Rangers Supporters Trust AGM – 23rd August 2003

Present – 20 Board members & 108 members.

1.Chairman's Welcome address

The AGM opened with the Chairman, Colin Glass, welcoming the members to the 1st Rangers Supporters Trust AGM. He gave a brief outline on how the Rangers Trust was born and the fears that the custodians of Rangers Football Club would try to scupper the launching of the Trust if they heard about it. These fears proved to be well founded. Time constraints prevented the Chairman from going into this in great detail, but he stated he would be willing to answer questions on this during the question session. The Steering Committee became aware of these shenanigans just before the Dunfermline game, and Mr Glass praised the Committee for keeping the lid on this, as they did not wish to do anything that might jeopardise the 50th Title.

Mr Glass informed the members that the Steering Committee have held meetings on a fortnightly basis in order to formulate policy, address members concerns and to prepare for the AGM, and commended everyone involved for all the hard work they have put in to make the Trust a success.

The Chairman also asked members to mark Saturday 22nd November in their diaries, as it is intended that the Trust would be holding a fundraising dinner on that evening.

Mr Glass briefly outlined the Trust's success in getting the word 'Hun' banned from various radio stations, and how effective our own PR had been compared with that of the Club we all love.

Before handing over to the Trust Secretary, Malcolm McNiven, Mr Glass advised the members that there was a raffle to win a signed Rangers top, donated by member Thomas Codona. All proceeds go to Trust funds. He also thanked the other Trust members who have helped the Trust so far, not least of which was the member who donated the list of all 13,000 Rangers shareholders.

2. Secretary/Treasurers Report

The Rangers Supporters Trust is already the biggest Trust in Scotland, bigger than the Celtic Trust, which has been going for a number of years and on a wider scale, the Manchester United Trust, which is the biggest in the UK with 1600 members, is the target we aim to beat, notwithstanding the fact that, as a fully listed plc, they have over two and a half times as many shareholders as Rangers. As a percentage of shareholders, the RST is already on a par with them. Mr McNiven urged members present to go a recruitment drive, as it is through the growth of membership that the Trust will have the chance to make a real difference.

With regards to the Trust's finances, Mr McNiven stated that he was extremely pleased with the amount of cash donations the Trust has received, some £1,841, and all members present were issued with a set of Accounts, which shows a healthy cash balance.

Before closing his report, Mr McNiven explained why the Sharesave scheme has faced such a delay. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is currently reviewing the scheme, and it was felt that it was prudent to await their approval before launching the scheme to further safeguard members. The Rangers Trust has been at the forefront of setting up the Sharesave scheme in the UK, and there are now another 8 Trusts applying for authorisation. The scheme should be launched in September.

3.Appointment of Auditors

The firm of Milne, Craig and Corsan were proposed as independent auditors for the Trust. A vote took place and it was carried unanimously.

4. Election of the Board

Mr Glass explained that all eight members of the Steering Committee were willing to continue to serve, if the members desired, but as our Rules require a maximum of 14 elected members, out of a total Board of 20, and we had received 12 additional (to the existing Steering Committee) nominations for election by the deadline, the following members were duly elected in alphabetical order:-

Steven Clark - Proposed by Stevie Tyrie. Seconded by Allan O'Brien. Elected unanimously.

Euan Currie - Proposed by Colin Glass. Seconded by Derek McAvoy. Elected unanimously.

Stuart Daniels - Proposed by Gary Mills. Seconded by Yvonne Lowe. Elected unanimously.

Colin Glass - Proposed by Mark Dingwall. Seconded by Allan O'Brien. Elected unanimously.

John Gilligan - Proposed by Mark Dingwall. Seconded by Malcolm McNiven. Elected unanimously.

Simon Leslie - Proposed by Derek Porteous. Seconded by David MacIntosh. Elected unanimously.

Stephen MacLeod - Proposed by Stephen Hunter. Seconded by David Laird. Elected unanimously.

Fraser Martin - Proposed by Steven Martin. Seconded by Edward Fitch. Elected unanimously.

Christine MacKechnie – Proposed by David Tweed. Seconded by John MacKechnie. Elected unanimously.

Malcolm McNiven - Proposed by David Tweed. Seconded by Derek McAvoy. Elected unanimously.

Joanne Percival - Proposed by David Tweed. Seconded by Thomas Clark. Elected unanimously.

Gordon Sutherland - Proposed by George McGee. Seconded by Mark Dingwall. Elected unanimously.

Colin Symington – Proposed by Stevie Tyrie. Seconded by Colin Glass. Elected unanimously.

Scot Van Den Akker - Proposed by A L Van Den Akker. Seconded by E. Van Den Akker. Elected unanimously.

The following Board Members were then co-opted as a result of their sterling work in helping establish the Trust, and, for the record, their proposers and seconders for co-option were also read out to the members, who unanimously approved this move.

Mark Dingwall

Derek McAvoy

Allan O'Brien

Gordon Semple

David Tweed

Stevie Tyrie.

