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Since their season draws to a close, here's a reminder about their fixtures and current standing: You can keep up to date with our Rangers Ladies prime fan over at twitter: Rangers Ladies FC or Facebook SQUAD (inlcuding some Rangers Girls players) GOALKEEPERS - Khym Ramsey - Kelsey Brown (27 years) - Lauren Hinds (17 years) - Murrin Stevenson (15 years) DEFENDERS - Lesley Condie (24 years) - Kathryn Hill (18 years) - Stephanie Knox (17 years) - Aimie McGill (18 years) - Megan Foley (19 years) - Jill Paterson (25 years) - Tammi Kerr (25 years) - Sophie Riley Natalie Lowe (19 years) Stacey Williamson (22 years) - (Girls 17s) Amanda Traynor (16 years) MIDFIELDERS - Jennifer Condie - Rebecca Blair Paige Cartwright (17 years) Clare Docherty (24 years) Jade Williamson (17 years) - Leanne Hughes - (Girls 17s) Rachel Halliday (17 years) - (Girls 17s) Megan Karagiozis ( - ) STRIKERS - Lisa Swanson (21 years) - Suzanne MacTaggart Lucy Clark (19 years) Cheryl Gallagher (21 years) Jade Lindsay (18 years) COACH - John Joyce Peter Kennedy (Scott Allison) (Foster Douglas) Next Match - Sunday (Today!) - August 19th (Petershill Park, Glasgow, 3 p.m.) Henson Scottish Cup Rangers Ladies vs. Inverness City Last Match - Sunday - August 12th (Petershill Park, Glasgow) Scottish Women's Premier League Rangers Ladies 3 - Falkirk 0 (Knox, Swanson, MacTaggart) -> Picture gallery from that game Upcoming games Su 02/09/12 SPL - Rangers vs Kilmarnock (Petershill, 2 p.m.) Su 09/09/12 SPL - Hutchison Vale vs Rangers (Saughton Enclosure, Edinburgh ,2 p.m.) Su 23/09/12 SPL - Rangers vs Hamilton Academical (Petershill, 2 p.m.) The Rangers Ladies play their home games at ... Petershill Park / Petershill Juniors Football Ground (Firefox - Google Maps Link) Petershill Road, Springburn Glasgow G21 4AH Opened: 2007 Capacity: 2,000

News & Reports on Rangers Youth Teams Here you can find some links to sources of information & reports on the Rangers Youth Teams! Anyone can add links or post Youth Team reports that they come across to this thread if they're relevant. http://rfcyouths.wordpress.com/ - Superb dedicated blog about our Youth Teams including league tables, results, match reports, news & player profiles. Rangers Youths on the Official Rangers Website Reserves and Under 19s - From here you can also browse through the youth squads from U17s all the way down to U10s, although there's only player profiles available in the Reserves and Under 19s section. Academy News U19s on the official SPL website Clydesdale Bank U19s - News, fixtures, results, top scorers, league table & historical tables for the Clydesdale Bank U19s league. Reserve/Youth Team Squad on Gersnet - Gersnet's own Reserve/Youth Team resource. .

did you know that when jim baxter had his trial for raith rovers it was against the rangers .

Hi there, my name is Daniel and I am a student at the University of Leeds. I am conducting a research project for my final year and I have chosen to investigate rivalry within football and one of my case studies besides the Catalonian/Madrid rivalry, I am looking at Scottish football, and more specifically the city of Glasgow. I understand this may be a sensitive topic and would like to make it clear that this survey is purely academical and I have no intention to cause any sort of offence. I have put together a small survey looking at rivalries and I kindly ask that you fill out my survey for me. It only takes 3 minutes and would be kindly appreciated if you could complete this for me. Also if you could pass on to anyone relevant. Again, I thank you for your time. https://leeds.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/scottishfootballsurvey

