Myths and Legends – the SPFL and the £250k Fine of “Rangers”

A couple of days ago the BBC reported, as did various other sources, that the SPFL was considering pursuing “Rangers” for the fine of £250,000 which was levied upon oldco Rangers by the Lord Nimmo Smith Independent Commission.

As the report read in part:-

The Scottish Professional Football League board is considering pursuing Rangers for £250,000.

The amount relates to a fine levied by an independent Scottish Premier League commission on Rangers Football Club PLC’s (RFC PLC) use of a tax scheme.

SPFL lawyers examined recovering the money under an agreement that led to the transfer of Rangers’ membership of the Scottish FA going ahead.

Any claim to the company’s liquidators would likely yield a smaller amount.

Liquidators BDO are in the process of examining claims of creditors of RFC PLC.

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Someone Sold 3.328 Million Shares in “Rangers” Today – Is the Seller a Glass Half Empty Person?

Just before 1pm today the Stock Market noted that there had been a sale, at a price of 41p per share, of 3,328,672 shares in Rangers International Football Club PLC at a price of 41p each.

With such a sizeable sale there will require to be an imminent announcement about the seller/buyer.

What will be interesting is the view on life of the seller.

With such a large shareholding it is unlikely that the seller paid full price for the shares at the IPO. It is much more likely that the seller is one of the initial investors who got shares for 1p each.

Rangers Sign New CEO

Fresh from the stock market announcements section, we can see that, in advance of the AGM in December, Rangers have signed up a new CEO, and this time one with a football track record.

The Board of Rangers announces that it has appointed Graham Wallace as the Company’s new Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.

Mr Wallace was employed by Manchester City Football Club, first as Chief Financial Officer (March 2009 – October 2010), and then as Chief Operating Officer (October 2010 – January 2013), during a period of unprecedented success in that club’s history. Whilst at Manchester City, Mr Wallace led the transformational changes in the business after the acquisition of the club by Abu Dhabi United Group, implementing world class business processes and corporate governance standards. Before joining Manchester City, Mr Wallace was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of IMG Media, the global sports and entertainment media company, from October 2006 to March 2009.

Mr Wallace began his career at Ernst and Young where he qualified in 1986 as a Chartered Accountant. He then spent 20 years working in senior accounting and financial roles at oil company Conoco (now ConocoPhillips), Cable & Wireless and latterly as CFO of MTV Networks Europe.  

The QC of Choice for Rangers Fans Gets a New Job!

Richard Keen QC, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, has found his way into the minds of football fans through his high-profile involvement in matters connected to the Rangers saga.

To the universal acclaim of the Rangers faithful he acted for “Rangers” in the court challenge to the Disciplinary Tribunal imposition of a year-long registration “embargo” in 2012. He successfully persuaded the court that the Tribunal had exceeded its powers.

He re-appeared on the legal football field when acting last month for the “Rangers Rebels” and he succeeded in establishing that the Board had breached the Companies Act by refusing to allow the motion to appoint four new directors to be considered at the RIFC PLC AGM.

Another New Rangers Director! Is This the Admirable Crighton?

JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan, a fantasy set in a world where miraculous and mysterious things happen and where the villains are remarkable creations, ready to do anything to achieve their goal of victory, and where one of the two main “baddies” is intent on the destruction of his rival.

Now what, you might ask, does that have to do with Rangers?

Nothing apart from the fact that JM Barrie also wrote a play in 1902 which was later filmed starring Kenneth More. It was called “The Admirable Crichton”.

It addressed class distinctions in post-Victorian England and told of a butler who, on the family he worked for being stranded on a desert island, takes full control of the situation and reverses the social order, before, on the family being rescued, returning to his subordinate state.