SCOTTISH football can avoid major clubs like Hearts and Rangers ever dropping out of the Premiership again in the future – by introducing a revolutionary new salary cap.

That was the message from former Gers captain Craig Moore this week as he lamented the damaging loss of the Ibrox club from the top flight.

Our entire national game has suffered badly as a direct result of the Ibrox club’s well-documented financial meltdown three years ago.

Hearts being relegated to the Championship last year after being put into administration exacerbated what was an already difficult situation.

Average attendances in the Premiership have fallen dramatically from 13,861 during the 2011/12 campaign to just 8,865 last season.

Money banked from advertising, broadcasting and sponsorship has also diminished as a result of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers playing in the second tier.

Moore is based back in his native Australia now and was this week appointed Football Operations Manager at A-League club Brisbane Roar.

However, he still follows the fortunes of the club he spent a total of 12 years at during the Nine-In-A-Row, Dick Advocaat and Alex McLeish eras.

And he keeps in contact with many of his old Light Blues team-mates – including Barry Ferguson and Bob Malcolm at Clyde, Derek McInnes at Aberdeen and Billy Dodds at Ross County.

The 52-times capped Australia internationalist believes the sport in this country needs both halves of the Old Firm to be flourishing in order to succeed both on and off the park.

“Rangers being lost from the Premiership was never going to be good for Scottish football,” said Moore.

“Sure, there have been some positives. Derek McInnes, for example, has done a great job at Aberdeen, and Dundee United, who are a fantastic club, have produced some excellent young players and done well.

“But I still feel Scottish football needs a strong Celtic and a strong Rangers. The competition, the standard and the financial health of the Scottish game all flows from that.”

The circumstances which led to Rangers playing in the bottom division against part-time opponents comprised of plumbers, joiners and postmen three years ago were unprecedented and are unlikely to ever be repeated.

The Glasgow giants had a multi-million pound tax bill from HMRC hanging over them for their use of EBTs to pay their players and senior members of staff.

Craig Whyte bought the 140-year-old institution from Sir David Murray for £1 in 2011 and within a year the parent company had been put into administration and then liquidated due to non-payment of NIC, PAYE and VAT.

Hearts, meanwhile, narrowly avoided going bust after being placed into administration with debts of £25million due to the chaotic stewardship of their eccentric Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov.

But Moore believes having stricter controls on finances and adopting a similar wage system to the one in place in the A-League could be hugely beneficial for both Scottish and European clubs.

He said: “There is $2.5million a season salary cap for 23 players in the league here. You can have an Australian marquee player and a foreign marquee player who fall outside of that.

“It makes for a more level playing field. Some Australian clubs have done consistently well. But nobody has enjoyed total dominance.

“You have to work within the restrictions of the salary cap. It means you have to get your recruitment absolutely right and don’t spend money needlessly or too extravagantly on players.

“You are allowed five foreign players in your quotas and they are normally the better paid members of a squad. The salary cap means you can’t afford to get any of them wrong.”

Moore added: “I think it is important because it means clubs develop their own players and operate with a sound business model. I think it is something football has to look at more.

“There were issues in the earlier days of the A League of clubs’ business models not stacking up. They went into a whole world of pain because financially they just weren’t viable.

“The salary cap was introduced to bring some financial stability to the game and ensure we didn’t lose more clubs.

“The television money is evenly spread between all of the A League clubs, but in my time in Scotland it was Celtic and Rangers who received the vast majority of it.

“Everything here is consistent. Everyone has an equal opportunity to put their best foot forward.”

The salary cap hasn’t prevented all of Australia’s top clubs from experiencing off-field problems and Brisbane Roar are currently facing

But Moore is confident it is helping the sport in his homeland to grow in popularity and thrive and feels other countries, where major clubs continue to post substantial losses, should seriously examine it.

“A few clubs over here have hit tough times,” said Moore. “Steven Thompson of Dundee United has been sniffing about the Newcastle Jets, who have run into financial difficulties.

“But most of the clubs to have had difficulties have had single-ownership models. In that situation, if there are any problems one individual has to shoulder the burden alone. The way ahead is to have a consortium in charge.

“At the end of the day, the business model has to stack up. You can’t always be in this situation where you are in debt.

“The big clubs in Europe can get away with it because they have that worldwide backing, exposure and income from merchandise. The more they spend the more they bring in. But there are only so many clubs can survive that way.”