Newcastle owner Ashley to buy stake in Rangers

LONDON: Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is ready to buy a stake in fallen Scottish giants Rangers, according to Ibrox chief executive Charles Green.

Rangers already have a retail agreement with Ashley’s Sports Direct firm, who sell sports equipment and clothes, and the London-based tycoon has now been given the green light to take a shareholding in the Scottish Third Division club.

Green, who fronted a consortium that bought Rangers after their liquidation earlier this year, last week launched a 20 million share issue scheme for fans and is also looking to attract institutional investors.

“As you know we’ve been trying to get the position clear where Mike can buy shares in Rangers,” Green told Sky Sports News on Friday.

“We finally got clearance from the football league after they had a board meeting recently and the meetings this afternoon were to make sure the path’s clear for Ashley to invest.

“He’s obviously keen to do that and I’m sure that will get completed in the next few days. I think we’ve already stated previously that he’s not allowed to take a material stake because of the dual ownership position.

“It was made clear to the football league that it would be single-digit percentages. So it’s below what I said to the financial authorities that noone would hold more than 10%. Mike will be under the 10% level.

“There’s lots of things that we want to do with Sports Direct. Mike’s very, very influential.”