ANNAN have become the latest Scottish Football League club to come out in favour of forcing Rangers to start again in the Third Division.
The SPL and Scottish Football Association have warned that without Rangers in Division One having the possibility of winning promotion to the top flight in one season, crucial TV contracts will be lost and more clubs could face administration.
Despite SFL clubs being paid about £2m every year by the SPL, Annan chairman Henry McLelland has vowed his club will not cave into the threat of having SPL money withdrawn and vote newco Rangers into the league on Friday.
He said: "The SPL are threatening that, without Rangers in Division One, the money would be withdrawn because they can't afford to pay.
"But the SFL accounts show that that money is almost the total money that's distributed to the clubs throughout the season.
"Annan would get around £60,000 that could disappear. But if that's the case then as a club they will deal with it by cutting their cloth accordingly.
"We believe Rangers should be in Division Three and our stance hasn't changed."
McLelland added: "We are dismayed at the way they are dealing with this. We feel as though we're being bullied."
The 30 SFL clubs will meet on Friday to decide whether to accept the new Rangers as members after the SPL voted last week to refuse newco Gers entry into the top flight.
However, it has emerged that clubs only have the power to approve or deny Gers entry to the league set-up, with a nine-man SFL board deciding which division to place the club into.
Meanwhile, the Hibs Supporters' Association have also released a statement backing Gers' relocation to the basement.
It said: "We believe that the new Rangers – if they can satisfy the usual standards demanded for SFA membership – should start out again in the Third Division.
"We welcomed the "no" vote passed by the SPL, including our own club, but we have watched with dismay as the SPL clubs have stood silently on the sidelines as their own chief executive – with the help and approval of a now entirely discredited SFA – has tried to bully and threaten lower division clubs into submission.
"Today we find ourselves united in calling for Scottish football to end the current uncertainty, withdraw the current campaign of bullying and threats aimed at our friends in the Scottish Football League and allow Rangers to rebuild their devastated club from the Third Division."