Bury baffled by rumours that Ibrox club was plotting takeover

a grave threat to the viability of our sport and our club through no fault of our own.

“It is our view that in the face of this we will be best placed if we live by the spirit of the model we are seeking to achieve. We believe it is mission critical that we both listen, and are seen to have listened, to the views of our members and shareholders on whom our club relies now and for the future. Under all scenarios we need to come together as a club to see this situation through.

“We will therefore hold a ballot of adult ’Well Society members and the small number of existing minority shareholders who have yet to join the society, on a ‘one member/shareholder’ basis. The results of the ballot will be used to determine which way the club votes on 4 July.”

Inverness Caledonian Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron, meanwhile, revealed in an open letter on his club’s website that the opposition of their Supporters Trust to a Rangers newco will help shape their vote.

“The Rangers situation has resulted in a huge volume of letters, emails and phone calls to me from Caley Thistle supporters,” said Cameron. “So many that I cannot reply individually, though all have been given due consideration and the board fully appreciates our fans’ strength of feeling on the issue.

“Similarly, all the posts on the fans’ website have been noted. This week we consulted with the Supporters Trust, whose input is particularly important to us.

“It is fair to say that those who say that Rangers have been punished sufficiently are in an extremely small minority of all the representations received.

“The directors of the club have taken all the comments on board. Our final decision on the issue will be taken based on the views of supporters and the Supporters Trust combined with what we think is best for our club from a business perspective and for Scottish football in general. This is an extremely busy period, otherwise I would have taken time to reply to all of our fans who have taken the trouble to contact me.

“Their views will not be arbitrarily dismissed.

“Meanwhile, as events continue to unfold, the board will continue to assess the situation on an ongoing basis.”

The ongoing moves by the SFA to fast track a merger of the SPL and SFL for the new season, with the newco Rangers given a place in the second tier of the revamped league structure, could now hold the key to the future of the Ibrox club.

Falkirk manager Steven Pressley, a consistent advocate of reconstruction, has questioned the motives behind the current moves and again called for an expanded top flight.

“The whole decision-making about league reconstruction is being based around what is best for Rangers and not Scottish football,” said the former Rangers and Hearts player. “I just feel there is no better opportunity to shake things up.

“We are told that the need for a 12-team league is so that there can be four Old Firm games, but that does not stand anymore.

“Why not take this once-in-alifetime opportunity to revamp and restructure the league?

“Put the start of the new league season back three weeks if it is too tight a timescale.

“We are at a stage where it is critical we get it right. The only way forward is a bigger league. This is an emergency.

“One of the problems is if Rangers just come down [to the First Division], I would imagine that part of the compromise is that there will be a second team which gets promoted as well.

“If you have a 12-team league and two are going down, it brings a lot of pressure to a lot of managers in the top league, and if we are trying to develop young players then that is not an ideal environment.” RANGERS have denied reports that chief executive Charles Green had looked into an alternative move for the club into English football through a potential purchase of League One outfit Bury.

“Rangers have not approached Bury,” said a spokesman, “and our focus is on securing our status in the Scottish league structure.”

Bury chairman Brian Fenton also reacted with incredulity, insisting there had been no contact between his own club and Rangers. Reports suggested Rangers would look to take up Bury’s fixtures in England’s third tier next term, continuing to play their home games at Ibrox, before a statement from the Shakers offered a firm rebuttal.

“There’s been no contact whatsoever,” said Fenton. “I got a call off a journalist yesterday asking whether I’d had contact with Rangers regarding investment or a takeover of Bury. At the time I thought it might just die a death as something that was being bandied around the press. Then this morning I got a call off one of my fellow directors about it being all over the back pages. I turned the television on and it was all over Sky Sports.”

This led to the swiftly issued statement that Fenton felt was essential to quell speculation and reassure supporters. “I didn’t want anybody thinking that we’d sold them down the river to somebody who’s north of the Border,” he said. “Every football club is looking for investment and we wouldn’t turn anyone away if they were realistic investors. But this isn’t realistic. This is basically, I’m led to believe, a takeover to get into the Football League and take Bury Football Club away from Bury. We are sponsored by the local council who we have an excellent relationship with. We’ve got the fans and don’t want to leave Bury without a football club.”

Along with having no contact beforehand, Fenton is disappointed no one at Rangers has been in touch subsequently to offer clarification over the events of the past 24 hours. “We haven’t had any contact with Glasgow Rangers. We don’t know where all these rumours have come from.”