MIKE ASHLEY needed Rangers to make a profit. Dave King wanted them to win prizes.

The relationship between both men would sour and become increasingly hostile over time but one early conversation sticks in King’s mind. As he celebrates a 55th Premiership title, the words of Ashley paint a chilling prospect for supporters.

There would always have been a Rangers to support. But had King, Paul Murray and John Gilligan not ousted the former regime six years ago, there would have been no league flag, no European achievements and a club with an illustrious past would have faced a bleak future.

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Amid the euphoria and the emotion of today and the excitement of what is to come, fans should never forget where Rangers have been. King would rescue Rangers and now he has seen it restored.

“I don’t think Rangers would ever have folded completely in the sense the supporters base is so large,” King said.

 

 

“My view just prior to becoming involved with the club, when I looked at the Easdale/Ashley axis, was that under their business model Rangers were never going to compete for honours again.

“I had a conversation with Ashley in London and his view was that he could run Rangers at a profit. He could have done that, of course he could. If you have 50,000, 60,000 fans willing to buy season tickets then it was feasible.

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“If you spend less than you earn and you have a loyal customer base then he could have made a profit. But Rangers would never have competed. Rangers at that stage were so far behind Celtic that it required major investment to play catch up.

 

 

“My concern was that if we hadn’t found a way to unlock regime change and bring in investors who had the same target of winning leagues and not making money then I felt Rangers would become a senior junior club in Scotland. It would have become a one-team league.”

That prospect has been avoided and Rangers are now prosperous once again. For the first time in a decade, the league flag will fly over Ibrox after Steven Gerrard’s side stormed to silverware success this season.

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The talk at the start of the campaign was all about ten-in-a-row but that has never been the number that Rangers have focused on. Rangers win for themselves and their supporters, not to deny a rival an achievement that many assumed was a fait accompli.

King said: “First it's just the relief as a supporter that the project we all embarked on a few years ago to try to get back winning championships – which clearly was the target – has been finished. To do it in such style really gives me an immense sense of satisfaction as a supporter.

“Additionally, to me as an individual given my role in the whole regime change process and trying to get the club back to this point and the commitments I made to supporters that we will do everything we can to get back to number one, that gives me a lot of personal satisfaction to have finally achieved that.

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“There were definitely points where I realised the challenge of getting back winning league titles was more difficult than I'd assumed – and I must say I assumed it would be quite difficult to start with.

“My focus really wasn't on 10-in-a-row. To me, 10-in-a-row wasn't a big thing emotionally. I've always seen it as something between Rangers fans and Celtic supporters.

 

 

“You know, Aberdeen fans don't talk about nine or 10-in-a-row. It just doesn't exist outside of Rangers and Celtic and I just felt the fact we weren't there for effectively five seasons meant nine-in-a-row wasn't something I spent a lot of time worrying about.”

The list of things that King did have to concern himself with over the years could have stretched the length of Edmiston Drive and the former chairman has been the key figure in the salvation and transformation of Rangers.

 

 

The bill in a financial sense stands at around £40million but the time and effort is almost incalculable as King has been at the centre of everything from managerial appointments to court cases that could have seen him jailed.

“To me, the focus was getting back to winning,” King said. “Where I realised what I thought was a big challenge was even bigger than I first thought was after regime change. It was then that I realised the level of disintegration of the infrastructure.

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“It wasn't just the football team. We understood the team couldn't win without the proper infrastructure. But the stadium neglect was palpable but there was even more basic things like coaching and sports science. We had nothing in place.

“So it wasn't just a question of working on the football team. We also had to manage a lot of our financial resources into areas away from the team that I hadn't anticipated.

 

 

“So my challenge was how to manage the non-footballing infrastructure issues in a way that didn't compromise the football.

“That really just meant having to raise a lot more money than I'd initially hoped for. There was a lot of challenges and it affected me in terms of time frames – but never to the point where it made me lose belief that we would win a title. It was just a case of what year.”

That time has now come for Rangers. A season that has been unique so many reasons is now historic for the club and will be forever cherished by supporters.

King now watches on from afar after leaving the Ibrox last year and the South Africa-based businessman will be an interested observer as Rangers transition from potential challengers to defending champions next term.

King said: “The relationship between the board, the club and its supporters will change next year. We’ve been able to ask supporters to stay with us, they knew times were tough.

“The supporters were always there but once the situation normalises you can’t keep going back to the supporters.

“It will be an interesting dynamic moving forward. Having gone from playing catch up the expectations have changed. Fans will want to be dominant so next year could be very interesting for everyone at the club.”