We are delighted to tell you about a new retro Rangers magazine launching now! http://seventy2magazine.co.uk/index.php/en/subscribe-here Seventy2 Magazine was before a new #byfansforfans, and will again be a great read for any loyal bear. Specifically focusing on the incredible passion, history, tradition and success of all things Rangers. The club and us fans have been through a torrid time in these past few years, despite maintaining success on the pitch prior to this season, so Seventy2 will be the perfect match for remembering all that we love about Rangers, as we begin this new chapter in our amazing history. There will be interviews with former players, regular columnists, features and much, much more! We have had columnists confirmed such as Colin Jackson, Mark Walters, Lorenzo Amoruso and Alex Rae! Subscriptions are now available and your magazine is posted direct to your home as well as our fantastic new format for web and mobile reading! It comes is flashy new readers available on all phones, tablets and pcs. Please visit www.Seventy2Magazine.co.uk and get your subscription now - you won't be disappointed! Issue 11 is the latest issue available but all back issues can be read online when you subscribe. If you wish to buy any past issues we will be launching our webstore in the coming weeks! seventy2magazine.co.uk/index.php/en/subscribe-here

Below is both information on the magazine and then information on advertising opportunities :- We are delighted to tell you about a new retro Rangers magazine launching now! http://seventy2magazine.co.uk/index.php/en/subscribe-here Seventy2 Magazine was before a new #byfansforfans, and will again be a great read for any loyal bear. Specifically focusing on the incredible passion, history, tradition and success of all things Rangers. The club and us fans have been through a torrid time in these past few years, despite maintaining success on the pitch prior to this season, so Seventy2 will be the perfect match for remembering all that we love about Rangers, as we begin this new chapter in our amazing history. There will be interviews with former players, regular columnists, features and much, much more! We have had columnists confirmed such as Colin Jackson, Mark Walters, Lorenzo Amoruso and Alex Rae! Subscriptions are now available and your magazine is posted direct to your home as well as our fantastic new format for web and mobile reading! It comes is flashy new readers available on all phones, tablets and pcs. Please visit www.Seventy2Magazine.co.uk and get your subscription now - you won't be disappointed! Issue 11 is the latest issue available but all back issues can be read online when you subscribe. If you wish to buy any past issues we will be launching our webstore in the coming weeks! seventy2magazine.co.uk/index.php/en/subscribe-here ADVERTISING: http://seventy2magazine.co.uk/index.php/en/seventy2-blog/228-advertising-opportunities Please see link above for advertising information.

Worthington Group are who effectively "own" Craig Whyte and Aidan Earley's claim on the RIFC assets. Also of note is the fact that the Liquidator appointed to Whyte's BVI based Liberty Capital sold Liberty Capitals holding in Worthington Group at 58p in a delayed notification trade one day before the shares were suspended. Wonder who the Liquidator is actually working on behalf of? http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/01/13/2085432/a-worthington-tale/?

Stuff some block out time and again when talking about us and postmen, plummers and co. for these last few years. Stuff, that happens time and again, all over the place. And today again ... CHELSEA 2 - Bradford City 4 (that's the English third tier team) MANCHESTER CITY 0 - Middlesbrough FC 2 (that's the English second tier team) SOUTHAMPTON FC 2 - Crystal Palace 3 Cambridge United* 0 - MANCHESTER UNITED 0 *(that's the English fourth tier team) ... so none of the EPL's top four have made it to the next round against lesser opposition, only ManU with a chance to go through. It does not mean much with respect to our players failing time and again to play some decent football, or our managers to show some sort of imagination. Yet, it does show that time and again big names and hilarious money paid for and on players will not guarantee you success. If a third tier team is set up and drilled well enough, it can cause quite a bit of a shock. And while I'm at it, Falkirk did beat Hearts at Tynecastle today, rather unexpectantly.

By Chris McLaughlin Lalit Modi, the first commissioner of cricket's Indian Premier League, has expressed an interest in buying a large shareholding in Rangers. BBC Scotland has learned Modi's representatives made contact with the chairman of Rangers' football board, Sandy Easdale, earlier this week. The groups talked about the potential sale of the 26% stake Easdale controls. It is believed a price has already been discussed. And a meeting could take place as early as next week. Modi was banned for life by the Indian Cricket Board of Control after they charged him with misconduct relating to financial irregularities. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/31168745

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12241662.html

According to Ronnie Esplin on Twitter, Kenny McDowall says he has been told to play 5 loan players. Wow!

