Rangers booted out of top-flight after club vote

Rangers were dramatically kicked out of next season’s Scottish Premier League after rival clubs voted overwhelmingly to exclude the ailing Glasgow giants, it was confirmed yesterday.

The soon-to-be-liquidated Ibrox club had applied to rejoin the league after reforming as a new company (newco) but their request was turned down following a vote of the other clubs which make up the Scottish top-flight.

“At today’s General Meeting, SPL clubs voted overwhelmingly to reject the application from Rangers newco to join the SPL,” an SPL statement said.

The statement came after more than five hours of talks at Hampden as Rangers’ new management clung on to the hope of staving off exclusion.

It caps a humiliating fall from grace for the most successful club in Scottish football, who were plunged into crisis earlier this year after entering administration following a tax dispute.

It was not immediately clear where Rangers’ new incarnation will begin life next season as one option under consideration is to start in the First Division, the league below the SPL.

The SPL, Scottish Football League (SFL) and Scottish FA are all pushing for the First Division option, which would also include significant league reform and £1 million payment for the second tier’s television rights.

Safeguarding the multi-million pound commercial deals on which all of Scotland’s professional clubs rely so heavily is central to the issue, with a new TV deal worth £80 million over five seasons reputedly dependent on the screening of four Rangers vs Celtic Old Firm derbies a season.

Broadcasters are said to be prepared to go no more than one year without these showcase matches.

Already clubs in the lower leagues are speaking out against the prospect of Rangers going straight into the First Division, despite being told by the SFL that their own existence would be at risk if Rangers are forced to start in the Third Division.