4 days ago
Rangers takeover chief in Club 1872 summit as fan group break silence on key issues
The shareholders grouping have often been outspoken critics the club custodians
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh has held constructive talks with fan group Club 1872.
The shareholders grouping revealed they had been granted a sitdown with the American pharmaceutical tycoon who spearheaded the recent takeover at Ibrox.
Chief executive Patrick Stewart was also involved in the meeting which the group hope can help build bridges between them and the board.
Club 1872 have been at loggerheads with the Ibrox hierarchy in recent years over a number of issues.
They went to war with Rangers chiefs over their decision to participate in the Sydney Super Cup in Australia against rivals Celtic.
The Ibrox club accused the of embarking on "propaganda war" but in the end they withdrew from the friendly Down Under over a wider supporter backlash.
Now, though, they appear to been keen to create a better relationship with the new owners.
Club 1872 have five per cent shareholding in the club and their ultimate aim is to have official representation at board level - but that is not on the table for the new regime.
But they could still have a part to play in the new era as talks get set to continue and a statement read: "Club 1872 is pleased to announce that we held a very positive meeting with new Rangers Chairman and lead consortium member, Andrew Cavenagh and chief executive, Patrick Stewart [on Monday].
"Since John Bennett became chairman in April 2023, Club 1872 has been meeting regularly with Rangers to find a way forward on a proposed funding model which would fit with the club's strategy and allow renewed investment directly to the club for shares as well as funding key heritage projects of significance to the Rangers support.
"At each stage of those discussions, progress was made but then delayed by the regularly fluctuating situation with the senior leadership of the club. We have met with three different chairmen and two different chief executives over that time.
"We sincerely apologise to contributors for our relative silence during this time but we were dealing with those regular changes to the senior decision makers at the club and were mindful of confidentiality considerations and sensitivities in that ever changing landscape - particularly in recent months with a live takeover in play.
"We welcome this early opportunity to speak to Andrew Cavenagh and outline our funding proposal, the significant funds we have available to invest and to gain an understanding of the priorities of the new owners.
"We also had the opportunity to discuss the upcoming EGM, the change in the company structure and the investment strategy of our new owners going forward.
"It is our intention to find a way in which Club 1872 can fit into that strategy that all parties are comfortable with and we were encouraged by our initial talks in that regard.
"We will now continue those discussions with a view to presenting a proposal to contributors for their consideration in due course. In the meantime we will shortly publish our poll for the upcoming EGM."
