Former SFA President John McBeth urges Hampden chiefs to fight Mike Ashley 'all the way' as Rangers drama escalates once again

Ashley will take the SFA to the Court of Session on February 4 over a £1000 fine that was imposed in March this year for breaching dual control rules when close allies Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were in positions of power at Rangers.

The billionaire has already seen the fine reduced from £7,500 but he has now launched a legal bid that could leave the SFA picking up a significant bill as he employs his highly-paid team of QC’s to fight his corner.

Before that case, Ashley will have another battle with the governing body on December 11 as he questions the process that lead to Dave King being passed ‘fit and proper’ before he became chairman of Rangers earlier this year.

The SFA have vowed to defend that case and will hope to avoid being landed with a bloody nose from Ashley’s team and facing the prospect of a being forced to foot a costly legal bill.

It is a situation the Hampden chiefs could have done without at present but one that former President McBeth knows they must not flinch from as they get set to go head-to-head with Newcastle United owner Ashley.

He told SportTimes: “You would fight it all the way, as long as you have a strong case.

“You have to look at your case and see why you decided to do what you did at the time and make sure you had good legal opinion to do it.

“If you did, fine, and you can carry on. If it was purely on a whim then you have to be very careful.

“The Association could afford [the legal bills] but it would certainly come out of the kitty they use to help clubs and youth teams and various other bits and pieces.

“It would cause a problem for them. But it wouldn’t put them out of business, at least I don’t think so.

“It has been a few years since I was there so I don’t know what they have been doing with their money of late. It is a worrying time for them.”

Tensions between Rangers and Ashley have been simmering for some time and supporters staged a protest against the businessman and his Sports Direct firm last weekend as they continue to boycott shops and official merchandise.

Chairman King will have to defend a contempt of court charge next month as Ashley’s lawyers look to have him jailed for allegedly breaching the gagging order which prevents any Ibrox director revealing details of the contracts in place with Sports Direct.

The English businessman has now turned his attentions to the SFA as the situation has dramatically escalated in recent days and McBeth, who left his post as President in 2007, knows the Association find themselves in a tricky spot.

He said: “The SFA have got to take a view on the situation and be very careful what view they take. Do they take Ashley on? Do they take Rangers on?

“They have to be above it and let them fight. The Rangers board and Ashley can fight their own battles.

“The SFA can’t get involved if they don’t have to be but it appears they have to do so here. I will be watching it with interest.

“I have been away from it a long time and there have been three Presidents since I was there so it has changed quite a bit. There are a lot of changes that have happened.”

The SFA are confident that they will be successful when they defend their decision to give King the green light to take a seat at the Ibrox top table weeks after he was successful in overthrowing the former Gers regime alongside Paul Murray and John Gilligan.

But they now find themselves at the centre of another legal wrangle as Ashley has stepped up his battle with the governing body.

The Light Blues board will look to limit Ashley’s Ibrox influence next month after tabling a resolution for December’s AGM that would remove the voting rights for any individual that is involved in the running of another club.

McBeth was famously a whistleblower of the corruption that has engulfed Fifa in recent years and he is astonished the SFA have found themselves in the middle of the Rangers battle.

He said: “It is a strange one. I don’t know enough about it but, without getting into the nitty gritty of it, it is a very strange situation for the SFA to get involved and embroiled in all the nonsense that is going on. It is beyond belief, but that is what has happened.

“My instinct is that there is something very odd about the whole thing. I don’t know how the SFA did arrive at the decisions they did arrive at initially.

“They must have had legal advice on the matters. If I had been there, that is exactly what I would have done. It seems very strange to me.

“Ashley is obviously a very cute individual and he has certainly stitched Rangers up, from what I have read in the papers, with all the business he has taken out of it.

“I saw they will have a resolution at the AGM that means you cannot have influence at two football clubs. That has probably brought this on and he is saying ‘if I can’t be on, then neither can you’.”