Darroch predicts Rangers fate

Stenhousemuir chairman Bill Darroch has revealed he anticipates the newco Rangers will be allowed into the Scottish Division One when SFL clubs meet next Friday.

The newly-formed Glasgow outfit were denied permission by SPL clubs to join the top flight next season after a vote on Wednesday.

Gers chief executive Charles Green later confirmed his intention to apply for membership of the SFL.

SFL clubs will meet next Friday to vote on whether to accept Rangers into the league and what division they would be allowed into.

There are concerns that the loss of revenue caused by Rangers dropping into Division Three could be catastrophic, with SFA chief executive Stewart Regan warning of a 'slow, lingering death' for Scottish football should they fall into the bottom tier.

The alternative would be for Rangers to be accepted into Division One, or form part of a newly-created SPL 2.

Permutations

Warriors chairman Darroch revealed the club's board had already discussed the various permutations ahead of next week's vote.

Darroch warned that should Rangers be voted into Division Three, the club would have to make savings of £50,000 a season thanks to the loss of a SFL central payment, which is aligned to the SPL settlement payment.

This could potentially include the loss of their youth system and redundancies in their community programme.

However, should Rangers be allowed into Division One, or a newly-formed SPL 2, the losses would be less severe.

Darroch concedes that there will be varying degrees of financial impact due to the saga, but he feels a newco Rangers in Division One would be the preferred option for most clubs.

In a statement on the club's official website, Darroch said: "In deciding how to move forward and given the two straightforward options now available, the club does not feel any decision should be based on 'punishing' any other football clubs; that is neither our role nor our priority.

Best interests

"Instead, we believe we have a duty to move forward with whichever option we believe will be in the best interests of Stenhousemuir Football Club.

"In this situation and having considered the consequences for the club primarily, but also that of the many other clubs who would suffer significantly, we will support Rangers Newco joining the SFL on the strict proviso that the various elements of restructuring and merging of the league are agreed to our satisfaction.

"For the reasons stated above, we would anticipate that the Rangers Newco would be entering at Div 1.

"We have met as a board formally on two occasions to discuss this in depth and there have been numerous other communications between Directors.

"Be assured that the implications for the club represent an honest assessment of the scenarios and are not over dramatised or overstated."