Judge rules Rangers were not relegated, so man’s bet was a loser

A former bookmaker who sued a betting chain for £250,000 winnings over Rangers’ relegation has lost the action after a judge ruled his wager was “a losing bet”.

Albert Kinloch placed £100 on the Ibrox club being relegated from the SPL in 2011 and was given odds of 2,500-1 by Coral Racing.

The club went into administration in February 2012 and later into liquidation that year and returned to playing in the bottom tier of the Scottish senior leagues in the SFL Third Division.

Mr Kinloch, 72, of Simshill Road, in Glasgow, took Coral to the Court of Session in Edinburgh after it refused to pay out on the bet he placed on September 5 in 2011 at its branch in Glasgow’s Tollcross Road.

His betting slip read: “From SPL – Rangers to be relegated” and maintained that relegation meant an SPL side started the next season in a lower league.

Coral contended that relegation was confined to going down only one league on points, according to league rules.

It said Rangers Football Club Plc sold its one share in the SPL to Sevco Scotland following the sale of assets by administrators, which required the approval of at least eight members of the SPL and the application was refused, making it no longer eligible to play in the top tier.

It then applied to join the SFL and was permitted to come into the lowest league.

Lord Bannatyne said: “The foregoing process cannot be described as being moved by anyone to a lower division, or being moved down or demoted.

“I am satisfied that what did not happen was that the SPL moved or demoted Rangers to a lower division.

“I am persuaded that the reasonable man is not only directed but driven to the rules of a particular sport when placing a bet in a sporting context.

“It would be impossible for a betting business to be run and for it to offer bets on sporting events without reference to the rules of the sports.”