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The Sevco saga continues ...


JamboAl

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HighTimes
On 17/04/2021 at 10:15, oritem8 said:

Everyone saying there must be proof the player racially abused another please remember as a white person accused of racism you are automatically guilty without evidence. Welcome to 2021.

 

FFS, please let this poster be a Hobo inflitrator.

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NANOJAMBO
28 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

BDO, the liquidators of RFC, are currently suing Duff & Phelps at the Court of Session for failing to get the best deal for the creditors of the Oldco.  They are seeking damages amounting to £56.8m.

 

I listened into a bit of the hearing yesterday and today and the strategy from BDO seems to be that D&P could have sold all the saleable assets (mainly players) rather than go down the route of seeking a CVA or asset sale. The strategy seems to be to show that many £millions more could have been generated on a breakup value, rather than trying to save the club. By choosing the route that they went down, the most valuable players were allowed to walk away for nothing after opting not to accept a TUPE transfer to Sevco.  It seems that the D&P people were split on the best approach.

 

The squad valuations (average of 4/5 football agents estimates) in January 2012 (a month before administration) included the following:

 

McGregor £5.1m

Whittaker £1.95m

Wallace £1.2m

Davis £4.8m  

Edu £0.9m

Wylde £0.4m

Naismith £4.5m

Lafferty £1.9m

Fleck £0.3m

Aluko £0.25m

Broadfoot £0

 

There was a fairly lengthy discussion about Naismith. He had negotiated a reduced buy out clause of £2m in return for accepting a wage cut of 75% during the administration. A few days later WBA put in a bid of £1m for him, which was increased to £1.25m, then £1.5m and finally £1.7m at which point the bid was allowed to lapse after RFC insisted on the £2m.

 

The QC for BDO indicated that Naismith could end up giving evidence himself.

 

Other discussions touched on the 5 Way Agreement just before the end of the day.  I'm hoping to hear more about that tomorrow, or later when Rod Mackenzie (SPFL solicitor) gives evidence. We might even hear about Charles Green's switcheroo when he shafted Craig Whyte.

BDO are emptying the coffers of anything the creditors were expecting. They must have made millions out of this.  As for suing D&P - not a chance. 

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johnthomas
37 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

BDO, the liquidators of RFC, are currently suing Duff & Phelps at the Court of Session for failing to get the best deal for the creditors of the Oldco.  They are seeking damages amounting to £56.8m.

 

I listened into a bit of the hearing yesterday and today and the strategy from BDO seems to be that D&P could have sold all the saleable assets (mainly players) rather than go down the route of seeking a CVA or asset sale. The strategy seems to be to show that many £millions more could have been generated on a breakup value, rather than trying to save the club. By choosing the route that they went down, the most valuable players were allowed to walk away for nothing after opting not to accept a TUPE transfer to Sevco.  It seems that the D&P people were split on the best approach.

 

The squad valuations (average of 4/5 football agents estimates) in January

Broadfoot £0

 

 

Hugely overpriced

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Footballfirst
6 minutes ago, NANOJAMBO said:

BDO are emptying the coffers of anything the creditors were expecting. They must have made millions out of this.  As for suing D&P - not a chance. 

Yup.

 

Creditors: £6.7m

 

BDO Fees: £5.3m

 

Legal costs: £13m and rising

 

Cash left: £3.9m

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Diadora Van Basten

I am sure the stadium was bought for a couple of million then revalued up to 30 million six months later.

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DesertDawg

So, did they pay property tax on the 2 or 30 million valuation?

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Fozzyonthefence
5 hours ago, NANOJAMBO said:

BDO are emptying the coffers of anything the creditors were expecting. They must have made millions out of this.  As for suing D&P - not a chance. 


Ridiculous that they are still in liquidation and not formerly liquidated after all these years.  Are BDO doing this for the creditors or for BDO’s coffers?

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Hagar the Horrible
16 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

Yup.

 

Creditors: £6.7m

 

BDO Fees: £5.3m

 

Legal costs: £13m and rising

 

Cash left: £3.9m

good to hear if anything that comes out of this,  I want to play Whyte in the movie, but at this rate I will have to settle for Green

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12 hours ago, Fozzyonthefence said:


Ridiculous that they are still in liquidation and not formerly liquidated after all these years.  Are BDO doing this for the creditors or for BDO’s coffers?

If they have not been formally liquidated, then the current champions must be a new/different club not entitled to claim to be previous winners of ths, that etc.

Edited by JamboAl
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Riccarton3

Just saw Whyte on TV saying he was surprised at the angry reaction of fans when he announced Administration at the front door of the Big Hoose.  He was just being up front, not hiding behind closed doors.

 

The whole episode was planned from the sale for a quid. It's really that's simple.

Edited by Riccarton3
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John Findlay
11 hours ago, Riccarton3 said:

Just saw Whyte on TV saying he was surprised at the angry reaction of fans when he announced Administration at the front door of the Big Hoose.  He was just being up front, not hiding behind closed doors.

 

The whole episode was planned from the sale for a quid. It's really that's simple.

Whyte was/is Murray's patsy. Murray should be in a big hoose. Saughton being a suitable one.

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Allowayjambo1874
On 05/05/2021 at 17:58, Footballfirst said:

Yup.

 

Creditors: £6.7m

 

BDO Fees: £5.3m

 

Legal costs: £13m and rising

 

Cash left: £3.9m

FF in your opinion has this just essentially turned into dickens Jarndyce v Jarndyce where the lawyers fees will eventually empty the coffers and nothing will actually be resolved? 

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Footballfirst
1 hour ago, Allowayjambo1874 said:

FF in your opinion has this just essentially turned into dickens Jarndyce v Jarndyce where the lawyers fees will eventually empty the coffers and nothing will actually be resolved? 

Without a doubt.

 

If BDO loses the current action against D&P it will make a huge dent in what remains of the creditors pot.

 

The hearing is scheduled for 32 days, so you can imagine the legal costs involved for a QC and support staff.

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Footballfirst
2 hours ago, Allowayjambo1874 said:

FF in your opinion has this just essentially turned into dickens Jarndyce v Jarndyce where the lawyers fees will eventually empty the coffers and nothing will actually be resolved? 

Without a doubt.

 

If BDO loses the current action against D&P it will make a huge dent in what remains of the creditors pot.

 

The hearing is scheduled for 32 days, so you can imagine the legal costs involved for a QC and support staff.

 

Edit: Andrew McKinlay is next to give evidence in the hearing, I assume relating to his time with the SFA.

