Rangers supporters group Club 1872 address share issue reports

Club 1872 are keen to support Rangers further. Picture: SNS

Earlier this month the group agreed a deal with Dave King to buy his stake in the club over the next three years.

Club 1872 queried some of the reporting around the club’s AGM and its participation in share issues previously.

There was also confirmation that it is able to “divert” funds from purchasing King’s stake to investing directly in the club, encouraging fans to support the group.

“We are compelled to correct some of the reporting of today’s AGM,” a statement read. “The suggestion that Club 1872 has ever “refused” or “declined” to participate in any share issue of RIFC is inaccurate. Dialogue regarding our participation in the latest share issue continued with the Rangers Board as recently as this past week.

"During the tenure of Dave King’s chairmanship we were fully informed of the investment merits of investing in each share issue in which we participated. Club 1872 applies the same due diligence that any investor would. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete this due diligence in time for the most recent issue but that has no significance overall as the funds remain available for future share purchases from Dave King and the Club.

“As we have said since the start of our legacy campaign, we have an agreement with Dave King which will allow us to divert any funds from the purchase of his shareholding towards the Club if it has a share issue that we are able to support.

"It is now even more important that fans get behind Club 1872 as we seek to purchase Dave King’s shareholding and also participate in any future share issue of RIFC. Our ability to meet these goals will purely be down to how many Rangers supporters join us.”

Club 1872 was also delighted to hear about the club's commitment to work with the group.

A statement said: “Prior to the AGM, and in advance of us presenting the vote to our members on Resolution 8, we requested that Club 1872 be guaranteed the opportunity to invest directly into the Club. The RIFC Board submitted to our request and that is the undertaking that John Bennet has now confirmed at the AGM. This provides Club 1872 - and consequently our members - with the additional benefit of acquiring shares from Dave King and from the Club, which will only strengthen our position going forward. This is a very positive development for supporters and for our present and future members. It also reinforces the importance of Club 1872 raising sufficient funds to take advantage of this unique opportunity that was initially offered by Dave King and has now been added to by the Club - particularly as further share issues by the Club on similar terms beyond summer 2021 are extremely unlikely.

“We are grateful to Dave King for agreeing to support the opportunity for us to invest directly in the Club and therefore further progress his dream of broad supporter influence at Board level. As Dave has repeatedly pointed out - and as supported by John Bennett today - the Club has always had supporters as significant shareholders but that is no guarantee that the broad supporter base will be considered when major decisions are being made.”