Rangers EGM demanded in bitter battle for Ibrox power amid sleepwalking Celtic to trophies and £50m claim

Dave King has called on the current Rangers board to hold an emergency general meeting and let the Ibrox club’s supporters decide who they want to run the club.

Former chairman King last week put forward a two-year plan for him to return to the Govan hotseat after John Bennett stood down from the role due to health reasons. However, that plan has fallen on deaf ears with the current Ibrox hierarchy, who are headed up on an interim basis by John Gilligan.

However, King is refusing to walk away from a club that last won the Premiership title under his stewardship in 2021. He believes he is the right man to get Rangers closer to Celtic, saying that the Gers are “sleepwalking” their arch rivals towards further titles.

“We need to find the right CEO and construct an executive team that will take the club forward,” said King. “Using a recruitment agency will be counterproductive and expensive.  This decision again reinforces the disconnection of this board from reality and its inability to get recruitment right. 

Dave King wants to wrestle control back at Rangers. | SNS

“I completely understand why some influential board members don’t want me back.  They know from past experience that I would not tolerate board members who are only in it for the ‘jacket and tie’ and don’t actually want to do any real work. If the board can, for once, set aside self-interest and put the supporters first, then I offer a challenge. 

“Urgently call an Extraordinary General Meeting - as I did to get [Mike] Ashley out - and put yourselves up for re-election. I will in turn put up my nominations, including myself. None of the existing board members can vote and neither will I. John Bennett and George Letham would also be excluded from voting for obvious reasons. In that way we can leave it to supporters - for once - to decide who they want to run their club.

“I estimate that the club needs a minimum of £50 million to achieve our short to medium term objectives, but that could never be raised under the present board structure.  The funds we need must come from a far wider and wealthier base and from parties that will be willing to invest more, over time, to take the club forward and to become a modern age football club. 

A general view of Ibrox stadium. | SNS Group

“This board could not put forward the business case to achieve such an investment.  I have repeatedly said that we, as shareholders, are only custodians of the club for its true ‘owner’- the supporters.  I do not believe that the supporters can have any confidence in the present board to turn things around.

“Lurking in the shadows in a time of need is not the Rangers way and that is why I have again offered to assist. If there is a better option I would support that.  But, I cannot support a leaderless, rudderless board that is in a crisis of its own making.”

King, 69, added in an interview with several outlets on Thursday evening: “We are sleepwalking Celtic towards 55, 56 and 57 instead of trying to stop them.”