'Painful' - McGowan: Rangers suffer big-money loss as winning lottery ticket flushed away

Stephen McGowan has compared Rangers being knocked out of the Champions League to losing a winning lottery ticket due to the financial impact.

The Gers failed to qualify for the elite European competition against Dynamo Kyiv which will see them feature in the Europa League this campaign.

The difference in prize money is large with the Champions League offering a large payout for reaching the group stages.

In a column for the Scottish Daily Mail on 17 August (page 97), McGowan outlined the loss that the Light Blues have suffered.

He said: “For any club, the loss of £40m for making the group stage would be as painful as picking a scab from a weeping wound.

“When the club in question is shelling out rental cash for using Hampden to the SFA because they took a needless punt on imported steel from China, selling players in order to finance to new ones, and thrashing out the terms of a kit deal legal settlement in the court of session, it’s like flushing a winning lottery ticket down the toilet. Even a hand round the U-bend won’t bring it back.”

Rangers miss out on Champions League

It is bad enough that Philippe Clement’s side have missed out on the financial benefit of Champions League qualification without the controversy.

Jefte was sent off in bizarre circumstances after going up for a head and winning the ball ahead of the opposition defender.

The Brazilian was given his marching orders and VAR was unable to intervene with it being two yellow cards on the night.

After this, the Gers conceded two goals at Hampden which eventually saw them dumped from the elite competition in the first qualifying round.

The financial implications look set to be massive with Celtic getting an even bigger march on the Light Blues with them automatically qualifying through their league finish.

This result will have an impact on everything from the transfer window to off-the-pitch developments, showing just how important a win was.

Clement’s side now have to bounce back and make the most of the Scottish Premiership season before European football kicks off.

In other Rangers news, Alex Lowry branded ‘simply ridiculous’ amid disbelief at exit-bound homegrown starlet.

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