Rangers failure to kick on from the title winning season of 2020/21 saw them miss out on the riches that Champions League qualification brings.
The financial gap to Celtic continues to grow with one glaring disadvantage being the capacity of Ibrox compared to that of Parkhead – an extra 10,000 seats, give or take, is worth millions over the course of a season.
There is a plan, of sorts, to close this gap, published in 2023, and with the aim of taking Ibrox up to 60,000 according to Henry Winter, the renowned award-winning journalist.
Unfortunately, it looks like that plan has been shelved for now with the capacity currently at 51,700.
Still some distance behind Parkhead, however, it puts Rangers is a strong position for the San Francisco 49ers takeover with a UK stadium list showing where the home of The Famous sits in terms of the potential to go to the next level.
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images
Rangers give 49ers a helping hand with Ibrox place on UK list
The single biggest issue for an expansion to Ibrox is funding.
The 49ers might not influence transfers immediately, nor can they plough unlimited funds into the club, but what they can do is assist with the development of Auchenhowie and Ibrox.
Plans are already drawn up, so, all the prospective new owners would need to do is put their hands in their pockets – and the 49ers owners have very deep pockets.
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An extra 10,000 season ticket holders and seats for European games would bring in over £10m a year, based on average season ticket and match prices.
The money for the work would soon be repaid.
Currently, only Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United have significantly bigger grounds, whilst Man City and Newcastle United currently play in front of a capacity similar to Rangers.
It is another indication as to why the San Francisco 49ers chose Rangers, they tick the proverbial sleeping giant box.
Club Stadium Capacity
Manchester United Old Trafford 74,310
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 62,850
West Ham United London Stadium 62,500
Liverpool Anfield 62,276
Arsenal Emirates Stadium 60,704
Celtic Celtic Park 60,400
Manchester City Etihad Stadium 52,900
Newcastle United St James’ Park 52,258
Rangers Ibrox 51,700
Aston Villa Villa Park 42,918
Chelsea Stamford Bridge 40,173
What did the board say on planned renovation works to Ibrox?
The current board at the AGM made it clear that they wouldn’t be starting the next phase of the Ibrox redevelopment by upgrading the Broomloan or Sandy Jardine Stands.
John Gilligan, who was then interim chairman said that the board:
“…acknowledged that significant lessons had been learned, noting that the scale of the project was immense.
“He suggested that in future, if works of this or larger magnitude were to be undertaken, the club might need to plan for a period without use of the stadium.”
And on the next phase, Gilligan:
“…confirmed that any future works would be carefully considered, and next season must begin at Ibrox.”
Given how long the work took last year, if there were any plans for work to commence again, supplies would already need to be arriving at Ibrox.