http://www.rangersfirst.org/egm-update-important/ Rangers First – latest update: The keenly awaited EGM is to be held in a hotel in London on the 4th of March. Rangers First spokesman said this afternoon, ” The board of Rangers FC and the NOMAD WH Ireland appear to have set this up to make voting as awkward as possible especially for the small share holders, many of who are Rangers Fans. Rangers First are pleased to announce that we will have a number of drop in centres available for people who need help in completing voting forms or if they would like to proxy their shares to Rangers First. We will be delighted to help any shareholders be they Rangers First members or not as it is important that as many votes are cast in this process as possible, you can also email shares@rangersfirst.com for info” Drop in centres will be available in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirlingshire & North West England with other venues to be announced. If any member is struggling to attend then we will do our best to arrange a home visit. This is a critical vote for the future of our club and we encourage everyone to find a way to exercise their vote.”

The Company confirms that it has today drawn down the sum of £5 million from the credit facility agreement entered into between SportsDirect.com Retail Limited (SD) and Rangers Football Club Limited (RFC) and has repaid the loan of £3 million to RFC provided by Mash Holdings Limited (MASH). As a result of this repayment, all rights of MASH to nominate two persons for potential appointment to the board of directors of the Company and RFC have now lapsed. SD has the right to nominate two persons for potential appointment to the board of directors of the Company, but has not currently exercised this right. Further to the Company's announcement on 27 October 2014, the Company would like to clarify the position in relation to any rights of MASH to appoint directors of RFC as referred to in that announcement. The correct position is that MASH never had the right to directly appoint directors of RFC. http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/8461-company-announcement

FOREWORD: The author would like to thank the author of The Football Tax Havens Blog for the provision of some of the information used in this article. There is one thing I can say with some certainty regarding the HMRC enquiry into Rangers Football Club and that is that it has left a legacy of confusion, contradiction, misdirection ( some of which may either be deliberate or as a consequence of gross negligence) and of course, last but not least, accusation. The fact that some of the key players involved in the whole process now face criminal prosecution should confirm, for even the casual onlooker, that all has not been above board. Allow me to illustrate courtesy of these two links, which contain contradictory information, but nonetheless, were written in good faith by the respective authors. http://sport.stv.tv/blog/203241-rang...ions-answered/ http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/new...kets-by-gbp73m The former link written by Mike Farrell for STV attributes HMRC as the largest single creditor at the time of rejection of the CVA whilst the second link written by Rachael Singh for AccountancyAge suggests at the time HMRC vetoed the proposed the CVA they were in fact the second largest single creditor. What we do know is that at some point Duff & Phelps added the outstanding potential estimated liability regarding EBT’s to the overall bill due to HMRC. A potential bill which never came to fruition due to the rulings of various Tax Tribunals in favour of Rangers. What is both concerning and alarming is that such “confusion” appears to extend to high level executives within HMRC itself as this Public Accounts Committee Q & A demonstrates. http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevi...ral/11443.html In question 54/55, tendered by Anne McGuire MP, Mr Jim Harra – Director General Business Tax HMRC, moves to correct Ms McGuire regarding her apparent “misapprehension” by responding as follows: “It has been in the media. This dispute on employee benefit trusts was not the reason why Rangers went into liquidation. It was for non-payment of their standard pay-as-you-earn and VAT obligations.” No