Six key Rangers headlines after Andrew Cavenagh address as 49ers to wheel out chequebook amid clear priority

Andrew Cavenagh has delivered a detailed address to Rangers supporters as he and 49ers Enterprises approach a year at the helm.

The US health insurance tycoon and investment wing of the San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise are watching on with the Premiership club in a title race, sitting second and three points off leaders Hearts. Their priority will remain Men’s first team investment, having pledged £20m of new investment upon their takeover last summer, following a share issue.

Cavenagh said: “The international break provides an opportune time to share an update on the broader direction of our beloved club. Our ambitions are clear – sustained winning and winning sustainably. Having now spent ten months in the club, our views on how to accomplish our ambitions are much clearer. We need to create a culture of winning, and we need to continue to prioritise and invest in the men’s first team.”

Here are six headlines from the Rangers address by Cavenagh.

Will Rangers hire a sporting director?

Sporting director Kevin Thelwell arrived last summer but a poor opening transfer window had him relieved of his duties, with Russell Martin’s tenure as head coach also going awry. Cavenagh has confirmed there will be no like for like replacement: “Over the last four months, we have reconstituted our executive team. Jim has joined as CEO and Fraser has become an Executive Director. We believe our current football structure is working well, and we do not plan to hire a sporting director. The executive team is committed to being smaller, nimbler, and more entrepreneurial. We want an executive team willing to get its fingernails dirty. If there is a hole to be dug, we want people fighting over shovels. We want fewer consulting firms and less bureaucracy.”

What culture do 49ers want to set at Rangers?

Cavenagh feels a sense of Rangers ‘DNA’ has been missing in recent times. He has held talks with key elements across all areas of the club as that is something he wants to address. Cavenagh said: “Rangers’ supporters are direct, hardworking, passionate, and emotional. I want our supporters to see themselves in the club, whether on the pitch or in the club offices, and I think some of that has been missing over the last months and years.

“A culture of winning means returning to Rangers’ historical DNA and standards. I have tried to spend time with many supporters and former players and staff, and their input has been invaluable. Across the club, we need to continue to partner with these individuals, whether informally as thought leaders and advisors or formally as ambassadors and parts of our staff. These links to the past must be strengthened.”

Are Rangers season ticket prices going up?

With rising costs, Cavenagh has confirmed that supporters will see a 6.5% hike on some season tickets going into the 26/27 season. He explained: “In football, the level of resources committed to the squad is directly linked to the quality on the pitch. If we want to continue to improve on the pitch, we need to increase the total amount of resources of the club while also shifting as many of those resources to the men’s first team as possible.

“We are raising season ticket prices by 6.5% (except juvenile tickets, which will be kept at the same price). We do not take ticket prices and increases for granted. We recognise the exceptional commitment supporters make to the club in the form of ticket purchases. The costs to run the club - player wages, agents’ fees, security, food and beverage - are all rising faster than the overall rate of inflation. We either need the club’s revenues to keep pace, or we need to decrease the money spent on the squad. We don’t believe this is the time to decrease the player and football budget; in fact, we think the opposite.”

How much more will 49ers invest in Rangers?

It will not only be supporters who are increasing money put into Rangers, as Cavenagh and the 49ers are also set to inject fresh capital into the club. The chairman stated: “We are not asking supporters to do all the heavy lifting. We are raising £16m of additional capital through a new share issue, effective immediately. The capital will be used to support player acquisitions and other club needs. This increases the total capital invested in the club to £36m in the last year. Increasing the revenue and capital is only part of the path to allocating more resources to the men’s first team. If we are going to ask supporters to pay more for tickets, we have an obligation to spend those funds wisely. We have the shrunk the size and cost of the executive team. We are systematically reviewing every part of the club, looking for ways to be more efficient, thus enabling a greater share of the resources to go to the men’s first team.”

Andrew Cavenagh on Old Firm chaos

A pitch invasion by both sets of supporters at the end of Celtic’s penalty shootout win in a Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox earlier this month has also been addressed. Cavenagh said: “The club has already issued a statement regarding the recent Old Firm match, and I don’t want to repeat that statement here, but I also didn’t want to ignore such an important subject. We continue to denounce the disorder, property damage, and especially those who denigrated the 66 souls lost in the Ibrox disaster. We fully support the independent review and will work with all relevant stakeholders, while continuing to represent the club and our supporters.”

How do Rangers support the Women’s team?

Ahead of their Sky Sports Cup final this weekend against Glasgow City and amid the SWPL title race, Cavenagh can see major upsides in the team. He said: “Our Women’s team is currently five points off the top and has a cup final against Glasgow City this weekend. The Women’s team has enjoyed multiple sporting successes over the last several years and we continue to believe that the team has tremendous operational and financial upside. We are exploring ways to best unlock that potential and wish Leanne Crichton and the squad the best for the final and the weeks and months ahead.”