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Rangers
2014–15 season
ChairmanDavid Somers
(until 2 March)
Paul Murray
(from 6 March)
(until 22 May)
Dave King
(from 22 May)
ManagerAlly McCoist
(until 21 December)
Kenny McDowall
(from 21 December)
(until 12 March)
Stuart McCall
(from 12 March)
GroundIbrox Stadium
Glasgow, Scotland
(Capacity: 50,947)
Scottish Championship3rd
P36 W19 D10 L7 F69 A39
Scottish CupFifth Round
League CupSemi-finals
Challenge CupSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague:
Nicky Law (10)
All:
Nicky Law (13)
Highest home attendance49,200 vs Motherwell
(28 May)
Lowest home attendance11,190 vs Clyde
(18 August)

The 2014–15 season is the 134th season of competitive football by Rangers.

Overview

[edit]

Rangers played a total of 54 competitive matches during the 2014-15 season.

Rangers boardroom politics were a fictitious force causing a constant flux with change after change of various directorial positions, rival factions attempting to take control of the company and the emergence of Mike Ashley as the major stakeholder and power broker in late 2014. That summer saw continued discontent with various fans groups, alongside Dave King, attempting to influence the board by withdrawing season ticket money[1]. This resulted in a drop of around 15,000 season tickets from the previous season, leaving the club requiring a financial injection which the board hoped would come from a share issue[2] and announced this in June[3]. However, the initial intention of raising up to £10m through an investment plan by the end of August failed when city investors did not purchase enough shares, therefore, the club relaunched a £4m issue open to all existing shareholders only[4].

Rangers fan discontent was demonstrated with a during a Championship game against Queen of the South at Ibrox, with fans holding up red cards in the 18th and 72nd minutes[5] and this was not improved when on 3 September, it was revealed, that Mike Ashley bought the naming rights to Ibrox Stadium for just £1 in a deal with Charles Green in 2012[6][7]. Concurrently, Rangers former commercial director Imran Ahmad finally succeeded in a bid to have £620,000 of club assets frozen prior to pursuing litigation over an alleged unpaid £500,000 bonus[8]. A few days later the club were granted leave to appeal this decision[9] yet, on 12 September, the club agreed an settlement with Ahmad much to the dismayed of fans[10]. As some Rangers supporters groups considered boycotting home matches in protest at the board[11], it was revealed that Ashley would not be participating in the share offer[12]. Ashley's motivates for not investing became clear in the following month, namely withholding much needed money from the club in order to undermine the board[13]. At the end of the share issue, on 12 September, it was announced that it had raised just over £3m which still £1m short of its minimum target[14]. As the share issue was undertaken in order to allow Rangers to continue to operate into the new year but the failure to reach the targets meant that further funding was required. A few days later, it came to light that Sandy Easdale had met with several investors that had been introduced to him by Rafat Rizvi, a convicted fraudster wanted by Interpol[15], which led to calls by the Union of Fans for Easdale to resign[16]. However, in a move to demonstrate his strength, Easdale increased his personal shareholding at Rangers to 5.21% on 24 September[17]. On the same day as the club repaid the £1.5m loan to Sandy Easdale and George Letham[18]. The next day, BNP Paribas bought a 5% stake in Rangers making it the fifth-highest shareholder[19] but less than twenty-fours later it was revealed that the transaction was completed on Ashley's behalf thus increasing his stake to 8.92%.[20] Less than a week later, Ashley's holding company, MASH Holdings, called for an EGM to remove chief executive Wallace[13]. This signaled the start of a crucial stage in the boardroom power struggle at Rangers with King appearing to be outflanked[21] by Ashley, who had secured the support of Sandy Easdale, David Sommers as well as the largest shareholder in Rangers, Laxey Partners[13].

