Alastair Johnston hopes takeover can start to ‘extinguish rot’ from Rangers past

Departing Rangers director Alastair Johnston believes the takeover of the Ibrox club will “extinguish the rot” which lingered since Craig Whyte’s ill-fated spell.

Johnston was ousted from his post as chairman when Scottish businessman Whyte bought Rangers from majority shareholder Sir David Murray in May 2011.

The club subsequently lurched into administration in February 2012 and then were consigned to liquidation three months later, before Rangers re-emerged in the bottom tier of Scottish football as a new company with Whyte having departed under a cloud.

Johnston predicted then that it would take a decade for the Govan club to recalibrate.

Although they lifted the Scottish Premiership title in 2021 and enjoyed success in Europe, Celtic still retain a strong grip on Scottish football with 13 title wins in the last 14 years, amongst a plethora of other silverware.

However, Rangers fans and Johnston are looking for better times ahead following the confirmation last week that an American consortium, headed by healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers Enterprises, has acquired a 51 per cent controlling stake in the club.

Johnston, who returned to the board as a non-executive director in 2017 when South Africa-based Dave King was chairman, is standing down with a new-look board taking shape but the United States-based Glaswegian and lifelong Gers fan is optimistic about developments.

The 76-year-old told the PA news agency: “I was asked to respond to a question at the Rangers AGM last December as to the options available to the club in order for it to return to its glory days.

“My comments were reported at the time as being somewhat bemusing.

“I responded by describing the current circumstances in English football about so many of the leading clubs being taken over by American investors and, in several cases, their approach included an ownership model that involved multiple teams.

“I was careful to insinuate that this was a hypothetical possibility.

“In truth, I was already aware of the interest that a group involving the 49ers had shown in Rangers and that we had already engaged in early-stage discussions with its representatives.

“Understandably, the possible investors wanted to maintain the utmost secrecy as to the direction of their mission.

“It took about six months for the Rangers board to reach a mutually acceptable arrangement that would be in the best interests of our club.

“Intense negotiations were conducted covering all facets of such an acquisition, and I am delighted we were able to capitalise on a collaboration that we believe will provide us with a platform to extinguish the rot that had befallen the club for a decade since the Craig Whyte fiasco.”