How did Rangers slip into administration under Craig Whyte then liquidation, what troubles did they face, what happened next? – a full timeline of all the main events
SunSport Online looks back at all the key developments as Rangers struggled through years of turmoil before battling to the top flight of Scottish football
RANGERS were plunged into turmoil in 2012 when the club went into administration then liquidation.
It was not only a dark time in the history of the Ibrox club but was also the focus of one of the most infamous periods in Scottish football.
Craig Whyte has been cleared of acquiring the club by fraud during his 2011 takeover.
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But what events led to this tumultuous period?
What troubles did the club face in the months and years after liquidation?
And how have Gers recovered to an extent where they are one of the top clubs in Scotland?
Here, SunSport Online traces every twist and turn of the compelling story and lays out all the key events in a full timeline of events.
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How did Rangers slip into administration?
The issue of how Rangers went from the glory days under Sir David Murray's ownership to entering liquidation is both complex and controversial.
A hefty tax bill amounting to around £49million owed to HMRC continued to loom over the club throughout the process of Whyte's takeover.
In the early months of 2011, he and Murray negotiated the purchase of Rangers.
And on May 6 of that year, Whyte was finally able to buy a controlling stake in the club for the nominal value of £1.
But as the year went on, rumblings about the exact nature of Whyte's financial dealings surrounding his purchase continued to grow.
Chairman Alastair Johnston and director Paul Murray were removed from the board in May while Martin Bain, Rangers' chief executive, had been suspended from the board and placed under investigation in regards to the terms of his contract.
He later successfully brought a court order against Rangers that froze £500,000 of their assets.
This was part of a wider case where he alleged the club was partly insolvent under Whyte's ownership.
As the tax case prepared to reconvene, Whyte first said in September that Rangers would be unable to avoid administration should they lose.
But in an interview with The Telegraph, he insisted that he would not allow Gers to go bust.
In November, Rangers admitted to the London-based Plus stock exchange that Whyte was previously banned from holding any directorship roles for seven years in 2000.
The club's problems continued to get worse and after the tax case wrapped up in January 2012, new rumours regarding Whyte's relationship with Ticketus began to circulate.
Fans urged the owner to provide clarification on the situation but he did not speak out.
Then the hammer blow came the day before Valentine's Day when Rangers filed papers at the Court of Session stating that they intended to go into administration.
Horrors of administration
Rangers went into administration on Valentine's Day, 2012, after HMRC took them to court over an unpaid £9million tax bill.
Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Manchester-based firm Duff and Phelps took over the club as administrators that afternoon and began the process of trying to stop Rangers' financial bleeding.
The SPL deducted 10 points from the club's tally which left them 14 points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic in second place.
Within days, Whyte admitted to using £24million - the value of the sale of future season tickets - from Ticketus to fund his initial takeover of Rangers.
The London-based Plus stock exchange fined the club £50,000 towards the end of February for failing to disclose Whyte's previous directorship ban to them.
Despite the initial difficulties, legal battles that began kicking off less than a month after entering administration made things worse.
The administrators got into a legal fight with HMRC and other companies involved with Whyte after seizing £3.6million from his lawyers Collyer Bristow.
Former Rangers director Paul Murray and his Blue Knights consortium launched a bid for the club, as did Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy.
But Whyte insisted any bid had to go through him first.
The administrators finally determined that the Ibrox club owed at least £55million to various creditors, as well as £79million in unpaid tax.
Outside of the club, things weren't going their way either.
In late April, the SFA fined Whyte £200,000 and banned him from Scottish football for life for bringing the game into disrepute.
Rangers were also fined £160,000 and had a 12-month player registration embargo placed on them.
Some takeover bids, including that of the Blue Knights, for the club were dropped soon afterwards.
After much deliberation, on May 13 Duff and Phelps announced they had signed a contract with former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green and his consortium to buy the club.
But Rangers' problems only got worse as administrators struggled to come to agreement with their creditors after publishing their Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) proposal.
And on June 12, the fears of every Rangers fan were realised when HMRC announced they would reject the CVA proposal and force the club into liquidation.
Rangers' liquidation process formally started two days later, while the club's assets were sold to Charles Green's Sevco Scotland Ltd company for £5.5million.