When offers of funding from Dave King, a £16m package, and Brian Kennedy were rejected by Rangers’ hierarchy[22], who instead opted Mike Ashley’s £2m loan offer[23], it was clear who was victorious. Particularly as Ashley's initial offer was insufficient and he had to be provide another £1m of funding less than a month later[24]. In exchange for the initial funding, Ashley was granted critical power at the club with the privilege to put forward the names of two nominees for appointment to the board as well as security over Edmiston House and the Albion car park[25]. As a consequence of his power grab both Philip Nash and Graham Wallace were forced out of the club[26] and Derek Llambias and Barry Leach were brought in, initially as consultants[27] before being appointed Chief executive [28] and Finance director[29] respectively. Also David Somers was named executive chairman but on a temporary basis in order to aid the transition[30]. Financial respite was short lived as Rangers announced its preliminary results at the end of November indicating the club required another £8m of investment to see out the season[31]. This effectively left Rangers at the mercy of Ashley who could dictate the terms of and source of any future funding. Due to this power, the Scottish Football Association issued Ashley with a notice of complaint for breached a joint agreement that Ashley would not play a controlling role in Rangers and would maintain a stake of no more than 10%[32]. As Ashley had previously loaned the club £2m[23] and a further £1m[24] as well as having two directors on the Rangers board and a significant interest in Rangers retail operations, although, he did return the naming rights to Ibrox Stadium to Rangers[24]. On Christmas Eve, the SFA denied him permission to increase his stake-hold in Rangers further[33]. Also in December, the Scottish Professional Football League added to Rangers financial woes by withholding £250,000 of broadcast money the club was due in a bid to recoup a fine imposed by the Nimmo Smith Commission[34].

The legal implications of the previous company that owned the clubs liquidation featured prevalent in the news in July and November. In the summer, HM Revenue and Customs lost its appeal over the previous clubs owners use of Employee Benefit Trusts[35] but was granted leave to appeal a month later[36]. Meanwhile, Rangers former chairman Craig Whyte was banned from being a company director for 15 years in September[37] and an warrant was issued for his arrest a month later[38], he appeared in court facing charges under the Companies Act but was released on bail[39]. Four men have appeared in court charged with fraudulent activity following a probe into the sale of Rangers in 2011. David Grier, Paul Clark and David Whitehouse (both administrators working for Duff & Phelps), and Gary Withey (a solicitor for Collyer Bristow) made no plea or declaration at Glasgow Sheriff Court and were granted bail[40]. Meanwhile the liquidators of Rangers former owners secured a £24m payment from Collyer Bristow, the lawyers who acted for Whyte when he bought the club[41].

On the football front, Rangers league campaign began with a defeat to newly demoted Hearts with the Edinburgh club scoring an extra minute winner[42]. Despite embarking on a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, a loss at home to Hibernian left the side trailing Hearts by six-points at the top of the league by the end of September[43]. Better news for Rangers was the reaching of the League Cup semi-final after a 1-0 win over St Johnstone[44], being drawn against Celtic which set up the first Old Firm derby in two years[45]. Nevertheless, the clubs title charge was effectively ended in November as the side lost a six-pointer match away to league leaders Hearts leaving them nine points behind[46]. The did bounce back the following week in the Scottish Cup registering a 3-0 win over Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock[47], however, in the clubs third cup competition the team surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to fellow Championship team Alloa Athletic in the Challenge Cup[48]. Even with the poor league form and exit in the Challenge Cup, there was no indication of significant pressure on manager Ally McCoist. The affect of the clubs financial issues as underlined by the interim results that November, proved the catalyst for McCoist's departure as he became unhappy with the number of staff losing their jobs at Rangers[49]. The situation became too much for McCoist and he tendered his resignation on 12 December[50] which was later confirmed to the London Stock Exchange by the club three days later, with McCoist beginning a 12-month notice period[51]. However, he was to serve less than a week of his notice period before being placed on gardening leave by the board, with his assistant manager Kenny McDowall being appointed interim manager until the end of the season[52].

