The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Supporters’group accusesWallace of misleading fans
RANGERS CHIEF e x e c u t i ve Graham Wallace has been accused of misleading the Light Blues support over his claims that the club had enough cash to stay afloat.
The Ibrox outfit have announced a loss of £3.7 million in the seven months up to the end of last year, an improvement of 50% on the same period 12 months earlier but the interim results also showed that, by December 31, the club had just £3.5m left of the £22m raised when it was floated on the stock market 13 months earlier.
The accounts stated that, within that cash balance, nearly £1.7m relating to Rangers Retail Ltd “is not immediately available as working capital to the group as a whole”.
The Union of Fans, said in a statement: “It appears from both these interim results and the recent loan of £1.5m that this statement at theAGM may have been somewhat misleading.
“It is unclear exactly how it could have been stated by the board at that time, with any confidence, that there was sufficient cash even for the short term and we would like Mr Wallace and (chairman David) Somers to explain this as a matter of urgency.”
Rangers declined to comment on suggestions Wallace had misled supporters, but the Union of Fans also took issue with Somers’ comments about plans for a seasonticket trust.
The fans, angered by the board’s management, have collected pledges from more than 6,500 fans who vow to pay ticket fees into a collective account, which would only be handed over to the board once they have given assurances about the club’s future.
Somers claimed those plans mean there is“material uncertainty” over the club’s ability to continue as a going concern, a position backed by auditors Deloitte.
In the interim report, Somers attacked “ill-informed opinion” surrounding the debate before criticising the ticket trust plans.”
The fans g ro u p responded, however: “It would be foolhardy for fans to once again commit their money without any kind of transparency or security.
“The fans have shown outstanding loyalty in the past two years but we have seen that loyalty thrown back in our faces as money has been squandered.”