After the liquidation announcement
Charles Green quickly went about reorganising the club under the new company, The Rangers Football Club Ltd.
But he was forced to contend with a last-minute rival bid for the club made by a consortium led by Walter Smith.
However, this bid was withdrawn on June 19 after Green provided assurances to Smith and his backers.
Rangers applied to join the Scottish Premier League but this was rejected by club chiefs early in July by a vote of 10 to one.
Only the Ibrox club voted in favour, while Kilmarnock abstained.
Green said afterwards that Rangers would apply to join the Scottish Football League.
This was confirmed less than two weeks later when the SFL allowed Rangers to enter the Third Division the following season.
Smith did return to Ibrox later that year as a non-executive director following an earlier invitation to join the board by Green.
Things seemed to settle down but shortly after Rangers wrapped up the Third Division title in 2013, chaos ensued once again as Green was forced to step down following an internal investigation into his ties to Craig Whyte.
Smith took on the role of club chairman while throughout the summer, shareholders led by Paul Murray launched bids to get rid of certain directors.
Green returned to the club in August as a consultant to advise Rangers' shareholders, after which Smith resigned in protest.
The Englishman was forced to step down for good later that month, selling all of his shares to Sandy Easdale.
In what was to be the beginning of another long-running battle for the club, David Somers was appointed as acting chairman of Rangers in November that year, while former Manchester City CEO Graham Wallace also moved to Ibrox to become chief executive.
Rangers may have clinched the League One title as early as March 2014 but alarm bells were ringing at Ibrox after interim financial results showed the club had just £3.5million in the bank, despite having more than £20million the year before.
Dave King, a major shareholder himself, started voicing his opposition to the board publicly and joined together with the fans in protesting against them.
As a result of their criticism, the board revealed that only 17,000 season tickets were sold ahead of their Championship campaign.
Things did not get any better at Ibrox, as it emerged shortly after the season kicked off that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley made a deal with Green in 2012 to buy the naming rights to the stadium for just £1.
Ashley went on to buy more than four million shares in the club to significantly increase his holding.
Following a £2m loan he gave to the club in October, he was effectively handed control and as a result, Wallace resigned as chief executive.
Ashley replaced him with Derek Llambias, the former managing director at Newcastle.
On the pitch, the team were having bad fortunes under McCoist and he left the club shortly before Christmas.
A stormy AGM at the end of 2014 resulted in the board remaining in place but it was a perilous situation as anger grew among the Rangers faithful.
Ashley applied to increase his shareholding to almost 30 per cent but this was rejected by the SFA at the turn of the year in 2015.
It may have been a loss for the businessman but he did succeed in having his ally Barry Leach appointed to the board at Ibrox just a few days later.
King had not stayed quiet however and was successful in calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to be held in a bid to get rid of the directors and take control of the board.
James Easdale and Somers stepped down from the board shortly before the EGM in March.
Llambias and Leach refused to go but were ousted by the shareholders at the EGM.
King, along with Paul Murray and John Gilligan, were overwhelmingly backed by the voters and appointed to the board in order to try and finally bring stability to Rangers.
What has happened since?
Rangers failed to get promotion back into the Premiership in 2015 after losing their play-off against Motherwell 6-1 on aggregate.
The club appointed former Brentford boss Mark Warburton as their new manager in June.
Warburton quickly turned the team's fortunes around, and with the help of some new signings, the club were able to add the Challenge Cup to their trophy cabinet.
And after dominating the Championship for the majority of the season, Rangers won promotion to the Premiership in April 2016.
Timeline of events
2011
May 6 - Sir David Murray sells Rangers to Craig Whyte for nominal value of £1.
May 15 - Rangers claim the SPL title on the last day of the season.
May 23 - Chairman Alastair Johnston and director Paul Murray removed from Rangers board. Martin Bain, the club's chief executive, and director Donald McIntyre are suspended and placed under internal investigation.
August 11 - Sheriff officers raid the club over the ongoing tax bill dispute with HMRC.
September 13 - Mr Bain brings a court order against Rangers, and the judge, Lord Hodge, freezes £500,000 of the club's assets.
September 27 - In an interview with The Telegraph, Whyte says Rangers will have to go into administration if they lose their tax case, but he insists he will not allow the club to go bust.
