RANGERS are in the news once more, and again it’s for events off the pitch, though the 5-0 drubbing by Celtic at the weekend – as their greatest rivals secured their seventh league title in succession – has undoubtedly contributed to the latest brouhaha.
In short, two directors, Paul Murray and Barry Scott, resigned yesterday, the day after the club’s manager Graeme Murty was sacked in the wake of the Celtic hammering. Now the club chairman Dave King is in even deeper trouble with City authorities who have been on his back for many months now.
WHO IS KING?
DAVE King is a 62-year-old businessman born in Castlemilk in Glasgow but now based in South Africa where he made his fortune in outsourcing. He also attracted the attentions of the South African tax authorities who pursued him for a decade before he pleaded guilty to tax offences and handed over millions of rands.
He was an investor in Rangers when Sir David Murray owned the club, becoming a director in 2000. He is reputed to have lost £20 million when “oldco Rangers” went spectacularly bust in 2012.
The current owners, Rangers International Football Club (RIFC), are now also deep in debt, but unlike 2012 when Craig Whyte was in charge, the debts are not owed to HMRC or the major banks but mostly to club shareholders and directors including King himself who have made loans to keep the club afloat.
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM NOW?
WHEN King (pictured) and the so-called Three Bears – a trio of Scottish businessmen – took charge in 2015, they wanted complete control of the club and also wanted rid of Mike Ashley, the owner of the Sports Direct chain who also owns Newcastle United. Ashley was a major shareholder who was seen as having gained a massive financial advantage in his contract with the club to sell its merchandise.
The dispute with Ashley led to court action, but he eventually parted company with Rangers. It was a pyrrhic victory for King, however, as money was spent that might have been directed to greater playing resources. King then fell foul of the Takeover Panel, one of the most powerful authorities in the City.
They ruled that King and the Three Bears had acted “in concert” when they took charge of RIFC, and because their joint holding had breached limits, King was ordered to offer to buy the rest of the shares in RIFC, which amounts to just shy of £11m.
King offered to buy the shares using a family trust, but yesterday it emerged that the Takeover Panel had won court orders to force King to prove he had the money.
A statement on the Rangers website said: “RIFC is seeking the necessary South African government approvals to permit the cash required for the offer to be transferred to the United Kingdom to enable an appropriate third party to provide the cash confirmation.”
WHAT ARE THE FANS SAYING?
LIKE most football fans, the Rangers supporters are probably bewildered by their finances. They just want their club to be successful again and though he was once the hero for ousting Ashley, many fans have turned against him. It seems the Rangers saga is far from being finished.
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