‘Ousting Newcastle owner Ashley key to title success’

Former Rangers chairman, Dave King, has said that eliminating the regime of Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley was key to bringing success back to the club.

Rangers have won their first Scottish league title in ten years, winning the trophy under the guidance of manager Steven Gerrard.

The success is remarkable considering Rangers were relegated to the lower divisions after financial irregularities in 2012.

“I don’t think Rangers would ever have folded completely in the sense the supporters base is so large,” said King, per the Daily Mail.

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“My view just prior to becoming involved with the club, when I looked at the Easdale-Ashley axis, was that under their business model Rangers were never going to compete for honours again.

“I had a conversation with Ashley in London and his view was that he could run Rangers at a profit.

“He could have done that, of course he could. If you have 50,000, 60,000 fans willing to buy season tickets then it was feasible.

“If you spend less than you earn and you have a loyal customer base then he could have made a profit.

“But Rangers would never have competed. Rangers at that stage were so far behind Celtic that it required major investment to play catch up.

“My concern was that if we hadn’t found a way to unlock regime change and bring in investors who had the same target of winning leagues and not making money then I felt Rangers would become a senior junior club in Scotland. It would have become a one-team league.”