Rangers' 150th anniversary celebrations receive major boost with planning permission granted for museum and conference venue at Ibrox

Glasgow City Council have formally approved plans for Rangers’ New Edmiston House facility which the Ibrox club believe could generate them extra revenue of around £1 million a year.

Demolition work is well underway on the site which will host New Edmiston House at Ibrox Stadium in time for Rangers' 150th anniversary in 2022. (Photo by Bill Murray / SNS Group)

Rangers had already commenced demolition work on the original Edmiston House, situated beside the Copland Road end of Ibrox Stadium, and intend to have the new two-storey building up and running in time for their 150th anniversary in 2022.

Edmiston House previously hosted the Rangers Social Club, a 600-capacity venue opened in 1971 which hosted cabaret events and professional boxing shows. In later years, the Rangers ticket office was based in the building but it had fallen into disrepair in more recent times.

Rangers commercial and marketing director James Bisgrove has been heavily involved in the new project which will include a club museum and conference facilities. He has assessed the museums at both Barcelona’s Nou Camp and Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium as Rangers look to attract tourism as well as commercial business to New Edmiston House.

Stewart Robertson, Rangers’ managing director, believes it will represent a significant milestone for the club as they plan their celebrations for the 150th anniversary of their formation in 1872 and 50th anniversary of their European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph in 1972.

"We submitted our ambitious plans to the City Council at the end of August, and we were delighted to learn today that its planning committee has approved our plans,” Robertson told the official Rangers website.

"New Edmiston House will be a fabulous facility with a fanzone on match-days, a state of the art Rangers museum, a café, a multi-purpose conference and concert venue, and two new retail facilities over two floors.

"The opening of the new multi-functional facility will be one of the major milestones of our 150th year. We are in the process of appointing a main contractor, and it is planned to have the building fully fitted-out, and operational in the first half of 2022.

"This substantial investment will provide fans with a vibrant pre and post-match experience. It will add to the conference, banquet and music venues available in Glasgow, as well as becoming a destination for visitors to the city. New Edmiston House is designed to host dinners for 500 people, sit an audience of 750 and host gigs and events for up to 1300.

"The demolition of the old Edmiston House is on programme, and the site should be completely cleared in the next few weeks. I’d like to thank all those involved with the demolition, and the forbearance shown by our immediate neighbours during demolition.

"I’d also like to thank all at the City Council for their professionalism, advice and support throughout the planning process, and for the support of all the construction specialists with whom we are working.”

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