Doubts about Rangers bid

Rangers have confirmed that they are in takeover talks with a consortium led by Andrew Ellis, a former QPR director.  However, doubts have been expressed about whether he has sufficient money and his backers have not been named.   One view is that the club are trying to talk up the price by starting an auction between Ellis and a rival Asian businessman.   However, one might ask why anyone would want to buy a SPL club.  They do not enjoy anywhere near the sponsorship and television income to be found in the Premiership.   This means that they are chea

Rangers have confirmed that they are in takeover talks with a consortium led by Andrew Ellis, a former QPR director.  However, doubts have been expressed about whether he has sufficient money and his backers have not been named.   One view is that the club are trying to talk up the price by starting an auction between Ellis and a rival Asian businessman.   However, one might ask why anyone would want to buy a SPL club.  They do not enjoy anywhere near the sponsorship and television income to be found in the Premiership.   This means that they are cheaper to acquire, but expectations are high which means the ability to spend money on players.  Rangers have not been able to sign any new players since August 2008, although it hasn’t stopped them building up a big lead at the top of the SPL.


Andrew Ellis, whose father was chairman of QPR in the 1980s, has a mixed track record in football.  He led a consortium to buy Northampton Town, then in League 1, for £500,000 in 2002.  He became chairman, but did not stay for long, with rumours that the club might be moved to Milton Keynes or lined up for a merger upsetting fans.   A year earlier an attempt to buy QPR collapsed when he planned to move the club to near Heathrow.  At least a merger is not an option he could pursue in Glasgow.