As former English Champions Derby County feel the pain of administration, there is no group of supporters who’ll be more empathetic than Rangers fans.
The Pride Park club has debts reaching £50m-£70m – including £20m to HMRC – and administrators will try and salvage the worrying financial situation at the Rams [BBC Sport].
Twice Champions of England under Brian Clough back in the 70s, it is a sizeable fall from grace for a club that was last in the Premier League back in 2008.
The club also made the Playoff Final as early as 2019 – under the stewardship of Frank Lampard – and are one of the nation’s legacy sides having been formed in 1884.
As a result of the administration, County have been deducted 12 points and are now bottom of the Championship on -2 points.
There could also be another 9-point deduction for a breach of financial rules to come.
This comes after the club – now managed by England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney – narrowly escaped relegation from the English second tier last season.
The club narrowly avoided a points deduction over a £100k fine for accounting policies and retained their status as a Championship club by one point last season.
Owner Mel Morris – a local businessman – bought the club in 2014 with the ambition of making it a sustainable Premier League outfit.
However, Morris perhaps underappreciated the amount of investment required to reach this level and as losses began to accrue amid failures to reach the top flight, the owner has since been trying to sell the club since 2019.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also accelerated the process as losses began to accumulate.
But despite having two buyers some way down the line, both failed the EFL’s owners and directors’ test with the proof of funds failing to be established.
This has led to the owner – who has lost £200m of his own money on Derby County – putting the club into administration.
This is an ominous moment for any football club’s supporters and no-one knows more about the nervousness and frustration of this period than the Gers fans.
In the darkest period in Ibrox history, the holding company behind Rangers was sold to Craig Whyte and then Charles Green before eventually being liquidated and the Ibrox club were forced into the fourth tier of Scottish football.
What followed was one of the most triumphant stories in British sporting history as the Gers climbed back from the brink and done the impossible by reclaiming their 55th title before Celtic won their 10th in a row.
For Derby fans, the future remains remarkably unsure but there is still hope the club can secure a buyer, clear the debts and move forward.
Whatever has happened with the mismanagement at the top of the club, this is not the fault of the supporters who give their time, money and dedication to Derby County.
But Derby’s future is now down to the administrators and there won’t be a single Rangers fan who doesn’t empathise with the situation the Rams fans find themselves in.
Speaking of that era in Govan, a Rangers statement regarding the SPFL earned some flashbacks to a billionaire Ibrox pariah.
