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Page last updated at 15:49 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 16:49 UK

Findlay backs Rangers to overcome financial woes

New Cowdenbeath chairman Donald Findlay
Findlay was at Ibrox when the club could attract players like Brian Laudrup

Former Rangers vice-chairman Donald Findlay believes there is no danger of the club ever going out of business.

The Scottish champions are about £31m in debt and owner Sir David Murray recently took the club off the market after failing to find a buyer.

"Rangers will always survive, there's no doubt of that, but this is not what it once was in terms of football generally," Findlay told BBC Scotland.

"The Ibrox situation is symptomatic of the problems facing Scottish football."

The income at Scottish Premier League clubs has been affected by the collapse of broadcaster Setanta a year ago and falling attendances, bringing into focus the difficulty of competing financially with clubs in England.

Findlay, 59, said: "We do not have the resources that are available, for example, down south and in some other leagues.

"It is difficult to attract major sponsorship and the top-quality players that once came here. We are now living in a different world and we have to take a realistic approach to it."

And Findlay, the new chairman of Scottish First Division club Cowdenbeath, added: "It's the easiest thing in the world to buy a football club - then your problems start.

"Whatever you pay to get the football club, you need to have available at least twice as much again if you want to develop the club to take it forward.

"I'm afraid that, with the impact of the money down south in particular and in some of the major European clubs, football is not now a toy for millionaires; it's a plaything for billionaires and there are not too many of them around."



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see also
Cowdenbeath appoint Nicholl boss
25 Jun 10 |  Cowdenbeath
'Business as usual' - Gers chief
17 Jun 10 |  Rangers
Club no longer for sale - Rangers
15 Jun 10 |  Rangers
Song row QC considered suicide
16 Oct 99 |  Scotland


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