The turn of the year saw Ashley's control over Rangers weakened as deals were made with a consortium led by Dave King, to purchase the shareholding of Laxey Partners which had stood at 16%[53]. King took control of a 14.57% stake[54] and two weeks later called for EGM on 16 January[55]. The original date was set by the board was 4th March in a hotel in London[56], however, this was then moved to Ibrox Stadium after two successive hotels refused to host the event[57] and the date was confirmed for the 6th of March[58]. During the run up to the EGM, the incumbent Rangers board agreed £10m funding deal with Sports Direct[59]. The agreement saw Sports Direct hold a floating charge over Rangers Training Centre, Edmiston House, the Albion Car Park and the club's registered trademarks. Sports Direct was also transferred 26% of Rangers' share in Rangers Retail Limited (Rangers previously held 51% with Sports Direct holding 49%). The club were bound to forego all shirt sponsorship revenue for the 2016-17 season and subsequent seasons until the loan is repaid[60]. On transfer deadline day, Rangers also loaned five players from Newcastle United, a Premier League club that Ashley owned.[61]

The month of February a large volume of share purchase and Rangers supporters groups are heavily involved[62]. With the writing apparently on the wall, Rangers director James Easdale resigned just over a week before the EGM[63] and chairman Somers departed with fours days to go[64]. The SFA's investigation into Ashley concluded at the beginning of March with Ashley being deemed to have broken rules on dual ownership due to his influence on the affairs of Rangers, he was fined £7,500[65], and Rangers were subsequently fined £5,500 over a month later for their lack of governance[66]. Just two days before the EGM, the clubs Nominated adviser, WH Ireland, resigned resulting shares in the Plc being suspended[67]. The outcome of the EGM was a decisive victory for King's consortium with Derek Llambias and finance director Barry Leach being voted off the board and King, Paul Murray and John Giligan moving in[68]. Both King and Murray subsequently applied to be passed as a fit and proper person by the SFA with the later being cleared at the beginning of May[69]. Further board appointments were made with John Bennett and Chris Graham added to the Plc board as non-executive directors and James Blair was appointed company secretary[70], however, Graham resigned his directorship only three days later[71]. On the same day as the appointments Rangers suspended Llambias, Leach and Sandy Easdale from its football club board pending an internal investigation[70].

After poor results in both league and Scottish Cup, Stuart McCall replaced Kenny McDowall as interim manager[72]. At the end of March it was revealed that Rangers five loan signings from Newcastle United were signed without medicals[73]. On same day as interim accounts were published, 31 March, it emerged that Rangers would have owed Newcastle United £500,000 if they were promoted due to the agreement struck when loaning the players[74]. It was announced on 2 April that Rangers would be de-listed from the AIM stock exchange after failing to find a Nominated adviser within the required period[75]. The SPFL courted controversy with the final day fixtures by moving the Rangers v Hearts match from Saturday to Sunday, with the rest of the matches proceeding on the Saturday. This could have given Rangers a possible advantage in the chase for second place, however, the SPFL performed a u-turn with all matches being scheduled for early Saturday afternoon[76] As it was, the team failed to be automatically promoted to the Premiership, drawing the final two league matches and finishing a disappointing third in the league[77]. This meant the club faced at least six play-off matches in order to gain promotion. The ticket pricing of these matches attracted controversy. Following a precedent set by Hibernian the previous season, Rangers stated they would allow season ticket holders entry to home matches for free, however, this was rejected by the SPFL[78]. Not to be deterred, Rangers then announced a blanket £5 ticket price offer for all seats[79]. The side successfully negotiated two play-off rounds before crashing to a 6-1 aggregate defeat to Premiership team[80]. The second leg of the play-off final ended in controversy as Rangers Bilel Mohsni and Motherwell's Lee Erwin brawled on the pitch after the match[81] as Motherwell fans invade the pitch to goad the Rangers fans[80].

Meanwhile the police probed the role of Mike Ashley and Sports Direct in the Rangers takeover and searched the companies headquarters[82]. This was rumored to be the reason that Ashley demanded the repayment of his £5m loan to the club[83]. Rangers set the date of the general meeting for June 2015 and added its own resolutions and proposals[84]. On 19 May King was passed fit and proper by the SFA[85] and became Chairman of the club on 22 May[86]. On the same day King also loaned the club an additional £1.5m[87] and a day later, Rangers legend John Greig was named honorary president of the club on 23 May[88].

