Over the last few days we have seen growing concerns for the financial welfare of Scottish football with the likes of Rangers under serious pressure and said to be around £30 million in debt. The UK government has made a number of comments regarding Scottish football and Rangers in particular, so is Scottish football really in financial trouble or is this just a one-off situation which will be resolved in the short term?

Scottish football in general

There is no doubt that Scottish football is dominated by Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers which continue to attract the lion's share of the TV and football income. There have been constant rumours in the past that Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic would actually move to the English premiership. However, there are many who believe if these two giants of the Scottish game were to leave then Scottish football may well be forced to go part-time and we would see the collapse of some of the oldest football clubs in the UK.

Why are Rangers in trouble?

Due to the fact that the winners of the Scottish Premier league automatically qualify for various European cup competitions there is greater competition between Celtic and Rangers as they fight over literally tens of millions of pounds of potential income. As a consequence, both Rangers and Celtic have in the past overstepped their financial limits and become embroiled in their own financial problems.

Only a few years ago Celtic were actually on the verge of going bankrupt only to be saved at the last minute and allowed to resurrect the club and the balance sheet into the very strong position which we see today. Rangers are currently swamped by a £30 million debt and with ex-chairman and majority shareholder David Murray having taken a backward step and relinquished his position at the club there is a feeling that the bankers are now in control.

Will there be a happy conclusion?

The truth is that is Rangers are very unlikely to go under simply because they have massive support around the world and if needed there are supporters willing to stump up money to put the club back on an even keel. However, in the short term the club is having to trim its financial expenditure and there is likely to be a reduction in the size of the squad at the next transfer window.

Celtic and Rangers have massive fan bases and although from time to time they may well overstretch their financial expenditure, they are very unlikely to go under simply because of who they are.