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Hagar the Horrible
5 hours ago, John Findlay said:

Whyte was/is Murray's patsy. Murray should be in a big hoose. Saughton being a suitable one.

I disagree, Murray had been trying to bail out of big glass hoose since 2001 when he had to sell 30% of MIH to cover the cost of the failed share issue, he ended up with more shares.  Whyte came along and at that time he could not care if he sold it to the Vatican.  Whyte was NOT duped, he got the keys and wanted the tax man to win, so he could asset strip, he sold the Arsenal shares within minutes, financed the take over on future season tickets sales which would have negated any kind of income, but cared not as there was not going to be future seasons to sell season tickets, Ticketus should have opted for security. Whyte was the con man who was conned by another conman in the shape of Green of Normandy who did the swictheroo on the Sevco 2012 as Sevco Scotland.  Green wanted admin so as to get a CVA.  D&P did look to be a bit friendly on that front.  The 3 bears, the Ng guy, the dallas Cowboys etc.  Nobody was/is a patsy unless Ticketus counts.

 

A book written by an non-OF person should be done, I would love to have the full thread transcript of the super thread and even the one before that, As we all predicted Whyte was a wrong un.  At the time of the off-the radar diatribe, I did my own due diligence and found several attempts to clean his digital footprint, and reported it here at the time as a cause for concern

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Footballfirst
1 hour ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

I disagree, Murray had been trying to bail out of big glass hoose since 2001 when he had to sell 30% of MIH to cover the cost of the failed share issue, he ended up with more shares.  Whyte came along and at that time he could not care if he sold it to the Vatican.  Whyte was NOT duped, he got the keys and wanted the tax man to win, so he could asset strip, he sold the Arsenal shares within minutes, financed the take over on future season tickets sales which would have negated any kind of income, but cared not as there was not going to be future seasons to sell season tickets, Ticketus should have opted for security. Whyte was the con man who was conned by another conman in the shape of Green of Normandy who did the swictheroo on the Sevco 2012 as Sevco Scotland.  Green wanted admin so as to get a CVA.  D&P did look to be a bit friendly on that front.  The 3 bears, the Ng guy, the dallas Cowboys etc.  Nobody was/is a patsy unless Ticketus counts.

 

A book written by an non-OF person should be done, I would love to have the full thread transcript of the super thread and even the one before that, As we all predicted Whyte was a wrong un.  At the time of the off-the radar diatribe, I did my own due diligence and found several attempts to clean his digital footprint, and reported it here at the time as a cause for concern

I generally agree with the above.

 

Neither Murray nor Whyte were duped. Both know exactly what they were getting into or out of.

 

Ticketus could not ask for security, as their business model precludes it.  They had purchased future STs, so as a buyer can't ask for security. Had it been a loan, then the security would have applied.  However, they did get a personal guarantee from Whyte and were successful in obtaining a judgement against him for £17.7m in April 2013 in an English court.

 

The current hearing seems to be going down the route of BDO claiming that D&P's desire to get a CVA caused them to fail to get the best result for creditors.

 

Personally I think that BDO will have difficulty in persuading Lord Tyre that D&P failed in their duties, as the primary aim of any administration is to save the company, and should that not be possible then get the best deal on an asset sale.

 

After Bill Miller and Bill NG withdrew their bids, Green's was the best that they had left.  The Blue Knights were reliant on the Jelavic transfer cash being used as part of their bid.

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Unknown user
31 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

I generally agree with the above.

 

Neither Murray nor Whyte were duped. Both know exactly what they were getting into or out of.

 

Ticketus could not ask for security, as their business model precludes it.  They had purchased future STs, so as a buyer can't ask for security. Had it been a loan, then the security would have applied.  However, they did get a personal guarantee from Whyte and were successful in obtaining a judgement against him for £17.7m in April 2013 in an English court.

 

The current hearing seems to be going down the route of BDO claiming that D&P's desire to get a CVA caused them to fail to get the best result for creditors.

 

Personally I think that BDO will have difficulty in persuading Lord Tyre that D&P failed in their duties, as the primary aim of any administration is to save the company, and should that not be possible then get the best deal on an asset sale.

 

After Bill Miller and Bill NG withdrew their bids, Green's was the best that they had left.  The Blue Knights were reliant on the Jelavic transfer cash being used as part of their bid.

Surely Whyte was duped by Green though (that whole Green and Whyte thing still gives me a chuckle)

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Footballfirst

First witness in the BDO v D&P case today was Neil Doncaster.  I think he gave the wrong answer to being asked his full name.  He should have answered "Neil I Don't Recall Doncaster".  Its an affliction that seems to be shared by most witnesses to date, including Andrew McKinlay.

 

There were no great revelations.  He did admit that Hearts administration was much more transparent that that of RFC. There was confirmation that both Celtic and RFC had to be in the (then) SPL was part of the contracts with Sky and Clydesdale Bank. Also that they had to pay the SFL £1m to buy out the rights to show Sevco games in the SFL in season 2012/13. 

 

When asked a more difficult question of why RFC was not paid fees at the end of season 2011/12, it was "I can't recall, you would have to ask Rod McKenzie for the legal basis"  Doncaster is a lawyer himself FFS.

 

 

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John Findlay
12 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

First witness in the BDO v D&P case today was Neil Doncaster.  I think he gave the wrong answer to being asked his full name.  He should have answered "Neil I Don't Recall Doncaster".  Its an affliction that seems to be shared by most witnesses to date, including Andrew McKinlay.

 

There were no great revelations.  He did admit that Hearts administration was much more transparent that that of RFC. There was confirmation that both Celtic and RFC had to be in the (then) SPL was part of the contracts with Sky and Clydesdale Bank. Also that they had to pay the SFL £1m to buy out the rights to show Sevco games in the SFL in season 2012/13. 

 

When asked a more difficult question of why RFC was not paid fees at the end of season 2011/12, it was "I can't recall, you would have to ask Rod McKenzie for the legal basis"  Doncaster is a lawyer himself FFS.

 

 

In other words, he would make a good politician, as he lies through his teeth.

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Perth to Paisley

March 6, 2015.

Dave King linked hands with John Gilligan and Paul Murray, pausing to take in the enormity of what he had achieved, and raised his arms aloft to a chorus of cheers. The dazed smile he wore conveyed his disbelief at having finally ended a year-long battle for control of Rangers.

