Gribz 743 Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 A member of the Northern Ireland Assembly is heading a consortium poised to launch a takeover bid for Rangers. David Burnside, the former MP for South Antrim, said he and friends from the City of London were in the "preliminary stages" of preparing an offer. "I know a number of people interested. We would not be interested in anything hostile," he told Scotland On Sunday. "It would be up to David Murray to declare himself ready to sell and as yet I have not spoken to him." Burnside said it was too early to discuss figures for a possible bid, but he believed the nature of football club ownership was changing. The club has a special appeal about it because of the merchandising and the very name of Glasgow Rangers David Burnside: "When you look at what's happening in England with Russian and even Icelandic oligarchs and venture capitalists buying up clubs, it seems that every Premiership club is being looked at, so why not Rangers? "The club has a special appeal about it because of the merchandising and the very name of Glasgow Rangers, which is internationally-known." Murray bought Rangers for �£6m in 1989 and his investment helped the club to nine consecutive league titles between 1989 and 1997. Murray stepped down as chairman at Ibrox in July 2002 but returned to the post two years later. He told the Financial Times last year he would consider giving someone else the opportunity to lead Rangers. "I'm coming up for 20 years, and I think that will be enough for anybody," he said. "We've had a couple of people speak to us tentatively, but I would only sell the club if it was somebody who could take it to a higher level." Rangers' failure to qualify for the Champions League this season took its toll on the club's finances. The Ibrox club made a pre-tax loss of �£700,000 between June and December - compared to a profit of �£6.1m over the same period in 2005. This is pretty out of the blue 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazza_8 233 Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 To say I was a bit surprised when I read that is an understatement. Bet it doesn't come to anything though. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 I don't see us being taken over by a consortium of business people in London as being positive to be honest. I would prefer all those rich Rangers supporters making a consortium with the RST. Non Rangers supporters looking to make money could end up with us losing Ibrox. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudbertz 0 Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Reading today, its been suggested that its just a publicity stunt by the MP. I dont see it happening myself. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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