Rangers crisis: Some of the major events in financial meltdown at club

Rangers: The liquidation of the club is now inevitable.© STV

A large number of factors contributed to the financial meltdown at Rangers that has resulted in the company, incorporated in 1899, facing liquidation.

The role of Sir David Murray in the club's downfall is also key through his use of extensive bank loans to fund Rangers, as well as implementing the offshore tax avoiding employee benefit trusts (EBTs) to pay players and directors between 2000 and 2010, which resulted in the 'big' tax case.

Here is a selection of some of the key events in the months leading up to the liquidation of Rangers FC plc, following his sale of the club to Craig Whyte.

Years after putting the club up for sale, Sir David reaches a deal with Mr Whyte to sell him his 85% stake for £1.

At the time the 140-year-old Ibrox club was £18m in debt to Lloyds Banking Group and faced a crippling tax liability of up to £75m in relation to Sir David's employment of EBTs to pay part of the wages of players and directors at Rangers. In January, hearings in the big tax case at the First Tier Tribunal in Edinburgh conclude, but the outcome has yet to be revealed.

Directors Martin Bain and Donald McIntyre are suspended from Rangers soon after Mr Whyte takes over. In a September court hearing over their dismissal, Lord Hodge voiced concerns over a "real and substantial risk" of insolvency at Rangers. Mr McIntyre settled his claim out of court, while Mr Bain eventually dropped his legal action against the club. At one point both directors' legal action resulted in the court freezing around £800,000 in the Rangers' bank account.

When Mr Whyte was appointed Rangers chairman, he claimed he was "very much looking forward to guiding and assisting Rangers in its development over the coming years". He did not, at the time, reveal that he had previously been banned as a director for seven years. Mr Whyte initially rubbished the revelation made in a BBC documentary in October 2011, threatening legal action. By December he confirms his previous ban in a stock exchange announcement, while no court hearings have ever taken place in his defamation 'claim' against the BBC.

He promised to invest around £11m into the club. In fact, he had used a £25.3m deal using future season ticket sales with London firm Ticketus to wipe the club's debts to the bank. He rejected these allegations initially, before later accepting them to be true.

The team was placed into administration 285 days after Mr Whyte bought over the club. On February 13, Rangers lodged a notice of intention to go into administration after they failed to pay £9m in PAYE and VAT since Mr Whyte's takeover. HM Revenue and Cuctoms moved to get court appointed administrators the following day, but the Court of Session ruled Mr Whyte's chosen insolvency firm, Duff and Phelps, would take over the running of the club. By the time a creditors pay-off deal was offered, it had been established that HMRC were owed £18m from that period, including interest and penalties.

Duff and Phelps insolvency practitioners Paul Clark and David Whitehouse are appointed joint administrators. The firm was previously MCR UK and in their first media conference they confirm fellow partner David Grier had been involved in advising Mr Whyte in his takeover of Rangers, and in his subsequent dealings at the club. Administrators claim there would be no immediate staff cuts, although in the coming months around five employees, including players Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik, are made redundant.

The administrators launch litigation claiming that none of the Ticketus money hit the club's accounts. This eventually results in them suing Mr Whyte's Rangers FC Group parent company and law firm Collyer Bristow for more than £25m, claiming that the owner and his lawyer Gary Withey were part of a criminal conspiracy in the takeover deal. In October this year, the High Court in London is scheduled to hear the case.

Duff and Phelps invite bids for the club, resulting in various names being linked to it, including Sinaporean businessman Bill Ng and owner of Sale Sharks Rugby Club Brian Kennedy. Eventually, American tow-truck businessman Bill Miller is selected as preferred bidder for the club, with his £11.2m newco offer being accepted. Less than a week later, the 65-year-old walks away from the process, citing new information that came to light once his team had started to do due diligence on the deal.

Later that month, administrators reveal they have entered a "binding contract" with a consortium led by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green to buy the club in a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) funded by an £8.5m loan that would be used to pay administrators then creditors.

By mid-June, days before the crucial CVA route, that attempted exit from administration collapses. Now HMRC-approved liquidators will be appointed to Rangers FC plc, while the club's assets are sold to a new company that they hope will keep the club alive. The £5.5m deal sees administrators Duff and Phelps earn around £3m for their work at Rangers.

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