At Ibrox, the audience at the entrance to Argyle House had arrived for the coronation. It had just been confirmed that the resolutions to install King, Gilligan and Murray as directors each received over 85 per cent of the votes cast at the club’s extraordinary general meeting.

King had wrestled back the levers of power, successfully overthrowing the allies of Sports Direct and Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley. Chief executive Derek Llambias and finance director Barry Leach were voted off the board, while chairman David Somers and director James Easdale, who had controlled over a quarter of the company’s shares, had resigned, anticipating defeat.

Regime change brought an end to the darkest chapter in Rangers’ history but taking back control was only the first part of the journey. They had to create, as King phrased it, “a Rangers that we will all start to recognise”.

Six years and one day on from that date, after a torturous journey, Rangers won their 55th league title. On Saturday, they will raise the trophy again, 10 years to the day since they last did so.

That day in 2015 was the first step to “emerging from four years under siege”, according to Gilligan. For Rangers fans, this has been a decade strewn with trauma, and even fears that they would lose their club completely.

This title victory has only been made possible by the intervention in 2015. Without the investment of King and others, including chairman Douglas Park, George Taylor and George Letham (the Three Bears) and the Hong Kong-based investors who have funded a shortfall approaching £50 million since assuming power, Rangers would not have had the means to restore themselves to the top.

It was anything but a simple transaction, however. There were failed revolutions, protests, media manipulation, legal threats, boycotts, daily spreadsheets and a “war room” where the grand plan for a corporate takeover was laid out.

It took a year to come to fruition but this is the comprehensive story — told by several of the key figures involved — of how King and his associates overcame Ashley and set Rangers on the road to recovery, including:

  • King’s meetings with Craig Whyte, the Easdale brothers, Jim McColl and Laxey Partners
  • Inside the “heated” first meeting in the “war room”, as King set his stall out
  • The PR war that saw leaks, legal threats and even Ally McCoist used to control the narrative
  • The role of former Rangers communications director Jim Traynor
  • What King’s true legacy should be, and the lessons to be learned

The demise of Rangers in 2012 had come as a result of several missteps, beginning during the tenure of Sir David Murray. His spending in the 1990s ran up debts which reached £74 million in 2004 and he engaged in the use of Employee Benefit Trusts — a tax-free loans scheme which disguised remuneration that became known as the ‘big tax case’ — in paying £47.6 million to over 80 staff between 2001 and 2009.

When HMRC started to pursue the unpaid income tax and national insurance contributions in 2010, it meant the club had a potentially monstrous bill hanging over their head — and, with the penalties and interest it gathered, not one of many prospective buyers would touch Rangers with a barge pole.

Murray had leveraged his relationships with influential figures at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) to secure further loans and overdrafts for his business empire Murray International Holdings (MIH). But after Lloyds Banking Group took over HBOS in 2008, they clamped down. Lloyds took de facto control of Rangers and cut costs to ensure the debt was gradually reduced from around £30 million to £18 million.

King, a Glasgow-born businessman who made his fortune in South Africa, had been a director since 2000 but saw his £20 million investment lost. The bank’s control over the coffers had “shrunk” the club and fresh investment was needed, but when Whyte, a largely unknown businessman, came forward as a potential buyer suspicions were raised, most notably by director Alastair Johnston.

Murray sold his 85.3 per cent stake to Whyte for £1, on the condition that he cleared the £18 million bank overdraft and the £2.8 million owed for the “small tax case” liability while committing to an investment of £5 million in the playing squad for four years.

“I deal with people who have money. You have a sense of someone who has money and someone who doesn’t and everything about him (Whyte) was not a guy who had the type of wealth to be able to come in and advance the club,” says King, who only met him after the deal was completed.

Craig Whyte Rangers
Whyte’s (pictured above in 2011) reign at Ibrox did not last long (Photo: Lynne Cameron/PA Images via Getty Images)

Months later, it transpired that these funds had come from selling off the season ticket revenue for the next three seasons to Ticketus for £20 million. Murray claimed he had been “duped”.

In court, it was later claimed by Whyte’s lawyer that Murray had been “incentivised” by the bank’s offer to allow him to buy back his metals company for £1 upon selling Rangers as part of the wider MIH debt restructuring, which peaked at £942 million in 2009.

With the Ticketus deal meaning the elimination of a major source of annual income, Whyte withheld £9 million of PAYE and VAT payments to prolong the business, but it catapulted the company into administration on Valentine’s Day 2012. Administrators Duff & Phelps arrived but a company voluntary arrangement was rejected by HMRC, the overwhelming majority creditor, meaning the company entered liquidation in the June.

“We had lost control,” says King. “That was just reality, but at least we had a position we could go forward from. As dire as it was, it formed essentially what should have been an economic low point which someone could then come in and build upon.”

Except, that did not happen. Yorkshire businessman Charles Green bought the assets for £5.5 million and Rangers were placed into the fourth tier following a mass exodus of players.

In December 2012, Green announced that a share issue had raised £22.2 million, taking the capital generated in the first 10 months to more than £35 million. There were shoots of optimism but, soon enough, Green’s turns of phrase changed to defensive statements and his self-acclaimed “big Yorkshire hands” morphed into claws many fans felt were sunk too deep into their club.

There was to be no clean break from the controversy and financial issues. Rangers lost more than £32 million in the next three years on operating expenses, which included huge salaries, bonuses and pay-offs to directors totaling £2.52 million.

Shareholder Sandy Easdale was alleged to have held discussions with Rafat Rizvi, who was on Interpol’s most wanted list, about selling the club to a group of Malaysian investors. Whyte then claimed to have colluded with Green over the sale of the assets, which was one of the first major red flags for supporters. Green resigned in April 2013 after being placed under investigation over this by other board members  — he was later cleared — but he agreed to sell his shares to brothers James and Sandy Easdale, the latter of whom had a previous conviction for VAT fraud.

The following month, Malcolm Murray stepped down as chairman and claimed he was forced out of the club as he and director Phil Cartmell were replaced by James Easdale and Chris Morgan, who had business ties with Green.

Ashley, who upped his initial stake in 2012 to nine per cent, was sold the naming rights to Ibrox for £1. His Sports Direct business were awarded the retail contract which saw Rangers earn an estimated 4p from every £1 of merchandise sold and a seven-year notice period triggered if they wished to break that contract.

Many supporters had learned to be cynical after what had happened to their club but Green and co still retained support from elements of the fan base.

Chris Graham, who was the most prominent fans’ spokesperson at the time, explains how the board tried to control public opinion.

