The fallen Glasgow giants admitted in a statement to the stock exchange that it would not be able to pay its creditors if it could not sell at least 15million new shares. That has sparked fears that the 54-time Scottish champions could be heading back into administration. Now Rangers First say they have seen an upsurge in supporters backing their efforts to put the club back in the hands of the Ibrox faithful. Backed by Supporters Direct Scotland, Rangers First have set up a similar scheme to the one used to rescue Hearts from their administration battle. They now say that have seen the number of members volunteering monthly donations rise to over 1400. At current totals, the scheme is pulling in almost £32,500 a month and organisers have now revealed they will use some of that income to take part in this months open offer. SDS spokes Richard Atkinson has been advising Rangers First and he said: We consulted the Rangers First members as soon as the news broke that a new share issue would be happening at the club. The members overwhelmingly wanted to help and authorised Rangers First to take up their prorata share options as well as apply for any excess available. Since that point, we are now closing in on having added 500 new members to the organisation. Around 7,500 supporters backed the Foundation of Hearts efforts to save the Tynecastle outfit and Rangers First have targeted membership levels of 20,000 with average monthly donations of just under £20. They already own 130,000 shares, while another 20,000 have been gifted to them by existing stakeholders. Atkinson added: It is clear that Rangers fans increasingly recognise that they, like fans of many other clubs, have the ability to take a real financial stake in the club that makes a difference in both financial and transparency terms. The rank and file fans of Rangers already own approximately 12 per cent but these small shareholders own the shares individually, what Rangers First is about is gathering these shares together and buying more to firstly achieve a 5 per cent shareholding as this is an important landmark in a PLC and would give the Rangers First group and its members certain rights in relation to the any board of any company that owns the club. What then does this all mean should the Club go into administration a second time? Well Rangers First is legally set up in such a way that it could respond quickly and effectively should that happen, though I am sure no one wants to go through that again Meanwhile, The Rangers Supporters Trust have also announced their Buy Rangers scheme will also take part in the share issue, which closes on September 12.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 12:33:18 +0000
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