(Article first published in July 2017, now contains an update from 14 November 2019).

In the autumn of 2010, Rangers embarked on what turned out to be a respectable Champions’ League campaign, taking points off Manchester Utd and Valencia before finishing third and dropping into the Europa League. The run ended in mid march against Dutch cracks PSV, but a Scottish club still competing in Europe at this stage in the season was a reasonable effort. (It very seldom happens)

Roll on 20 months, and Rangers had swapped Champions’ League games at the Mestalla, for Scottish league games at Montrose. This was where EBT’s and the ‘Big Tax Case’ took the club. Having followed what was ultimately flawed legal advice, the club suffered a remarkable fall from grace in a very short space of time.

Make no mistake, using the Employee Benefit Trust scheme cost Rangers big time. Literally. HMRC’s pursuit of the club scared off potential buyers, and resulted in Lloyds Bank forcing Murray to sell to Craig Whyte-the man who put the club into administration then liquidation, for failing to pay PAYE, and a lot of other people.

The club were fined by the footballing authorities for Whyte’s misdemeanours – bringing the game into disrepute – then fined again for the way it documented EBT payments – we will come back to this.

Rangers were vilified by clubs, fans and media hacks alike. An illegal transfer ban was imposed. Prize monies and appearance funds for international players were withheld, the club were sent to the bottom league in the country, losing sponsorship, corporate, retail and European revenues in the process, as well as their Premiership winning squad and associated transfer fees worth tens of millions. All in all, using this EBT scheme probably cost Rangers up to 100 million pounds. (According to Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell, Rangers’ absence from the top flight cost his own club 10 million a year). To compound the fans misery, Rangers were then subject to a string of rapacious wolves who stripped the club to the bone. Whilst in this very weak position, the club received peanuts from TV monies. This was despite the fact more viewers were paying to see Rangers play lower league games than most SPL matches. Rangers fans were effectively bankrolling SPL teams while their own club received a pittance.

Astonishing as it may seem, this still isn’t enough in parochial Scotland. This week, after losing the first two cases against Rangers, HMRC finally won at the Supreme Court. The EBT scheme was deemed taxable.

Despite suffering the not inconsiderable consequences of adopting this scheme as previously stated, witch hunts are back in vogue. Some clubs, namely Celtic, and fans, namely Celtic, along with Aberdeen and Dundee Utd, want Rangers punished further. (That Aberdeen avoided a relegation play off on a technicality, and Dundee Utd’s most successful period happened at a time when they were adopting what ultimately proved to be unlawful contracts is neither here nor there….them’s the breaks eh.)

The Lord Nimmo Smith Inquiry, set up by the football authorities to investigate the club’s use of EBT’s, found Rangers had gained no sporting advantage by operating the system. As previously stated however, the club were fined – £250,000 – for the way the scheme was processed.

The LNS conclusion is binding, regardless of subsequent appeals by HMRC, as conceded by lawyers representing the SPL at the time. The late lawyer Paul McConville quoted:

“Mr McKenzie (SPL Lawyer) stated expressly that for all purposes of this Commission’s Inquiry and Determination the SPL accepted that decision as it stood, without regard to any possible appeal by HMRC.

A damning verdict at any appeal, if there ever was such an outcome, would not affect this case. The SPL has decided, even though an appeal is pending, to stick with what is present at this point.

The verdict is binding on the SPL.

They appear to have very little or no chance of appealing and even less willingness to do so.

A favourable verdict in the Upper will be as naught. They have conceded that point.”

So now the main grievance is this: They used players they never paid for – due to creditors being left out of pocket. This is where the double standards kick in, particularly in some sections of the media, who should-and probably do- know better. Indeed, those self righteous moral custodians of our game, the Handwringers with Laptops Society, est. circa 2012, are back in action. The fingers are in full vigour.

Handwringers Reunited is all the rage, yet their moral hypocrisy is staggering.

A cursory glance at some of the main protagonists who’ve returned from sabbaticals en masse highlights some glaring contradictions.

On the tax case, Jim Spence of BBC Sportsound ‘fame’ referred to ‘proceeds of crime’ on twitter. No crime has been alleged, no one has been charged, never mind convicted. It is ludicrous. If Mr Spence wants to comment on crime, maybe he should give his attention to the bank part-owned by Celtic’s biggest shareholder, Dermot Desmond. The bank has just received a record fine for ties to crime – for facilitating industrial-scale tax evasion.

