http://www.unionoffans.org/statements/2014/3/18/follow-up-statement-re-dave-king
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Statement reads -
First of all we would like to thank Dave King for his time and patience over the past few days. Having met with him on Friday, and then again yesterday morning, prior to the release of his statement, we appreciate him keeping us fully appraised of his progress. It has been extremely refreshing to deal with someone who shares our own love of Rangers and also has the means, commitment and passion to significantly improve the club’s fortunes over the coming years.
We are pleased that Dave has acknowledged the fans’ role in bringing the current board to the negotiating table and we are heartened by his ability to very swiftly secure some important, binding, public commitments from them.
Clearly the board’s position has changed over the weekend, from one where we had no clear sight of their strategy with regard to moving the club forward, to one where they have now committed to fans and shareholders to implement the funding plan we believed was required. This plan, if properly executed, should allow the club to compete both domestically and in Europe in the medium term. We are pleased that they are no longer considering the massive scaling back of club operations that would have been required, both on and off the park, under their previously assumed but never communicated strategy. We also note that they have confirmed that they do require further investment as a matter of some urgency. We expect significant amounts of that investment to come from a united fan investment vehicle, including Dave King.
Although pleased that they have made a commitment not to raise finance, or take out any type of security, on Ibrox or Auchenhowie, we are disappointed that they have refused to make this as unequivocal as we would have expected. “We have no plans” does not engender the same confidence as “we will not”.
Having secured these binding, public commitments from the board, through Dave King, we are now prepared to wait for the publication of the business review from Graham Wallace within the next 30 days. We expect it to fully reflect the promises made by the board in their last statement and we are, reluctantly given previous experience, relying on them to fulfil those promises. We expect them to produce a coherent vision and detailed plan of how they will fund it.
In the meantime, whilst the board complete this process, we will be continuing with plans to set up a Season Ticket Trust. We are determined to be in a position to provide it as an option, if required, and will continue to update the supporters on our progress on a regular basis. We expect to engage with legal advisers and trustees as early as next week.
We would like to thank all the fans who sent such a clear message to the board at the weekend. Without fan pressure we would not have made the significant progress we have and we are fully aware that following the completion of the business review, depending on its outcome, the fans may once again be required to act.
We remain fully committed to continuing our work with Dave King as part of a fan led initiative to invest in the club and will be in close contact with him over the coming weeks. We fully support his vision for Rangers and his methods of achieving that vision and will hold the board fully to account, within the timescales they have indicated, for the binding, public commitments they have made.