Rangers CEO James Bisgrove elected onto SPFL board - replacing Celtic chief executive for 2023/24 season

Rangers chief executive James Bisgrove has been elected to the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) board for the 2023/24 season, the league has announced.

The new Ibrox CEO, who replaced outgoing managing director Stewart Robertson earlier this summer, will join Hibernian’s Malcolm McPherson and James MacDonald of Ross County in representing the 12 Premiership clubs after the governing body held an AGM on Monday.

Bisgrove effectively takes the place vacated by his Celtic counterpart Michael Nicholson on the SPFL panel to serve alongside chief executive Neil Doncaster, chairman Murdoch MacLennan and independent non-execuitve director Karyn McCluskey.

The appointment comes just days after league officials apologised to Rangers and former chairman Douglas Park’s Motor Group firm, Park’s of Hamilton amid a long-running dispute over the sponsorship deal between the club and used car retailer cinch.

SPFL chairman MacLennan announced an “independent review into (its) governance,” as part of the resolution last week.

McPherson was named as Hibs’ non-executive chairman in March following the sudden death of owner Ron Gordon, whom he takes over from on the board. MacDonald, meanwhile, retains his position having first been elected in 2021.

Airdrie’s Paul Hetherington, Ayr United’s Graeme Mathie and Forfar’s Alastair Donald also retain their places on the board, while Peter Davidson of Montrose has stepped up to take the place of Hamilton’s Les Gray following the vote.

The meeting also saw top-flight clubs approve a motion from Aberdeen’s Steven Gunn that required the use of a multi-ball system in domestic matches and all other clubs be required to notify their preferred system to the SPFL in advance of the season starting.

Meanwhile, the SPFL has announced that it has signed ‘multi-year’ extensions to its broadcast agreements with the BBC and international TV rights agency Infront.

The deal in place with BBC Scotland, which was due to expire in the summer of 2025, has been extended to summer 2029, mirroring the SPFL’s live broadcast contract extension with Sky Sports. The BBC’s rights will continue to cover the cinch Premiership TV highlights on Sportscene, 20 live Friday night matches on the BBC Scotland channel, radio rights on BBC Radio Scotland and extensive clip rights on the BBC website.