“Green was really polished, in a really rough way,” he says. “He appealed to the man in the street and he was happy to walk into a room full of angry Rangers fans and win them over.

“There was one fan meeting where Green and (Imran) Ahmad (commercial director) were talking about the kit deals and it was the first time Ashley’s involvement had been mentioned. I remember some people thinking, ‘Maybe this could be a good thing, he’s a billionaire’, but that was the problem. People want to look on the bright side. ‘These guys will only do well if the club does well’, was a line put out a lot but there were multiple ways, as we saw.

“We spent at least a year telling people, ‘Things are not right, don’t just hand over your money’.”

Railing against the incumbent board came with its troubles, as Graham found out when he received a lawyer’s letter on behalf of finance director Brian Stockbridge saying they would take action unless he deleted tweets that said Stockbridge had lied about matters. The threats came to nothing.

It took persistence and the passage of time for concerns to outweigh the natural loyalty many fans feel towards those in power but that balance tipped for Graham at a meeting designed to build trust with fans in which executives attempted to explain how so much cash had been squandered while the club was in the lower divisions.

“You just thought, ‘There is no credible way that the money has all been used in the best way for the club here’, but they would explain them by talking about these figures for printing costs,” says Graham. “We had people with corporate knowledge examining it, saying there is no way it makes sense, but trying to get that analysis out to the support is really difficult.

“People don’t want to hear it after the elation of raising money and the team going up the divisions. But when you can’t look at a board and understand why they’re there, then the alarm bells start to ring.”

Charles Green Rangers
Green, pictured above, addresses the crowd at Ibrox in 2012. His rhetoric helped to split the fanbase (Photo: Lynne Cameron/PA Images via Getty Images)

King was hearing them from his home in Johannesburg, but there were other attempts to overthrow those in charge before he felt compelled to step in.

Scottish billionaire Jim McColl broke cover in August 2013 and called for Craig Mather (who had invested £1 million at the outset and replaced Green as CEO), Stockbridge and non-executive director Bryan Smart to be removed from the board and be replaced by Paul Murray, who was a director between 2007 and 2011 and led a prospective ownership group called the Blue Knights in 2012, and PricewaterhouseCoopers executive Frank Blin.

Green said he was “messing with the minds of Rangers fans” and said if he paid £14 million he could have 28 per cent of the club, but McColl had no intention of increasing his shareholding. King met him at his company Clyde Blowers Capital’s headquarters but was left “bemused” when McColl said he could not invest or sit on the board. “It turned out to be a very short meeting,” says King.

A renewed attempt came in the October when a group known as the Requisitioners proposed that Paul Murray, Malcolm Murray, Scott Murdoch and Alex Wilson be nominated onto the board. Their QC, Richard Keen, accused the club of engaging in “guerrilla warfare” by not informing other shareholders of their motion and had to seek an interdict from the court to prevent the board from pressing on with an AGM.

Their challenge failed, however, as the board retained the backing of major shareholders after Graham Wallace, the chief operating officer at Manchester City, was named chief executive.

“He (Wallace) was beyond reproach and torpedoed that Requisitioners attempt,” says Graham.

“I’m sure he took the job in good faith but it was obvious from the start he wasn’t going to be able to make a difference. He went to NARSA (North Atlantic Rangers Supporters’ Association) to speak to the fans. I bumped into him in the foyer and I put across to him that I think you’re genuine and you think you can change things but there is nothing you as an individual can do with this nest of vipers around you.”

A fan board was created and engagement surveys were sent out.

“That was the splitting of the support,” says Graham. “Once fans are pitted against each other and muddy the waters, you never have a coherent drive to change things.

“It’s a very alluring thing being told, ‘Come into the inner sanctum and we’ll tell you what’s really going on’. There was folk being put in the directors’ box, and some bought into that. When we put out the analysis of the Sports Direct deal there were posters all over social media saying the figures were wrong. People just couldn’t believe they were getting so little.

“People were trying to influence the whole discussion on the Rangers forum using inside information, fans were put forward to Sky News to present an alternative view suggesting that normal fans were behind the board. They were constantly trying to cause havoc.”

Green had been brought back as a consultant and things looked bleak, so much so that Mather contacted King.

Stockbridge accompanied him to South Africa, where King says he made clear he would only re-engage if he was made chairman. “That seemed to be acceptable to them but when they took it to the Easdales and Ashley they said there was no way they would let me back into the club. Mather realised then that there was nowhere to go and resigned.”

The choice was clear to King. “It was just so dire that I thought I will never forgive myself if I don’t do it,” he says.

“The club was dropping to a level where we wouldn’t have challenged for honours as Ashley seemed quite content to run the club with Llambias and Leach on the basis that he made money. I felt he was making it another Sports Direct.

“I made the decision that the only way to effect regime change was by acquiring shares in the open marketplace and building up enough of a stake with other supporters and other institutions to get them off the board. It really became a takeover — a corporate finance approach to it.”


It was now March 2014. Those who had answered the call to arms were due in attendance.

King’s business ties in Scotland had waned, but he knew he needed other Rangers-minded business people to support him and form a coalition.

Paul Murray, a former member of the Blue Knights and the Requisitoners; Gilligan, the former Tennent’s brewery managing director; Park, who made his fortune from Park’s Motor Group; Taylor, a managing director with Morgan Stanley; Letham, whose businesses are mostly in plumbing and heating; Graham of the Rangers Supporters’ Trust (RST); Craig Houston, the Sons of Struth (SOS); Nithsdale Loyal spokesman Billy Montgomery; and David Leggat, a retired journalist who spent almost 50 years as a sportswriter, were all in attendance.

The meeting was held at the offices of Level 5, a PR company set up by Traynor, who had been appointed as Rangers’ director of communications at Rangers in December 2012 but left the following November. It was agreed that those there would come in through the back entrance to avoid detection as newspapers had become aware.

There were between 15 and 20 people at this meeting — the first and last time everyone involved was there in person — in what was dubbed the “war room”.

“The position was very uncertain and emotions were running high,” says King.

“Some of the people in there were incandescent. They weren’t always pleasant meetings as the level of anger at what was going on, in some people’s minds, demanded immediate action. As someone who has been involved in corporate finance, I know you have to plan these things properly but it was like, ‘Let’s have the AGM next week’. They were looking at every game as a lost game.

“I had to say, ‘Guys, we’re not ready. When we get there, we’ve got to get it right’. If we failed the first time, I don’t think we would have had a second bite at that as the institutions who were backing me were backing me as a winner.

