being undermined, it simply takes a different route.

"Liquidation will enable a sale of the football assets to be made to a new company, thereby ensuring that football will continue at Ibrox.

"It also means that the new company will be free from claims or litigation in a way which would not be achievable with a CVA.

"Rangers can make a fresh start."

The decision brings into doubt the continued existence of an Ibrox club competing in the Scottish Premier League.

If Green forms a new company, he will have to apply to the SPL to acquire Rangers' share in the competition. The clubs themselves will decide whether to accept.

A new Rangers would not be able to compete in Europe for three years under UEFA rules.

Green said: "Frankly, I do not see what benefit will be achieved by this decision.

"My consortium's offer for a CVA amounted to a total of £8.5million.

"Now that we will have to complete the purchase via the formation of a newco, the purchase price and therefore the amount available to creditors will be £5.5million.

"I can understand HMRC deciding that football clubs which do not pay their taxes need to be punished, but by effectively banning

Rangers from Europe for three years all that will happen is that there will be less revenue generated by the club and consequently less money paid over to the taxman.

"Also, I do not believe that by opting to vote against the CVA proposal, HMRC will generate more cash by pursuing those they believe as responsible - but that is a matter for them."

Green said he would explore ways of allowing the club's 26,000 shareholders to buy into his new company.

He added: "The solemn promise I can make to Rangers fans today is that this club will continue as Rangers Football Club and will continue to play at Ibrox Stadium.

"We will be liaising with the football authorities at the earliest opportunity to establish our position regarding the SPL.

"I, along with my investors who believe that Rangers can have a bright future, will fight tooth and nail to ensure the club recovers from this catastrophic phase in its proud history.

"The fans deserve better and we will work tirelessly to realise their ambitions."

Rangers' administrators, Duff and Phelps, confirmed a "binding" sale and purchase agreement with Green would now come into effect.

In a statement, joint-administrator Paul Clark said: "As we have always stated, administrators have a primary objective to ensure the survival of the company and in this case, this would have been achieved through a CVA.

"It was with HMRC's approval, that a proposal was placed before creditors for consideration.

"However, it is the commercial view that the level offered within the CVA was not enough to merit departure from their normal policy of seeking a detailed investigation via a liquidator.

"However, we have been left in no doubt by HMRC the fundamental reason for the rejection of the CVA proposal is the historical non-compliance with tax liabilities by the former owners and directors of the club."
Clark said Green's consortium will move to acquire the club's assets immediately after the formal rejection of the CVA proposal at a creditors' meeting at Ibrox on Thursday morning.

"That transaction will be completed within a few days," Clark added.

"The sum payable to creditors will be £5.5million, most of which has already been paid over to us by the Green consortium.

"Over the coming months, we as administrators will continue to finalise the administration of the club and we will work in conjunction with BDO, who will undertake the liquidation process.

"While the club will continue to face difficulties in the short term, it will survive and continue to play at Ibrox."

 

[Leo]

Good fucking riddance to them.

 

[OneHotspur1988]

Good fucking riddance to them.

+1

I dislike them also.

 

[Yid_Summers]

I don't like to see clubs go out of business, i'd much prefer the SFA, FA, whoever it might be, to help them instead of punishing them further. But as the above posters have said, i won't miss Rangers one bit.

 

[OmarsComing]

The Huns are basically ****sea of Scotland

FOYC

 

[Misfit]

This is what should have happened to chel$ea in '03. Instead they've won well over half of their enitre trophy haul since. Thankg God for THFC. Football is shit and I'd have left it yrs ago otherwise.

 

[SNAFU_Clarke]

I don't like to see clubs go out of business, i'd much prefer the SFA, FA, whoever it might be, to help them instead of punishing them further. But as the above posters have said, i won't miss Rangers one bit.

you probably don't know what is going on with this case do you? basically rangers have been cheating for years. they do not need help from the sfa or whoever. in fact this is exactly what needs to happen. they will have to form a new company and apply for re-election.

there is a chance though that the other scottish premier league clubs will vote to reinstate them into the premier league, to protect their own income streams. if this happens scottish league football is, basically, finished as a competition. it would effectively be saying that either rangers or celtic can do whatever they like and not fear any reprisals.

 

[LSUY]

there is a chance though that the other scottish premier league clubs will vote to reinstate them into the premier league, to protect their own income streams. if this happens scottish league football is, basically, finished as a competition. it would effectively be saying that either rangers or celtic can do whatever they like and not fear any reprisals.

Rangers will be reinstated as Sky have cast doubts as to whether they'll show SPL football next season if Rangers drop down to Division Three. The loss of the current level of television revenues will be huge for a lot of clubs struggling to survive as it is.

 

[Misfit]

Well, despite the brief flurry of hideously overspending in mid-90's done by the infirm, Skawtesh Fitba has been a wee bit shite for 20-odd yrs anyways. An irrelevence. Which is a crying shame because it has a rich enough history. The disparity in not only revenues between the Weegie clubs and the rest - i.e. catchment area/fanbases etc make the situation even more dire than other leagues with two big guns like Barca, RM. There are no Valencia or Atleticos or Athletics which have a really solid foundation in in their own right. Difficult to do I guess in a country the size of England with a tenth of the population.

