BrahimHemdani

The Malaga v Barcelona game is now a 4.00pm kick off on Saturday the 23rd. There are still a few tickets left from €70. You could do the flights with Easyjet out on Friday afternoon back Sunday night for £175 or back Monday for £150 plus 2/3 nights in a hotel and you can get a decent room in Fuengirola - train from airport and into Malaga for the match) for £50/60 a night. I'll be there anyway and gladly help anyone who wants to go or if anyone on here lives out there would be great to meet up.

I have been allocated a ticket for the above match which I can't use as I'll be out of the country. Anyone who wants it please PM me urgently. It might help if you are or could pass for a concession (of the older variety).

I don't believe in censorship of the press in any form and it's arguable that withdrawing advertising is a form of blackmail but that headline is totally out of order and if the Herald lose out of it then they only have themselves to blame.

11/01/2016 BLUEDELL GUEST £15.00 BALANCE £369.15 11/01/2016 JUANCORNETO £15.00 BALANCE £354.15 11/01/2016 FRANKIE GUESTS X2 £30.00 BALANCE £339.15 That's 20 tickets sold. There are 2 members who indicated that they wanted to attend but so far not paid, one of whom I have not been able to contact; so I'll hold back tickets for them meantime. We have 10 on a waiting list from new/ non-members so in essence the dinner is now SOLD OUT. However, if anyone else still wants to come please PM me urgently and I'll see if we can fit you in.

Frankie, Can I suggest you amalgamate these threads now or at least copy your great poster over to the main thread. BH

It's a laudable aim, Pete, but TBH Rangers are just too big. Fan influence is the nearest we are going to get, unless Mr King eventually buys it outright and gifts it to the Fans or we start with a blank sheet of paper a la FC United of Manchester.

I have never been in the Directors Box but I have been fortunate to have been in the Blue Room on three or four occasions most recently during my brief spell on the Fans' Board, so here you go.....

Am I going to need to dig out my red and yellow cards for this one

I was one of the shareholders who opposed the sale of the Albion Car Park to Murray Group in 1990 and was interviewed for STV at the time by a certain journalist who was at that time a Rangers shareholder and now works for a rival broadcaster. The original sale and 1995 transaction are mentioned here: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12106989.Ibrox_car_park_deal_may_cause_unrest/

Just to take this a little further the Articles of Association on the RF web site (I don't know if they were ever adopted) say only 5. Objects The objects of the Company are to carry on activities which benefit the community and in particular (without limitation) to the community of Glasgow Rangers supporters. 6. Powers To further its objects the Company may do all such lawful things as may further the Company’s objects and, in particular, but, without limitation, may borrow or raise and secure the payment of money for any purpose including for the purposes of investment or of raising funds. If these are the adopted Articles then there is no requirement on RF to buy shares and there is no prohibition on them from investing in other ways to further the objects of the Company.

This was one of the stated aims of RF from the outset. This from the Minutes of the Meeting of 24 February 2014 RA stressed that the flexibility of the CIC model was paramount to the hoped for success of Rangers First. The CIC could adjust what the money coming in was to be used for, it could not only be used to buy shares but be used for other schemes which would be beneficial to the club. POST MEETING NOTE: As per previous notes to meetings please be aware that it is the flexibility of the model that enables monies to be used for projects other than shares purchase. However Share purchase is first and foremost. Any other use of the money to enable the Club to perform better would require approval by the members and a binding contract and due diligence with the Club. No money can be “donated” to the Club. It must be properly and transparently accounted for. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... Based on the following and the paragraphs quoted above from the October email it would seem that this aspect will henceforth fall on the RST vehicle: Rangers fan groups have put themselves at the forefront of fan ownership in UK football. By doing so, they have created the circumstances which will enable them to contribute directly to the future success of our Club. This contribution can take many forms. Supporters can collectively own shares, they can help fund initiatives they vote to support and they can contribute to projects backed by the Club. Rangers First and Rangers Supporters Trust currently own over 5% of the shares in Rangers International Football Club PLC (RIFC). Growing this shareholding is vital to the Rangers Support to ensure that the Club never again suffers as it has over the last few years. There have been many shareholders in RIFC in recent years for whom the Club’s interests do not come first. Rangers supporters will ensure that the Club’s interest and its success is always paramount. To achieve this aim, it will be necessary to remove shareholders who do not share the same vision. Rangers supporters can also use the shares they have acquired to back those with the Club’s best interests at heart. Once this has been achieved, funds can be used to invest in the development of young players, to protect Ibrox, to recognise our history in an archive/museum and to develop our Stadium and improve the facilities it provides for all of our supporters for the generations to come.

The RF vote was carried in October. These were the main points in the RF proposal, I assume a similar proposal went to RST members, IIRC they also adopted it but no doubt plgsarmy will confirm. A new unified Board will be elected to co-ordinate and direct the operation of all of the functions identified above. The board will be appointed by contributors and members on a one member, one vote basis and will also be required to regularly consult with members through membership votes on key decisions. The Board will also be required to carry out its duties with regard to a common statement of purpose and values which will outline the values expected of Board members and the considerations to which they are to have reference in directing the group’s activities. The Board will have executive duties (e.g. PR, marketing, finance, share buying, finance, legal and administration) and officers will account to contributors and members for their performance. Prospective board members will be required to demonstrate that they can devote time to their position and duties and must make themselves available for Board and members’ meetings. Further discussions will be necessary to agree the number of members of any new Board with a maximum of between 6 to 8 directors under consideration. Rangers First 2014 CIC will become the shareholding vehicle for the new group. Existing shareholdings will be consolidated into this vehicle and it will become the vehicle for share purchases for the ISDX listing and going forward. Existing Rangers First contributors will continue to donate to this vehicle until after the ISDX listing and other supporters group members will be encouraged to become contributors to or transfer shares to the CIC. The RST will proxy its shareholding votes to the CIC whilst consideration is given to a more permanent solution. All members of the RST’s Buy Rangers scheme will be asked to transfer their shareholding to this vehicle. The shares held by this CIC will be used in accordance with the direction of members’ votes and the new Board as referred to at 1. above. The community interest company owned by the RST will be used to collect donations being made by members for non-share buying purposes including Protecting Ibrox. The destination for the monies raised by this CIC will be determined by contributors and members’ votes from a range of options put forward by those donating. Suggestions to date include Protecting Ibrox (about which more will be revealed shortly), investing in youth development, enhancing match day facilities, creating a Rangers archive/ museum and otherwise assisting the future financial performance of the Club. The perils of relying on banks and the market in this regard have become all too clear in recent years. No one cares about Rangers more than its support and using that support to ensure its financial well-being will be essential to restoring Rangers to the top flight of European Football.

