football Rangers enter Third Division of Scottish Football

[Rappy Veteran]

Rangers chief executive Charles Green says he will not challenge the vote by the Scottish Football League to place his new club in Division Three.

At Hampden, 25 of the 30 clubs were against Rangers being in Division One.

"We are grateful to be accepted as members of the SFL and accept their decision to vote us into Division Three," said Green.

"We made clear we would play where we were told to play and we just want to get back to playing football."

Rangers' website had immediately responded to the vote at Hampden by suggesting that the club had assurances from Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster and his Scottish Football Association counterpart, Stewart Regan, that an SPL2 would be launched to include Rangers and other invited clubs.

Both Clyde and Dunfermline Athletic had expressed those fears immediately prior to the meeting at Hampden, where 29 clubs had initially voted in favour of admitting Rangers to the SFL before taking a vote on the division in which they should play.

But Rangers quickly toned that down to say: "It was mooted last week that plans for an SPL2 would swing into action, but it is not known if this will be the case."

And Green followed that by saying: "This decision maintains the sporting integrity that clubs and fans across Scotland have been calling for, but it also impacts massively on Scottish football as a whole and only time will tell what the consequences will be.

"Rangers has been handed the ultimate punishment of starting again from the bottom of the leagues, but there is an overwhelming feeling among fans and within the club of 'wiping the slate clean' as a club free of sanctions.

"The people who brought shame on this great club are no longer part of it and everyone at Rangers is focused on rebuilding the club on top of a solid financial foundation.

"We wish to play a constructive part in Division Three and encourage our fans to support the other clubs within the league by attending matches and delivering to them the benefits of having Rangers within their league.

"It is a matter of regret for all of us involved with Rangers that the issues surrounding the club resulted in the SFL and its members being placed in a very difficult position not of their own making."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18813407

[HSoft]

um wow. I don't think I've ever seen Rangers not be in the Scottish Premier.

[Noir Angel]

Given that a lot of their players don't want to stay, Scottish football is going to be even less of a competition than it was before. Celtic winning everything with the other clubs there to make noise.

[Crazysah]

Well, at least attendances will go up for third division games and maybe even the competition. I think this is good in the long run.

[Rappy Veteran]

Well, at least attendances will go up for third division games and maybe even the competition. I think this is good in the long run.

they will never fill Ibrox though so Rangers will lose more money, plus SPL is now in financial meltdown

[Noir Angel]

Look at what happened to Leeds UTD after their financial meltdown. It's not inconceivable that Rangers will never regain their former glory.