Rangers chief responds to Dave King's chairman claim, EGM call and explains why there is no appetite

King, who has a major stake in Rangers, was critical of the current Ibrox board last week and called for change, putting his own case forward to return to power in a two-year term due to the club being in “crisis”. However, Gilligan and his fellow directors are not keen on change and while Gilligan fully respects King and what he has achieved at the club, he would prefer the South African-based businessman to keep his counsel.

“Dave is a major shareholder and he can say whatever he wishes to say,” said Gilligan. “My view is it’s a bit unrealistic. Dave is a real businessman, he knows how shareholdings work. He is a 15 per cent shareholder, the other directors are 10, 12, 13 per cent shareholders. It is unrealistic.

“I haven’t spoken to Dave. Dave gave me one of the happiest days of my life when he asked me to join him 10 years ago and I will never forget it, never forget it. Since then I have met him, played golf and socialised when he has been over. But I haven’t heard from him, no.”

When asked if King would be welcome back in the Rangers corridors of power, Gilligan said: "It's not really for me to say, I'm just the interim chairman. But if you look at what's been said and what the guys have been saying, there's a shareholder structure to the business, there's a projection plan. Dave was chairman, Dave's still a major investor and can attend the AGM and ask questions, but there's just no appetite for it at the moment because, one, Dave was here before and he stepped away. Other people stepped up - Douglas [Park] stepped up, then stepped down and John [Bennett] stepped down. There's just no appetite.

"I'm trying to think, has any other director or any person said anything about Dave? No. Have they responded publicly? No. Will I ever say anything bad about Dave? No. So in answer to your question, do I wish he would stop? Yes. I just say to Dave, 'please take it below the radar, behave like a proper shareholder. Don't do what you are doing'. It's just a shame because he is a great character and he had a massive influence on the club at the time. I'll always respect that.”

Gilligan, the 72-year-old who was a director between 2015-2017 under King’s reign, is holding the fort after John Bennett stood down as chairman earlier this month. While King’s comments have clearly not been taken well by the current board, he refuted the notion of them having a negative impact on Rangers.

“It’s only destabilising if the people who are the main shareholders and operating the business don’t have a plan and don’t have people in place to execute it,” said Gilligan. “We have had difficulties recently with the stadium and things but destabilising, no not particularly. Dave is entitled to say what he wants. It’s a free world. But I don’t feel it’s destabilised at all no.”

Asked to respond to King’s call for an EGM, Gilligan added: “Again, it is a bit unrealistic because EGMs are invariably called by people who wish to change something. But the current board don’t wish to change. So why would we call an EGM?”