Mr Harra that is not entirely accurate either. That is the reason that Rangers went into administration. The reason Rangers went into liquidation is because, as either the primary or secondary creditor, HMRC the organisation you represent, vetoed the proposal for a CVA. It is really asking too much of HMRC officials, particularly high ranking ones to provide accurate information in response to questions from Members of Parliament who sit on a Public Accounts Committee? Furthermore, just to add some added spice to this bubbling pot of confusion and accusation, the reasons for such refusal are themselves subject to considerable speculation. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/q...0639n.24716091 http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/h...probe.24725771 In the questions aforementioned Ms McGuire also raises the subject of pre-litigation settlement. It is perhaps worth highlighting at this point that Rangers were not the first football club to fall foul of HMRC. In 2005 during Ray Parlour’s divorce proceedings it was revealed that during season 2000/01 Parlour paid tax at a rate of only 22% courtesy of an off shore benefit trust operated by Arsenal. HMRC reacted to this information billing Arsenal for £12 million which they settled in full. While the differing circumstances of each case make a side by side comparison impractical, it does raise the question of why HMRC waited 5 years to pursue Rangers in respect of an EBT payment scheme previously declared in annual accounts) Returning to the subject of settlement Mr Harra responds: “In terms of when we decide to litigate, we have a published litigation and settlements strategy that states we will settle only for what we believe we are due under the law. If we believe that we have a greater than evens chance of getting more by litigating than what we can get by settling, generally speaking that is what we will do: we will litigate. We are proud of the success record that we have in litigation. In avoidance cases, we win about 80% of all the cases that we litigate, but that does mean we are not successful in 20% of them. We are disappointed by the upper-tier tribunal decision in the Rangers case. It is still something that can be the subject of appeal, so I cannot go into too much detail about the litigation itself, but, as I said, we have a very good track record and we may not have reached the end of the line on this one.” Of course such litigation is at public taxpayer’s expense. Perhaps Ms McGuire would care to ask HMRC at the next Q & A why a government agency whose remit is to bring people to account for failing to keep meticulous financial records, cannot themselves keep accurate records with regard to their own operating costs. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/h...-case.26228807 So in summary we have HMRC continuing to pursue Rangers FC (Oldco) at public expense, having refused an offer of an earlier settlement, in the belief they will be “getting more by litigating than we can by settling” despite the fact HMRC themselves forced the company they are pursuing into liquidation. Perhaps Ms McGuire would care to ask what financial settlement HMRC hope to achieve from a liquidated company. The more you add up the sums the less it makes logical or financial sense, in fact it only serves to add credibility to the accusation that HMRC’s rejection of a CVA was to ensure an investigation into Rangers directors and owners. If the circumstances aforesaid have caused you to utter the words “scandalous” then you may want to re-think your choice of words. In the Rangers Tax Case HMRC considered that the appointment of EBT funds on to a sub-fund or sub-trust for the benefit of a particular employee and/or their family gave rise to a PAYE charge. HMRC were also of the opinion that loans provided from these sub-funds were not loans, but were akin to a bonus available without any chance of repayment and, therefore, again subject to PAYE. What lifts this above even “scandalous” is such arguments have been challenged unsuccessfully before in the cases of Dextra Accessories ([2005] STC 1111) and Sempra Metals ([2007] STC 1559), yet HMRC continue to put forward this argument, at the tax payers expense of course Sometimes “scandalous” is just not enough.

