johnnyk 158 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 RANGERS fans will be given an insight into how they could help fund a takeover of their club in a meeting at Ibrox this weekend. Fans' representatives from Hamburg - the Bundesliga club which is 100 per cent member-owned - and Espanyol, will address the GersPride conference which has been organised by the Rangers Supporters' Trust. A supporters' buyout combined with a consortium of wealthy local businessmen is being mooted as a possible way to seize control of the troubled Ibrox club who are expected to announce debts of around �£30million when their annual figures are released this Thursday. Lloyds Banking Group is threatening to introduce savage cuts at the end of the season - which include offloading top-team stars - unless a buyer for Sir David Murray's 90 per cent stake is found. Glasgow-born South Africa-based multi-millionaire director Dave King has been tipped to ride to the rescue of the stricken Scottish champions in their greatest hour of need. However, if King, who has tax problems in South Africa, does not make a move for Murray's majority shareholding then Rangers becoming a members'-run club - a model which is favoured by many clubs on the continent - has emerged as a possibility. Hamburg fans' chief Jens Wagner, who will address the GersPride conference on Saturday, believes it is a realistic possibility for the Scottish club. Wagner said: "For me, this is the best way to run a club, but I know it is not going to be easy for Rangers supporters to make it happen. "It all depends on whether or not they can raise the money to fund a buy-out and I don't know how they stand with that right now. Why shouldn't it work at Rangers though? "It works in Hamburg and we are a competitive side currently sitting third in the Bundesliga." Hamburg have 65,000 members who pay a yearly fee of 48 Euros. That money is generally spent on supporter-related activities due to tax laws. However, the members elect a supervisory board that then goes out and recruits suitable figures from the football, legal or business community to serve on the club board. Emotions at the meeting, which will be chaired by MP Brian Donohoe and will run from 11am to 3pm, are sure to run high. As well as discovering exactly how much debt Rangers are in this week, fans are set to learn what punishment, if any, Uefa will dish out to their club after the trouble which erupted at the Unirea Urziceni game last week. And they will also have the outcome of Phil Gartside's EPL 2 proposal - which goes in front of the top flight English clubs on Thursday - to chew over. Publication date 10/11/09 http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2534467.0.0.php 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmck 117 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 cheers for that johnny. im for fan ownership, i think - roughly speaking. but i dont trust the rst to lead it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 ^^ What Barry said. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,386 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I am a member and supporter of the RST, and would love for there to be genuine fan ownership of our club. However I have to agree that I would not want the RST in it's current set-up to be the ones running this, nor do I think for one minute that they would, or could, get the fans onside enough to let this happen. That of course is an entirely different subject altogether from wether fan ownership would work for a club like ours, and bears should be careful to distinguish between the two. I would think that a fan run club, properly done, would be the best thing that could possibly happen to us, and I think that every avenue should be explored to make this happen. In my book, if this was to happen, it would mean the end of the RST, as it's primary aim would be accomplished, and I am very interested to hear more from the Hamburg model on saturday to see how things actually "work" within the club, appointing officials, boards, properly representing the majority view of the fans, how they find out what the majority view is etc. I dont think anyone should se this as a way for the RST to take over the club, as from what I can see, it is entirely the opposite that would happen should fan ownership ever happen. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,670 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 It's a great idea and if it can work for Barcelona etc then why not Rangers ??. The obvious questions are how much would Rangers fans have to pay ?, and as has already been said who would lead it ?. It is certainly worth looking at but a lot of work would be required to get it up and running. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggordy 0 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 50 quid a year !!! Who's in ? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannochsidebear 2,386 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Who would lead it is not important in the short term as democratic elections take place every few years. What is very important to any successful change to fan ownership would be the price of membership and the benefits of membership. This was the main topic of discussion for me and my mates in our Bucharest restaurant. It costs 155 euros to be a member at Barcelona, and 48 euros at Hamburg. That is quite a gap, however there may be more benefits at Barca, or it is just that they have many more international members, they can afford to have a high members price. A guy off my bus became a Barca member when we played them in 2007 and got lots of tickets through his membership!! My initial thoughts would be that a fee of around �£100 per year would be an appropriate level. The benefits would include 5% discount off any match tickets and season tickets, perhaps 10% off club restaurants and shops, both online and megastores. Arranged discounts for members with our club sponsors (car hire, mobiles, etc), and most importantly, your vote for members reps on the board itself. For overseas bears, clearly there is not as much benefits to be had as those in the UK, but there would be discounts on Rangers tv, and online shops. I have been planning to do a much more in-depth analysis of this for ages, so the above is only my first thoughts on what could be included. Obviously there has to be some common sense applied, as the membership fees are going to be a significant source of income to the club each year, and we dont want to give all the value away in discounts and freebies, but we have to give enough to make it an attractive proposition. Finally, I would make renewal date 1 January each year, so as it becomes the perfect xmas gift for bears worldwide. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 5,199 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 How quickly could you put an article together on that TB ? Would make a great read for the main site. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_2010 0 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 anyone know how fan owned clubs approve transfers, where the money comes from, who gets what wages... E.g. If good striker became available, could we have a whip around the members and buy them? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggordy 0 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 This appears to be a fantastic opportunity. As at Barcelona, we must have a fantastic fan base, probably more in fact worldwide. This must be acted on now IMO. Let's hear what is said on Friday. Anyone aware of the negatives or any club's where it's failed ? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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