Players

[edit]

Squad information

[edit]
N
 Pos.
 Nat.
 Name
 Age
 Since
 App
 Goals
 Ends
 Transfer fee
 Notes
1 GK Scotland Cammy Bell 28 2013 57 0 2017 Free
2 DF Scotland Steven Smith 29 2013 111 5 2015 Free
3 DF Tunisia Bilel Mohsni 27 2013 61 13 2015 Free
4 MF Canada Fraser Aird 20 2011 81 12 2018 Youth system
5 DF Scotland Lee Wallace (vc) 27 2011 162 13 2017 £1.5m
6 DF Scotland Lee McCulloch (captain) 37 2007 303 70 2015 £2.25m
7 MF England Nicky Law 27 2013 96 25 2016 Free
8 MF Scotland Ian Black 30 2012 115 8 2015 Free
9 FW Republic of Ireland Jon Daly 32 2013 72 29 2015 Free
10 MF Scotland Lewis Macleod 20 2010 76 16 2017 Youth system left on 3 January
10 MF Slovenia Haris Vučkić 22 2015 (Winter) 22 9 2015 Loan
11 MF Scotland David Templeton 26 2012 83 25 2016 £0.7m
14 FW Scotland Nicky Clark 23 2013 75 18 2016 Free
15 FW Scotland Kris Boyd 31 2014 235 138 2015 Free
16 DF France Sébastien Faure 24 2012 63 1 2015 Free
17 MF Honduras Arnold Peralta 25 2013 31 1 2017 Free left on 21 January
18 FW Scotland Kenny Miller 35 2014 187 76 2016 Free
19 FW Scotland Barrie McKay 20 2011 46 5 2017 Youth system out on season loan
20 MF Scotland Kyle Hutton 24 2008 72 2 2015 Youth system
21 MF Scotland Robbie Crawford 22 2010 57 7 2017 Youth system
22 FW Northern Ireland Dean Shiels 30 2012 81 28 2016 Free
23 DF Scotland Richard Foster 29 2013 83 0 2015 Free
24 DF Scotland Darren McGregor 29 2014 53 5 2016 Free
25 GK England Lee Robinson 28 2014 10 0 2015 Free
26 DF Lithuania Marius Žaliūkas 31 2014 28 2 2016 Free
28 DF England Remie Streete 20 2015 (Winter) 1 0 2015 Loan
29 MF Northern Ireland Shane Ferguson 23 2015 (Winter) 2 0 2015 Loan
30 FW Scotland Calum Gallagher 20 2010 7 1 2016 Youth system
31 GK England Steve Simonsen 36 2013 31 0 2015 Free
32 GK Scotland Liam Kelly 20 2012 0 0 2017 Youth system
34 MF Scotland Andy Murdoch 20 2012 23 1 2017 Youth system
37 DF Canada Luca Gasparotto 19 2011 4 0 2016 Youth system out on season loan
38 DF Scotland Craig Halkett 20 2011 0 0 2015 Youth system
48 MF Scotland Tom Walsh 18 2012 11 0 2017 Youth system
49 DF Scotland Ryan Sinnamon 18 2013 0 0 2015 Youth system
52 FW Scotland Ryan Hardie 18 2013 6 2 2016 Youth system
61 GK Scotland Robby McCrorie 16 2014 0 0 2016 Youth system
  • Last updated: 31 May 2015
  • Source: Players transfer and Wikipedia players' articles
  • Ordered by position on pitch.