5. Ratification/Rejection by members of Inaugural Board's 7 policies

The Steering Committee had adopted 7 core policies, which, because, at the time of adoption, they were unelected, they felt it prudent to put them before the members in attendance for ratification or rejection. These were as follows:-

1. At any official meeting with Rangers FC, a minimum of 2 Trust Board Members must be present. A vote took place and the members voted unanimously to adopt this policy as official Trust policy.

2. A minimum of 75% of Rangers league fixtures should kick off at 3pm on a Saturday. A vote took place and the members voted unanimously to adopt this policy as official Trust policy.

3. One motion was rejected by the Members, and that related to an aspect of the Trust's media policy. This required a fresh policy to be devised and approved, which was carried over until the second half of the meeting – see later.

4. Rangers Supporters Trust vehemently opposes the introduction of any form of “Supporters Tax” by Rangers Football Club. A vote took place and the members voted unanimously to adopt the policy as official Trust policy.

5. For non Old Firm finals, we wish to see the abolition of the 50/50 rule with regard to ticket allocation. A vote took place and the policy was adopted unanimously.

6. Rangers Supporters Trust strongly opposes the transfer of the Title Deeds for Ibrox Stadium to any party other than Rangers Football Club. A vote took place and the policy was adopted unanimously.

7. Rangers Supporters Trust wishes the club to seek, by all means possible, early entry into the English Premiership. A vote took place and a clear majority carried the proposal.

6. Debate on full PLC listing

New Board Member Mark Dingwall spoke on this issue. He stated that the ideal scenario would be a club owned and controlled by the Season Ticket holders. But with the club's debt expected to top £65m, the only way to clear a large part of it was to have a new share issue. This would be a once in a lifetime share issue and could generate in excess of £25m.

Members expressed concerns about what would happen should David Murray buy up these new shares. Andrew Smith asked if the proposed share issue would dilute Mr Murray's stake in the club if they were bought by fans. Board member David Tweed confirmed it would. After further debate a vote took place, and the members voted by a majority to adopt the policy that Rangers Football Club should move towards seeking a full PLC listing on the Stock Exchange.

7. Questions to Trust Board

A total of seven basic questions, plus supplementaries, were asked by ordinary members, and these were all answered, with details available in the full set of Minutes issued in the first week of September to every existing Trust member.

There was then a short interval.

8. Debates and votes on new policies

1) John Tannock proposed that as a matter of course every pre-season Rangers Football club play games both in Northern Ireland and in England (or Wales) as a way of repaying the loyalty of fans in these areas and as a mechanism for spreading the name of Rangers further throughout the country. Paul Blackstock seconded the motion. A vote took place and the motion was unanimously accepted as Trust policy.

2) Two different motions were put forward to deal with the media. A lively debate ensued and a vote was held. By a majority, the members voted to accept the second resolution. The Trust will talk to all newspapers for the time being, but the new Board will keep the matter under review.

3) Charles Nicholson proposed that Murray Park should be renamed. John Booth seconded this. A vote took place and the motion was carried unanimously.

Therefore the Trust now have 10 policies in place, 6 of which had been devised by the Steering Committee, and 4 of which had come from the floor of the meeting on the day. All motions had been democratically decided, and where there was disagreement, the Chairman was pleased to note that all parties were given the opportunity to have their say without hindrance, before a vote was conducted.

9. Selection/prioritisation of three motions for Clubs AGM

The Chairman suggested that three of the Trust's official policies were to be put forward as motions at the clubs AGM, but the members present should decide which three. A lively debate took place and the following were voted on and selected.

1. The Trust proposes that Rangers Football Club appoint elected supporters representatives to the main Board.

2. The Trust opposes the transfer of the Title Deeds of Ibrox Stadium to any party other than Rangers Football Club.

3. Rangers Football Club should have a full PLC listing.

10.Selection of questions for club AGM

Colin Glass explained that the Trust intended to ask questions (as opposed to motions) at the full club AGM. Seven questions were selected, and details of these have been issued to all Trust Members in the full Minutes issued in the first week of September.

11.Vote of thanks

Board Member Derek McAvoy thanked Colin Glass for chairing the AGM. Thanks also went to Thomas Codona for donating the signed Rangers strip for the raffle.

Thanks to June and Fiona Glass, Iain Galbraith and John McNiven for checking in the members, and to the vote counters – Mary Clark, Keith Findlay and Elizabeth Percival.

12. Raffle

The Raffle prize goes to ticket number 139. No one came forward to claim it. So a second number was drawn. The original ticket has a couple of weeks to claim his/her prize. The number will be publicised on the RST website. If it goes unclaimed after this time then the prize will go to the second ticket drawn, which is number 97.

As there was no further business, the Chairman declared the 1st RST AGM closed, and thanked everyone for their attendance and participation, and hoped that the next four days would see the team record victories at both Ibrox and in Copenhagen.