As a football fan, the demise of such a great institution as Ranger FC is a sad indictment that no club, regardless of their history, is immune to economic realities and, in Rangers' case, mismanagement - mismangement by successive Boards and by what appears to be the most inept Administrators (Duff & Phelps) I have ever witnessed - Administrators who simply have zero understanding of employment law, football, etc, yet whose fees outstrip the value of the club! Given that we narrowly avoided similarly falling into the abyss of administration (and maybe liquidation), I think it time that we, the fans, somehow formally and publicly demonstrated our gratitude and appreciation to Delia and Michael for everything they have done for Norwich City. Not sure what form this should take but I do feel that 'something' is long overdue. No, they may not be Arab Sheihks or Russian oligarchs, and undoubedly, there has been mistakes and learnings along the way but without them, there simply would have been no recognisable club left, certainly, not one now flourishing in the Premiership under the stewardship of David Mcally. So, please let's find a way to show our thanks and 'love' to Delia...
Agreed it is sad. But can a 'new' Rangers compete at the same level again? The team has to apply to be in the SPL but I feel that if they are accepted then it will always be Celtic winning the league. Really make you think how lucky we are to still have a team to support.
you can say that again wonky! in all honesty, its not just the death of rangers - its the death of scottish football. they should really be demoted to the 3rd division but will they? the finances of all the other clubs will suffer enormously if they choose to do so - it could mean they all go bust too. celtic fans may be laughing at all this but i seriously doubt this will help them in any way other than making them guaranteed champions year in, year out. they'll suffer too. thankfully the scottish fa have the steady hand of neil doncaster to sort all this mess out... oh ****!
Re. DS and MW-J, they are already in our Hall of Fame so we supporters can't show our appreciation by electing them. What about a minute's applause before one of the pre-season friendlies (Ajax or Borussia M)?
I too agree it is sad for Rangers and feel fortunate that we are when we are and in the position we are in, probably the most stable since I started following City in 1975. HOWEVER, if I do not feel sorry for Rangers FC and the SPL will not be a worse place without them for 3 seasons (let's be honest, they will get successive promotions back to the SPL - assuming they are sent down to div 3, which they should be). Rangers absence will make way for one of the "other" teams (Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen, Motherwell & Dundee Utd) to get a shot at the Champions League knockout stages. Hopefully some of these clubs, with a little relative success will get new fans coming along to follow them. I accept the numbers will not be the same in terms of crowds but as it's only 2 games per season for each club (home games against 'Gers') it is hardly the end of the world.
As the Bhoy part of my user name suggests my genetic allegiance lies frimly in the green half of the city and I have hugely enjoyed seeing Rangers death throes. I feel very little sympathy for them as they effectively bought their recent titles by ripping off everyone from HMRC to the local painter and decorator. I do feel some sympathy for their fans - not their fault that their club has been run by a bunch of cheats and theives. I also feel that they should morally have to start at the bottom of the pile but that if they do any titles won by Celtic will be devalued and the loss of revenue for the other SPL clubs could send them to the wall which is not a consequence any football-lover would wish to happen. Thank goodness NCFC is now a well-run club with a long term view and maybe some people who want us to spend, spend, spend should have a look North of the border and see what can happen to even the biggest of clubs.
That is what I tried to say in my previous post - each team will only lose the gate revenue for two home games and don't forget most SPL stadiums do not hold much over 20,000 anyway, so the loss of gate receipts is not going to be huge.
problem is, those two home games attract vast numbers of away fans to fill the stadia. add on top all the money from around the ground they get - food etc, it would be a massive hole for 10 other clubs to fill. i think you're underestimating how much rangers make the other clubs financially! i agree morally they should start at the bottom, even though i have rangers blood in me i agree with that, but don't bet on the other clubs voting on it. even celtic will be hit with the loss.
I really hope the SPL don't let new rangers back in and relegate them down a few divisions. bit of a joke if they don't. as said above, it wouldn't take them long to get promoted back up, but probably a few years to re-establish themselves as rivals to Celtic Come on Doomy, advise the right thing.
Supers, I really do think it is being over-stated. Hearts capacity is a little over 17,000 with an average attendance of 13400 or so and they are one of the bigger teams with a big stadium! (by Scottish football standards) Dundee Utd capacity is just over 14,000 with an average attendance of 7500. The two home games with Rangers last season had 9464 & 10156 in attendance. So where all all these hoards of Rangers fans then? Seriously, two home games missing out on 3000 - 4000 people is not going to cripple anyone in the SPL. Their away following is not vast because many of the SPL stadiums are not big enough to permit more than perhaps 6000 (at the very most) and those that are big enough just simply are not being filled when playing Rangers.
plenty of home fans sell their tickets in the home ends to rangers and celtic fans, partly cos they don't like the old firm and the nonsense that comes with them! don't just look at the 'bigger' clubs in scotland, its the smaller ones who will go bust. you'll have to take my word on it cos i'm certainly not joking about it, but the loss of rangers could potentially cripple four or five scottish premier division clubs. its a massive, massive risk to demote them - these clubs will have to think long and hard about their decision. its not a straight forward one and is one which does risk the future of scottish football. you've also got the fact that the tv companies will be less willing to buy the rights to a league where only celtic are worth watching to their audiences. there's a lot more to it than just looking at gate receipts - i'd say its very much 50/50 as it stands as to what the outcome will be. you could factor in that rangers will revitalise the lower divisions for a season but their gates are so small that all it would do is create problems. as i say, morally they should face the consequences of their doings and start again at the bottom but we all know that the key to all this is going to be money. i also wouldn't bet against rangers applying for league status in england, even at a very, very low level, because that way, they may only be ten years or so from being a competitive football league side. interesting times...
ok, lets look at the little teams then St Mirren - capacity 8000, average attendance 4492, against Rangers - 6711 Inverness - capacity 8000, average attendance 4000, against Rangers - 6623 & 6400 St Johnstone - capacity 10456, average attendance 4169, against Rangers - 6459 & 6557 Rangers vast away following is a myth, unless they play in European competition or in England for a friendly game. The really, really small teams - Alloa, Brechin, Montrose, East Stirling etc would benefit by Rangers getting demoted.
Surely the other clubs, bar Celtic, in the SPL would be delighted to say no at the vote, after all with Rangers gone, a 2nd champions league spot is well and truly within their reach (is it 2 spots?), and they won't suffer thrashings however many times a season that they would have played them.
That's what I think will happen and as a result those teams in with a fighting chance of getting 2nd place will increase their home gates as the glory hunters come out of the woodwork once again It doesn't really matter that much to the bottom 3 or 4 teams anyway as they all take turns in getting relegated every other season
Without Rangers in the SPL, I wouldn't be surprised if UEFA took away the Champions League qualifying spot from the SPL!
I think that it is fair to say that if Rangers are demoted then all of the other SPL clubs will suffer from a loss of tv and gate receipt revenues and for the foreseeable future the league would be a one rather than two horse race. To what degree I don't think any of us could say for sure. If another club got a Champions League place it is a fairly safe bet that they would bomb out in the qualifying round so maybe the increased income stream would not be so great.
well you've made a good case but i guess you haven't been to matches up there. i have and the spl will be totally ruined if rangers drop out, absolutely no question at all. and everyone up there knows it, even celtic deep, deep down...
Celtic need Rangers as their pantomine villains just as we need the Binners. As long as we continue to beat them I would love for them to come up to the Premiership. After the deep joy of the death of the emeny Celtic fans will weep like Alexander as they have no new lands to conquer (I paraphrase slightly).
