Glasgow Rangers Chairman Keen to Restore Football Club to Pre-Insolvency Status

The chairman of Glasgow Rangers Football Club has expressed his desire to effectively restore his organisation to a pre-insolvency status.

Dave King has said he wants to remove ‘Oldco’ Rangers from its ongoing liquidation process and return it to its previous operational position.

King explained that he believed such a process would help to undo some of the damage done to the reputation of Rangers as a football club since it was led into administration and liquidation in 2012.

Having sat on the board of directors at the Rangers Football Club PLC prior to its entry into administration, King became chairman of the Rangers International Football Club, which effectively replaced it, in March of this year.

There is no precedent for a company being recovered from liquidation in the UK but the Rangers chairman has insisted that the move could be possible and would be “emotionally important” for fans of what remains one of Scotland’s best supported football clubs.

Among the many complications that might hinder any return to a pre-insolvency situation for the Rangers oldco is the fact that the final amounts of money owed to creditors are yet to be determined.

Of particular concern would likely be the details of a long-running tax case made against Rangers by HM Revenue & Customs, in relation to which a tribunal is still pending.

“We have a vision going forward where I would like to see us taking Oldco out of liquidation and putting assets back into Oldco - putting the old Rangers back into the old company,” said King.

“We can’t do it while all this stuff is being sorted out. But these are the areas behind the scenes where we are fairly senior commercial people and I think we can do that.

“It is a valid thing to take a company out of liquidation and put the assets back into it. I think the supporters would like it. It is not economically important but it is something I would like to do.”

Earlier this month, Craig Whyte, who owned Rangers as it was entered into administration and liquidation, was arrested and charged with the “alleged fraudulent acquisition” of the club in 2012.