Businessman linked to Rangers 'takeover' bid paid to play for Celtic

Stephen McKenna: The businessman claims he is interested in buying Rangers.SNS Group

A businessman linked with a takeover bid for crisis-hit Rangers once paid to play for rivals Celtic.

Stephen McKenna donated £15,000 in a charity auction in order to play for the Parkhead side in a tribute match to former player Phil O’Donnell in 2008.

Mr McKenna and Allan Stewart claim to have been "involved" in the takeover process at Rangers for the past three months.

The pair of property developers are directors of scaffolding firm Betaguard and were previously involved in Stewart and McKenna Ltd, which was wound up in 2010 by court-appointed liquidators over an unpaid tax bill.

Mr McKenna told STV that they were not launching an "immediate" bid for the club, while he declined to comment on whether any offer for the assets of the newco was worth £11m. Their firm Aleftav Ltd is being used by the businessmen in their dealings with Rangers.

He took part in the charity match four years ago after former Celtic and Motherwell player O'Donnell died from heart failure during a match in December 2007.

The latest twist in the saga at Ibrox comes after the Sevco consortium led by Charles Green agreed to pay off administrators Duff and Phelps and purchase the assets of Rangers FC plc for £5.5m last week.

Earlier this week a group led by former Rangers and Scotland manager Walter Smith failed in a £6m buyout of Sevco 5088 Limited, the new company that currently owns all of the club’s assets, including Ibrox and training ground Murray Park.

Neutral insolvency firm BDO expect to be appointed liquidators of Rangers FC plc, incorporated in 1899, in the coming weeks. Their appointment was agreed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and administrators in April, after Duff and Phelps had asked creditors to back them as liquidators should a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) proposal fail, which it inevitably did last Thursday.

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