RANGERS chairman Craig Whyte has made the following statement:
The Club announces today it has served notice of Intention to the Court of Session to appoint administrators.
Since I took over the majority shareholding of the Club in May last year, it was clear to me the Club was facing massive financial challenges both in terms of its ongoing financial structure and performance and the potential consequences of the HMRC first tier tax tribunal.
I have taken the decision that the most practical way to safeguard the long term future of the Club is to go through a formal restructuring process. It may still be possible to avert this but that is not the most likely way forward.
What is of paramount importance is the long-term security, survival and prosperity of this great football club. That is the job I knew I was taking on when I became majority shareholder in the Club and it is in the best interests of Rangers that it is completed before the end of this season.
It has meant turbulent times. We have gone from a Club mired in excess of £20 million bank debt to a club which is trying to stand on its own feet, earning more than it spends.
From my early days as chairman I saw that administration was a very real option to enable the Club to address these challenges and make a fresh start. Frankly, the case for administration in pure financial terms was compelling but I was acutely aware that such a great institution as Rangers could not be viewed exclusively in financial and business terms.
The fact is that Rangers ongoing financial position and the HMRC first tier tribunal are inextricably linked. As I have said before, Rangers costs approximately £45 million per year to operate and commands around £35 million in revenue. From the outset I have made it clear that I do not think it is in the best interests of Rangers to throw good money after bad. Against a backdrop of falling revenues, costs have to be cut significantly. Painful as though that may be, it is the future of clubs such as ours.
There is no realistic or practical alternative to our approach because HMRC has made it plain to the Club that should we be successful in the forthcoming tax tribunal decision they will appeal the decision. This would leave the Club facing years of uncertainty and also having to pay immediately a range of liabilities to HMRC which will be due whatever the overall result of the tax tribunal. In blunt terms, if we waited until the outcome of the tax tribunal, the risk of Rangers being faced with an unacceptable financial burden and years of uncertainty is too great.
We should not forget the tribunal relates to a claim by HMRC for unpaid taxes over a period of several years dating back to 2001 which, if decided in favour of HMRC, the Club would be unable to pay.
If HMRC were to agree, even at this late stage, a manageable agreement with the Club, then a formal insolvency procedure could yet be averted. It goes without saying that would be our preferred outcome.
If not, further investment in the Club would be impossible as the threat of winding up by HMRC cannot be removed. The Rangers FC Group, the majority shareholder in the Club, is prepared to provide further funding for the Club on the basis the funding is ring-fenced from the legacy HMRC issue.
The club has engaged Duff and Phelps, a specialist restructuring practice, to assist in finding a solution to the present position. As a result of that advice, it has been decided to seek the protection of a moratorium from HMRC action whilst a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) proposal is made to creditors.
This, if approved by creditors within a month, would minimise any points deduction and allow the club to participate in European football. In short, if the Club proceeds into administration then it will have to emerge from that process, with the agreement of creditors, within a month or so in order to be able to play in Europe next season.
An administration process will, regrettably, lead to a cost-cutting programme and the potential loss of jobs across the business. It gives no one any pleasure to consider that possibility, but it is one that is facing businesses in any walk of life.
There will, no doubt, be people - some of them who presided over the Club in past years - who will contend that the steps we are announcing today are unnecessary. All I would say to these people is that if they want to step up to the plate and invest money in Rangers to avoid a restructuring of the business, then I would be most willing to talk to them. In the past unfortunately, there were people who not only failed to prevent Rangers being engulfed by our current problems but chose not to invest their money to help put it right.
As I said recently, these are tough times but I can reassure Rangers supporters that the Club will continue and can emerge as a stronger and financially fitter organisation that will compete at the levels of competition our fans have come to expect.
As chairman of the Club, every action I take will be in the interests of Rangers and there are many people working at the Club who are dedicated to making Rangers a success.
I would like to thank supporters for their great commitment to Rangers. This great football club can recover from the situation in which it now finds itself and be the force in football that the fans deserve.
WE ARE ALL CRAIG WHYTE! 