“I had the underlying agreement with George and Douglas and said, ‘Whoever you’ve got in your camp, for every pound I put up, you put up a pound between you and let’s do what we’ve got to do. I’ll be the anchor tenant but I need to know you guys are with me. I’ll take on 50 per cent. I don’t care if there are five of you, 10 of you or 50 of you, but collectively you have to come up with something that matches me pound for pound’.”

Rangers protests Mike Ashley
Fans in 2017 unfurl a banner aimed at Ashley (Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA via Getty Images)

Those present left the room energised but before King could begin persuading the institutional investors that it was in their interests to sell up, he had to ensure the case was amplified.

That required the various fan groups to universally back him. “I was aware of the Rangers support’s ability to fragment and generally oppose one another but I did feel the cause was uniting them,” says King.

That is when the Union of Fans was formed, an amalgamation of various share-buying companies, supporters’ clubs and fan groups. King “reluctantly” called on fans to not buy season tickets and to extend that boycott to the club’s retail arm.

Houston, of SOS, helped form picket lines outside the club shop to discourage fans from buying merchandise, while they staged stunts like the one on a busy Saturday afternoon when they blocked the tills at Sports Direct by collecting a basket full of items before reneging on the purchase after they had been scanned.

The overarching objective was to blacken the name of those in power at Rangers and ensure that fans were rallied from apathy first into outrage and then into action.

“We almost had to bring it to its knees financially to turn it around,” says King.

“The supporters couldn’t help me get the EGM over the line but they were important for me talking to institutions and asking them to sit on the sidelines. I was saying there was no economic recovery unless we vote these guys out but, if the supporters were pitching up every week and buying kit they would have said, ‘Well, King, you’re calling for these boycotts but no one is listening to you’. Where would my credibility have been?”

That strategy made a noticeable impact as season-ticket sales dropped to just 26,500 from a base of comfortably above 40,000 but not all fans could bring themselves to take such action. Ross McAdam, a chartered accountant who was a board member on the RST at the time, was conflicted.

“I was thinking about resigning from the Trust, as I didn’t give my season ticket up,” he says. “I understood the logic behind it but I felt that the only thing that would be damaged was Rangers if we cut off the revenue streams, whereas what did Rangers going out of business mean to Ashley or the other characters? It was high risk, but that’s why he (King) achieved what he did as he had the bottle to do it.”

The message to boycott and stay united had to be amplified via the media, and that was one war waged in the background.

Leggat worked closely with Traynor during this period and was a conduit between himself and reporters.

“Jim preferred to operate in the background but essentially he was advising those who were determined to gain control. He could see they were the only ones capable of rescuing and saving Rangers,” says Leggat. “He is a very astute man.

“He had a greater range of contacts than I did, so he was getting information that he couldn’t share with the wider public, but in journalism there are always ways and means to get things out.”

Leggat says there was a “great deal of sympathy” from journalists for the situation Rangers were in.

“They knew this was bad for Rangers and, if it was bad for Rangers,  it was bad for Scottish football. If it was bad for Scottish football, it was bad for newspapers,” he says.

“I had known most of these guys from when they started out in their careers. I never tried to kid them, I had to ensure they could trust me.

“I was privy to a great deal of information. I sat at my desk one day with Graham Wallace’s famous 120-day review, which I had after 110 days. I was calling on journalists we knew we could trust with the information. There was the question of Wallace’s bonus, so I was able to tell people it was £315,000. Newspapers couldn’t take it but I could tell them it was the figure and that they can trust me.”

That story emerged the day before Rangers’ final game of the season in League One, away to Dunfermline. It occurred to Leggat that there was a further headline to be had on the Monday morning.

“I phoned (manager) Ally McCoist in the morning and asked him if he or the players were getting a bonus. The answer was that there were no bonuses.

“I said, ‘After you’ve done your normal press conference, two or three of the guys will nod you into the corner and ask to have a word with you. One of them will ask you the questions I’ve just asked you’. My last instruction to McCoist was, ‘For God’s sake, make sure you don’t lose or you’ll bugger the story!'”

Rangers drew 1-1 to end the 2013-14 season invincible but the board were anything but in the eyes of the fans.

It got onto the back pages that there would be no bonuses and this is the weekend Leggat believes was the most damaging to the board’s integrity.

Media House’s Jack Irvine was working on the opposite side, having represented Sir David Murray, Whyte, administrators Duff & Phelps, Green and the Easdales.

“Irvine employed the same disruptive tactics on their behalf as we employed on ours,” says Leggat. “He was working for them and was going to pull every string and whisper in every ear that he could. Some people swallowed every word he said.”

King said he found Irvine’s interventions “amusing”  and says that the more desperate he got the more he felt he was winning.

Irvine gave his own accounts of events when contacted, however.

“I was determined to tell fans and media that Dave King and his crew were fantasists,” he says.

“I would also add that Dave King has left the club as a financial basket case. This is the man who generously says he will sell his shares to fans at 20p a pop when they are probably worth tuppence. ‘Equity confetti’ doesn’t begin to describe the mess they are in.

“Having said that I think (current manager Steven) Gerrard has been wonderful and I am delighted to see the team doing so well. It’s the board structure and financial arrangements that are a disaster.”

Rangers stated in March 2014 that they had parted company with Irvine but Graham says he was still “very active” behind the scenes after that: “One minute it was the Easdales, then it was the club and then it was back to the Easdales.

“Irvine had huge media contacts — if you get an email from the Rangers PR guy, you’re going to use it. We were trying to constantly monitor that and rebut it. That’s why the media were so useful for us. We started openly talking about the briefings he was sending to people and started to invoke his name in public, which is always bad news for a PR man.”

Irvine has confirmed to The Athletic that he continued representing the Easdales and Green throughout this time — and still does.


King’s team were starting from a low shareholder base and had to methodically strategise how they could turn the tables, so every morning he would receive an updated spreadsheet from Graham with the latest shareholdings, how far off they were from being able to call an EGM and who they could target.

“Chris was an absolute a work horse, his spreadsheets were critical,” says King.

Some of the institutional investors were off-shore companies difficult to identify but those such as Blue Pitch Holding and Margarita Funds Holding Trust were simple to identify as being in Ashley’s camp.

Graham was successful in obtaining the shareholder register, though, which helped test who may not be happy with the return on their investment.

“As you can imagine they weren’t too enamored, but we jumped through hoops to get there.”

