SPFL the big losers over play-off stance on Rangers season ticket holders

The directors were determined to thank the fans who have been so supportive of them during what has been a difficult campaign - and ensure a big turnout.

The SPFL were opposed to that move - even though Hibs did exactly the same thing last season as far as I can see.

And it now looks as if they could lose out on hundreds of thousands of pounds of much-needed revenue as a consequence of their baffling stance. I have no sympathy for them.

The governing body threatened to take what they are owed from money that is due to Rangers - from television money and other revenues - if their season ticket holders were given free entry.

Personally, I would have been astonished if the governing body could do that legally.

If Rangers had decided to let their fans in for free then I would have thought it would be very hard for anyone to take the money off them in any other way.

As far as I could see, it is money that belongs to Rangers. If the SPFL wanted cash from the play-off games they would have had to take them to court to get it.

But I can quite understand why the club has taken the action they have done to avoid either of those possibilities.

I am afraid the whole thing just smacks to me of yet another threat to the Ibrox club. There have been quite a lot of them in the last few years.

As I say, Rangers believed that Hibs set the precedent last year by not charging their season ticket holders for the play-off final against Hamilton. I thought they are right to go down that route.

The SPFL, meanwhile, say the rules were made up AFTER Hibs had started selling their season tickets. By all accounts, they are now going to change the wording of their regulations.

It seems to me like they make up the rules as they go along.

Something isn't written down one minute. Then all of a sudden it is the next. They just come up with it among themselves as they go don't they?

Hibs must have made a fair bit of money out of the final against Hamilton as thousands of their fans were there at Easter Road.

If Rangers get a half-decent result against Queen of the South in the first leg of the play-off quarter-final on Saturday, then they should be able to attract a good crowd to the next game.

By setting ticket prices at just £5 across the board, they should get tens of thousands of fans there and also satisfy the SPFL rules on the play-off levy.

But the governing body will get substantially less money than if they had just allowed season tickets holders in for free and Rangers had charged other fans £5, £15 and £20.

By charging £5 Rangers will ensure they get a decent crowd. That, in turn, will help the team's chances of progressing to the next round of the competition and will help the atmosphere.

If fans had felt that their hard-earned cash was going to go straight into the pockets of their rivals then they just wouldn't have gone along.

Many supporters would have been reluctant to pay out money in order for it to go to clubs who they feel have conspired against them and taken enough of their cash in the last few years.

It is nice to see the people in charge of Rangers standing up for the fans. It is not something you see a great deal of in football these days.

The man in the street is sick and fed up of the people who are running the game. With some justification too given many of the things that have happened.

I honestly think that if Rangers hadn't taken the action they have done then Ibrox will be less than half full for the rematch against Queens.

The fans want to be there. They just won't give their money to people who they feel have done them in over the last three years.

I appreciate why the SPFL do it. The money that is raised subsidises the parachute payment that is given to a top flight club if it is relegated.

But all these teams that have worked hard to finish second, third and fourth in the second tier have to give half of the money to the league. What a lot of nonsense!

It is an absolute joke. And it is a joke the top teams in the Premiership, who were in no danger of getting dragged into it, have pushed through.

It is a shame this row is overshadowing the play-offs because this is the exciting time of the season.

Queen of the South came out and said they wouldn't do it. But they don't have the same size of support as Hibs, Motherwell or Rangers.

To get any sort of crowd, they will have to charge the majority of punters going through the turnstiles.

However, the others were right to stand up and say: "No, we're not going to charge our season ticket holders."

I think the game at Palmerston Park in Dumfries this weekend will be well attended by supporters of both clubs. It will be a sell-out.

A week on Sunday at Ibrox will, depending on the result tomorrow, be the same.

But it could have been a different story if the club hadn't set prices at £5.

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