By Paul Nicholson
December 29 – Christmas came twice this year for the legions of Rangers fans who have despaired over the enforced relegation of the Scottish giants from the Scottish Premier League and the club’s on-going ownership battles, not least the situation regarding the corporate marauder from England, Mike Ashley, and his former vice-like grip over the club via his financial power.
Ashley, who is restricted to a 9% ownership of the club but would like to have owned it all, had a £5 million loan outstanding from his company Sports Direct.
The money was half of a £10 million loan offered to the previous board to keep the club afloat. The first £5 million was used to pay off a previous loan of £3 million by Ashley and as immediate working capital for the club. The second £5 million was never drawn down.
What was more dangerous for Rangers was that the loan was secured against Rangers’ Murray Park training ground, registered trademarks and other properties. Ashley also held a further 26% of shares in Rangers Retail Limited – he already owns 49% – the company that wholly controls Rangers’ lucrative merchandising operations and which will become the next battleground for the club as it tries to gain control over its vital revenue streams.
The loan repayment had become an ugly battleground for the club with Ashley demanding his money back and even taking the new board and chairman Dave King to court. On Christmas Eve he club issued a statement on its website saying: “We are pleased to announce that payment has today been sent to Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited of the full amount of the loan facilities provided by that company to The Rangers Football Club Limited.”
As if in celebration, Rangers opened up a three-point gap at the top of the Championship table with a 4-2 win over Hibernian yesterday.
Having faltered in their last two championship fixtures allowing Hibs to draw level on points, Rangers returned to form in front of a 49,995 crowd. The club this season are averaging over 43,000 per home game at their 51,082-capacity Ibrox stadium – a more than 20,000 increase from the days when Ashley was calling the shots.
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