Dave King: Scottish football '˜suffered' without Rangers

Dave King believes top flight clubs will be hoping Rangers clinch promotion. Picture: SNS

The Rangers chairman made the claim in a statement released on the club website summarising his first year in charge of the club

The Ibrox side are on the cusp of winning promotion with a healthy lead atop of the Championship table. The club have been outside the top division since suffering liquidation in 2012.

While warnings of a Scottish football “armageddon” proved to be an almost hysterical overreaction by notable high profile figures in the game, many observers still insist that our football nation as been hurt by the loss of Rangers from the top. This view was backed by King in today’s statement.

It read: “Many of the clubs in the Premiership will also be hoping Rangers is promoted because Scottish football has suffered on many levels since our club went down to the bottom division.

“Together we have demonstrated that our club will not be kept down.”

King also hailed the achievements of manager Mark Warburton and his staff for putting Rangers firmly on a course back to the top.

The league leaders currently hold a 12-point advantage over second place Falkirk, with a game in hand, and require only five victories from their final nine league fixtures to win promotion.

They will also contest a hotly anticipated Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic after the two sides were drawn together on Sunday evening.

He added: “We are all buoyed by the marked differences in the football department which had also been low in confidence and inspiration. A completely new management team led by Mark Warburton has been introduced and a more youthful and vibrant squad of players has been assembled.

“The team is playing an attractive brand of attacking, winning football that has captured the imagination of supporters who have returned to Ibrox in huge numbers with more than 36,500 season tickets sold this season.

“Progression in the Scottish Cup has been a welcome reinforcement of the improvements made on the footballing front but the one non-negotiable this year was a return to the Premiership and the team is on track for this, sitting comfortably at the top of the Championship.

“Despite our current strong position, we will not take success for granted and will continue to approach every league game with the same intensity and attack-minded approach that has been on show throughout the season.”

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