Original blog:
Livingston Provide Proof That “The Rangers” Are A New Club
November 2, 2012 by Gordon Johnston
Tomorrow sees the third round of the Scottish Cup, or the William Hill Scottish Cup as I suppose I should call it to give the sponsors their due. Sixteen ties between Scotland’s smaller clubs will take place to see who makes it through to the fourth round draw, where they will be joined by Scotland’s top sixteen clubs from last season.
But the crucial question that should be asked by serious students of Scottish football is perhaps not an obvious one. It is “Who are Livingston playing in the third round?”
Why is this so important?
Well, have a look at last year’s First Division table. We see that Livingston finished the season in fifth place. Now let’s look at the regulations for this year’s Scottish Cup.
Round Three
The clubs which, in the previous season, were members of The Scottish Premier League and those clubs finishing in The Scottish Football League First Division league positions one to four, shall be exempt from playing in Round Three of the Competition.
So Livingston should be playing in the third round, right?
Well, no. They have a bye and will enter the competition in the fourth round. But why?
The answer is quite simple. One of the clubs that finished in the top sixteen last season no longer exists. The former Rangers Football Club is now in liquidation and is no longer a Scottish league club.
The spare place in the Scottish leagues was taken by new club “The Rangers” who joined in the bottom tier. And as a third division club they came into this year’s Scottish Cup in the second round. A narrow 1 – 0 win over non-league Forres Mechanics saw them progress and they now have a third round tie against higher league opponents in Alloa Athletic to look forward to.
Now if, as some erroneously claim, “The Rangers” is in fact the same football club as the former Rangers FC, would this be case? Well, no. If the two were indeed the same then, as the rules make clear, a bye to the fourth round would have been secured. And Livingston would have been in the draw for the third round rather than having a weekend off.
So there you are. Proof according to the SFA, which runs the Scottish Cup, that “The Rangers” are not the same football club as former SPL club Rangers FC.
QED as they say. Quod erat demonstrandum
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