Zappa 0 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Monday, 08 June 2015 17:30 King: A Club For Generations Written by Rangers Football Club DAVE KING urged Rangers fans to renew their season tickets at a press conference and exclusive interview with RangersTV from Ibrox Stadium. Season tickets for season 2015/16 are now available to be renewed and speaking today, the Rangers Chairman has intimated how important it is for fans of all generations to back the club. He said: "I think from a Rangers fans perspective they've been through a really difficult time and we've seen a great club that, I think one of the things all Rangers fans will understand about the club they've supported as what I've called before this generational hand down. "I went to the club because my dad took me there when I was a six-year-old boy and he, in turn, went there because his dad took him as more or less a six-year-old boy. "I felt we had kind of lost our way a little bit with this whole disconnect from the fans and what's been going on with the club. "So I really felt there was a nice theme to say to the fans 'look, let's just get back to that core value and make ourselves once again this generational club'. "I think we have been through most of the history of Rangers that just, unfortunately, have maybe been ignored over the last couple of years. "If you look at the history of Rangers, Rangers have had some key investors over probably the last ten, twenty, thirty, forty years. "Certainly when I was growing up you had the Lawrence family, I think it was John Lawrence and then the Marlborough family came in and then David Murray came in. "All of these investors have assisted the club from time to time in giving much needed cash flow for signing players. But ultimately the success of Rangers over all of the years has been the support of the fans. "It's the fact that the fans have consistently bought the season tickets and consistently supported the club with the commercial and retail revenue that has made Rangers consistently the number one club in Scotland. "Unless we get back to getting the fans back on board and getting full support from the fans for their club then these short-term investments are not going to make Rangers long-term sustainable. Only the fans and the support of the fans can do that for us." Season ticket prices for the new campaign will be increased by a modest 5% and renewal forms will be posted out to supporters this week. The full amount of the increase will also be invested in the team. Chairman Dave King continued: "What I am hoping the fans do, and I understand that it's very demanding given the last couple of years, but I look back to that day when Rangers played their first game in the Third Division three years ago and I was over in South Africa. Friends of mine were astounded to hear that Rangers had the biggest crowd in the UK in the opening season for a Third Division game. "I pointed out to them that that's just what Rangers fans do when the club is in trouble, the Rangers fans came to rally to support of the club. “The fans have now seen a couple of years where they may say 'Okay we were there three years ago but we had a bad year two years ago and then a bad year one year ago'. “I'm really saying to the fans 'please go back to that time, this is genuinely a new beginning. “I think we now have a board in place that you can rely on and all money that is invested on season tickets will go into the football side of the club so you know where the money is going to go’. We have a commitment to invest but it is absolutely vital that the fans come along and support the club as well to make it sustainable long term." "I think that it's important because the fans put us there. Having put us there, it would be nice to see them supporting us there because they are a big part of my being here today - without their support we wouldn't be here.” "The other thing from the fans point of view is that if you have looked at what has happened in the last couple of months, myself and the other dirctors have done what they said they would. "We said that if we get involved in the club that we would provide the funds that would be required to operate the club. We've done that. I've put money in and the Three Bears have put money in, so we've met our obligations. "I am giving the fans a very firm statement of intent for what we are going to do going forward. We are going to continue to fund, but we have to co-invest with the fans. “Rangers can never be sustainable just by relying on third party investments. “We need the fans to come back and support the club, but at least what they know this time is by making the funds available all of the money will be going into the football side and they will get a better experience on the pitch this season than they had last season." http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/headlines/item/9433-king-a-club-for-generations 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,258 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I think few will renew ST's until they know 1) who the manager will be next season and 2) which players will be getting signed to improve the quality of the first team squad 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I think few will renew ST's until they know1) who the manager will be next season and 2) which players will be getting signed to improve the quality of the first team squad Renewal deadline is over 3 weeks away, so your first point would only be an issue if the board make an unpopular manager appointment. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,247 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 On an utterly unimportant sidenote ... could someone take Dave to the side and tell him to smile every now and then? He could partake in a keep-just-one-face contest with Steven Seagal and win it hands down ... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RANGERRAB 3,258 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Renewal deadline is over 3 weeks away, so your first point would only be an issue if the board make an unpopular manager appointment. I would say 2) is every bit as important as 1) if not more important. I dont think I could suffer another season watching Kenny Miller & Nicky Clark toiling up front 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Not exactly a hard hitting recruitment advert though, ok it appeals to my generational link to the club. But i would rather the club make direct appeal to the heart and pocket of the support. We went through a torrid time, we were robbed and given a kicking. money is tight, Why hide the truth? "The club needs your help now" "come back and be part of the fightback" "don't let apathy kill what others could not achieve" "the club that refused to die, be part of it's survival" 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveC 150 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Not exactly a hard hitting recruitment advert though, ok it appeals to my generational link to the club. But i would rather the club make direct appeal to the heart and pocket of the support. We went through a torrid time, we were robbed and given a kicking. money is tight, Why hide the truth? "The club needs your help now" "come back and be part of the fightback" "don't let apathy kill what others could not achieve" "the club that refused to die, be part of it's survival" I have a feeling we'll be hearing that kind of thing pretty soon unless season tickets fly out the window. Not that I'm against it - it is the truth and what we feel 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,247 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Renewal deadline is over 3 weeks away, so your first point would only be an issue if the board make an unpopular manager appointment. Methinks the important numbers for King and Co. are not the ST renewals, but the STs sold by the end of July or mid-August. Since it is essentially his first statement of intent as a chairman, it is solid enough for me. Lots of ifs and buts and the like are being flung about, which is kind of astonishing. Almost makes you feel the club is in greater peril than in 2012. When, for the first time in years the club is in safe hands and not under the thumb of either single owners or people looking to make money from us and with it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I would say 2) is every bit as important as 1) if not more important.I dont think I could suffer another season watching Kenny Miller & Nicky Clark toiling up front You said you thought few people would renew until they knew about those two points, but the bottom line is that if a large number of people choose not to renew or choose not to buy season tickets it would adversely affect the Club's ability to actually go out and sign the quality of players we want. It sounds like the approximate schedule for a share issue is 3-4 months away, so it will be well into the start of the new season and certainly after the transfer window closes, so it would be extremely foolish of fans to be waiting for investment money to fund the squad rebuilding process when it's pretty clear that season ticket cash is going to be required to do it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Methinks the important numbers for King and Co. are not the ST renewals, but the STs sold by the end of July or mid-August. Maybe not as late as mid-August, but yes, you're right. What's needed is a large number of ST sales, not just renewals and obviously by a point early enough to invest in rebuilding a good 1st team squad. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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