http://www.shareprophets.com/views/10353/rangers-fc-an-open-letter-to-the-scottish-fa-demanding-formal-enquiry By Tom Winnifrith, The Sheriff of AIM | Friday 30 January 2015 Earlier this week I asked if the Board of AIM listed Rangers FC could justify why it had rejected two refinancings in favour of a third proposal put forward by a major shareholder in the club Mr. Michael Ashley. The Board of Rangers RF (RFC) is dominated by business associates of Mr. Ashley. Can Rangers show paperwork to justify its decisions and therefore show that it did not breach Section 994 of the 2006 Companies Act? Rangers has not responded. And so today I have written to the Scottish FA asking it to formally investigate.

Celtic Fans Open to Ridicule Over Rangers “Old Firm” Claims – by Rob Atkinson. http://roblufc.org/2015/01/30/celtic-fans-open-to-ridicule-over-rangers-old-firm-claims-by-rob-atkinson/

...bring back memories of administration at Ibrox. AFTER Mike Ashley stepped up his Ibrox power grab with another huge loan this week KEITH asks; is the Sports Direct supremo actually asset-stripping Rangers or is he preparing to negotiate with a new board? IS Mike Ashley asset-stripping Rangers ? That’s the question asked under parliamentary privilege at the House of Commons on Tuesday and one the Newcastle owner will have to answer if, as expected, he is summoned to attend a Westminster enquiry . On the face of it, there seems a strong case for the prosecution. In the last few days, and without even stepping foot in Glasgow, Ashley has managed to sweep through Ibrox, scooping up just about everything of value that wasn’t nailed down. Had he bothered to turn up in person he might have made his way home on the famous old St Etienne bike, testing the integrity of its 37-year-old frame to the full. Integrity. Now there’s a word that might cause Ashley more discomfort than half an hour on a racer’s saddle. There are 7.125billion people on the planet. Only 292 of them have more money than Ashley. And yet this champion of the zero hours contracts dumped 200 workers from his high street fashion store USC on to the dole just after Christmas without so much as a lump of coal for a thank you. Integrity? In Big Mike’s world that’s for wimps. Little wonder then that he has acted so brazenly in his Ibrox power grab. With one hand he has fed Rangers with a succession of life-saving drip-feed loans while with the other he’s throttled it into submission. His latest £10million handout was his way of parcelling up an entire institution into one of those vulgar, oversized Sports Direct carrier bags. As bargains go, this one takes some beating. For the price of a fully repayable loan (or in other words for not a single penny) Ashley controls every last bit of Rangers FC, from the old boardroom to the dressing rooms inside Murray Park. His commercial contract has been massively beefed up – Sports Direct now own 75 per cent of the club’s own retail company – which means the badges and crests are now in Ashley’s name too. Also as part of the new agreement, if Rangers should strike a multi-million shirt sponsorship deal, the vast majority of that money will go straight into Ashley’s back pocket. So, in summary, a business already teetering on the verge of insolvency has now taken on a mountain of new debt, while giving up huge chunks of its only existing revenue. Now I’m no Lord Sugar but even so, the logic being applied here seems so flawed that it’s bordering on insane. This business now has its bare toes curled around the summit of Everest, having pawned off its safety harness. With one puff of his chubby red cheeks, Ashley could blow the whole thing into oblivion. In fact, this latest decision by a board which is itself not fit for purpose has a very familiar and nasty whiff of madness to it. And the similarities don’t end there because another red flag was raised in Tuesday’s Stock Exchange statement and it came in the form of two words that became part of the Rangers discussion during Craig Whyte’s chaotic end of days – floating charge. Now Ashley too has placed a floating charge over the club’s assets and although this may be purely coincidental, while his motives and strategy remain a complete mystery, it ought to raise the general level of alarm. So is Ashley actually asset-stripping Rangers right in front of the eyes of its supporters? Or is this latest move the latest part of some other plan for the Ibrox club? Those who study Ashley’s dealings closely describe him as the ultimate high-roller poker player. They are quick to point out too that, deliberately inserted into Tuesday’s statement, was a line about all of these agreements being reversible upon repayment. It could be, in tieing up all of the above, Ashley is merely about to spread them down like a massive pile of casino chips. That he is preparing for defeat at an egm in the knowledge that Dave King’s requisition already has majority support among the club’s shareholders. Certainly, if any of these city types were previously undecided as to which way to cast their votes, the terms of Tuesday’s £10m loan shark deal would have helped make up their minds. If anything, by accepting Ashley’s deal over a rival offer from Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor, the board may have significantly bolstered the mood for regime change. Where the numbers are concerned, King’s hand has just been strengthened. Even so, Ashley heads into this showdown holding all the aces. Even if the board is obliterated, King will still have to deal with the man who controls the club’s assets. And Ashley will call the shots. What he will not do is roll over. He’s had serious skin in this Rangers game for too long to fold now. Ashley has been at the table for more than two years, ever since he handed £1m to Charles Green in advance of the £22m IPO of December 2012. Sports Direct has been stuffing its tills with blue pounds ever since courtesy of Green’s incredible generosity. His old pal Derek Llambias was even invited into Ibrox around the same time to strike a deal which saw Ashley buy the stadium’s naming rights for a pound. Llambias now sits at the head of the board in his role as CEO but he too has been around this saga for longer than most will have realised. He owns 51 per cent of a PR firm called Keith Bishop Associates who, around the time of that IPO, were invoicing former Finance Director Brian Stockbridge for all manner of sums without ever appearing to engage in any actual PR for the club. Stranger still, these payments were being signed off at a time when Green was hiring his own PR guru. Ironically, Llambias was appointed to the Rangers board late in 2014, not long after the Keith Bishop contract had been terminated by his predecessor Graham Wallace. Intriguing isn’t it? So on Monday afternoon I contacted Keith Bishop, who acts as Ashley’s official spokesperson, by phone earlier to ask him about some of this mysterious stuff. He requested I submit any questions via an email. That email landed in his inbox less than half an hour later. It took him until last night to respond in an email which read: “This company’s relationship with its clients are, and remain, confidential and not open to be discussed in the public domain.” All of which just goes to prove that it’s getting harder and harder to get a straight answer to anything Rangers related these days. So is Ashley really asset-stripping Rangers? Or is he gearing up for a massive game of negotiation poker with King and a new board? That would certainly seem the more logical view. But then again, this is Rangers. Logic left the building some time ago. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/keith-jackson-mike-ashleys-rangers-5062140

