AN ADVERT describing Rangers as the "most successful" football club in Scotland has been cleared after a string of complaints.

The ad, which ran on radio, press and e-mail as part of a season ticket promotion, attracted 78 complaints.

It said: "Join Scotland's most successful club at Ibrox."

The Advertising Standards Authority said 78 complainants believed the "most successful club" claim was misleading because they understood that the current club had only been formed in 2012.

Defending the ad, Newco Rangers provided an extract from a decision by an independent commission appointed by the Scottish Premier League, which said "in common speech a club is treated as a recognisable entity which is capable of being owned and operated and which continues in existence despite its transfer to another owner and operator".

It also provided a letter from the European Club Association concerning its continuing membership after the liquidation which stated that, although run by a different legal entity, it considered RFC was still the same football club.

It had the same registration number with the Football Association, the same fans, the same stadium, the same club coefficient ranking and the same trophies, and it therefore recognised RFC as a founding member of the ECA despite the change of ownership.

The ASA said that, while Newco had not taken on all of the debts and liabilities of the former club, "we noted that both an independent commission appointed by the SPL and the ECA had reached the conclusion that the football club RFC was a recognisable entity in its own right, and that it had continued in existence despite being transferred to another owner and operator".

The ASA added: "Consumers would understand that the claim in question related to the football club rather than to its owner and operator.

"We therefore concluded that it was not misleading for the ad to make reference to RFC's history, which was separate to that of Newco."

A Rangers' spokeswoman said: "The club was never in any doubt that this would be the outcome.

"It was a ridiculous claim and we knew the ASA would take the same view as the football authorities."