They are liquidated which means that technically speaking, all their players, all their titles, every single one of their owners are wiped from history. They do not exist.
The reason Rangers FC ended up in the situation they were in is by spending ridiculous amounts of money for players - which they couldn't afford - putting themselves in excessive amounts of debts.
With David Murray at the helm liquidation was absolutely inevitable. He knew he had to try get rid of them ASAP and attempt to rid himself of the blame. It took him over a year of trying before Craig Whyte came along. Hailed by the media and fans as their "saviour", a "Whyte night in shining armour". He promised that he would do all sorts, pay off their debts, and save them from the trouble they were in, however ....
Sadly for them, they never realised the guy's intentions, and that he had no way off fulfilling all of his promises. He originally made his money buying and selling shares, he then moved onto property investment he's also renowned for taking endangered businesses, fixing them and selling them on for a higher price.
Whyte obviously spotted an oppurtunity. He bought Rangers FC for a pound. That's it. He got over 80% control of the company for £1. Did the Rangers, fans, stakeholders or any of their directors look into how he was going to fund all his promises? Not at all. The guy didn't have the 25million or whatever it was that he planned to spend on the club. It was all complete and utter bullshit.
A few months later Rangers FC entered administration. This was because of them being incapable of paying a 9million pound tax bill that they owed in PAYE and VAT. Thus being handed a 10-point deduction in points and exclusion from any European competitions(Though I think this was because of failure to publicise audited accounts before the set deadline). Unsurprisingly at this point the fans began to lose faith in their knight. After months in charge, the SPL finally decided to dig a little deeper and they discovered that Craig Whyte was not a "fit a proper person to run a football club". Little late guys. Cause by this point Whyte's plans had already suceeded.
There is a company that was meant to take all of Rangers' season ticket money and gradually give it back to them over a 5 year period: They're called ticketus. Craig Whyte did not pay them the 21million they were owed by Rangers, instead he paid it to the bank so he could pay them the money he promised them he would.
He had possesion of the majority of Rangers FC's assets, including Ibrox and Murray Park. All that was left to do was kill them off. This meaning that he could sell or lend the assets to Rangers NEWCO. He eventually sold all the club's assets for 5.5 million pounds. Making a £5.499.999 profit.
So he did that. He will now have to appear in court, but he has technically speaking, done absolutely nothing illegal. He bought the club and sold all it's assets. It may be morally questionable, but it's still legal.
Oh and one question that is on the mind of many a fan. Won't this just mean Celtic will win the league easily every single year? IMO it's only a matter of time before Celtic begin to suffer because of this. Give it 3/4 seasons of winning the championship with absolutely no real challenger and season ticket sales are going to slowly decline. Celtic had very poor season ticket sales at the end of their 9 in a row, because the fans had absolutely no reason to go. Eventually winning does get tiresome. This time round it will be even worse, as they're never going to get very far in Europe, and they're guarenteed a league win. They literally have nothing to play for next season.
So give it a few years when season ticket sales are dwindling, and Lawell has to cut costs a little, then we have a very good chance of seeing a legitimate contender and seeing Celtic toil. Until then though, it will be a foregone conclusion.
This could be great news for SPL clubs IMO. Second place is up for grabs and it is only so long, before Celtic - IMO - inevitably become vulnerable due to the loss of their only previous competition. ST sales will rapidly decrease after a season or two and other teams that have been doing well - boosted by Champions League and 2nd place prize money - will hopefully begin to mount a serious threat to the title.
Besides, roughly 160k extra each div3 club will make off of the Huns this year, they will be able to progress massively.
Contrary to this myth that the Scottish media keep perpetuating that the SPL needs Rangers, I believe that the SPL will prosper without them. .