Ashley wants Wallace removed from Rangers

Photo Jeff Holmes

Rangers shareholder Mike Ashley has launched a bid to have chief executive Graham Wallace and director Philip Nash removed from the club's PLC board, the Ibrox outfit have announced in a statement to the Stock Exchange.

Ashley, who also owns Barclays Premier League club Newcastle, has made his move just six days after increasing his stake in the Glasgow giants to 8.92 per cent.

The Sports Direct tycoon has now called for an emergency general meeting to vote on his resolutions but the current Rangers board have declared they will fight to save Wallace and Nash's positions.

Ashley had previously owned three million shares in the club which he bought when the club was floated back in December 2012.

However, just three weeks after announcing he would not partake in the emergency open offer the club was forced to launch last month to solve its short-term cash crisis, Ashley splashed out around £850,000 on buying more than four million existing shares from investment group Hargreave Hale.

The open offer was under subscribed by just less than £800,000, meaning the club's board will now have to launch another share issue before the end of the year in order to meet December's wage bill.

In the club's Stock Exchange statement, they say: The company announces that it has received a notice dated 7 October 2014 from Mike Ashley, a director of MASH Holdings Limited (''MASH) under Section 303 of the Companies Act 2006.

The notice states that MASH holds 4,265,000 Ordinary Shares of 1p each in the Company amounting to 5 per cent of the voting rights of the Company.

MASH requires the company to call a general meeting of the shareholders of the company and to put certain resolutions to shareholders for inclusion in the business at such a general meeting of the company (the ''notice).

The notice puts forward resolutions for the removal of Graham Wallace and Philip Nash as directors of the company.

The company is currently verifying that the notice is properly constituted.

If valid, the board intends to seek to have such notice withdrawn in order to avoid the cost and disruption of an ad hoc general meeting particularly given the company's forthcoming annual general meeting, further details of which will be announced in due course.

The board is united in its support of the executive team. If the notice is valid and is not withdrawn, the directors intend to recommend that shareholders vote against the proposed resolutions. A further announcement will be made shortly.''