ian1964 10,723 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 ...until assurances over club's direction are given. The Rangers Fans Fighting Fund set up in 2012 after administration Group has raised more than £600,000 in donations to date RFFF will only give £500,000 to Rangers if assurances are given Ibrox board must be able to prove they have long-term project set up The Rangers Fans Fighting Fund will not pass on their £500,000 kitty to the Ibrox board until they receive assurances about the club’s future direction. The organisation was set up in the wake of the descent into administration in 2012 and raked in more than £600,000 in donations. Money was used to settle football debts owed to Falkirk and Dunfermline, as well as helping pay for the relaying of the Ibrox pitch. The Fighting Fund is now ready to disband and it’s thought they would prefer the money still in their account to be used for a long-term project at Rangers, such as youth development or the establishment of a club museum. Chairman Andrew McCormick wrote a recent letter to chief executive Graham Wallace detailing 13 questions about current and future policy within the club. Wallace responded by asking to postpone any further discussions until after the completion of the share issue which last week raised £3.13million to stave off an immediate financial crisis. The Fighting Fund have grown increasingly frustrated about the lack of progress in terms of communication and released a statement on Wednesday evening to confirm their position. ‘Mindful of its obligations to the Rangers Family and the money we hold in trust, the RFFF has sought information from the board of Rangers International Football Club plc to enable us to make decisions regarding the future of the RFFF and the disbursement of funds,’ it said. ‘We had a meeting on May 5 this year with Graham Wallace, chief executive of the club. Unfortunately, as he was not accompanied by another member of the board, he felt unable to make any statement on areas of policy which we could communicate to supporters. ‘Since then, we have attempted to engage in dialogue but this has run its course and no further meetings have taken place or have been scheduled. ‘With the passage of time, our chairman, Andrew McCormick, wrote to Mr Wallace on August 28 and received a reply on September 2. ‘Having considered the content of Mr Wallace’s reply at our most recent meeting, the RFFF has decided to retain the funds donated to our safekeeping until we are satisfied that the club is financially stable.’ The stop-gap share issue has removed any doubt about Rangers meeting this month’s payroll and will also enable the repayment of £1.5m in loans to shareholders George Letham and Sandy Easdale. However, the club will need to raise further significant funds to make it through this season, most likely via a wider share issue. The distrust that exists between fans and the current regime has caused damaging falls in matchday income, with just 15,208 turning out for Tuesday night’s League Cup win over Inverness. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2760388/Rangers-Fans-Fighting-Fund-not-500-000-Ibrox-assurances-given.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,624 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Why is it even considering giving it to this board? That is not what the cash was donated for and not what it should now be used for. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 5,186 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Copied from FF Statement on behalf of the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund. Mindful of its obligations to the Rangers Family and the money we hold in trust, the RFFF has sought information from the board of Rangers International Football Club plc to enable us to make decisions regarding the future of the RFFF and the disbursement of funds. We had a meeting on 5th of May this year with Graham Wallace, Chief Executive of the club. Unfortunately, as he was not accompanied by another member of the board he felt unable to make any statement on areas of policy which we could communicate to supporters. Since then we have attempted to engage in dialogue but this has run it's course and no further meetings have taken place or have been scheduled. With the passage of time our Chairman, Andrew McCormick,wrote to Mr Wallace on 28th August and received a reply on 2nd September. The contents of both these communications are attached. Having considered the content of Mr Wallace's reply at our most recent meeting the RFFF has decided to retain the funds donated to our safekeeping until we are satisfied that the club is financially stable. Letter from GW to RFFF Andrew, You are aware that we are in the midst of an equity raising process so I suggest that it would make sense for this to complete before we schedule a meeting as per your note below. Some of the questions of course are no longer relevant given the nature of the offer, others may be difficult to answer to the level desired due to confidentiality. Lets pick up again after the equity process completes. Thanks, Graham 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 5,186 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Looks like the RFFF might be putting pressure on the board for more transparency, rather than throwing money at them. ie. 'public pressure' to show their MO 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster. 5,186 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 From the Telegraph (full article on link below) "The Rangers Fans Fighting Fund – which controls just over £500,000 of supporters’ donations – has decided to withhold any payments to the club because of what it considers to be inadequate responses to questions about the future." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11103118/Rangers-Fans-Fighting-Fund-withholds-funds-over-concerns-for-clubs-future.html 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,744 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Why is it even considering giving it to this board? That is not what the cash was donated for and not what it should now be used for. When reading the article I was wondering whether this was ever considered anyway? Probably in 2012 pro IPO et al, but now? That said, I did not look into the setup charter of the RFFF for quite some time. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I don't want the board to receive any money, i would rather the RFFF paid for a paint job and wash for the stadium. Or something that directly benefits the club, rather the putting the money into any boards hands. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
compo 7,038 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 why don't they give it to dave king to watch 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hildy 0 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 When the RFFF was set up, this was on the official site: "Money raised through the 'Fighting Fund' will go to the club's running costs". 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,744 Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 When the RFFF was set up, this was on the official site: "Money raised through the 'Fighting Fund' will go to the club's running costs". Have they a website (still)? Or the statues? I had assumed this was set up to keep the club from folding et al and help it through the difficult period back then, not when it can very well work on its own - or at least should be. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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