Hello all.
Recent incidents have encouraged me to evaluate the "relationship" of the Assembly and Rangers F.C., to say this has given me cause for concern is a considerable understatement.
There have been a number of events in recent weeks that I have taken into account and would now like to share my concerns with all of you.
01. Reduced allocation of away tickets to Supporters Clubs.
During a brief conversation with the club, I agreed that Season Ticket Holders should be given an increased proportion of away match tickets. Sometime later I was asked if I was happy with the contents of a letter the Ticket Office intended sending out to Supporters Clubs. I rejected the first letter but agreed to the contents of the second attempt.
The letter that was in fact sent out differed considerably from the one agreed to. The full details of the very considerable cut in club allocations had not been included in the letter I approved and when I spoke to Jim Hannah, I learned that he too had been unaware of the content of the final letter sent to clubs. Had I been aware of the level of cut back I would never had agreed to the proposal hence my reason for asking the club to reconsider.
I have no doubt that the Assembly was mentioned in an effort to deflect blame and criticism and you also have to speculate on the convenience of not providing me with sight of the full letter before sending it out.
02. Rangers demands for a 5% handling fee on away match tickets.
Whilst I agree in principal that Rangers are entitled to be compensated for handling away match tickets, I most certainly do not agree with how they tried to force it on other SPL clubs nor their timing in doing so. I also have to say that I find it unbelievable that the club did not see fit to discuss this with the Assembly prior to "forcing" the other clubs to agree. Ticket distribution is arguably the most important issue to supporters other than the success of the team and yet they chose not to discuss this with us it therefore begs the question would do they see fit to discuss with us.
I have looked at each club who has responded to Rangers demands in turn and would comment as follows:
Hibs. They have decided to sell tickets direct as Falkirk did. Yet again we are faced with a price increase which will no doubt mean Hibs have covered their additional costs and again at our expense. To make matters worse, in spite of Rangers stating they would only handle ticket sales if they received a handling fee they have purchased 300 tickets which will no doubt be distributed to those and such as those. The phrase "them and us" springs readily to mind.
To sum up the situation. Rangers have achieved their goal. Clubs who agree to the demands will pay Rangers and those who don't will cost Rangers nothing but guess who will be paying for all of it? The very fans Rangers claimed they were trying to protect.
A job well done I don't think.
03. Worldwide Alliance
Those of you who attended the Alliance A.G.M. will no doubt recall the Treasurer, Sam Morton, reporting on his balance sheet and highlighting the fact funds were very low and required an injection of money from Rangers F.C. The fact was that Rangers had not provided the Alliance
Not long after the A.G.M. I emailed Donald McIntyre requesting clarification. On return from my holiday, I received an email from Jim Hannah, on behalf of Donald McIntyre, informing me that the Assembly would now be responsible for Alliance
04. Assembly Grant.
During the conversation with regards to Alliance
Some months ago, I met with Irene Munro who informed me of Rangers desire to reduce the level of support. I refused point blank to accept this and in fact stated that even if I agreed with the request this would not be a decision I could make as it would need to go before a full Committee at our A.G.M.
No further discussions have taken place so it would appear as though Rangers are basically saying take it or leave it. They have attempted to soften the blow by saying we can keep the £10k we did not use last year. Big of them when it is us who have saved the money from being used and in my opinion a totally irrelevant gesture.
Each of the above items on an individual basis is in my opinion sufficient to illustrate the lack of respect the club has for the Assembly. When you consider them as a package then I think it is a fair assumption that they only value our input when they need us to show a united front or when trouble is brewing. The Assembly was formed in an attempt to bring the club and its supporters closer together. The above, I would suggest, shows that this is not happening. You could in fact argue the opposite is happening and that indeed the club are driving an ever widening wedge between us with their actions. To be perfectly honest, I do not believe the people involved in making the decisions highlighted above have the best interest of the Supporters at heart.
Taking all of the above into account, I wish to inform you of my decision to resign, with immediate effect, as President of the Rangers Supporters Assembly, Chairman of Rangers Worldwide Alliance
Over the next few days, I will clear the Assembly Office of my belongings and also ensure the finances are in order. Obviously as Vice President, Andy Kerr will take over my duties and I would like to offer him my best wishes.
Jim