With the game at Ibrox not going ahead through no fault of our own, it will have been annoying for ground staff, catering staff and those in Edmiston House who would rather have been at home instead of preparing for a busy night.
It’s not just the squad or staff that will be annoyed about the wasted preparations, every penny is a prisoner nowadays and Rangers have just wasted a significant amount of money only for Ross County’s short-sightedness to leave us out of pocket.
Rangers should see Ross County compensation payment
Looking at the SPFL rules and regulations though, the Highland outfit could well have been cheaper booking a hotel for the night before and travelling down early rather than risking the bad weather.
Bad weather that had, incidentally, been forecast.
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail and all that.
Under the heading “Non-fulfilment of Fixture Obligations” paragraph G55, an explanation is given as to what happens in this instance:
“Without prejudice to any other sanctions, which may be imposed for a breach of Rules, a Club failing to fulfil a fixture obligation in terms of Rules G5 and/or G53 shall be liable to pay compensation for any expenses necessarily incurred by the opposing Club as a direct result of the failure.
“The amount of such compensation will be at the discretion of the Board which will consider every such case on its merits.”
In short, Ross County will probably have to cough up.
How much remains to be seen but there will have been a lot of match day employees in Ibrox on both Boxing Day and today that simply didn’t need to be there and it is the same for Edmiston House.
Rangers next home game isn’t until next mid-week now too so any perishable items of food and drink that were stocked will also need to be replaced, although it is good to see a homeless charity benefit from what would have gone to waste.
The A9 has been horrendous, but Ross County knew when the fixture was and knew that there was a good chance of the weather being bad.
They took a gamble and it hasn’t paid off.
With a bill soon to be heading their way, maybe next time they will just book a hotel.
Storm Gerrit is hitting Scotland hard with snow preventing the safe travel for fans across the country, Sky Sports must be rubbing their hands with the Edinburgh derby now centre stage for disgruntled match goers and armchair fans alike.
With Ibrox set to be empty and no home fixture until next week, food bought for hospitality and catering outlets by Rangers for the game against Ross County is now going to be put to good use elsewhere.
Rangers move quickly after Ross County postponement
The Simon Community are a homeless charity, led by a team of volunteers providing services to people on the streets in the communities of Edinburgh, Perth and North Lanarkshire.
Rangers board and catering partner Levy have taken the decision to help those who are less fortunate at a time of year that can be especially hard for some with James Bisgrove explaining the decision via The Herald:
“While of course, everyone at Rangers was hoping for tonight’s match to go ahead, we were very keen to support Glasgow’s homeless community with a donation of some of the unused food from our sold-out hospitality suites and kiosks.
“We are extremely proud of our community roots at Rangers, and we felt this was the least we could do, particularly at this time of year. I’d like to thank our partners, Levy, for their excellent support in making this possible.”
The SPFL’s regulations include teams being compensated for fixtures being postponed and due to it being no fault of Rangers, Ross County might well have to put their hands in their pockets to recompense the money and provisions lost.
When the fixture will be played is unknown for now, however, Rangers at least don’t return to European action until March now thanks to the sterling effort against Real Betis on matchday six of the Europa League.
It is short notice, and Rangers initiative is to be commended, It’s just a shame that the club couldn’t have entertained those who might be affected by homelessness at Ibrox – the staff would already be working for the visit of Ross County after all.
The Simon Community will be grateful for the donation though, as they would at any time of the year but, given the weather and festive period, now more than ever, this level of charity will be greatly appreciated.
It also serves as another reminder that the annoyance of a game of football being called off pales into insignificance against the struggles and difficulties that others might be experiencing.
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