Neil Doncaster branded ‘utterly shameless’ by official Rangers partner over ‘highly unusual’ Tuesday news amid legal row
Neil Doncaster has been branded “utterly shameless” by Rangers partner Heart & Hand over revelations on his employments arrangements with the league.
A story in The Herald from Graeme McGarry on Tuesday (27 June) reported that the SPFL chief has a “highly unusual” two-year notice period which would cost close to £800,000 due to his salary having risen to £392,000 including bonuses last year.
This information comes amid a legal row with the Light Blues, who have just received SFA permission to take the Scottish Premiership to court as they seek compensation and an apology over the sponsorship dispute over the cinch deal [Herald, 26 June].
Reacting to the news on Twitter Tuesday night Heart & Hand wrote: “Two-year notice period. Utterly shameless.”
Asked how the situation could have come about the response was: “To make sure he can’t be removed.”
Unique
While there is nothing illegal about Doncaster’s arrangement it will stick out in a negative way to any of his detractors.
And given the general relationship between Rangers and the league there will be a fair few of those around Ibrox and within the fanbase.
Add to the sponsorship spat the broadcast deal that saw the Light Blues “bypassed” despite their opposition and the fact that league CEO looks highly unlikely to be going anywhere any time soon is unlikely to go down well with supporters.
There have been plenty of changes within the club’s hierarchy in recent months so it is theoretically possible for the relationship with the SPFL to improve going forward.
And it looks like it will need to if Rangers are going to come back into the fold since change on the league side is going to be hugely expensive.
The club’s place within the Scottish landscape hasn’t been especially harmonious in recent years and it certainly hasn’t made Doncaster popular along the way, and that doesn’t look like it will be changing in a hurry.
In other Rangers news, an “unbelievable” Gers ace might now be sold this summer but one of his teammates looks secure.