Grant Russell ‏@STVGrant 17s18 seconds ago None of the 55 games Steve Simonsen is accused of betting on were Rangers matches. Chris Jack ‏@Chris_Jack89 47s48 seconds ago Rangers keeper Steve Simonsen issued with a notice of complaint for breaching SFA gambling rules. Has until 29/1 to respond. Hearing 12/2

Welcome aboard Captain America and a true Rangers captain in Richard Gough http://www.rangersfirst.org/captain-america-joins-rangersfirst/

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/rangers/306606-mike-ashley-posts-intent-to-take-out-security-over-rangers-ibrox-stadium/

Can the RFB comment on the latest Ashley loan?

It’s good to see that HMRC’s latest failing - being unable to furnish costs of their continual and apparently relentless pursuit of Rangers over EBT’s - has galvanised the Rangers support into a long overdue unified sense of purpose. After a period of unhelpful adjectives and metaphors, which military men would aptly describe as “blue on blue”, we are at long last reminding ourselves where the real enemies of our club are, and it’s certainly not from within. It is not surprising that HMRC’s latest hypocritical incompetency, and I use that term deliberately in view of the fact we are talking about an investigative government agency who hold both private individuals and companies accountable for failing to keep meticulous financial records, has given rise amongst some of our fans to suggestions of a grandiose conspiracy. I don’t subscribe to such a conspiracy theory, and those who read this blog regularly will know that as far as I’m concerned “Evidence is king”. There appears to be little or no evidence available at this time to suggest any high level conspiracy, instead I will in the course of this article offer you an alternative evidence based theory to explain why HMRC’s pursuit of our club has all the characteristics of a witch hunt. Before dismissing such a conspiracy theory completely however it is worthwhile pointing out that the South African Tax Authorities have recently discovered what has been described as a rogue unit working within their organisation. Furthermore much closer to home, the families of the Hillsborough victims had to suffer considerable ridicule for suggesting that the Police were involved in some kind of conspiratorial cover up over events that tragic day. Several years later the 160 odd altered Police Statements and deliberate, false and malicious briefing of the press by the Police, are now a matter of public record and the subject of an ongoing enquiry. Therefore despite the absence of evidence of conspiracy perhaps the best course available to us is to at least keep an open mind whilst concentrating on the evidence which is available to us. Discounting such a conspiracy theory does not however also discount the ruthless nature of this enquiry, nor the attempts by HMRC to deliberately mislead the Rangers support during the course of it. It would come as no surprise to any of us if, in the near future evidence was uncovered which demonstrates HMRC have acted in both an unscrupulous, unprofessional and unedifying manner throughout the course of this enquiry. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100014676/2000-tax-dodgers-confess-but-should-hmrc-have-paid-for-stolen-information/ Some will note the particular irony of HMRC paying for stolen evidence, given the fact a considerable amount of evidence in the Rangers Tax Tribunal, ended up in the possession of BBC Scotland journalists and proved to be the catalyst to “The men who sold the jerseys” documentary. However the Redknapp case was not the only one which had brought the professionalism and competency of HMRC under a very public spotlight, leaving it’s investigators with red faces and questions being asked. https://www.accountancylive.com/cassidy-hmrc-should-eat-humble-pie-over-montpelier-case I doubt there is a Rangers fan out there who doesn’t feel a sense of the tunnel vision Mr Cassidy alludes to during the Montpelier case. It appears history may well be repeating itself as HMRC continue to pursue Rangers despite a number of failed appeals chaired by some of the most qualified tax experts in the country. These spectacular high profile failings and questions of competency, integrity and professionalism served to bring HMRC very much under an intense spotlight, most notably by the public accounts committee. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/oct/28/hmrc-chiefs-mps-lost-tax http://economia.icaew.com/news/november-2014/pac-slams-hmrcs-anti-tax-avoidance-strategy So we have a government investigative agency, with a spectacular series of high profile failures, even despite indulging in some fairly unscrupulous means of obtaining evidence which in itself calls into question the very integrity of the organisation itself, under considerable pressure to re-dress their very public humiliation in a series of failed prosecutions. It certainly puts into some kind of perspective the relentless and ruthless nature of HMRC’s pursuit of Rangers. Quite simply after so many failings they simply had to get a result. But if HMRC were in a bit of a hole prior to and during the investigation, rather than stop digging as the age old saying goes, they appear to have taken the equivalent of a JCB to the situation. Apologies for the following paragraph in advance, as it deals mainly in conjecture