Rangers crisis deepens

Crisis club Stafford Rangers' future is in the balance after players rejected wage cuts from the board.

Steve Bull's Blue Square North squad turned out against Vauxhall Motors on Saturday and unluckily lost 1-0.

But in a dressing room meeting with chairman Jon Downing and other directors afterwards, they refused to accept the proposed financial measures and asked to be transfer listed en-bloc. A statement by the player says Rangers propose to:

* stop paying non-contract players

* stop paying bonuses

* halving the pay of contract players until the club can afford to pay in full.

"We cannot agree to these terms," said the statement. "Players have commitments based on their contractual arrangement with the club and cannot afford to take these cuts in wages.

"Furthermore, if the state of the finances is in such a dire state, the feeling is if we agree to this, it is only a matter of time before further cuts.

"We have tried our hardest for the club, the fans and the manager to do as well as we possibly can. We believe the next step for the board is to place all the contracted players on the transfer list and circulate the names of the non-contract players."