Jump to content

 

 

To renew or not to renew - the �£20million question


Recommended Posts

As season ticket renewal time approaches next month, it has been interesting to note a sudden surge of information surrounding the running of the club. Whether it be Rangers Supporters Assembly statements inferring problems between the Rangers board and Lloyds Banking Group or Craig Whyte appearing from the smoke to sit beside wealthy Glasgow businessmen at Ibrox; the momentum is picking up on a variety of issues.

 

Now, I'd consider myself a reasonably average Rangers fan. I have one of the cheaper season tickets at around �£420; I'm lucky enough to have a decent job/income; I'm married with two young children and I have a group of friends I enjoy going to Ibrox with 'Every Other Saturday'. I'd also consider myself fairly interested in the 'political' side of the club; like to sing songs when I attend games and obviously use the internet to pass on my words of wisdom.

 

To that end, I'm more than aware that while the club is downsizing off the park - thus perhaps also downsizing our ambitions with it - my small annual investment is as important as ever to Rangers. A large (but serviceable) debt and tax 'queries' remain worrying obstacles to our continued success while the lack of interest of our previously less than publicity shy owner means ambition and plain old solid long term planning are difficult to find amongst the realism pleas from the board members who do engage with the support now and again.

 

Indeed, it's that club-supporter relationship which is all-important going into the coming months and years. Despite year-on-year downsizing and minimal dialogue (or defence), Rangers fans haven't been slow to support the club - both emotionally and financially during these testing times. In fact, it was only in 2009 that key club figures spoke about our unwavering fiscal commitment and how vital it was to the club's viability. Ergo, while season ticket numbers have understandably dropped since then due to a worldwide recession, those words remain significant.

 

With an absent owner struggling with his own empire problems (but still rich enough to buy vineyards, build Corstorphine mansions and develop Edinburgh green belts), a board of directors more interested in fighting each other than raising funds (or investing their own) and a bank who appear to change their debt demands as often as Diouf changes his car/hair colour; once again it will be down to the average fan to invest over the coming months.

 

As it stands, �£20million (around 40,000 season ticket holders renewing at an average of around �£500) is the only cash that will be invested into Rangers this summer. Potential owner promises aside (I thought we were told not to accept money from strangers), no-one else will be putting in such a sum year on year. Obviously, for most of us, that investment won't be a financial one per se but merely our own small emotional gift to a club that means everything to us. However, that doesn't mean it is automatically given away to whatever bank (or majority shareholder) that needs to pay it's next multi-million pound bonus to.

 

Therefore, while the Assembly's inferences are interesting and while hope persists about Craig Whyte's intentions, I can't be the only Rangers fan getting fed up of having to read between the lines. After all ticket renewals/attendances have been down the last two years and that's with a winning team. What will happen to those numbers if we don't win the league this season? For most of us supporting Rangers isn't a straightforward, logical choice but we all have ends to meet and will have to draw the line somewhere.

 

It's with that thought in mind that the frustration starts to grate:

 

1. Are the bank financially supportive or are they not?

 

2. Is our budget to be increased or decreased?

 

3. Is this dependent on next year's European football income?

 

4. How does the HMRC tax 'query' fit into our budget?

 

5. If Craig Whyte is the real deal, why not partially reveal how he intends to take us forward?

 

6. New owner or not, where does the club see itself in 1, 3, 5 and 10 years time?

 

I don't think the above questions are unreasonable or that difficult to answer. After all, myself and thousands other bears are about to blindly pay in advance for a service we just don't know the quality of. To be clear, most people don't want to withhold season ticket money (that would arguably just make things worse) but neither do we want to hand it over to see it swallowed up by people who contributed to our problems in the first place.

 

It's with that thought in mind that I urge the club to revisit their comments of 2009 and ensure that our worries and opinions are addressed before they sanction the mailing of renewal forms.

 

After all, most Rangers fans I speak with are realistic. Yes, we're ambitious (and often unreasonable with that) but we also acknowledge the challenges of the club and want to help face them. For that reason, I urge more transparency from the board and compel them to involve the supporters more than ever before.

 

�£20million may not be a huge amount of money nowadays but it surely entitles those that pay it the same support and trust we continue to give the club and its custodians.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm delighted I chose to bin my ST back in the summer of 69. Nah, it was 2008 I decided to call it a day! Enough was enough. If I was still a ST holder paying out the �£500 a season for the ticket I'd be wanting to shoot myself. There's absolutely no value in Scottish football anymore.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I will renew - without a doubt. I have hated the football on display over the past few years. But i support Rangers through thick and thin and I'll be there for life. �£400-�£600 is a fair/reasonable amount to pay IMO.

 

I do, however, expect a big decrease in renewals. Apathy has hit our support big time. Many put the money factor as the main issue, but I know many bears who did not renew this season because they were just losing interest - they have no money worries at all. Supporter apathy is the biggest concern we should have

 

I'd expect there to be less than 35,000 ST's at Ibrox next season and crowds of over 40k will become rarer and rarer.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm delighted I chose to bin my ST back in the summer of 69. Nah, it was 2008 I decided to call it a day! Enough was enough. If I was still a ST holder paying out the �£500 a season for the ticket I'd be wanting to shoot myself. There's absolutely no value in Scottish football anymore.

 

As said in article, logic often doesn't come into it for such emotional purchases.

 

If I wanted to pay �£420 for great football and close involvement to my club, then Rangers may not be the best people to give it to.

 

However, I love my club and I acknowledge there will be bad times as well as good. Moreover, financial challenges aside, we're still competitive on the field so it would arguably be cutting off my nose to spite my face by not renewing.

 

Nevertheless, the reasons for paying that sum of money arguably reduce every year we're asked to suffer more cuts and more prevarication from the powers that be. Ergo, emotion may lose out to logic in more and more cases.

 

The club would do well to heed that polite warning.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What a strange and dangerous notion, that a season ticket is the badge of office for a Rangers supporter. A sort of "here's my credentials, without this ST I'm not the real thing".

 

Of course this is hardly new but it is something peculiar to the Murray era, where we have been persuaded to re-invent the values and priorities that stood us in such good stead in previous times. I hear so many howling in defence of their precious season tickets, as if mortified they might be thought less of if they didn't uphold this new symbolism of the old loyal and true.

 

How did we create the most successful club in the land without this army of certified foot soldiers? When did we decide we had to wield a season ticket like a diploma to prove our worth? Doesn't it strike anyone as strange how the more we declined, the more we clung to Murray's definition of the nouveau bear, the more we stopped questioning where the club was going and the more we were pissed upon.

 

I find it hard to understand how such committed supporters could be so easily misled and could stand in such cheap compliance, ST securely in pocket for another year, and be so proud of the wool over their eyes. Mugs.

Edited by maineflyer
Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't think I suggested anything of the sort. I'm merely offering the season ticket purchase as an example of our financial commitment and asking that all fans (with such a ticket or not) are better considered by the club as the recession (both generally and Rangers specific) continues to bite.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't think I suggested anything of the sort. I'm merely offering the season ticket purchase as an example of our financial commitment and asking that all fans (with such a ticket or not) are better considered by the club as the recession (both generally and Rangers specific) continues to bite.

 

Now you may own the site, and a very good site it is, but you really mustn't assume every post is directed at you. It wasn't and didn't consider a thing you said in the OP. That's you told.:smile:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Now you may own the site, and a very good site it is, but you really mustn't assume every post is directed at you. It wasn't and didn't consider a thing you said in the OP. That's you told.:smile:

 

Indeed it is... :D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.