There has been a lot of confusion regarding the current situation with Rangers football club, so lets get the record straight with a simple FAQ to appease Rangers fans…

Rangers haven’t been found guilty of the ‘big tax case’ yet. Right?
Correct. Just like when you get a credit card bill. It doesn’t mean that you’re guilty of anything, you just owe some, or possibly lots (and lots and lots) of money.

So it’s all just one big Timmy conspiracy?
You bet, and the secret Celtic supporting media in Scotland have come out and shown their true colours, plus Channel 4 News’ Alex Thomson has been suckered in.

But weren’t Rangers actually paying part of players’ wages through Employee Benefit Trusts (EBT) in the form of loans that weren’t taxed and never had to be re-paid, and so was therefore illegal?
It’s not illegal, it’s a loophole, just like tax evasion and tax avoidance. Big difference, loopholes are absolutely fine! Besides Arsenal used EBTs to pay players too and they did a deal with HMRC.

But Arsenal stopped paying players through EBTs years ago and paid up at the time surely because they felt that it was breaking the law, plus Rangers were doing it for a far longer period. If Rangers fail surely the fee plus penalties and interest will be huge?
It’ll be proven to be legal, other clubs aren’t doing it or have paid up because they aren’t as smart as Rangers. We are the people.

Ok but one thing to note is that if Rangers do fail, English teams are covered by the ‘Football Creditors Rule’, granting preference to other creditors over HMRC but this doesn’t apply to Scottish teams.
Well, if it comes to it Rangers will pay up. The taxman is a pushover who does deals all the time. Vodafone paid a few million for all the trillions they owed so it’s nothing to worry about.

Do a deal? But I thought Rangers had no money to do such a thing?
Our current saviour Charles Green (yuck!) is raising millions from his pals around the world.

Millions? So he has off the radar wealth?
Don’t start that again. He has friends with lots of money…though we have no idea who they are…

So what else will Green’s consortium be spending his money on? Remember there’s a transfer ban on players over 18 for a year.
Boycott the SFA! They are destroying Scottish football with their unjust punishments, boycott the SPL away games!

If Rangers get demoted to division 3 then your wish is granted (chortle)
Whose side are you on? It’s not fair because all our problems were caused by one single lone individual acting alone and not in the best interests of the club.

Craig Whyte? I think you’ll find that all the backroom staff were up to no good before he even appeared!
No, it’s all Craig Whyte’s fault. He’s a baddie.

But he had nothing to do with the EBTs! Actually if Rangers were paying players through EBTs for years before Craig Whyte then why are HMRC only pursuing them now?
A tim with an agenda started working for them obviously.

You don’t think this a test case after previous failures from HMRC, and if successful they’ll go after the big clubs in England?
That sounds plausible, all the big clubs in England must be issuing EBTs, surely that’s the only way they are more successful in Europe than the mighty Rangers.

So Ranger’s tax advisers approved the use of EBTs? What about the second contracts?
There are no second contracts. Everything was done by a verbal gentleman’s agreement so there is no paper trail and nothing can be proved. Just like conspiring to rob a bank, if your plans aren’t written down anywhere then there’s no proof, even if you get caught in the act.

But didn’t Martin Bain order staff to shred documents?
It was probably just hate mail from jealous tims.

But don’t we know for certain that Rangers were up to no good by the info already in the public domain and their recent activity? I.e. all the backroom staff jumping ship, the fact they went into administration days after selling Jelevic for £5m. The fact they couldn’t even file the papers correctly for administration?
No, no, that’s all the fault of the Motherwell born millionaire…

So now that Whyte is out the picture, everything is OK and Rangers won’t die? 
Yes, because Rangers are an institution (of bigotry, hate, violence intolerance etc…) and are therefore are too big to die. Besides, we are the people.

Does Scotland need the mighty Rangers FC?
Yes, because without us Celtic (boo!) would probably win everything. And that’s not fair cos they don’t even sound Scottish or British so should probably be playing in the Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann (whatever that is).

Ok, but I thought you were boycotting the SFA?
Well, er, obviously Rangers fans should boycott the away games. We are the people!

