Rangers sold for a fifth of its 'fair value' with brand worth £16m snapped up for nothing

Evidence provided to the Court of Session reveals that while the business and Rangers assets such as Ibrox, the Murray Park training facility, trademarks and the players were bought by Sevco for £5.5m, a fair value assessment to the group carried out on the day of the Sevco purchase was put at nearly five times that - £27.2m.

It further emerged that while just ten of the star players including striker Steven Naismith, goalkeeper Allan McGregor, midfielder Steven Davis, and defender Steven Whittaker were valued at £21.35m after the club went into insolvency  - they ended up being bought for just £2.75m as part of Sevco's £5.5m purchase. BDO's representatives described that as "some way short".

The price of the Rangers brand, including valuable trademarks used in all the club's merchandising was zero - while the assessment put their value at £16m.

READ MORE: Ex-Rangers administrators fight 'bonkers' £56.8m 'shut club down' claim

Ibrox and Murray Park were snapped up for £1.5m in the deal, but a fair value assessment, carried out by an independent valuer was £6.5m.

But at the time of the purchase, there had been no licence to play football so the Ibrox and training facility valuation had been downgraded. A subsequent valuation priced the stadium and Murray Park at £80m.

The action comes nine years after the Rangers business fell into administration and then liquidation leaving thousands of unsecured creditors out of pocket, including more than 6000 loyal fans who bought £7.7m worth of debenture seats at Ibrox.

Creditors also ranged from corporate giants such as Coca-Cola to a picture framer in Bearsden and a lady called Susan Thomson who ran a face-painting business and was owed £40.

Former administrators of Rangers Paul Clark and David Whitehouse of Duff and Phelps is defending the action by BDO claiming the liquidators expected a "bonkers" strategy of a 'fire sale' of Rangers which would have "effectively shut the club down for good".

The liquidators are arguing that the administrators did not cut enough costs over the insolvency and should have raised more money for creditors.

Mr Clark and Mr Whitehouse recently agreed an estimated £24m settlement after Scotland's senior law officer the Lord Advocate agreed there was a malicious prosecution in connection with the collapsed club fraud case.

The liquidators have said the action was taken because of questions over the strategy used by Mr Clark and Mr Whitehouse in the administration process after the club plc went into financial meltdown in February, 2012 under Craig Whyte's stewardship.

Sevco 5088 Limited led by former club chief executive Charles Green ended up buying the assets in June, 2012 as Rangers were consigned to liquidation.

At the Court of Session, members of the Duff and Phelps administration team have been quizzed about the cost-cutting strategy.

The administrators had been criticised over their handling of the situation with some saying they ought to have made swift cuts to the playing squad and made large scale redundancies similar to that experienced in previous insolvencies involving Motherwell and Dundee.

London-based Peter Hart of Duff and Phelps said the idea was to present "a functioning working club" and to rescue it as a going concern so that it could be sold to prospective purchasers.

"There is an acceptance that costs will lead to cut, but that needs to be balanced with providing or preserving an asset, a trading company that has some attraction to potential purchasers.

"So whilst I agree that cost cutting is important. It has to be balanced. The purpose of this particular administration was to rescue the club.

"So that's balanced against cost cutting.

"A decision was made that the cost-cutting exercise could only extend to what would not damage the viability of the club to a potential purchaser.

"The decision to retain staff was made on the basis of holding the business together, to the extent that it would be attractive to a purchaser."

Internal Duff and Phelps emails revealed a level of friction between the staff members in the way the administration was being carried out.

A colleague of Mr Hart, Simon Shipperlee admitted there was concern that the administrators had become too friendly with the controversial owner of the club Craig Whyte.

The 42-year-old accountant, a lifelong Leyton Orient fan, spoke as it emerged Mr Hart raised concerns in an email that the administration assignment had become "tedious" through Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark's "poor communication and lack of grasp of the issues on the ground".

Mr Hart in particular raised concern in an email over "their insistence on remaining friends with Whyte, which allows him to have some control of the media agenda".

Asked about the the administrators' insistence on remaining friends with Mr Whyte, Mr Shipperlee said: "That's a reference to the fact they were discussing a meeting with him, obviously necessary because of the shareholding and perhaps not being as distant from him as they could be."

Asked if he it was unwise that they remained as friendly as they did with Mr Whyte, he added: "Given that, as Whyte was widely disliked by stakeholders, I suppose, on reflection whilst it was necessary to talk to him, because of the shareholding, they should have made sure that it was seen as purely communication necessary for that reason only. "

Lord Tyre has also hear that certain Duff and Phelps staff expected the "s**t would hit the fan" with the withdrawal of American trucking tycoon Bill Miller as a would-be buyer of the club.

In one email Mr Hart told senior associate Charles Walder that they needed to make sure they were "covered".

He told Mr Walder that he would "have to get out of bed early to keep David [Whitehouse] happy, adding: "I think it it's probably wise for you to go up there given the current climate of misinformation, bulls***ting purchasers and recrimination."

In another email he wrote: "We are always one step behind the story and the cast of thousands must be loving the fact that we are a willing 'punch bag' when things go wrong.

"As David [Whitehouse] would say, 'I'm worried that it's out of control'..."

Mr Shipperlee admitted there was concern about the criticism there would be with Mr Miller pulling out.

Another email from Duff and Phelps partner Jason Godefroy to Mr Whitehouse said that Paul Clark had felt the heat of dealing with the administration saying that he was "aware that this morning and last night he just wasn't with it and couldn't speak/focus. "He thinks it's lack of sleep and probably the intensity of the job. He has never felt like that before but he was feeling much better when I spoke to him."

Another email from Mr Clark suggested giving Mr Shipperlee "a hug in an entirely professional capacity" saying that he was "getting to where I was.."