Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about the Trust and it's activities. If you have a question
that isn't listed here, then please contact us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
To view our ShareSave FAQs, click here.
1:
What does a Supporters Trust do?
2: Do you have to
be a shareholder of Rangers to join the Trust?
3: What does the
Rangers Supporters Trust do? Just buy shares?
4: What price range
is one share?
5: What is OFEX?
6: Who are Rangers'
current shareholders?
7: Selling shares?
What happens if people wish to withdraw?
8: How did the Trust founders meet? Did you belong to the same
club or live in the same area, and if not, how did this come
about?
9: How long does my membership fee
last?
10: Can junior members vote?
11: What is the Trust's stance on racism and
sectarianism?
12: What do I do if I am not getting shareholder
information from the Club, or if I have moved house since becoming
a shareholder?
13: For how long will Supporters Trust Board
Members serve?
1: What does
a Supporters Trust do?
The basic definition of a Trust is a democratic, not-for-profit
organisation of supporters, committed to strengthening the voice
for supporters in the decision making process at a club, and
strengthening the links between the club and the community it
serves (Source: Supporters Direct).
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2: Do you have
to be a shareholder of Rangers to join the Trust?
No. The beauty of a Trust is that you get the best of both
worlds. Fans who have a small number of shares can proxy them
to the trust so they are voted en bloc and make a bigger difference.
But fans who aren't shareholders can just join, and any shares
the Trust buys or gets are owned collectively by all the members.
So this is a way for people to become shareholders, along with
other fans. You bring together the fans with shares and the
fans without shares, and pool the power of both groups to everyone's
benefit (Source: Supporters Direct).
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3: What does
the Rangers Supporters Trust do? Just buy shares?
Essentially the organisation has a simple aim - to encourage
and facilitate supporters of Rangers to buy and hold shares
in the club in order to influence future decisions. We believe
that Rangers is safest in the hands of people who care about
the Football Club rather than just seeing it as a financial
investment. Therefore the long term aim is to deliver ownership
of the club (through Rangers Football Club plc) to its loyal
supporters.
It is not our aim to provide a mechanism by which individuals
can invest in order to sell their shares at a profit (although
you can of course sell your shares if you wish to) as there
are plenty of commercial operators offering such a service which
may be more suitable, if more expensive, in terms of flexibility.
Many supporters have already bought shares themselves but the
idea of the share scheme is to make it easy and cheap to buy
regular amounts particularly in small quantities. A further
advantage of buying shares through the share scheme is that
the voting rights are automatically pooled into a larger group.
It should be emphasised that any shares you purchase through
the Rangers Supporters trust remain your property and can be
sold if you wish to do so or if you wish to discontinue your
membership. Obviously we don't want to encourage sales.
In the end though the Rangers Supporters Trust is a not for
profit organisation run by a committee elected democratically
from the membership. Therefore what the organisation does depends
on the wishes of the membership within the constraints of the
constitution which sets out the basic aims. Is there a minimum
share purchase - either up front or monthly?
Other than your annual membership fee, there is no requirement
to buy additional shares although obviously we would encourage
members to do so as it is the aim of the organisation to increase
the number of shares held by supporters.
All members receive a free share in Rangers Football Club plc
as part of their Rangers Supporters Trust membership. This ensures
that all of our members become Rangers shareholders, even if
they were not already.
Additionally we encourage members who wish to purchase shares,
to join the monthly share scheme or to make additional purchases.
This is optional and the recommended minimum purchase is £10.
Currently the monthly share scheme (which is our recommended
option as it allows even small amounts to be invested on a regular
basis) is only available by 'Standing Order' through a UK bank
account. However we have plans to introduce an equivalent service
using credit/debit cards shortly. In the meantime members may
elect to make an additional share purchase on joining/renewal
or at any time by requesting a share purchase application form.
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4: What price
range is one share?
You can check the current share price on the OFEX web site:
http://www.ofex.com
- Please Note: you must register with OFEX (for free) in order
to access this data.
You get a free share when you join, and of course become the
part beneficial owner of the Trust's shares. (As at 5/4/04,
the Trust owned approx 9 shares for each current member, on
top of the ones each individual member had been allocated.).
We set a minimum investment of 10 pounds for additional purchases
recommend perhaps 500 pounds maximum. However, if you only wish
to pay your annual membership and nothing more then that is
okay too. Membership costs 12 pounds per year in Europe (outside
UK).