rather than facts, but it is worth mentioning all the same. Despite HMRC’s claim to be unable to furnish the cost of the Rangers Tax Case, rumours abound of figures at or around the £10 million mark. Furthermore it is common knowledge that Sir David Murray attempted to settle with HMRC over EBT’s offering anything between 10-12 million pounds. Even taking the lower settlement figure HMRC are now looking not only at £10 million lost revenue, but also perhaps £10 million costs for pursuing a case against a company from whom they will be unable to recoup anything even if they were to eventually be successful in a forthcoming appeal. One wonders what the Public Accounts Committee will make of all this. Moving on from public accounts to public accountability and the HMRC JCB appears to have been working in overdrive to dig a bigger hole for themselves. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ex-rangers-owner-craig-whyte-being-3992415 Perhaps HMRC would care to explain to Rangers shareholders, and any other interested parties for that matter, why they allowed Craig Whyte, who they were already pursuing for a sum of £3.7 million and whom they had threatened with bankruptcy as a result of failed tax returns, to take control of an organisation and run it into the ground by failing to make PAYE payments for nearly 9 months. If you cannot hear the alarm bells by now, then you either are deaf or have your fingers, quite firmly, in your ears. HMRC’s JCB next wrong turn was in the form of a generic reply via correspondence. As thousands of Rangers supporters and shareholders wrote to complain about confidential tax documents and other paperwork appearing in the public domain, HMRC responded by asserting it did not comment or respond to speculation about alleged breaches of confidentiality. “Speculation”? “Alleged”? The subject of those complaints were The Rangers Tax Case Blog and the BBC Documentary “The men who sold the jerseys” both of which went onto win national awards, with the latter being broadcast on national television. Journalist Tom English described the Rangers Tax Case Blog as follows: “If you wanted to know the latest news on their tax travails, rangerstaxcase was a place you went because, unlike newspapers or radio stations, rangerstaxcase was connected to the heart of the FTT and everybody knew it. It had documents and detail that were beyond dispute. When illustrating one point it was making it would summon up information that could only have come from somebody within, or very close to, the tribunal” (The Scotsman 25.11.2012) Why have HMRC deliberately prevaricated and failed to respond to this clear breach of confidential information. How can they justify describing a national television broadcast and an award winning blog, whose plaudits and awards are based around the revealing of confidential information, as mere “speculation”? As others outside the Rangers community have since commented both these outlets of confidential information presented it such a way as to infer the guilt of Rangers FC. Was the same unscrupulous culture within HMRC which saw them buy stolen property in the Redknapp case alive and kicking also in the Rangers Tax Case – a kind of win at all costs mentality? Whilst the source and nature of those confidential leaks has been subject to many theories and discussions, confirmation about one of the sources was provided courtesy of Lord Nimmo Smith, in his SPL Independent Commission Report. "Meanwhile, BBC Scotland came, by unknown means, into possession of what they described as “dozens of secret emails, letters and documents”, which we understand were the productions before the Tax Tribunal. These formed the basis of a programme entitled “Rangers – The Men Who Sold the Jerseys”, which was broadcast on 23 May 2012. BBC Scotland also published copious material on its website. The published material included a table containing the names of Rangers players, coaches and staff who were beneficiaries of the MGMRT, and how much they received through that trust.” (Section 98) Perhaps not so much a case of “Who sold the jerseys” but more of a case of Who sold the evidence? That is of course the evidence, or as Lord Nimmo Smith terms “productions”, which was seized by HMRC during the course of their investigation into Rangers and which was presented before the Tax Tribunal. The question is why the removal of this evidence and its subsequent use in the BBC Scotland documentary aforementioned, was not the subject of a Police enquiry until after the verdict of the tax tribunal, when complaints by both Sir David Murray and myself saw the launching of a criminal enquiry. It raises serious questions about the safe handling and storing of productions, as well as duties and responsibilities of investigative agencies with regard to the loss or theft of productions. In particular it raises questions about how and why Lord Nimmo Smith was able to arrive at such a conclusions with regard to the source of the material which BBC Scotland subsequently came into possession of. http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/1996757/cameron-promises-transparent-government It’s time for you to deliver Mr Cameron and the Rangers support will not rest until you do. We want a full government enquiry into this whole process and we will not rest until we get it. We will play to win – and win at all costs.

