In another day of farce, embattled club directors announced the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London as the venue for the March 4 meeting.
But hours later, hotel chiefs changed their mind and cancelled the booking.
Now, as the fans craved all along, the EGM will be held at Rangers’ stadium at a date in March yet to be announced, with King, left, and his backers still confident of winning the day and wiping out the current regime.
Despite the high level of costs incurred, chairman David Somers and his board wanted the meeting in London to inconvenience minority shareholders who were ready to vote them out of office.
The Millennium Gloucester Hotel scrapped Rangers’ booking last week after concerns about the disruption to normal business.
And the supposed replacement venue claimed they could not compromise the “comfort and security” of their guests and staff after being bombarded by emails and tweets about the meeting. In the surreal world of this saga, Grange Hotel sent out a tweet which read: “Jelly and ice cream is off the menu at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel on 4th March, 2015. #EGM #RangersEGM.”
The message – later deleted – was in reference to a chant by Celtic fans about the impending demise of the Ibrox oldco in 2012.
Former director King last night appealed for fans to proxy their votes by March 2 and not give the board any cause to postpone or adjourn the Ibrox meeting.
Newspaper Review - Tuesday 17 February
“While unrest is understandable, any anger must be peacefully channelled towards the removal of directors from the board,” he said.
“It is not the Rangers way to threaten individuals on a personal basis and there should be zero tolerance for this.”
The Rangers Supporters Trust hailed the decision to host the meeting at Ibrox as a victory for common sense and a defeat for dirty tricks. A spokesman said: “We are pleased the board has finally been forced by their own ineptitude and propaganda to hold the EGM where it always should have been – Ibrox Stadium.
“Only two groups benefit from disruption of the EGM: the board themselves and people who wish to see Rangers remain in financial difficulty.
“We must vote them out and start the hard work of rebuilding our club and mending the damage.”
Under King’s plan, Mike Ashley allies Derek Llambias, above, and Barry Leach, chairman David Somers and James Easdale will go. King, John Gilligan and Paul Murray will form the basis of a new board.
The EGM is unlikely to now be held on March 4 as Stock Exchange rules insist there has to be time for shareholders to make plans to travel from the last stated venue – in this case London.
Existing proxies already declared will however remain valid.
Last night it was suggested Gers directors could avoid confrontation by holding the meeting via video conference, with the board in one location and shareholders at Ibrox.
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