More than 1000 Rangers fans protest club's takeover by consortium

More than 1000 Rangers fans gathered outside Ibrox to stage a protest against the takeover of the football club by Charles Green's consortium.

Former player John Brown led the demonstration, calling on the fans to "stick together".

Mr Brown, who declined to transfer his contract as a scout over to the newco, has urged Mr Green to sell the club to the supporters.

He plans to lead a fans' buyout of the Sevco group.

The former defender was met with supportive cheers and applause from the crowd of around 1500 people, who took part in the hour-long protest.

Mr Green's consortium completed the purchase of the business and assets of Rangers for £5.5m earlier this month after the club was consigned to liquidation.

But fans have accused him of not being upfront about who his investors are.

They have also asked for more clarity about his consortium and his plans for the future of the club.

Eight players have indicated that they are aiming to leave Rangers after they refused to transfer their contracts to Mr Green's newco.

Steven Davis, Allan McGregor, Kyle Lafferty, Jamie Ness, Steven Naismith, Steven Whittaker, Sone Aluko and Rhys McCabe have confirmed their objections to switching to the Sevco company. Lee Wallace and Lee McCulloch are the only two players to have committed themselves publicly to staying with the Glasgow side.

The protest was organised by supporters' group the Union Bears, who said: "We demand answers from Mr Green immediately. The situation is critical and we as fans must act now."

Banners were tied to railings across the road from Ibrox, reading: "Rangers fans demand answers" and "Murray, Whyte, Green. Same face different name".

They had also made effigies of former Rangers owner Craig Whyte and Mr Green.

Alan Watson, 40, a fan from Maryhill, Glasgow, said: "This is a protest against Green. We want guys with Rangers at heart to come back into the club and give it back to the fans.

"We want some clarity about who actually owns the club and we want to know what's been going on in there.

"It's disgusting actually."

Craig Devlin, 33, from Crookston, Glasgow, said: "We're here because we care about our club, we don't want it to die.

"He's ripping us all off by the look of things. We want our club back and we want the truth, it's as simple as that."

Strathclyde Police said the demonstration had remained peaceful and that there had been no arrests.

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