Sandy Easdale responded by securing the voting rights of several anonymous companies, moving them into a nominee account called Beaufort Securities which took his voting control to over 26 per cent. But King had a breakthrough in December with shareholders Laxey Partners, who held 16 per cent.

“They were against us to start with,” he says. “It’s only when they realised that the momentum I had built was such that it was likely to happen they said, ‘Do you know what? We’d rather sell and get out of this completely’.

“I met with their boss (Colin Kingsnorth) and we didn’t have a good meeting. He was quite a self-confident guy and we didn’t get on that well. Laxey said, ‘We will sell, but not to you’.”

The Three Bears duly bought them for £2.7 million.

Ashley was not prepared to give in that easily, though. With the club still leaking millions every year, the precarious financial state allowed him to tighten his grip.

In October 2014, King and Letham tabled a £16 million bailout package for 51 per cent of the shareholding but it was rejected in favour of a £3 million loan from Ashley, which saw him given the right to appoint two new board members. Two months later, Llambias, who had worked with Ashley from 2007 to 2013 at Newcastle United, replaced Green as chief executive.

In January 2015, the board turned down an offer from the Three Bears to underwrite a £6.5 million share issue, then accepted a further loan from Ashley — this time of £10 million — which included a floating charge over the club’s assets and fixed charges over the car park, training ground and trademarks, while seeing 26 per cent of its retail business transferred to Ashley. The RST even submitted a petition to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, seeking an interim order to stop Ibrox being used as a guarantee.

Ashley tried to increase the cap on his shareholding from 10 per cent to 30 per cent but he was blocked by the Scottish FA and fined for breaching dual ownership rules.

The manoeuvring all proved inconsequential, though, as two investors, Artemis and Milton, agreed to sell their 15 per cent stake to King in January. It took their camp to over 32 per cent.

They scheduled the EGM for March but Graham was still looking to ensure as many individual fan shareholders sided with them as the numbers were not set in stone. The RST sent an email to every person, no matter how small their shareholding, which led to events being held in a pro-Rangers pub, the Louden Tavern, around the corner from Ibrox, simply for people to fill out their proxy forms.

RANGERS-FANS-PROTESTS-scaled-e1620757737
Fans make their feelings clear before the EGM in 2015 that helped King and the Three Bears take control (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

McAdam left one pre-match session with a rucksack full of proxies. He says: “I was thinking about whether I should go into the game or not but I did so I was sitting there with over 1,000 votes in my bag watching us get horsed by Hibs.”

The concept of fan ownership took off as RST and Rangers First (RF) gained huge momentum, at one point boasting over 15,000 members combined. The fans were now mobilised, but still wary.

“Usually we’d tell them to mail it in but the level of mistrust was so high that people were wanting to hand their card to us to make sure that it was voted the right way,” says Graham.

“Old ladies were queuing up at the pub and saying, ‘Thanks very much, son. Let’s get rid of these guys’.”

Joanne Percival, an RST board member at the time and her elderly mum, who has mobility issues, would go down to the post office box every day and pick up the hundreds of votes coming in. They would sit with a spreadsheet and fill in every person who had sent in shares while McAdam took two days off work before the EGM and sat through the night checking every proxy had been filled out properly before logging them.

That was bolstered in February when someone from within the Beaufort bloc sold 450,000 shares, while in the week before the big vote, Mathers, German football manager Felix Magath and ex-Rangers boss Walter Smith all agreed to proxy their shares to the RST. It took them to over six per cent.

The board attempted to hold the EGM in London but too many fans were declaring their intention to vote in order to travel and so it was eventually held at Ibrox. Even though they felt sure they had it wrapped up, the battle for control had been so draining and vicious that they were expecting another curveball.

“It was very stressful, as I am naturally cautious,” says King. “So much was at stake and I had put so much into it. I was thinking, ‘What if Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct relationships has made someone do something?’

“What would have happened if we had failed that day? It is unthinkable.

“I had a lot of nervous energy, but when I saw Llambias and Leach had fled the stadium the day before the meeting I got a sense that they had given up as they would have seen the early votes.

“They went wrong tactically in the sense that they could have delivered control to myself and the others and still retained a good relationship with the club. It would have been an unholy alliance, but they could have been part of it. They chose fighting until the bitter end.”

It turned out to be a landslide of 85 per cent of the votes in favour, which brought an end to a year that had demanded so much of their personal lives.

“In that moment I was almost in tears when it came through,” says King. “Relief is the better word. Within an hour, it dawned on me, while walking through with John (Gilligan) and Paul (Murray) at Ibrox, the condition it was in. It was a morgue.

“We thought, ‘Wow. Now we’ve got it, what are we going to do with it?’ But the amount of time and effort I put into it, and to see where they are now, makes it my No 1 achievement in my business life.”

The emotions were similar for Graham, who says he had sacrificed weekends away with his son to talk on television about boardroom politics: “I was a complete wreck. Physically and emotionally, I was knackered. A few of the journalists tried to get a hold of me and I remember saying, ‘I have nothing left’.

“Rangers wouldn’t be where they are today without Dave King. It had to be him. I had been through all of these iterations with people who meant well and were trying to resolve the situation but it needed someone with money, someone who was willing to lose their money in the process and someone who was tough enough to front it up and deal with all the stuff being thrown at them by Ashley and Irvine. People shouldn’t underestimate how difficult that was.”

It is easy to forget how recent the club’s financial collapse was.

It is not even a decade yet since Rangers had to regroup in the league’s bottom division but, while the fans deserve to enjoy and celebrate this season’s historic title win, Graham believes the importance of that day in March 2015, and the events which led to it, should be remembered.

“If there is one lesson to be learned from this period, it is that the fans have to have some degree of control over the destiny of the club,” he says.

There is an opportunity to do that as King has an agreement with Club 1872, the fan ownership group which merged RST and RF, for them to buy him out of his 20 per cent shareholding — but it will require £13 million being raised in the next few years.

“The club is probably two to three share sales away from being outwith the control of people they naturally trust,” says Graham. “It doesn’t take much.

“(But) If the fans have 25 per cent of the club, nobody can change that. They can pass it down from generation to generation and if the next Craig Whyte comes wandering onto Edmiston Drive, they can say, ‘No’. They don’t have to rely on another Dave King to save the day.”

(Main image: from left, Gilligan, King and Paul Murray, celebrate taking control. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mike Ashley back in court.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/royal-courts-of-justice-cause-list/royal-courts-of-justice-daily-cause-list

 

Rangers too!