A court in Paris told Latvian-based Rietumu Banka to pay the equivalent of its annual profits – about £70 million – for its part in a vast scheme to help businesses and individuals defraud the state of up to 10 times as much revenue.

The French court declared that at least €200m of unpaid tax had been laundered through the bank. Prosecutors had said the figure could be up to €850m.

Ironically Desmond, who’s betting company BETDAQ have been described as a ‘rogue operator’, was also named in the Panama Papers. (Always keen to fly a flag for ‘social justice cause of the week’, Celtic fans didn’t seem to mind where the money was coming from when millions were fronted up to bring high profile manager Brendan Rodgers to Celtic Park.)

When Aberdeen’s substantial debt was written off by creditors, Mr Spence described this as a ‘wonderful day for Scottish football’- it was ‘wonderful’ that players were used in matches the club couldn’t afford and never paid for? Likewise for Hearts, Dunfermline, Motherwell, Dundee…but now it was Tumbleweed Alley. No clamour to declare matches null and void with any of these teams. Creditors? Who cares. Standards only apply to Rangers, you see.

Graham Spiers is also a thing again. When it comes to hypocrites, no one revels more in acting out the virtuous role than Graham, particularly on all matters Rangers. When working for The Herald, Spiers wrote an unsubstantiated slanderous piece on the Rangers board, was correctly forced to apologise by his employers, then retracted said apology, leaving the paper no alternative. Spiers would rather be sacked as a martyr than be accountable to a club he has loathed ever since he was let loose on a typewriter. Such is Spiers well documented contempt for the club, even it’s Minister doesn’t escape this Christian’s wrath.

Like Spence, Spiers is selective when applying moral codes to football clubs. An extremely harrowing documentary featured claims that some clubs appeared to put reputation before the well-being of youngsters, and even justice itself. Mr Spiers, not normally shy on social comment, didn’t have much to say about this scandal. His ‘integrity’ radar doesn’t go beyond Govan it seems. I mention this not in some warped point scoring exercise, but solely to highlight the duplicity of people like Spiers, who make a career out of demonising Rangers, and their ‘sub species’ fans, but go silent on the questionable actions of others.

When Hibernian supporters invaded a park, goaded Rangers fans, incited a riot, abused kicked and spat on Rangers players trying to leave the pitch, Spiers was of the mind no action should be taken against Hibs for this ‘exuberance’ as Rod Petrie, their Chairman and SFA Vice President scandalously called it. He is not so reticent on Rangers and the contrast is stark.

Always first to sink the boot into club and it’s fans for offensive singing, Mr Spiers needs dragged kicking and screaming to his twitter account when others do likewise. Indeed, when Celtic fans campaigned in protest against the offensive behaviour at football act, and got an IRA song into the charts, Spiers was silent. (He doesn’t class IRA songs as sectarian anyway, though it has to be said, if lining up a van full of textile workers and shooting the Protestants isn’t sectarian, I don’t know what is #Kingsmill ) Even now, his contortions over Celtic’s Green Brigade problem and their ‘dodgy politics’ (or support for the perpetrators of sectarian genocide as normal people call it) is laughable. Celtic ‘don’t know what to do with them’ he says. Calling the club out for giving this odious bunch their own section to promote their bile might be a start. Spiers isn’t so hesitant with Rangers, as we saw when he chucked himself under a bus in his relentless quest to clean up the game.

This brings us onto another ‘friend’ of Rangers. Channel 4’s Alex Thompson is also back by popular demand. This guy actually referred to Gers fans a daleks –a random quote that fans interpreted as mocking those who perished in the Ibrox disaster. ‘Discuss’…

Thompson is a typical left leaning journalist of the liberal establishment that gets all misty eyed and sympathetic to Irish republicanism. (Forget the human remains being shovelled into body bags…) It just so happens, Rangers are a club with a large unionist support and tradition. Now I’m not saying this is a factor for Tommo’s obsession with this tax thing, and I’m positive he is building up a ‘cheats’ dossier this very moment on the plethora of English clubs who also adopted the EBT system…

It is worth noting, after the first 2 hearings which went in the club’s favour, it seemed they had been liquidated and sent to the bottom league in Scotland for a tax bill that never existed. There was no cry then from #hacksforjustice in calling for retrospective compensation when it looked like the club had been seriously wronged. Curiously, those who fell silent then have dusted down the pitchforks.

