KING’S REIGN OVER

Gers chief Dave walks away

DAVE KING last night quit Rangers with a chilling warning over financial fears on the back of the coronavirus crisis.

King admits he’s leaving the club at a time of desperate need in a bid to save his wider business interests from Covid19 collapse.

He made the announcement as he handed over responsibility for leading Rangers through the worldwide pandemic to an Ibrox task team that will report to vice chairman Douglas Park.

The club is planning for a £20million cash injection on the back of a new shares issue.

And King insists it is still on course to be delivered by investors in the Far East, including Scot Stuart Gibson, despite the havoc wreaked to the worldwide economy.

He said: “No one’s withdrawn. The board sub-committee needs to review the sufficiency of that amount and when it is needed. The taskforce is working through that.”

King admits Rangers have been forced to revisit its plans for funding of the new season, drawn up only a fortnight ago, amid the chaos of coronavirus.

But in a statement that will strike fear into the heart of Ibrox fans, he could offer no guarantee of financial security to underpin the club – unlike March 2015 when he and his board seized the club from its previous despised ownership.

King said: “At my final board meeting in Glasgow on March 14 the Board was close to finalising a new round of funding. However, this has been put on hold while the board considers the financial consequences of the rapidly evolving global impact of coronavirus.

“The subsequent severe developments within the sporting and general business environment, that have now resulted in global lockdowns, has necessitated that the careful financial planning assumptions presented on March 14 are revisited.

“In that regard we are no different from other football clubs and, indeed, the largest and smallest companies worldwide are all affected to varying degrees.

“The club has formed a task team that comprises executive management and that reports regularly into the board of RIFC.

“The priority of the task team is to ensure the wellbeing and health of all employees while simultaneously working with our fellow clubs, associations, stakeholders and government to ensure that the emotional and financial impact of this pandemic is mitigated as far as possible. We presently have extremely limited visibility on how the landscape will develop in the coming months but we will continue to keep our supporters and other stakeholders updated as matters progress. We are all in this together.”

King, who owns almost 20% of Rangers, will now be on the outside looking in as he faces a fight to keep business interests in his adopted South Africa alive. He added: “All of my businesses here are significantly impacted.”