By Paul Nicholson
April 14 – Rangers’ financial turmoil has received a much-need positive boost with the announcement of online gaming firm 32Red as its new shirt sponsor. The three-year deal will start next season. 32 Red takes over from Blackthorn cider.
What is happening off the pitch at the club seems to be overshadowing what is happening on it. At the weekend the club, which is unbeaten in the league and next year will move up to the Championship, lost 3-1 in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup to Premier League opposition Dundee Utd.
But pre-match all the headlines were about the row between former board member Dave King and the current board.
King believes the club needs a substantial amount of one-off finance to enable the club to return to the Scottish Premier League and mount a sustainable and credible challenge to the dominance of Celtic. Only once the club has returned to this position should it put in stricter financial spending controls, he says.
With this in mind he has encouraged season ticket holders not to renew their tickets for next season but put the money into a trust fund. King also urged fans not to buy club merchandise.
King wants to create a supporters trust that will end up with shareholding in the club – by converting the trust loan to the club into shares. King has said that he is prepared and wants to be a very significant contributor to that fund.
King had urged the club not to market season tickets for the 2014/15 season until the details of a 120-day business review by new chief executive Graham Wallace had been released.
The club board noted King’s statement “with astonishment” and continued with the launch of a season ticket campaign for supporters to renew ahead of a May 6 deadline.
The Rangers board have warned that they need the season ticket money to continue trading. The club went into administration in 2012 but was reformed starting its new life in the Scottish Division 2, the fourth tier of Scottish football.
The club had already put in place a much-critcised £1 million loan from hedgefund Laxey partners who own 12% of the club. The cost of the loan ignited a storm of fan and shareholder discontent.
Laxey Partners now appear to have agreed to break the loan agreement and allow a wealthy fan, most likely George Letham, to loan the money to the club on much reduced interest terms.
The 32Red shirt sponsorship money cash cannot come soon enough for Rangers. Although no figure has been released for the deal it is estimated to be worth at least £1.5 million per season. 32Red have had shirt sponsorships with English Premier league clubs Aston Villa and Swansea City in recent seasons.
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