Dave King captures Rangers crown

King and associates Paul Murray and John Gilligan swept the old board aside with a landslide victory at the club’s extraordinary general meeting yesterday afternoon.

It took little more than 11 minutes for Derek Llambias and Barry Leach to be dumped and the fans’ favourites to win the day with an approval rate of 85 per cent of those who voted – helped by the fact Sandy Easdale and his 20 per cent shareholding abstained from the poll.

The serious business of rebuilding a broken Rangers now begins for King and Co, and they will  spend the weekend poring over the books and looking into commercial deals with Mike Ashley.

King believes Newcastle owner Ashley can remain as a commercial partner if the deals he has in place are proven to be fair for both parties.

Yesterday the new board’s first job was to appoint Douglas Park to their group alongside Murray and Gilligan, while King awaits approval from the Stock Exchange and the SFA over their “fit and proper person” analysis.

But, with a new era due to begin in the seemingly never-ending Rangers saga, King has pledged to restore core values to a club that has been the victim of gross mismanagement on an unprecedented level over the past four years and for a fan base that have been the victims in this sorry affair.

He said: “People ask when will we take the club forward. In actual fact, we are taking the club forward to the past.

“We want to restore the qualities of this club and that is part of the challenge we face here in trying to build a competitive football team and live up to what the fans expect.

“There is a value system attached to Rangers Football Club and this has been lost over the past few years.

“Rangers has been a club with traditional values. It’s had generational support and a pass on from father to son. There’s been a consistency, an integrity and a loyalty.”

King added: “Paul Murray has referred to the fact the club has only had 13 managers in its history and that tells you there is a stickability about this club.

“What we’ve seen over the last few years has been turbulence, change, lack of loyalty, lack of integrity. What has happened is the exact opposite to the values I associate with my club.”

King hopes to announce a new nominated advisor – or Nomad – to the new regime on Monday.

And, while the aim is to get the club re-listed on the Stock Exchange, the new kingpin insists that isn’t key as individual investors will still be keen to back the club given the change of direction.

The short-term aims have to be turning a loss-making company into a profit-making one.

King and Murray are adamant that can easily be achieved. Murray said: “Businesses are about two things – revenue and cost. The problem with this club in the last few years has been the revenue. 

“The customers have disengaged from the company, the club, and we feel very strongly that we can bring those customers back because the reason they haven’t been coming is because they have been disillusioned.

“They are key to the growth and we have to carry them with us.” 

Rangers face Cowdenbeath in a league game today and have an Ibrox clash against play-off rivals Queen of the South on Tuesday.

King added: “We chatted to the fans outside and we’re optimistic we will see full houses for the rest of the season to help the team kick on.”

Manager Kenny McDowall is likely to remain in place until the end of the season while the new chiefs look for a coach to help the club in the long-term.

King hopes the force of the fans at games between now and the end of the season carries the team to promotion to the Premiership, ahead of a summer revamp.

And he believes March 6, 2015 will go down in Rangers’ history as a landmark occasion.

He added: “To compare it to Barcelona ’72 is a difficult comparison.

“But, as a day in Rangers’ history, it’s got the potential to be a watershed event.

“If you were to ask me sitting here today then I’m confident it will turn out to be that.”