Hamilton Accies 'working around the clock' to sort transfer embargo, says John Rankin

Yahoo

24-07-2025

Hamilton Accies boss John Rankin insists the club are working 'around the clock' to get the club's transfer embargo lifted and admits fans aren't getting to see their true team for this season.
The club have been under a transfer embargo since they were hit with a 15-point deduction in April for breaching multiple SPFL rules, which ultimately relegated them from the Championship last season.
The SPFL have refused to comment on how long the embargo will last and Accies insist they remain in the dark themselves.
Under SPFL rules, a transfer embargo is automatically imposed when a club fails to pay its players or taxes on time.
And with the League One campaign fast approaching, Rankin says the club are doing their utmost to sort the issue.
Following a 2-1 defeat at Dunfermline in the Premier Sports Cup last night, Rankin said: "I don't know how close we are to the embargo lifting. I've just got to make sure that we put a team on the pitch that is competitive.
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"I am desperate to get bodies in and strengthen the squad. We have a really good nucleus but we need strength in numbers. We need that done as soon as possible because right now we look good for 60-70 minutes and then other teams have a stronger bench.
"The people upstairs are trying their hardest to make sure we can get this done, and I take my hat off to them because they are working around the clock to get this done.
"I don't know what the hold up is but we just want it lifted.
"We want the strongest Hamilton team on the pitch and we are not getting to see that right now. We are listing trialists right now and making sure we can get as many minutes into players as we can. We are in danger of getting players injured because certain players are playing too many minutes.
"From a player welfare point of view, it's not great but we need to get through these games and make sure we are ready for the league campaign."
Accies went down in Dunfermline to a 70th minute Lee Kilday own goal, just seconds after Oli Shaw had cancelled out Andy Tod's 39th minute opener for the Pars.
It ended Accies' slim hopes of reaching the last 16 and Rankin was frustrated by how quickly they conceded after pulling level.
He added: "I don't think we got what we deserved out of the game, I don't think we deserved to lose. I think when you look at the game as a whole, both teams played some decent stuff at times.
"But the most vulnerable bit in the game is just after you score and we showed that vulnerability.
"We scored a well-worked goal and then I was disappointed with how quickly things turned. We need to manage that situation better. It's an own goal but we have to be better."