Not everyone is firing up the torches however, a more objective view, an oasis of sanity if you like, can be found in the piece by Michael Grant-

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/use-of-ebts-was-not-illegal-but-it-finally-broke-rangers-hkngr7xfc

The club, thanks to David Murray, have already borne the brunt of his EBT folly. It has suffered enormously for Murray’s use of this tax avoidance scheme. (Not tax evasion-which is a crime. This has to be pointed out due to the evasion word being banded about like confetti , mischievously by some who do know the difference, and many who don’t. For the record, no law has been broken here).

As for the other clubs and fans, their faux concern for the creditors was shown for the myth it was when the other SPL clubs, rather than give Gers’ prize money to the face painters and taxi firms fleeced by the aforementioned Mr Whyte, gobbled up the cash like a pack of hyenas. Indeed, the man who deliberately with held PAYE costing the taxpayer millions, is lauded a hero by opposition fans. This sums up the whole sorry business. This faux outrage is not about justice for the taxpayer, or a sense of fair play, this is about the loathing of a club, and is vindictiveness driven by a mixture of envy, bigotry and personal hostility.

Angela Haggerty, a well known Celtic fan, is never slow to champion the plight of the many small businesses left out of pocket by Whyte. Strange then that Ms Haggerty was gleefully tweeting the Celtic fans’ reverence for Craig Whyte-as heard during the old firm league cup semi in 2015. (If Messi kicks a ball at Parkhead again, will these self proclaimed champions of the public purse be on his case?..)

A small but vocal minority seem determined to keep the game in their blinkered past. BBC Scotland’s Chris McLaughlin tweeted a poll of SPFL clubs and only one wanted the case revisited. Most folk in Scottish football, and those who write about it, will be more concerned about the state the game is currently in, both at national and club level.

Witch hunts, reversing legal findings, applying dubious moral codes to say the least, and ignoring the punishments and consequences already inflicted on Rangers, will do nothing to improve our game.

Scotland’s third best team losing to a mid table side from Luxembourg –a country you could carpet, with underlay-for under 75 quid as Danny Baker scoffs, is a humiliation which highlights the paucity of quality in our national sport. It is lamentable.

Capitulating to the mob and hating itself to death will do nothing to halt the decline.

Enough already.

14 November 2019 – UPDATE:

It turns out HMRC charged Rangers with a phantom 50 million tax bill. All of the above should NEVER have happened. Former Head of Tax at BDO John Cairns has alluded to this.

DeLorean time.

Rangers, with their league winning squad, and yet more millions from Europe, sponsorship, prize money etc continue to pay down their loan to Lloyds, and settle with HMRC. Lloyds do NOT force Murray to ‘sell’ the club to Craig Whyte.

No admin. No Montrose. No Ian Black.

Will these cataclysmic revelations stop the moon howlers? Not a chance. I wouldn’t waste my time on these clowns any more than I have done already. Here’s what *does* matter:

Questions for HMRC –

When Arsenal offered a settlement for EBT’s, they took it. When Murray offered, they rejected it. Why? Why did HMRC allow Craig Whyte, a businessman known by them to be of very questionable repute, to run up massive debts for non-payment of PAYE for so long without meaningful action? To ensure they would be the largest and most influential creditor? HMRC accepted a CVA for Leeds Utd. They rejected a CVA for Rangers. Why? Where did the phantom 50 million come from? How could their sums be out by such a gargantuan amount? Was there Government influence behind what (now) has all the appearance of a witch hunt in the form of John Reid and Damian McBride? And why were no other clubs hounded after this apparent ‘test case’?

As for Rangers, they should explore all avenues regarding compensation, including of course HMRC, but also the Scottish footballing authorities. The SFA and SPL led a pack of hyenas that tore the club to shreds.

Rangers were guilty till proven innocent, but they are no longer losing in Luxembourg. Steven Gerrard should use the biggest miscarriage of justice in Scottish footballing history as motivation to drive the team on, EVERY game, till 55 – yes, English, Haggerty et al – it’s now official – FIFTY FIVE, is reached.