Rangers First now the biggest fan ownership group in Britain 11.000 members

[ian1964 10,761]

RICKI NEILL is confident Rangers First can continue to grow after becoming the biggest fan ownership group in the UK.

 

 

 

The organisation has seen a rapid rise in the number of new members in recent weeks as the boardroom battle at Ibrox has intensified.

 

More than 8,100 supporters have now signed up, allowing RF to make a further purchase that takes their stake to 1.7% ahead of the make-or-break EGM.

 

Dave King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan are confident of their chances of overthrowing the board next month, with shares held by supporters set to prove crucial in toppling the regime.

 

And Neill, director of the organisation, is delighted with the response of the Light Blue legions after they overtook the Foundation of Hearts to claim top spot in the country.

 

He said: "I would like to thank every Rangers First member for making us the number one Fan Ownership Group in the UK.

 

"When you support Rangers, the world's most successful club, you are used to breaking records and Rangers First is doing exactly the same.

 

"With more than 8,100 members we are now the number one organisation of its type in Britain which is a fantastic achievement in less than a year.

 

"Rangers First only started buying shares last June and now we have a 1.7% stake in the club, so our members deserve enormous credit.

 

"Numbers continue to grow every day and I would continue to encourage supporters worldwide to sign up to Rangers First.

 

"The timing is perfect because perhaps for the first time in the club's history Rangers fans will have a voice at corporate level by voting at the forthcoming General Meeting.

 

"It is crucial for all supporter shareholders to follow the voting guidelines, register and vote correctly or proxy their shares."

 

Animosity between the boardroom and terraces has escalated in recent months as fans have staged a number of high-profile protests and boycotts.

 

Thousands are keen to play their part at the EGM, but Neill has repeated calls by the Three Bears and the Rangers Supporters' Trust and urged them to proxy their votes rather than head to the Capital.

 

He said: "I think the Rangers fans are starting to feel drained and embarrassed as well. We want to get the club back that we love.

 

"This meeting is going to be one of the biggest days in the history of Rangers Football Club.

 

"We need to urge the fans not to travel down to London; either post your votes, or actually proxy them over to Rangers First or one of the other supporters' groups.

 

"We need to get over 50 per cent of the vote so we can make change. Everybody who has got any kind of say needs to vote. It's very important."

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http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/rangers/rangers-first-now-the-biggest-fan-ownership-group-in-britain-197072n.118337987

Edited February 18, 2015 by pete

[ian1964 10,761]

It seems Rangers first is not allowed on FF!, I put this article up there and it has been removed?

[Frankie 8,663]

It seems Rangers first is not allowed on FF!, I put this article up there and it has been removed?

 

Mark has clear issues with the scheme as he feels former RST board members left to start this up and hinder Buy Rangers.

 

Seems counter productive to me given both schemes appear to be on friendly enough terms now but it's his ball.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

It's an incredible achievement after a very sluggish start; that's 6,000 new members in the past 6 weeks.

 

Up to 8,491 now; although it will slow down post the EGM, the prospect of 20,000 members is no longer a pipe dream.

 

They will now be bringing in more than a million pounds a year.

 

A 5% share holding is now achievable within a year and probably much sooner.

 

The only negative is the prospect of a new share issue diluting the percentage holding as the original plan only to invest half of what was raised in order to have money to invest in a rights issue seems to have been abandoned (rightly IMHO) in favour of building up as large a holding as possible in as short a time as possible before the EGM.

[Tannochsidebear 2,429]

I agree with that assessment BH, and I am guessing they will put out an appeal to their members for one-off top-up payments to keep their percentage at the same level through a rights issue.

 

If we do some guesswork that a rights issue will happen in around 3 months after the EGM to raise funds and to allow King etc to invest into the club, by my calculations RF, holding 1.7% currently (around 1.38M shares) would need to buy a further 1.38M to keep it's percentage at 1.7%. If the shares are offered at around 35p (est current price) this would mean they would need to raise just under 500K to do this. If they do not buy any more between now and then they will have around half of this in monthly contributions in the bank so will be asking around 10,000 members to contribute £25 each on a one-off to pay for the rights issue. I think that would be achievable.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

I agree with that assessment BH, and I am guessing they will put out an appeal to their members for one-off top-up payments to keep their percentage at the same level through a rights issue.

 

If we do some guesswork that a rights issue will happen in around 3 months after the EGM to raise funds and to allow King etc to invest into the club, by my calculations RF, holding 1.7% currently (around 1.38M shares) would need to buy a further 1.38M to keep it's percentage at 1.7%. If the shares are offered at around 35p (est current price) this would mean they would need to raise just under 500K to do this. If they do not buy any more between now and then they will have around half of this in monthly contributions in the bank so will be asking around 10,000 members to contribute £25 each on a one-off to pay for the rights issue. I think that would be achievable.

 

Broadly speaking I agree with that scenario, although it is likely that the shares would be offered at a discount to the current price, perhaps 25p - 30p, that may be offset by a continuing rise in the price as RFB and to a lesser extent RST and others continue to buy up to the EGM.

 

Not sure if they would be best advised to ask members for a one off payment or simply buy what they can, which could be perhaps 750,000 - 1,000,000 shares in a rights issue (depending on actual price and money in the kitty) or simply continue collecting money and add to their holding month by month.

 

Either way there is no question now that they are going to be a significant force in the future of the Club.

[Blue Moon 1,353]

I agree with that assessment BH, and I am guessing they will put out an appeal to their members for one-off top-up payments to keep their percentage at the same level through a rights issue.

 

If we do some guesswork that a rights issue will happen in around 3 months after the EGM to raise funds and to allow King etc to invest into the club, by my calculations RF, holding 1.7% currently (around 1.38M shares) would need to buy a further 1.38M to keep it's percentage at 1.7%. If the shares are offered at around 35p (est current price) this would mean they would need to raise just under 500K to do this. If they do not buy any more between now and then they will have around half of this in monthly contributions in the bank so will be asking around 10,000 members to contribute £25 each on a one-off to pay for the rights issue. I think that would be achievable.

 

I would certainly happily go along with that.

[Bearman 9]

Rangers 'big in Britain' yet the media don't recognise it. Imagine it was some money rich club like bottom of EPL?

[Dragonfly Trumpeter 50]

Well done Rangers First. Good to see and long may it continue. I did see this article posted elsewhere for a nano second the other day.

 

Pity FF have decided to delete any mention of you on the RST's propoganda site. Open to all, apart from some of our own. They do keep reminding us they are political though.

[Steve1872 4]

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