November 7 - Rangers' £49million tax tribunal gets underway.
November 30 - The club confirms to a stock exchange in London that Whyte was previously banned from company directorship for seven years in 2000.
2012
January 9 - Rangers are suspended from the stock exchange over their failure to file audited accounts.
January 18 - The club's tax case with HMRC concludes. The result of the tribunal will be released in due course.
February 1 - The Rangers Supporters Trust urge Whyte to clarify the situation involving Ticketus and their relationship with Rangers.
February 13 - Rangers file papers at the Court of Session stating that they intend to go into administration. The club are given ten days to appoint administrators.
February 14 - Rangers formally enter administration after failing to pay £9million in PAYE tax since Whyte's takeover of the club. Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps are appointed administrators.
February 17 - Whyte says there was "no criminal wrongdoing" in his 2011 takeover.
February 21 - Whyte admits that he used £24million from the value of selling future season tickets to Ticketus to fund his takeover.
February 27 - Rangers are fined £50,000 by the stock exchange for failing to declare Whyte's previous directorship ban.
March 2 - The administrators seize £3.6million from Whyte's lawyers Collyer Bristow. The firm are also ordered to disclose all payments made by them on behalf of Rangers since May 2011.
March 8 - A court battle involving the administrators, Collyer Bristow, HMRC and other companies linked to Whyte begins over claims to the £3.6million.
March 12 - The Blue Knights consortium, led by former Rangers director Paul Murray, enter talks with the administrators over a bid for the club. Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy also launches a bid.
March 29 - Martin Bain drops his legal case against Rangers. Brian Kennedy's takeover bid for the club is rejected.
April 5 - After investigating the club's finances, the administrators reveal Rangers owe at least £55million to various creditors, as well as up to £79million in unpaid tax.
April 16 - Whyte, who owns the club's parent company Rangers FC Group and 85 per cent of all shares, warns bidders they must work out a deal with him first.
April 18 - The administrators sue Whyte's Rangers FC Group and law firm Collyer Bristow for £25million in damages relating to his takeover in May 2011.
April 23 - The SFA fine Whyte £200,000 and ban him from Scottish football for life after finding him guilty of bringing the game into disrepute. They also fine Rangers £160,000 and impose a 12-month player registration embargo on them.
April 24 - Whyte says he should have put Rangers into administration in October 2011.
May 11 - The Blue Knights withdraw their bid for the club.
May 13 - The administrators announce they have signed a contract to sell the club to a consortium led by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green.
May 29 - The Court of Session rules the SFA's registration embargo on Rangers to be unlawful. The administrators also publish their CVA proposal to the club's creditors.
June 12 - HMRC announce they will reject the CVA proposal and force the Ibrox club into liquidation.
June 14 - The CVA proposal is formally rejected by HMRC and Rangers' liquidation is confirmed. Charles Green's company Sevco Scotland Ltd (subsequently renamed The Rangers Football Club Ltd) acquires the club, Ibrox and Auchenhowie, then known as Murray Park, for £5.5million.
July 4 - The "newco" Rangers is not allowed to join the Scottish Premier League after being rejected by 10 votes to one.
July 13 - The Scottish Football League allows Rangers to enter the pyramid, beginning in what was then the Third Division.
July 27 - Rangers' membership of the SFA is transferred over to the new company just hours before the team, managed by Ally McCoist, start the new campaign.
November 11 - Walter Smith returns to Ibrox once again as he and Ian Hart are appointed by Green as non-executive directors.
2013
March 30 - Rangers win the Third Division title.
April 13 - The club announces an investigation into Green and commercial director Imran Ahmad over allegations of their links to Whyte.
April 19 - Following a backlash by supporters, Green steps down as Rangers chief executive.
April 24 - Ahmad leaves the club.
May 30 - Smith is appointed as Rangers chairman following the stepping-down of Malcolm Murray.
July 9 - Murray now steps down from the board alongside Phil Cartmell. James Easdale is named as a non-executive director.
July 12 - Craig Mather is appointed as chief operating officer and as interim chief executive of Rangers.
August 1 - A group of shareholders led by Paul Murray and Jim McColl launch a bid to get rid of Mather, finance director Brian Stockbridge and director Bryan Smart.