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/12147419.html

They're worried, make no mistake about it, not one single positive thing in Merlin's latest propaganda, which fills me with yet more confidence for our future - Transparency Required January 1, 2015 / billmcmurdo The remarks of Colin Kingsnorth upon Laxey’s sale of their shareholding in RIFC do not bode well for the future of the club. Kingsnorth seems to have a personal issue with Mike Ashley and hopes that the group he sold to will ramp up the opposition to Ashley in their new position as shareholders. With these intemperate comments, Kingsnorth has thrown petrol on an already ravaging fire and possibly kicked off a whole new era of turmoil at the club. Ashley’s position as Rangers’ major creditor, coupled with his having Derek Llambias in place, means that he still wields considerable power in the Ibrox boardroom, despite having a lesser shareholding than the Three Amigos. The problem for Rangers fans is what happens if the incoming group decides to go to war with the other factions for control of the club. This would make the boardroom battles of recent times look like an infant spat. If Ashley decides to fight for control of Rangers then things could get very nasty indeed. The Amigos as predicted took advantage of the plummeting price of Rangers’ shares to secure their stake. This has left a bitter taste in the mouth of many Rangers supporters considering it is the actions of those activist groups like the UoF and SoS who support Amigoco that have driven the share price down. It also doesn’t help that Taylor, Letham and Park have bought shares from an existing shareholder and that the monies do not go directly toward the club at a time when RFC is screaming for income. Let’s be fair – if people like Mike Ashley can be criticised for buying shares this way, so can the Amigos. Good for the goose, good for the gander and all that. There are also many fans who question the concept of chasing away a billionaire for people whose combined net worth comes nowhere close to his. The possibility that further bitter infighting could rip Rangers apart cannot be discounted. Imagine, for example, if Mike Ashley chose to take on the pointless rules of the SFA regarding his own shareholding with the Three Amigos supporting the SFA and conspiring against Ashley. An unthinkable prospect as there isn’t a Rangers fan alive who thinks that the SFA will act in Rangers’ best interests. Questions must be asked of the new shareholders – again, in the interests of parity with Ashley. Some of mine would be:- What are their plans – if they have any – to help raise revenues in the future? Short, mid and longer term would be great. What are their intentions in respect of control of the club? Do they intend to oust other factions and wrest control? What are their plans for the management, coaching and playing side of the club? How do they intend to take on the club’s many detractors in the media and elsewhere? These are broad stroke questions but more pointed ones would be how would they propose to deal with the present gardening leave situation of the manager and who specifically do they want on the board? It would also help if we could get a definite answer on whether or not George Letham is on the RST board. All in the interests of transparency, of course. The new shareholders will surely be willing to have exacted upon them the same demands for transparency and openness they expected of others. Mile Ashley’s seeming reticence to share his own plans has not served him well and only breeds suspicion. The Three Amigos would do well to heed this because they can definitely expect to be grilled repeatedly should they fail to be transparent in their own dealings. After all, we have been taught to expect much better from real Rangers men…