ALMOST £6 million has been pledged in less than 24 hours to an internet campaign by three of Rangers supporters to save the stricken club.

The three main Rangers supporters' organisations invited fans to outline how much they would be willing to invest in the Ibrox club with the launch of www.saverangers.com on Wednesday.

By 4pm yesterday, offers of more than £5.6m had been made.

The groups have already met former Ibrox director Paul Murray to discuss how they could work together as the accountant puts together a Blue Knights' bid to take control of the crisis-torn club, and further meetings are expected.

It is believed Mr Murray has teamed up with Rangers' second-biggest shareholder, South African-based venture capitalist Dave King, who is in Glasgow for talks over a possible bid.

Whyte said that, if the club emerged from administration, he would stand down as chairman and would be "very keen" to gift the majority of his shares to a supporters' foundation.

However, Mark Dingwall of the Rangers Supporters Trust said any move would have to be without the embattled owner.

He said a fans' move to save the club could be supported by a share issue.

He added: "Craig Whyte's credibility has entirely gone. As far as the fan groups are concerned, he can have no part in Rangers' future."

The campaign was launched by the Rangers Supporters Association, the Rangers Supporters Assembly and the Rangers Supporters Trust, who want to know how much cash could be raised if an opportunity for "meaningful fan ownership" occurs.

Mr Dingwall said: "What these pledges tell us is that there is tremendous thirst among our fans to help the club and the right deal will help. We can save Rangers.

"What's immediately needed is capital, probably from private funds, but any business plan will require a once-in-a-lifetime commitment from the fans through a share issue. We are trying to articulate information about how to pitch that, what the minimum level of investment will be for the people that sign up through saverangers.com website.

"When the three organisations agree on a business plan to back, we will inform people of that and invite them to subscribe to it.

"What we are looking to do is to maximise the support that's available to Rangers by bringing together those with the best interests of Rangers at heart, whether those are rank of file fans or millionaire businessmen with business experience.

"We are looking to create a vehicle that encompasses them all, so that together we are stronger and we get the maximum for Rangers.

"People working together is the best way for Rangers and we can't see a reason why people who have the best interests of Rangers at heart wouldn't work together."

Mr Dingwall added that it was logical for the groups to join forces if one, for instance, had got £10m and another party had £20m.

Through the Rangers Supporters Assembly, fan representatives met administrators last Saturday to discuss the financial position and hope to meet again next week once there is a clearer view of the club's financial situation.

"We reckon you can have a coherent business plan that stands up to scrutiny and still be subject to democratic control," said Mr Dingwall. "But we need to see the scale of the actual problem."

Sources said Mr King, who owns 5% of Rangers, was ''very anxious'' to help Mr Murray.

Mr Murray, 47, who was deposed from the board after Whyte's takeover in May, has championed the involvement of all who have the interests of the club at heart to help save it.

The trust has previously seen merit in a structure similar to that established by European champions Barcelona – where supporters call the shots through a fan membership scheme and elect the board – and Hamburg, which is 100% member-owned.

The German Bundesliga team has 65,000 members who pay an annual fee of €48 (£39) and elect a supervisory board that recruits suitable figures from the football, legal or business communities to serve on the board.