 

Lord Justice Underhill Vice President of the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Justice Baker and Lord Justice Phillips 10:30am For Judgment From the Queen’s Bench Division (Commercial) A4/2020/0329 SDI Retail Services Limited -v- The Rangers Football Club Limited. Appeal of claimant from the order of Lionel Persey QC, dated 29 January 2020, filed 19 February 2020. To be heard remotely

 

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Footballfirst

Steven Naismith is also due to give evidence shortly (5 mins time) in the case brought by the liquidators of RFC 2012 (Oldco) against Duff & Phelps (administrators).  I'd expect him to be questioned about wage cuts, a change to his buy out clause and a potential transfer from Rangers to WBA in 2012.

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Footballfirst
1 hour ago, Mysterion said:

Mike Ashley back in court.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/royal-courts-of-justice-cause-list/royal-courts-of-justice-daily-cause-list

 

Rangers too!

 

Lord Justice Underhill Vice President of the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Justice Baker and Lord Justice Phillips 10:30am For Judgment From the Queen’s Bench Division (Commercial) A4/2020/0329 SDI Retail Services Limited -v- The Rangers Football Club Limited. Appeal of claimant from the order of Lionel Persey QC, dated 29 January 2020, filed 19 February 2020. To be heard remotely

 

Judgement https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2021/790.html&query=rangers

Edited by Footballfirst
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On 07/05/2021 at 13:10, Hagar the Horrible said:

 

 

A book written by an non-OF person should be done.

 

There's one coming out soon. 

 

Maybe August/Sept I think.

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Footballfirst

The SDIR v TRFC case was an appeal by SDIR to confirm that TRFC could not profit from the Elite/Hummel deal. TRFC had interpreted an earlier injunction differently from SDIR and sought to sue Elite for monies due.

 

The three judges concluded on a majority decision to accept the SDIR appeal and their interpretation of the earlier injunction.

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Just now, Footballfirst said:

The SDIR v TRFC case was an appeal by SDIR to confirm that TRFC could not profit from the Elite/Hummel deal. TRFC had interpreted an earlier injunction differently from SDIR and sought to sue Elite for monies due.

 

The three judges concluded on a majority decision to accept the SDIR appeal and their interpretation of the earlier injunction.

 

The outcome was a long difficult read. 

Question a lot of us still have is when will it end and the final compensation figure be worked out. 

 

Wonder when Castore take an investment from Ashley. 

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Unknown user
12 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

The SDIR v TRFC case was an appeal by SDIR to confirm that TRFC could not profit from the Elite/Hummel deal. TRFC had interpreted an earlier injunction differently from SDIR and sought to sue Elite for monies due.

 

The three judges concluded on a majority decision to accept the SDIR appeal and their interpretation of the earlier injunction.

 

Does this mean that the rangers fans bought loads of Hummel tops, Elite made millions from it, and the rangers aren't allowed to go after them for the money?

 

Anyway, 2-1 yas!

Edited by Smithee
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Footballfirst
11 minutes ago, Smithee said:

 

Does this mean that the rangers fans bought loads of Hummel tops, Elite made millions from it, and the rangers aren't allowed to go after them for the money?

 

Anyway, 2-1 yas!

That was my interpretation.

 

Rangers claim against Elite in the Scottish Courts was put on hold pending this appeal by SDIR in England so, on the face of it, it looks like Rangers will not be successful in that claim against Elite.  However, they are permitted to seek to vary the terms of the original injunction preventing them from assisting Elite in what was an unlawful contract.

 

It would be a bit like someone who stole your car, then sold it onto a third party, being able to keep the proceeds of that sale, while still being done for theft.

Edited by Footballfirst
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Unknown user
19 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

That was my interpretation.

 

Rangers claim against Elite in the Scottish Courts was put on hold pending this appeal by SDIR in England so, on the face of it, it looks like Rangers will not be successful in that claim against Elite.  However, they are permitted to seek to vary the terms of the original injunction preventing them from assisting Elite in what was an unlawful contract.

 

It would be a bit like someone who stole your car, then sold it onto a third party, being able to keep the proceeds of that sale, while still being done for theft.

 

Very interesting reading through, from a layman perspective you'd never think it was all so subjective.

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Footballfirst
2 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

Steven Naismith is also due to give evidence shortly (5 mins time) in the case brought by the liquidators of RFC 2012 (Oldco) against Duff & Phelps (administrators).  I'd expect him to be questioned about wage cuts, a change to his buy out clause and a potential transfer from Rangers to WBA in 2012.

SN really didn't have much to say.  The potential WBA transfer was negotiated by SN's agent, Peter McLean. Despite WBA submitting three offers of £1m, £1.5m and £1.7m SN claimed that he was not aware of any bids at that time. 

 

He also claimed that the reduction in his buy-out clause to £2m was simply to keep his options open dependent on the outcome of the administration, which seems fair enough. He still had three years left on his contract at that time.

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Footballfirst

Sevco must have run out of wealthy investors (at least for this year).  They are now looking to raise £6.75m in a share offering to fans. Min £500 Max £100k.

 

https://www.rangers.co.uk/article/rangers-announce-fan-share-offering/5tbfQ96feSYaCk7tcPghwA

 

RANGERS Football Club is delighted to announce the launch of a unique fan share offering, which will give supporters the opportunity to help future-proof our club and build a lasting, fan-based legacy.

Following our historic 55th league title and during our 150th year, supporters now have the opportunity to acquire ordinary shares at a pivotal moment in Rangers’ history.

Over the last 10 years, we have all worked together to secure the club’s future and to provide a base for us to ensure we continue to build together for generations to come.

The shares will be issued by Rangers International Football Club plc (the “Company”) and provide subscribers with the same rights as the current owners, including voting rights on a one-vote-per-share basis and the right to attend the AGM.

Douglas Park, Chairman said: “Rangers has been here for 150 years and it’s vital that we future-proof the next 150 years. The club has to be put in the best possible position and, by widening the ownership to a broader base of like minded supporters and shareholders, we feel it helps put the club on an even stronger footing going forward.”

Managing Director, Stewart Robertson added: “Funds raised will be applied to projects designed to accelerate the financial sustainability of Rangers Football Club, including investing in the new Edmiston House multi-purpose venue, developments at Ibrox Stadium, the acceleration of Rangers’ digital transformation strategy and the club’s international expansion.

"As a club, we will continue to drive our brand in the European and international arenas. We are indebted to our fan base both domestically and across the globe and know they are the foundation of all our future developments.”

