Three Bears Warning To Shareholders

Pic: Jeff Holmes

The Three Bears consortium has urged Rangers shareholders attending next month's general meeting in London to be on their best behaviour - and not hand the club's directors a reason to postpone the crucial boardroom vote. Chairman David Somers sparked outrage amongst the Ibrox faithful when he announced last week that the board planned to stage the meeting in a London hotel - 400 miles from Glasgow. Supporters groups said they would descend on London in droves after the shock announcement confirmed the meeting would be held in the 500-capacity Millennium Gloucester Hotel rather than the club's stadium, where thousands of shareholders have attended recent annual general meetings. But the board now says it is looking for a new venue in London after the hotel cancelled the booking because its management feared the meeting would cause "significant disruption to guests and neighbours". Cynics suggest that the possibility for disorder was part of the board's plan all along, as it would give them an easy excuse to adjourn the meeting and to cling on to power. But now the Three Bears consortium - wealthy fans George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor - has urged shareholders intent on travelling to London to maintain a dignified silence while the meeting takes place. Former oldco director Dave King has called the March 4 vote as he bids to oust Somers, James Easdale, Barry Leach and Derek Llambias and replace them with himself, Paul Murray and John Gilligan. In a statement handed to Press Association Sport, the Bears consortium - which is backing King's bit to rout the Blueroom - said: "The original decision to hold the general meeting in London at a venue capable of accommodating only 500 people demonstrates once again how little this board understands or cares about the club's thousands of fan shareholders. Indeed, the board's latest statement that they will look for another venue close to London underlines their total indifference to the views of shareholders who wish to attend. "The meeting should be held in Glasgow and the only people who refuse to accept this are the directors themselves. "It is reasonable to assume this important meeting could attract a larger attendance than either of the previous two General Meetings and of course Ibrox should have been the obvious and least expensive choice of location. "Moving the venue 400 miles from Glasgow could, if anything, increase the resolve of shareholders to attend the meeting which will, in all probability, last less than 15 minutes. All three of us were intending to attend the meeting to support the resolutions proposed by Dave King to bring about the Boardroom change now desperately required. "Douglas's initial reaction to the decision by the Board to hold the meeting in London was to provide a fleet of coaches free of charge to ferry shareholders, who are entitled to attend, from Scotland to London and back. However, on reflection, we now believe it is more important that this crucial meeting takes place on March 4th and that the board are given no excuse to postpone or delay. "We are urging all shareholders to vote at this meeting but believe strongly that the use of postal votes or proxies may now be the best way for shareholders to have their voices heard. Although some shareholders will no doubt still wish to attend the meeting in person we are sure they will behave in a manner which allows the business of the meeting to be conducted as efficiently as possible despite any constraints imposed by the Board due to the size and location of the venue. "Having been told they cannot have their chosen venue, which was not fit for purpose in any case, the board are seeking an alternative but still in London. The need to change venue could have been avoided had the directors considered the shareholders rather than themselves in the first place." Press Association Sport contacted the Millennium Gloucester Hotel for a response to the board's claims but they declined to comment.