Prior to the Rangers first team even kicking a ball in a football match that season, there were a series of off-the-field issues that had to be resolved.

In June 2012, a criminal investigation was launched into Craig Whyte's takeover of Rangers Football Club Plc after a preliminary examination of the information passed to police by administrators Duff & Phelps.

[2] Over a week later, on 13 July, twenty-five of the thirty SFL member clubs voted to offer Rangers a place in the Third Division of the Football League for the start of the season.

Therefore, instead of a potential penalty that included the stripping of titles won by the first team, the punishment was only a fine of £250,000 for Rangers Football Club PLC.

[10] Turmoil continued inside Ibrox Stadium despite the return of Walter Smith as a non-executive director in November 2012.

[12] The tenure of Charles Green as chief executive proved volatile, with a number of contentious issues arising throughout the season.

[18] On a busy day in April, the SFA wrote to Rangers chief executive Charles Green seeking clarification about his business dealings with Craig Whyte,[19] the Police carried out a series of searches relating to the purchase of Rangers Football Club by Craig Whyte from David Murray[20] and, Whyte was ordered to pay £18m to the finance firm Ticketus after he lost a claim against him at the High Court in London.