The South African-based millionaire revealed earlier this week he was ready to return as chairman after John Bennett was forced to stand down on health grounds
. But his offer has been given short shrift by rival shareholders including Douglas Park and George Taylor, who remain deeply unhappy with the shock way King quit as Gers’ boardroom chief back in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic.
King, however, is refusing to give in and believes he has the support of the Light Blues legions having previously wrestled control of the club away from the clutches of Mike Ashley before appointing title-winning boss Steven Gerrard. Now the Castlemilk-born businessman – still the club’s largest shareholder with a 14 percent stake – has thrown down the gauntlet by daring his boardroom opponents to put the question of who controls Rangers to a vote at an extraordinary general meeting.
In a statement given to Record Sport, King said: “I completely understand why some influential board members don’t want me back. They know from past experience that I would not tolerate board members who are only in it for the ‘jacket and tie’ and don’t actually want to do any real work. If the board can, for once, set aside self-interest and put the supporters first, then I offer a challenge.
“Urgently call an EGM as I did to get Mike Ashley out and put yourselves up for re-election. I will in turn put up my nominations, including myself.
“None of the existing board members (who presently protect each other) can vote and neither will I. John Bennett and (significant shareholder) George Letham would also be excluded from voting for obvious reasons. In that way we can leave it to supporters for once to decide who they want to run their club.”
Gers once again find themselves in Celtic’s shadow having watched their Parkhead rivals win 22 of the 30 trophies up for grabs since King’s 2015 takeover. He lays the blame for that at Park’s doorstep, accusing his successor as chairman of squandering the chance to reestablish the club as a dominant force after Gerrard’s Invincibles won the club’s 55th league crown in 2021.
While current boss Philippe Clement was told he had to sell his high-earners this summer before he could re-invest in his squad, Celtic have gone from strength to strength under Brendan Rodgers. The Hoops have £77million already in the bank, with another eye-watering sum north of £40million due to be deposited on the back of this year’s Champions League run. And King – who has offered to return on a two-year-basis to help recruit fresh investors – insists Gers need a huge cash injection and quick if they are to keep pace with their rampant rivals.
He said: “I estimate that the club needs a minimum of £50million to achieve our short to medium term objectives but that could never be raised under the present board structure. The funds we need must come from a far wider and wealthier base and from parties that will be willing to invest more (over time) to take the club forward and to become a modern age football club.
“This board could not put forward the business case to achieve such an investment. Raising a much smaller amount may pay for the recent mistakes and overspends (eg. New Edmiston House and the Copland stand) but will not lead to any measurable improvement in the fortunes of the team.
“Plugging the gaps this board has created due to poor player recruitment, manager payoffs, the failure of player trading, etc still means that millions of the supporters’ cash has been wasted.”
John Gilligan – a key figure when King first took control of the club nine years ago – is back in charge as interim chairman. He’s now leading the hunt for a new CEO after St Mirren vice-chair Jim Gillespie knocked back the chance to replace James Bisgrove.
The club are also making use of a recruitment agency but King claims that move is “counter-productive and expensive”. He added: ”This decision again reinforces the disconnection of this board from reality and its inability to get recruitment right
Be the first to comment