Why Did You Give Mr King Your Season Ticket Money?

The year is 2024. It’s a beautiful Saturday spring morning. 18 year old William has washed up as he prepares to meet his mates for an exciting day ahead. Just as he’s ready to leave the house he sees his Dad sitting in his favourite fire-side rocking chair staring out into the distance as he gently rocks back and forward.

William:               Dad? (no response). Dad? (No response again). DAAAAAAAD?

Dad:                       Eh? Whit are yie shouting at?

William:               Sorry Dad. I noticed you were having a day dream and wondered if everything was ok?

Dad:                       Oh, oh right. Aye, I’m fine. I was just reminiscing about the Rangers and the good old days.

William:             (Sits on couch) Dad, remind me again what happened to them?

Dad:                       Oh Son, it’s tragic story. As you know I never missed a match home or away tor 25 years. This old crook, backed by the football association, ran my club into the ground before he sold it to another crook for £1.

William:               (Eyes pop up) £1?

Dad:                       Aye, and that’s not the worst of it. This crook then didny pay the taxman and ran the club into Administration before appointing his pals to oversee this. They took millions from the club before selling to another bunch of crooks and everyday people were owed thousands of pounds.

William:               There must have been wealthy Rangers fans around who could have bought the club?

Dad:                       Well that’s another story. You see these wealthy Rangers men caused the problem in the first place before disappearing into the background until this fella Whyte (spits) started Administration quickly followed by Liquidation.

William:               So why didn’t they help out Dad? I’m sure if you had the money you would have saved them.

Dad:                       (Looks proudly towards William) That’s the problem Son. People like me didn’t have the money so couldn’t do this but those that did knew the true financial problems and didn’t want to invest.

William:               That’s terrible. So what happened next?

Dad:                       Well this third bunch of crooks fronted by a loud mouthed Yorkshireman took a fortune from the fans and pocketed most of it before leaving the club.

William:               Why did Rangers men allow this to happen?

Dad:                       It gets worse Son. Many Rangers men were in on it taking a fortune from the club and received thousands of penny shares for supporting the crooks.

William:               (Looks shocked) That’s unbelievable.

Dad:                       It is Son, it is. The crooks made a fortune but if that wasn’t bad enough these other groups of so called fans gave their backing to this South African crook who asked us not to renew our season tickets to get rid of the board.

William:               So what did you do?

Dad:                       Like most fans I believed them. They had the Rangers credentials and the newspapers, we had them back in those days, were supportive of them and telling us it was the best thing to do to save Rangers. They told us to send them our season ticket money and once the board provided security on the stadium they would release the funds.

William:               (Staring mouth open wide for several seconds before coming round) Dad, I’m only 16 but this sounds the craziest plan ever!

Dad:                       It was that Son it was that.

William:               No business in their right mind would hand over security after a threat like that, especially if it was being driven by a South African crook.

Dad:                       (looks sheepish) I know, I know.

William:               I mean only the most stupid person on the planet would hand over cash to a crook, wouldn’t they?

Dad:                       (looks down to his slippers) I know, I know.

William:               I cannot believe anyone would be so thick, so stupid, so gormless, so naïve or so downright idiotic to do such a thing.

Dad:                       (all pours now sweating) I know, I know.

William:               So what did you do Dad?

Dad:                       (top lip starts to tremble) I gave them my season ticket money.

William:               WHAT!!!

Dad:                       I still feel ashamed Son. I was used like a big dod of out of date cheese in a mousetrap.

William:               (takes deep breaths to calm down) So what happened next?

Dad:                       Without the money the clubs went into Administration. We thought this would happen. We’d take the points deduction but with a new board in place with Rangers men we could look forward to a bright new future.

William:               A bright new future after shafting your creditors? That’s immoral! Putting that to one side for a minute did the South African crook take over?

Dad:                       Um, not quite. Little did people like me know that the major players pulling the strings knew every con trick in the book as they wrote half of them! They didn’t take kindly to threats so after Administration and as the main creditors they decided to refuse a CVA and liquidated (tears start rolling down face) the…..the…..Rangers.

William:               Did you create a Newco and apply to start as a new club in the bottom tier of Scottish football?

Dad:                       (Uses cuff to wipe away snotters) That’s what we thought as we did this once before. This time was different though. As they were the main creditors and no CVA agreed they were entitled to the assets of the stadium, the social club and Murray Park.

William:               And then……?

Dad:                       As they were that pissed off with the South African crook and his lackeys, they retained the football licence but decided not play in the League.

William:               Surely to God someone must have thought they might do this?

Dad:                       Aye, you’d think so Son but we were just daft supporters looking to do what was best for our team.

William:               Administration, liquidation and then no football licence is best for your team?!!!

Dad:                       (Grabs Son’s hand and stares with big puppy dog eyes) But we didn’t know. We believed the papers and these other supporter groups who were telling us it was the best thing to do. We were trained not to think for ourselves and by God, we were brilliant at it.

William:               What did the South African crook do next?

Dad:                       We waited….and waited….and waited…..but he refused to share his plans other than say that those in charge of the assets wouldn’t sell to him.

William:               And you all believed him?

Dad:                       (pleading for forgiveness look) Aye, we did. Without the stadium and football licence we were finished. He bought another small team and had this vision (spit spit spit) of renaming them Glasgow Rangers and playing out of Airdrie’s ground but after his previous lies no one was interested. The Rangers I and thousands of others loved had gone for good this time.

William:               You know I love you Dad but I cannot believe so many people could have been so stupid. It defies all logic.

Dad:                       (Looks down slowly shaking his head from side to side)

William:               Looks at clock. Right Dad, it’s 12pm and I’ve got to go and meet the Boys for a few pints before the game.

Dad:                       Game?

William:               Aye, we are off to Paradise to see Celtic win 13 in a row!

Dad:                       (Looks out the window and starts to rock slowly backwards and forwards) Have a…..have a….have a great day Son and don’t be back too late.

William:               Don’t worry Dad I won’t.

William collects his Celtic scarf and bounds out the door singing “For it’s a Grand old team to play for”. Back in the living room Dad continues to gently rock in his chair and thinks of what might have been.

THE END