Sporting Director Ross Wilson said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to be involved in a football club that is heading in a positive direction and has a solid plan with a lot of fantastic people behind it. As we move forward, we see huge opportunities on the European stage, we see huge opportunities and domestically, and the opportunity for people to be part of that should be an exciting one.”

A minimum investment of £500 and a maximum investment of £100,000 will apply per applicant. Shares will be made available through the investment platform of Tifosy Capital & Advisory as the arranger and authorised offeror of the share offering.

Pre-registration for shares opens today at www.tifosy.com/rangers. Pre-register to receive priority access to the investment page ahead of the full public offer.

 

Edited by Footballfirst
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Sevco is a bottomless pit. You’d wonder where the fans get the money based on the fact there is very little of any return on their hard earned cash.

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Footballfirst
4 minutes ago, Boy Daniel said:

Sevco is a bottomless pit. You’d wonder where the fans get the money based on the fact there is very little of any return on their hard earned cash.

In the last three years they have issued shares amounting to £61m, with around 80% of that converting loans to equity. (excludes the current issue).

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10 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

In the last three years they have issued shares amounting to £61m, with around 80% of that converting loans to equity. (excludes the current issue).

 

Club1872 will not be happy with this move. 

This will significantly impact on their fundraising activity to buy out Dave King's shares. 

 

Do Rangers also not have an outstanding loan owed to King ? This idea suggests it's going towards building their Edmiston House project but some of it must be getting directed towards debtors. 

 

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Footballfirst
54 minutes ago, Mysterion said:

 

Club1872 will not be happy with this move. 

This will significantly impact on their fundraising activity to buy out Dave King's shares. 

 

Do Rangers also not have an outstanding loan owed to King ? This idea suggests it's going towards building their Edmiston House project but some of it must be getting directed towards debtors. 

 

Yes. King had an outstanding £5m loan (+ market rate interest) as at the publication date of their last accounts. 

 

I would also expect that Club1872 will lose out where fans switch to a personal share holding rather than a collective.

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HartleyLegend3

Do rangers have to qualify for the chump league? 

 

If not, isn't that like £25 million straight up? 

 

Let's hope they have to qualify and get pumped out. 

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5 minutes ago, HartleyLegend3 said:

Do rangers have to qualify for the chump league? 

 

If not, isn't that like £25 million straight up? 

 

Let's hope they have to qualify and get pumped out. 

riund 3 of qualifying (then playoff round) for rangers to get to the group stages

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upgotheheads

Remember the good old days when Rangers were going to build a mega casino project at Ibrox, with all the financial boost and flummery which would have led inevitably to worldwide football domination?

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1 minute ago, upgotheheads said:

Remember the good old days when Rangers were going to build a mega casino project at Ibrox, with all the financial boost and flummery which would have led inevitably to worldwide football domination?

thats a blast from the past, weren't they saying things like it would be the blackpool of the north?

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Hagar the Horrible
15 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

thats a blast from the past, weren't they saying things like it would be the blackpool of the north?

Las Govan

 

The Club 2012 guys will be radge if this impacts on cash raising, as I would rather buy myself for myself rather than give these guys the seat at the table.  It needs to be an all or nothing FOH, if they had gone down that route, the would truly be off the radar, as they still do have a worldwide ex-pat fan base.

 

They are still brown brogues from primark

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1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

Yes. King had an outstanding £5m loan (+ market rate interest) as at the publication date of their last accounts. 

 

I would also expect that Club1872 will lose out where fans switch to a personal share holding rather than a collective.

 

Suspect there'll be a fair bit of account juggling but if they fail to reach the CL group stage I think they will have to sell the likes of Kent, Kamara or Morelos. The latter i suspect would be their preference to move on. 

16 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

The Club 2012 guys will be radge if this impacts on cash raising, as I would rather buy myself for myself rather than give these guys the seat at the table.  It needs to be an all or nothing FOH, if they had gone down that route, the would truly be off the radar, as they still do have a worldwide ex-pat fan base.

 

They are still repeating mistakes from the last time. Rangers fans will by lots of tickets and merchandise. Put "55" on it and they'll squander money on it happily however they still haven't moved on from the mindset of "someone rich will fund us." 

 

So far so good though, lots of business people (like Park) have put money in and they convinced the Singapore fan to put money in but that will not last forever. This latest fundraising activity will derail Club1872 further.

 

They have already lost respect/standing with their supporters because it appears to be a group who are a but toothless and has some directors who don't appear independent, they are moving back towards the point where the fans ability to control/influence/rescue their club will be like 2012 again. 

 

 

Edited by Mysterion
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37 minutes ago, upgotheheads said:

Remember the good old days when Rangers were going to build a mega casino project at Ibrox, with all the financial boost and flummery which would have led inevitably to worldwide football domination?

 

That was nuts - lets place a massive casino in an area known for poverty and additions and hope to make money from the poor for the glory of Rangers. :rofl:

 

 

 

 

 

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They're trying really hard to convince folk that this 150th year/55 titles schtick is genuine :lol: 

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Auldbenches
2 minutes ago, Boof said:

They're trying really hard to convince folk that this 150th year/55 titles schtick is genuine :lol: 

I've seen lots of flags with 55 on it hanging out of windows etc.  I don't think this new club, first trophy thing is getting to them.  

They really are trying too hard. 

 

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6 hours ago, Auldbenches said:

I've seen lots of flags with 55 on it hanging out of windows etc.  I don't think this new club, first trophy thing is getting to them.  

They really are trying too hard. 

 

 

 

All of Scottish football knows it's 1 title, them included. 

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Auldbenches
1 hour ago, JackLadd said:

 

 

 

All of Scottish football knows it's 1 title, them included. 

That's why they've put that much emphasis on 55.  I can't remember all this carry on when they got to 50, and that seems more of a landmark number to celebrate.  

 

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The first league title was shared with Dumbarton. As Rangers made such a big thing of Celtic only winning 8.79 in a row (and quite rightly!), they should appreciate they only have 54.5 titles between the 2 Rangers clubs.

 

Doesn't look so good on a flag I suppose - 54.5.  Dumbarton should be sick as they had a better goal average and goal difference that first year but (hardly a shock) the league only had one play off game as a solution if teams tied on points (2-2 draw). You could say the next season was a run-off and Dumbarton won that....

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Footballfirst

More cash to be found from the public purse for compensation to Charles Green and Imran Ahmad.

 

Image

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  • cosanostra changed the title to Sevco are as stupid as we thought

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