Now that HMRC has stated its intention to reject the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) put forward by prospective owner Charles Green, the 140 year old institution that is Rangers Football Club, will be liquidated.

This, of course, is no surprise to many. Liquidation has long been a very real possibility for Rangers following months of turmoil at the Glasgow club.

HMRC, at a meeting with administrators Duff & Phelps on Monday, confirmed that it would not support a proposed CVA to allow creditors to recover a portion of the money owed to them by Rangers. As HMRC holds more than 25% of Rangers’ debt, it has the power to veto the entire proposal and it has not been slow in using this power.

What now for Rangers? The club will be liquidated, ridding it of all existing liability and allowing it a fresh start. It will also allow assets to be sold to a new company and it will be this new company that will operate as the new Rangers Football Club. It is most likely that Ibrox will remain the club’s home but that the SPL will not be the stage on which they play. The other SPL clubs will very soon be meeting to decide whether or not the new Rangers will be given access to the SPL next season. With growing supporter pressure and murmurings of discontent among club chiefs, it is unlikely that the new Rangers will be granted the right to play in the SPL, meaning the Scottish third division is the likeliest destination for the club. Only the threat of reduced TV revenues may save them but this is unlikely to outweigh the need for fairness in the Scottish game, a game which has already been damaged severely with this whole affair.

In addition to the move to a lower division, the SFA and/or SPL may yet impose further sanctions and this is compounded by the fact that the club will no longer be competing in European competition, certainly not for at least three years.

These football sanctions are what will hit fans most. The club they have followed for so many years is suffering its darkest hour and there is nothing they can do to help. They would, as I have already suggested on this forum, do well to turn to the real perpetrators in the downfall of this famous club; step up David Murray and Craig Whyte.

Both these gentlemen have, in their own way, brought about the downfall of Rangers. Their crimes, from EBT’s to blatant lies, have hurt the club so much that it is now unable to recover. Their day may yet still come with the liquidator appointed by HMRC having the power to apply to the Court for an order to examine, under oath, any individual involved in the running of the club. Messrs Murray and Whyte may yet have to face the music.

What would be the reaction to Rangers as a Newco? Should Murray and Whyte be brought to justice? Tweet us @talkingbaws or comment below.