Very sad day really but it's been painful watching the death twitches over the last half decade or so.

 

[SNAFU_Clarke]

Rangers will be reinstated as Sky have cast doubts as to whether they'll show SPL football next season if Rangers drop down to Division Three. The loss of the current level of television revenues will be huge for a lot of clubs struggling to survive as it is.

i've no doubt that they will be reinstated, but it will officially be the end of scottish club football as a competitive sport.

 

[LSUY]

Have to say well done to the SPL teams. I thought the clubs were going to put money first and reinstate Rangers but it looks like that won't be happening. Rangers need a 8/4 majority in order to be reinstated but Aberdeen are the 5th team (after Hearts, Hibernian, Inverness & Dundee Utd) to come out and say they will vote no.

 

[Welshiespursboyo]

good. why should they be allowed to rejoin. fuck em

 

[Misfit]

*heads off to pieandbovril for a quick look*

 

[LSUY]

 

[tototoner]

now confirmed that they will not be in SPL next season, 1st time in 122 years

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/439/7841512/newco-rangers-set-for-spl-blow?

Inverness, Aberdeen and St Johnstone announced in quick succession they would vote against Green's application when the 12 clubs, including the soon-to-be liquidated Rangers, meet on July 4.

Dundee United, Hearts and Hibernian had previously made public their opposition, leaving Green with no chance of securing the 8-4 majority needed.

The main question facing Green now is whether he can secure a deal to demote Rangers to the Irn-Bru First Division amid talks aimed at restructuring the Scottish game or whether he will be forced to apply to gain entry to the Third.

Inverness made their intention clear before Aberdeen effectively consigned Rangers fans to watching lower-league football.

Fan power has been the key to the rejection of Green's attempts to relaunch Rangers in the SPL, and Motherwell fans are expected to add their club to the list of objectors when they vote on the issue this week.

Caley Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron said: "The past few weeks have been extremely hectic in terms of our supporters and season ticket holders making their views known in great numbers to the club, as is their right.

"It is fair to say that in excess of 95% of them raised the issue of sporting integrity as the reason why they don't want the newco to be admitted and had not yet renewed their season tickets.

"We have also been contacted by supporters of various other SPL clubs, saying they would not be back to Inverness if we did not accept that sporting integrity was what mattered, but this is something that we had already considered and it is not only the integrity of the SPL that is at stake but the integrity of Scottish football."

Cameron added: "We would be in a completely untenable position, financially and morally, if we defied the overwhelming demand of our own paying customers who are, after all, what Caley Thistle are all about."

Aberdeen then confirmed their intention and St Johnstone soon added their weight to the opposition to Green's bid despite warning of a "serious impact" on the club's finances.

A statement read: "Notwithstanding the potentially damaging financial implications, the board believes that sporting integrity should not be sacrificed in favour of economic expediency.

"Over the last few weeks there has been a mounting groundswell of opinion amongst our fans which has clearly shown that the vast majority of our supporters would not favour an application by newco Rangers to the SPL. This has simply reaffirmed the board's position.

"It is important that a clear and unambiguous message goes out from the custodians of Scottish football that this sort of scenario should never be allowed to happen again."

Attempts to accommodate Rangers in the Scottish Football League had already begun with the Scottish Football Association using the crisis to push ahead with proposals to restructure key elements of the game.

The SFA want a merger of the two league bodies as well as a pyramid system and a play-off that could see another top-flight club relegated.

Talks have been held between the three bodies that could see Green's club admitted to the Irn-Bru First Division instead of inviting them to apply for entry to the Third Division in a bid to protect commercial income but Falkirk have already stated their objection to such a scenario.

And Aberdeen argued that such major change should be considered more carefully.

Chairman Stewart Milne said: "If readmission were to be refused, we believe the appropriate course of action would be for Rangers newco to apply for membership to the SFA and to submit an application for admission to the SFL."

He added: "Reorganisation of the game is a priority and is something we have been actively involved in for a long time, but it is not something that should be rushed through just to deal specifically with one club.

"As we have indicated there are a number of other areas that we feel need to be addressed openly in the coming period if Scottish football fans are to feel that their views have been properly taken into account."

One pressing issue is which club would replace Rangers. It is understood that the SPL clubs themselves would make that decision and it could be next Wednesday before it is announced.

Dunfermline finished bottom of the SPL last season but Dundee also have a claim having finished second in the First Division.

Meanwhile, the financial impact could delay a St Mirren takeover until next summer.

The 10,000 Hours community ownership group, who have received financial pledges from more than 1,000 fans, had been hoping to assume control next week but the deal has already been postponed.

Members of the group have been asked whether they would be prepared to support the club with increased donations should commercial revenues fall.

The consultation document said: "Depending on the funding required, this may delay the purchase for a year with your monthly contribution going towards helping the club directly while helping to maintain the integrity of Scottish football."

 

[jimtheyid]

I might stick a quid on Celtic winning the SPL next year....