Glasgow: The chairman of financially-struggling Rangers has admitted the attendance figures for last weekend’s league game against Cowdenbeath at Ibrox was much lower than announced.
The fallen Glasgow giants announced midway through the second half of the Scottish Championship game, which Rangers won 1-0, that 28,137 fans had turned out at Ibrox.
That represented Rangers smallest home attendance for a league game since Graeme Souness’ first season in charge 28 years ago.
But chairman David Somers told the Daily Record that the true figure was 10,000 fewer than the number given out on Saturday.
“The 28,000 included season-ticket holders who were not there. In reality Saturday’s attendance was around 19,000.”
Rangers announced losses of £8.3 million (Dh47.81 million) last month and admitted they would need a similar figure to see the club through the rest of the financial year.
Auditors Deloitte signed off on the latest results but warned there remains ‘material uncertainty’ over the club’s ability to continue as a going concern.
The Rangers board’s attempts to balance the books have been hit by large-scale supporter unrest.
Season-ticket levels dropped from around 36,000 holders in 2013/14 to just 17,000 by the start of the current campaign.
Further disappointing results on the field from Ally McCoist’s side, including a shock 3-2 cup loss to minnows Alloa have fuelled the discontent.
Meanwhile the club confirmed on Wednesday that Norman Crighton had left his role as a Rangers director.
The 48-year-old joined the board 12 months ago and represented Laxey Partners — the club’s biggest single shareholder with a 16.32 per cent stake — on the PLC board.