Transfers

[edit]

In

[edit]
No.
 Pos.
 Nat.
 Name
 Age
 Moving from
 Type
 Transfer
window 		Ends
 Transfer
fee 		Source
18 FW Scotland Kenny Miller 34 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Canada Transfer Summer 2015 Free [89]
24 DF Scotland Darren McGregor 28 St Mirren Transfer Summer 2015 Free [90]
15 FW Scotland Kris Boyd 30 Kilmarnock Transfer Summer 2015 Free [91]
26 DF Lithuania Marius Žaliūkas 30 Leeds United England Transfer Summer 2016 Free [92]
25 GK England Lee Robinson 28 Raith Rovers Transfer Summer 2015 Free [93]
28 DF England Remie Streete 20 Newcastle United England Loan Winter 2015 n/a [61]
17 MF England Gaël Bigirimana 21 Newcastle United England Loan Winter 2015 n/a [61]
10 MF Slovenia Haris Vučkić 22 Newcastle United England Loan Winter 2015 n/a [61]
27 DF Switzerland Kevin Mbabu 19 Newcastle United England Loan Winter 2015 n/a [61]
29 FW Northern Ireland Shane Ferguson 23 Newcastle United England Loan Winter 2015 n/a [61]

Total expenditure: £0m

Out

[edit]
N
 Pos.
 Nat.
 Name
 Age
 Moving to
 Type
 Transfer
window 		Transfer
fee 		Source
n/a DF Northern Ireland Chris Hegarty 21 Linfield Northern Ireland Contract terminated Summer Free [94]
n/a FW Northern Ireland Andrew Little 25 Preston North End England End of contract Summer n/a [95][96]
n/a MF Scotland Charlie Telfer 18 Dundee United End of contract Summer £0.204m [97][98]
n/a DF Brazil Emílson Cribari 34 Retired End of contract Summer n/a [99][100]
n/a GK Republic of Ireland Alan Smith 21 Cork City Republic of Ireland End of contract Summer n/a [101]
n/a DF Scotland Ross Perry 24 Raith Rovers Contract terminated Summer Free [102][103]
n/a GK Scotland Scott Gallacher 25 Heart of Midlothian Contract terminated Summer Free [104][105]
30 FW Scotland Calum Gallagher 19 Cowdenbeath Loan Summer n/a [106]
21 MF Scotland Robbie Crawford 21 Greenock Morton Loan Summer n/a [106]
47 FW Scotland Danny Stoney 18 Stranraer Loan Summer n/a [106]
37 DF Canada Luca Gasparotto 18 Airdrieonians Loan Summer n/a [106]
48 MF Scotland Tom Walsh 18 Stenhousemuir Loan Summer n/a [106]
38 DF Scotland Craig Halkett 19 Clyde Loan Summer n/a [106]
19 FW Scotland Barrie McKay 19 Raith Rovers Loan Summer n/a [106]
DF Scotland Kyle McAusland 21 Brechin City Loan n/a n/a [107]
DF Scotland Ryan Finnie 19 Partick Thistle Contract terminated Winter Free [108][109]
10 MF Scotland Lewis Macleod 20 Brentford England Transfer Winter £0.85m [110]
DF Scotland Kyle McAusland 21 Dunfermline Athletic Contract terminated Winter Free [111][108]
17 MF Honduras Arnold Peralta 25 CD Olimpia Honduras Contract terminated Winter Free [112][108]
57 FW Cameroon Junior Ogen 17 Annan Athletic Loan Winter n/a [113][108]

Last updated: 31 May 2015
 Total income: £1.054m

New Contracts

[edit]
N
Pos.
 Nat.
Name
 Age
 Status
 Contract length
 Expiry date
 Source
20 MF Scotland Kyle Hutton 22 Signed 1 year June 2015 [114]
31 GK England Steve Simonsen 35 Signed 1 year June 2015 [115]
48 MF Scotland Tom Walsh 18 Signed 2 years May 2017 [116]
24 DF Scotland Darren McGregor 29 Automatic 1 year June 2016 [117]
32 GK Scotland Liam Kelly 20 Signed 2 years & 6 months May 2017 [118]
34 MF Scotland Andy Murdoch 20 Signed 2 years & 6 months May 2017 [119]
37 DF Canada Luca Gasparotto 20 Signed 1 year May 2016 [120]
18 FW Scotland Kenny Miller 35 Signed 1 year May 2016 [121]

Last updated: 12 May 2015

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