So what was the deal with Bill Miller and Bill Ng and all those other foreigners who wanted to take over Rangers?
Dunno, everyone knows that only those with an emotional attachment to a particular club would want to take up the running of it. There isn’t a single chairman/owner of a football club on the planet who is in the position for any money making potential. Everyone does it for the love of the team. See clubs like Manchester United, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool for prime examples.

What made Miller change his mind about buying Rangers?
He’s probably either a tim, related to one, or friends with one. Besides he’s American, what does he know about the Louden tavern, 1690 and orange walks in the Glasgow sunshine?

So now Charles Green (yuck!) is buying the club the future looks rosy and we’ll be winning the league and back in Europe in no time?
Exactly, relax cos everything is going to be OK.

And this year’s title was a one-off “tainted title”?
You bet.

But didn’t Sally McCoist get knocked out of every single cup competition (Champions league, Europa league, Scottish Cup and Scottish League cup) and lose a 15 point lead in the SPL even before the whole administation thing kicked off?
Er…shh.  McCoist is a legend, just like John Greig. We shall hear no more dissing of these 2!

Ah but what about John Greig’s EBT?
Shsst! We are the people!

Ok, so despite all the allegations Rangers won 9 in a row fair and square, right?
Yes, because David Murray is god.

But wait, when all of David Murray’s businesses were losing millions wasn’t he spending money that he/Rangers didn’t have on flops like Tore Andre Flo?
No, see above.

Murray sold Rangers for a pound even though it has (had) hundreds of millions of assets so it must’ve been in good shape right?
Exactly.

So it’s all Craig Whyte’s fault?
Boo! Hiss! He who shall not be named!

But Rangers have just been purchased again for another pound (or is it £2 provided a CVA is arranged) so er..?
Well that proves that no value has been lost and has in fact doubled.

So to avoid liquidation Rangers will just arrange a CVA to keep the creditors happy, which is easy right?
If Rangers owed you £10,000 wouldn’t you rather have £100 instead of nothing? Duh, no brainer.

But the suggestion is that a ridiculously low value for the CVA will be agreed (i.e. a pennies in the pound deal equating to £8.5m or at most £11m), why would this be agreed if Rangers have assets worth over £116m (Ibrox stadium, Murray park, the players etc), surely from the creditors’ point of view liquidation is a better option.
Because HMRC agreed to only £6m from Arsenal. £8.5m is more than 6m. Duh!

But I thought we agreed earlier that Arsenal were (1) covered by the Football Creditors Rule, (2) administering EBTs for a shorter period and (3) stopped them altogether when warned (and therefore the penalty for Rangers will be harsher) plus HMRC will be wanting to pull out all the stops after previous tax reclamation failures?
But Arsenal owed £300m or something, besides Vodafone owed 10 million billion trillion and they got off with a slap on the wrist. No surrender!

Ok, so in the unlikely event that a CVA isn’t pulled off and Rangers go down the tubes, Ibrox can’t be turned into a Tesco because it’s a listed building right?
Correct, the big hoose is here to stay, the plastic seats at Ibrox are made from a rare polycarbon which was only available when the stadium was built and the pitch has the only grade A listed grass in the world.

And the same is true of Murray Park?
Yeah it’s probably listed too, why not. I mean we are the people.

And if a newco is formed the players just ‘TUPE’ over to the new club?
Spot on. TUPE is just a way for people to move from one company to another.You can’t refuse to TUPE duh!

So if ‘NEW’ Rangers start from division 3 and work their way up all the loyal players will stay, right?
Of course, why wouldn’t you want a fresh challenge playing the likes of East Stirling week in, week out? They don’t call us loyalists for nothing, but really we should stay in the Premier League because Scottish football would die without us.

But wasn’t there talk of leaving Scottish football to join a European super league years ago and even Rangers felt that it would help all the other Scottish teams?
Er…times change. That was then, this is now.

Though surely a drop to division 3 would give Rangers the change to win the 1st, 2nd and 3rd division titles, something that even the ‘mighty’ Celtic have failed to achieve?
Great idea! Take that Timmys!

Rangers are the greatest, most successful and best supported team in the world?
Why should you need to ask such an obvious question!?

Scottish sports journalism is also the best in the world?
Again, see above!

We are the people?
Duh! Repeat ad infinitum.

Please post any suggestions to the FAQ below.