August 2 - Green returns to the club as a consultant.
August 5 - Angered by Green's return to Ibrox, Smith steps down from his role as chairman amid growing fan fury.
August 20 - Green stands down permanently and sells his shares to Sandy Easdale, James' brother.
October 15 - Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray, Scott Murdoch and Alex Wilson win a Court of Session case to postpone the Rangers AGM and ensure they can stand for election to the board.
November 7 - David Somers appointed as acting chairman of Rangers. The AGM is called for December 19.
November 20 - Rangers confirm former Man City CEO Graham Wallace as the club's new chief executive.
November 21 - The company's biggest shareholder, Laxey Partners, confirm they will support the current Rangers board at the AGM.
November 22 - Somers is confirmed as chairman on a permanent basis.
December 16 - Rangers manager McCoist hands over his shares in the club to supporters' group Calderwood Loyal RSC, who are likely to back Paul Murray.
December 19 - The current board are overwhelmingly backed by shareholders at the AGM. Paul Murray only receives 31.7 per cent of the votes.
2014
January 24 - Brian Stockbridge quits Rangers after months of pressure from supporters.
March 12 - Ally McCoist's side claim the League One title with a 3-0 win over Airdrie at Ibrox.
March 27 - Interim financial results show Rangers have just £3.5million left in the bank, down from £21.2million the year before.
April 25 - Chief executive Wallace says he wants Rangers to win the Premiership title by the end of the 2016-17 season.
June 13 - The club announce they have sold just 17,000 season tickets ahead of the new Championship season, following a public campaign by Dave King and the Union of Fans group.
July 21 - The creation of a fans' board is announced.
August 6 - Rangers confirm to the London Stock Exchange that they are considering a share issue to raise around £8million.
September 3 - It is revealed that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley bought the Ibrox naming rights from Charles Green for just £1 in 2012. Ashley already holds around four per cent in shares thanks to this deal.
October 2 - Ashley buys more than four million shares in Rangers, increasing his holding to almost nine per cent.
October 27 - Wallace resigns as chief executive following Ashley's £2million loan to Rangers.
December 14 - Former Newcastle managing director Derek Llambias is appointed as chief executive of Rangers.
December 21 - McCoist leaves his position as Rangers manager. Kenny McDowall takes temporary charge.
December 22 - The Rangers AGM once again votes to keep the current board in place but shareholders reject a proposal to issue a further 54 million shares.
December 29 - The SFA reject Ashley's application to increase his shareholding in Rangers to 29.9 per cent.
December 31 - George Taylor, Douglas Park and George Letham, known as the Three Bears consortium, buy Laxey Partners' entire 16.32 per cent shareholding in Rangers.
2015
January 5 - Barry Leach, a senior figure at Ashley's Sports Direct company, is appointed as Rangers' finance director.
January 12 - The board reject a £20million takeover offer from NBA tycoon Robert Sarver, having earlier rejected an £18million bid.
January 16 - Dave King requisitions an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of the club's shareholders in an effort to have chairman David Somers, Derek Llambias, finance director Barry Leach and James Easdale removed from the board.
January 27 - Ashley loans Rangers £10million, secured against Rangers badges, Murray Park and a quarter of Rangers Retail Ltd transferring to Sports Direct.
February 6 - Rangers set the date for their EGM as March 4.
February 18 - The club announces the EGM will now be held at Ibrox on March 6.
February 25 - James Easdale steps down from his position as director.
March 2 - Somers now steps down from the board.
March 3 - Llambias and Leach say they will not step down from the board.
March 6 - Dave King, owner of 14.5 per cent of shares in Rangers, is appointed to the board alongside Paul Murray and John Gilligan. Llambias and Leach are both voted off the board.
May 31 - Rangers lose their promotion play-off match against Premiership side Motherwell 6-1 on aggregate. They will play in the Championship for one more season at least.
June 15 - Mark Warburton is appointed as manager of Rangers.
2016
April 5 - Rangers win the Championship title with a 1-0 win over Dumbarton and confirm their promotion into the SPFL Premiership.
2017
June 6 - Craig Whyte is cleared of acquiring the club by fraud. Alastair Johnston returns to the Rangers board.
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