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5: What is OFEX?
Rangers shares are listed on OFEX market, the share-trading
platform for small companies. Founded in 1995, OFEX is now established
as Europe's premier small companies'market. It has been used
by over 450 companies from 26 different industrial sectors and
has seen these companies raise a total of over GBP1bn in the
process. The OFEX market provides a share-trading platform for
the securities of unlisted and unquoted companies.
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6: Who are Rangers'
current shareholders?
The current main shareholders of Rangers Football Club plc
are:
David E. Murray (65.95%),
Enic plc (20.22%),
Ian B. Skelly (0.18%),
John F. McClelland (0.06%),
J. Donald G. Wilson (0.01%),
R. Campbell Ogilvie (0.005%),
Douglas J. Odam (0.004%) and
Daniel P. Levy (133 shares).
David E. Murray has 37,777,000 shares in the club and Enic plc
11,582,000 shares.
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7: Selling shares?
What happens if people wish to withdraw?
Shares can be sold by completing a sale application form and
the member will receive the cash value of the shares, less any
fees, at the time of the next monthly batch purchase or at a
sooner time if they do not mind paying the broker fees for a
direct sale through the broker. However, the share scheme is
not designed to encourage people to sell their holding - those
who wish to do that can buy shares through any broker - it's
about building a long term large collective holding which will
deliver a significant influence to supporters directly through
a share holding.
Because the sale of an individual share holding involves a
greater degree of admin (and possibly additional broker fees)
than the bulk purchases we do monthly for the Rangers Supporters
Trust there is a fee payable before you will receive the proceeds
of the sale of your shares. This may vary from time but it is
currently set at 1% with a minimum fee of £5. On payment
of this fee a cheque will be sent to the last registered address
of the lapsed member. Alternative methods of payment may be
arranged where necessary.
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8: How did the
Trust Founders meet? Did you belong to the same club or live
in the same area, and if not, how did this come about?
Most of us met via the Internet. Only 2 of the original 8
founders actually live in Glasgow, whilst the others come from
Ayr, Bearsden, Bothwell, East Kilbride and London. We are all
season ticket holders though. We all hope that at least one
member is elected from both Northern Ireland and North America
in ths summer's elections, but that is up to the Trust membership,
as a whole. In addition, we expect some of the more active members
of the Rangers Supporters Alliance, despite tempting offers
elsewhere, to become heavily involved, as Supporters Clubs should
be encouraged to grow and prosper. The Rangers family is a broad
church, and we wish our Board to reflect this.
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9: How long
does my membership fee last?
Until the following 5 April, irrespective of when you join.
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10: Can junior
members vote?
No, but they can attend and speak at Trust Meetings.
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11: What is
the Trust's stance on racism and sectarianism?
It is up to the Trust as a whole to define and refine Trust
policy as time moves on, but initially, our stance is that we
are vehemently opposed to both. As far as Racism is concerned,
it has no place in football, sport or society and we endorse
a slogan coined by a fanzine "Blue - the only colour that
matters!"
As far as sectarianism is concerned, again this is not just
a football problem, and of course we oppose it, although do
not support allegations that waving the flags of any of our
four home countries should be deemed sectarian, and will always
defend the rights of Rangers fans to wave these flags. We take
the view that denying this right is in itself sectarian. We
support full and equal employment opportunities everywhere,
with due respect given to all races, colours and creeds.
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12: What
do I do if I am not getting shareholder information from the
Club, or if I have moved house since becoming a shareholder?
Write giving details to:-
Computershare Services plc
Owen House
PO Box 435
8 Bankhead Crossway North
Edinburgh
EH11 4BR
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13: For how
long will Supporters Trust Board Members serve?
The full Rangers Supporters Trust board will be in place in
time for the first Annual General Meeting (AGM), due to be held
on Saturday 23 August 2003. Members of the elected Trust Board
will normally serve for a period of three years.
At the third and fourth AGM's one third of the elected Board,
selected by lots, will resign from the Board. Each year at the
date of each AGM thereafter, one third of the longest serving
elected Board Members will resign from the Board. Outgoing Board
Members may stand for re-election by the Trust Members.
These guidelines are registered under the Industrial and Provident
Societies Acts 1965-78.
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