Rangers will bolster their summer spending power with a share issue worth £16million.
Coming predominantly from members of the consortium which took the club over last year, the fresh capital will be earmarked to allow Danny Rohl to improve his squad.
The news comes as the Ibrox club have decided against appointing another sporting director.
Rangers had been on the lookout for a replacement for Kevin Thelwell following his departure from the role in November, but it’s now felt that the existing executive team — with new chief executive Jim Gillespie now in the building — is working well without one.
Rohl was backed by his board in January with the acquisitions of Tochi Chukwuani, Tuur Rommens, Andreas Skov Olsen and Ryan Naderi and will have scope to further improve the strength of the squad on the back of the latest share issue — even if the team don’t win the Premiership.
Rangers are keen to facilitate a return to Ibrox for Mikey Moore next season but are aware that his parent club Tottenham have the final say on that.
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh insists the time is right to invest in the playing squad
On the back of announcing a 6.5 per cent increase in the price of adult season tickets, chairman Andrew Cavenagh said: ‘The costs to run the club — player wages, agents’ fees, security, food and beverage — are all rising faster than the overall rate of inflation.
‘We either need the club’s revenues to keep pace, or we need to decrease the money spent on the squad. We don’t believe this is the time to decrease the player and football budget; in fact, we think the opposite.
‘We are not asking supporters to do all the heavy lifting. We are raising £16m of additional capital through a new share issue, effective immediately. The capital will be used to support player acquisitions and other club needs. This increases the total capital invested in the club to £36m in the last year.’
While no prospectus will be circulated, it’s believed all shareholders will receive notification in writing in the coming days, with a minimum buy-in of 1000 shares.
Cavenagh confirmed that the club is no longer seeking a replacement for Thelwell, although it’s understood that Stig Inge Bjornebye is likely to be retained as a football consultant after his initial contract expires at the end of the season.
Having gone through the January window without a sporting director, the consensus is that the role is simply too broad.
At boardroom level, there will be no move to replace vice-chair Paraag Marathe and fellow director Gene Schneur after they stepped down following discussions with UEFA over dual ownership.
‘Over the last four months, we have reconstituted our executive team,’ added Cavenagh. ‘Jim has joined as CEO and Fraser (Thornton) has become an executive director. We believe our current football structure is working well, and we do not plan to hire a sporting director.
Kevin Thelwell left Rangers mid-season after some terrible recruitment and will not be replaced
‘The executive team is committed to being smaller, nimbler, and more entrepreneurial.
‘We want an executive team willing to get its fingernails dirty. If there is a hole to be dug, we want people fighting over shovels. We want fewer consulting firms and less bureaucracy.’
Cavenagh reiterated his club’s backing of the independent review which the SFA announced in the wake of the disorder seen at the most recent Old Firm game.
Dozens of Celtic fans spilled onto the park at Ibrox when their side won the Scottish Cup quarter-final on March 8 on penalties.
This saw scores of Rangers fans enter the field from the other end, with missiles being thrown across a police cordon.
The shameful scenes were roundly condemned by police and politicians with the governing body immediately announcing that it was launching an investigation.
‘The club has already issued a statement regarding the recent Old Firm match and I don’t want to repeat that statement here, but I also didn’t want to ignore such an important subject,’ said the chairman.
‘We continue to denounce the disorder, property damage, and especially those who denigrated the 66 souls lost in the Ibrox disaster.
‘We fully support the independent review and will work with all relevant stakeholders, while continuing to represent the club and our supporters.’
Rangers are firmly in the hunt for the league title, and want to hang on to Mikey Moore (left)
Rangers do, though, still expect to receive approximately 3,000 tickets for the final league game at Parkhead after the split following discussions with the relevant authorities.
The club have also held provisional discussions with Glasgow City Council with regard to a title celebration at Ibrox in the event that Rohl’s men win the championship.
Rangers are due to play three of their five post-split fixtures away from home — including trips to Celtic Park and Tynecastle — but have no indication yet of the likely schedule.
Meanwhile, Rangers are set to host a meeting of fellow Premiership clubs to discuss the standard of officiating.
It emerged last week that the Ibrox outfit had proposed the discussion with other leading clubs after another season in which most had been frustrated by decisions made either on the park or via VAR.
On the back of positive feedback to the proposal, it’s expected that Rangers will set a date for the discussion in the hope that it will help to drive up the standard.
