THIS MEANS WAR
On the eve of Rangers’ most crucial match of the season, Dave King and Ibrox board once more resume hostilities
DAVE KING l ast night declared all- out war on the Rangers board after accusing them of broken promises.
On the eve of the club’s Scottish Cup semi- f i nal with Dundee United, the South Africa-based businessman urged fans to follow through on a plan to withhold season-ticket money — and also starve the club hierarchy of other commercial income.
His searing attack follows the launch earlier this week of season-ticket renewals, despite chief executive Graham Wallace’s 120-day business review not yet being released.
The 59-year- old believes there has been a breach of an agreement reached last month when, after talks between the two sides, King (right) agreed to delay his plans until the board had produced a plan for the club’s future.
More explosively, he claimed that c hairman David Somers had intimated the board always wanted to delay publication of the crucial review until after season- ticket money was collected. The Rangers board responded last night by strongly refuting all of King’s accusations — branding them ‘disgraceful’ — and said they could consider legal action. The I brox directors insisted Ki n g had misrepresented their position, stating the review would appear before the seasonticket renewal deadline of May 6.
While the war of words rages on anew, King will now press ahead with his fan-led revolution.
And he has gained the backing of nine-in-a-row captain Richard Gough, who will act as a custodian of the trust account being activated to keep supporters cash out of the board’s reach until specific conditions are met.
Speaking of his talks with the Rangers regime last month, King said: ‘The board recommitted to issue the business review within the original 120-day deadline and, importantly, committed that the
fans will have access to this review prior to advancing funds by way of season-ticket renewals.
‘Despite strong reservations from fan groups, I asked the fans to give the board time to honour this commitment.
‘Part of my motivation was that any public company board is bound to act in good faith and that breach of such a s hare pricesensitive commitment would be an ethical, moral, and probably criminal breach.
‘I followed up on t his commitment with the board after the recent announcement on season-ticket renewals.
‘The chairman has advised me that the board will now only issue the review at the end of t he season- t i cket renewal period and i t will consequently not be timeously made available to fans.
‘Disturbingly, the chairman has advised me that the true intention of the board had always been to delay issuing the review until funds had been largely collected.
‘I apologise to all fans for wasting t i me by l ending credibility to the board’s false representations. I was wrong to give them the benefit of the doubt.’
The timing of King’s statement is controversial, given that it came l ess than 24 hours before Ally McCoist’s side take on United at Ibrox. It is understood he felt he had no option but to break cover again after the formal launch of the season-ticket renewals on Wednesday.
King has stated his intention to provide at least £30million of the £50m he feels it will take to restore Rangers over the next four years, but wants to do so via a new share issue that would dilute the current power base.
If enough fans rally behind his plan, it could force the board to either agree to his wish or risk the club suffering another insolvency event.
‘It is common cause that the club is not a going concern without access to the season- ticket loan from the fans,’ said King.
‘It is also common cause that the season-ticket money will only provide partial relief in advance of a more permanent recapitalisation.
‘I have hitherto urged restraint in dealing with the board. However, due to this extreme act of bad faith, I believe it is vital that fans now withhold season-ticket money from this board and similarly refuse to support the club by way of the purchase of replica kit or any other retail product.
‘An announcement will shortly be made providing details of a bank account that season-ticket money can be paid into as an interim measure.
‘ The specific terms and conditions of this account will be made available to fans, including the basis on which funds will be advanced to the club and the basis on which funds will be returned to fans.
‘As a minimum, the board must provide the club property as security against the season-ticket money.
‘I recognise that fans will have anxiety about “betraying” the club and the risk of loss of a cherished seat at Ibrox. However, the time has come when t he t r ade - off is a potential loss of a seat against the loss of the club. That would be the real betrayal.
‘This board has lost its right to be dealt with on a good faith basis.’
King’s words provoked an equally stern response from within the Ibrox boardroom.
‘The chairman and the board refute all such allegations in the strongest terms and have referred Mr King’s statement to the club’s legal advisors,’ said their statement.
‘Mr King clearly has elected
“I apologise to fans for lending credibility to false claims”
to ignore the board’s previous public statement following the board’s meeting with him. In this statement, which was reviewed with him prior to issue, the board stated that it will issue the results of the business review prior to the season-ticket renewal window ending.
‘ This positi on r e mains unchanged and Mr King is well aware of this having sought personal confirmation on this matter from the chairman as recently as yesterday.’
They added: ‘When the board met Mr King a few weeks ago, he made it clear that he did not want to put another penny into the club and would prefer to see the club using other investors’ money. The board was therefore surprised, but gave him t he benefit of the doubt when, a few days later, Mr King made media comments about a willingness to invest his money into the club. This is an easy statement to make to the media but is contrary to what he told the whole board.
‘It is extremely disappointing that Mr King should consider it appropriate to issue this l atest statement, clearly designed to unsettle and mislead Rangers fans, on the eve of an important Scottish Cup semi-final match. For someone who claims to have the interests of Rangers at heart and as an ex- director, King’s untrue comments are nothing short of disgraceful.’