football Rangers newco refused SPL entry after chairmen vote

[Rappy Veteran]

Rangers will not play in the Scottish Premier League in the coming season.

SPL chairmen met at Hampden to vote on the Rangers newco's application to replace the old club in the top flight.

And, afterwards, an SPL spokesman said: "SPL clubs voted overwhelmingly to reject the application from Rangers newco to join the SPL."

The reformed Ibrox club are now expected to play in the Scottish Football League but it is not clear which division they will enter.

And there is also uncertainty about who will replace the old Rangers in the SPL - Dunfermline, who were relegated from the division last season, or First Division runners-up Dundee.

SFL clubs met on Tuesday to discuss a proposal for Rangers to enter Division One but, if that does not gain the support of a majority of clubs, they could begin season 2011-12 in Division Three.

Eleven out of the 30 clubs have already indicated their opposition to Rangers entering Division One, with a vote scheduled to take place on 12 July.

Eight SPL clubs had already gone public with their opposition to a Rangers newco entering the top flight ahead of Wednesday's vote, with an 8-4 majority required for the application to be successful.

The ballot came amid warnings about the future of Scottish football should Rangers drop to Division Three.

Rangers FC plc entered administration in February owing up to ?134m to unsecured creditors. The company will eventually be liquidated and has been replaced by a new company.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster said prior to Wednesday's meeting that three options were available regarding where Rangers should play next season.

"The three viable options are effectively: bringing "newco" Rangers back into the SPL with a range of appropriate sanctions; putting Rangers into the second tier of Scottish football or Rangers going into the bottom of the pyramid into Division Three," he said.

"The third option, I was keen to stress yesterday, would inflict massive damage on the whole of the game in Scotland; and effectively punish 41 innocent clubs for the misdeeds of one."

Regarding the possibility of Rangers heading down to the First Division next season, Doncaster added: "There's lots of things that need to happen before that might take place.

"The SFL clubs will be meeting again next Thursday and will be voting on that. It remains to be seen how that plays out."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18703183