This is a reminder that the priority sale to pre-existing site members remains open until 6.00pm tomorrow night. We have 16 tickets left at least 4 of which will be accounted for if those who have already indicated an interest on here complete their purchases. We have sufficient interest from new members and non members to take up most of the remaining tickets, so if you want to come along, please do not hold off thinking that you will be able to get a ticket at the last minute because you may well be disappointed.

11/01/2016 forlanssister paid cash £30.00 balance £309.15 16 NOW FULLY PAID.

Also very kind and generous offer, rbr. I genuinely hope we don't have anyone in that position; but if we do then I'll work something out. However, we did offer tickets last time, IIRC to take up some call offs and had no takers.

IIRC that was a poll about the AGM vote to remove the said persons from the Board, it was not a beauty contest because there were no other contestants for the positions. Therefore voting against Gersnet voting for their removal was not an indication that I preferred them to anyone else, it was merely an indication that I was opposed to their removal at that time. Checking back, I see I was not alone, there were two such votes

Wow, that's a biggy, AWB, and I just said, I want my dinner. Just to clarify, the money that fans subscribe to RF are "donations in to the Community Interest Company in this case, Rangers First"; See more at: http://www.rangersfirst.org/frequently-asked-questions/#sthash.TT32JlUQ.dpuf I'm sorry if I gave the impression that any loan that RF might make to Rangers would itself be a donation, that's certainly not the case. That said, your suggestion of trading cash for influence is correct in my understanding of what was proposed for the future, though the timing may have changed with changing circumstances. I'll come back to this if I may. Have you thought about coming along to the dinner, I doubt Messrs Stein and Johnston will be much interested in this subject but it is a good atmosphere for discussion with fellow Bears. EDIT: Please see also #142 & 143 below.

Big issue at the moment is I'm pretty sure we're going to be oversubscribed, may have to set up a tent at the corner of Copland Rd and PRW.

Very kind and extremely generous offer, particularly coming on top of your offer to buy us all a pint :cheers:

The scheme where you were to give him your money and he would buy the ST's.

I'm hungry and I'm going to have my dinner, Craig, so I'll respond briefly, if I may. Yes, I think we should be seeing some solid investment by now. Yes, I agree that the summer window will be a bigger test although it might be an easier sell if we go up and are then hopefully only a season away from Europe again. I didn't "prefer" Llambias and Leach to anyone that I can recall but I certainly did say that I liked the way that Llambias appeared to be getting on with some of the necessary restructuring work and I was by no means alone in that, though clearly in a small minority on this site. Lastly by implication you are also correct that I am not comfortable that a convicted criminal, who the SA Courts described as having "no respect for the truth and does not hesitate to lie", "a mendacious witness", and as you say a "glib and shameless liar" is a custodian of the Club. Neither was I comfortable when a convicted criminal from Greenock was in a similar position. I recognise that insofar as King is concerned, I am in a tiny minority on here, perhaps even a minority of one; but that won't change my opinion; nor will it change my love for the Club.

Surely the sensible thing to have done would have been to go and talk to the Club and say look we're in a position to lend you some dosh because there are no shares around for us to buy and/or we are keeping our money for a rights issue. Then if the Club said that's great we could really use that for x, y or z THEN you go to the members with a coherent reason for the loan; if the Club said we thanks but we don't really need it right now then there's no point in balloting the members, is there? Leaving that aside, I still think it is wrong even to consider lending donations on an unsecured basis.

I don't recall saying he would never invest anything but if I did then no doubt you will dig out the reference and I'll be glad to buy you a pint at the dinner. I do recall being 100% correct about his hair-brained season ticket scheme. Time will tell how much he actually invests in the Club. So far he has bought some shares and made some comparatively small loans (for him) totalling how much exactly? Has he actually invested anything directly into the Club?

I don't see where you get that I was suggesting straight line investment but I do disagree on your latter point. Surely the best time to invest is before you actually need it. Are you not better able to plan ahead in that scenario rather than having to invest in a time of crisis i.e. we need to make sure the team that takes us up is good enough or at least the nucleus is good enough to carry us to the top 3 in the SPFL in the first season back so we get into Europe in 2017/18. And that the players whose contracts extend or are extended to beyond 2017 will be good enough for Europe. And BTW I'm not saying that that is not what MW would like to be able to do; but I have doubts that some of what we have right now will be good enough. I certainly am glad that there are people around including T3B who are willing to lend the Club money on advantageous terms but I would still like to see some kind of financial plan. Lastly, you know better than to describe loans as investments!

This is 2016 if I'm not mistaken, GS, or did New Year pass you by So by this March (2016) that'll be two years out of the four will it not; or is my arithmetic truly that bad?