List of Rangers F.C. chairmen

Rangers F.C. is a football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, that competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Since its founding in 1872, the club has had more than ten different presidents (prior to incorporation) and twenty-seven chairmen.

History

The club has been privately owned by stakeholders, in the form of a limited liability company before becoming a publicly owned company trading on the PLUS and AIM stock exchanges respectively. The board of directors are appointed to oversee the corporate operations of the company that owns the club with the chairman being considered as the most senior and high-profile corporate figures. In Rangers history the chairman has generally been the prominent executive on the board, although this has begun to change with the appointment of CEOs which led to some chairmen being appointed in a non-executive capacity.

From December 2012 to March 2015, the directors of the company that owns Rangers F.C., The Rangers Football Club Limited (TRFCL), were appointed to what was then known as the "football board". This football board was separate and distinct from the Plc board of Rangers International Football Club Plc (RIFC), which is the holding company of TRFCL. During this period, references were made to both the football board and Plc board and the situation effectively saw the club with two chairmen, however, since the departure of Sandy Easdale in 2015, the "football board" terminology has ceased leaving the Plc chair as the definitive Chairman.

Between June and December 2012, before flotation on the AIM stock exchange and the subsequent formation of RIFC, the chairman of TRFCL was de jure the chairman of Rangers Football Club.

List of presidents

Below is the presidential history of Rangers F.C., from 1874 until incorporation sixteen years later.

Name	From	To
William McBeath	1874	1875
Unknown	1875	1876
James McBlane Watt	1876	1877
Unknown	1877	1881
Archibald Harkness	1881	November 1882
George Goudie	November 1882	May 1883
Tom Vallance	May 1883	1889
Unknown	1899	1890
James Watson	1890	1891
Dugald Mackenzie	1891	1896
John Robertson Gow	1896	1898
James Henderson	1898	1 June 1899

List of chairmen

Below is the official chairmen history of Rangers F.C., from the incorporation of the club in 1899, until the present day.

t/a Rangers F.C. Ltd (1899) and Rangers F.C. Plc (2000)

Name	From	To	Tenure
James Henderson	1 June 1899	10 May 1912	12 years, 344 days
Sir John Ure Primrose	1912	July 1923	11 years
William Craig	July 1923	20 November 1923 [1]	142 days
Joseph Buchanan	November 1923	October 1932	9 years
Duncan Graham	1932	January 1934 [1]	2 years
James Bowie	January 1934 [1]	12 June 1947 [1]	13 years
W. Rodgers Simpson	27 June 1947 [1]	April 1949 [1]	1 year, 307 days
John Wilson	April 1949 [1]	12 February 1963	13 years, 288 days
John Lawrence	12 February 1963	19 June 1973 [1]	10 years, 127 days
Matt Taylor	19 June 1973 [1]	September, 1975	2 years
Rae Simpson	September, 1975	10 January 1984 [2]	8 years, 131 days
John Paton	10 January 1984	11 November 1986	2 years, 305 days
David Holmes	11 November 1986 [1]	2 June 1989 [1]	2 years, 203 days
David Murray	2 June 1989 [1]	5 July 2002 [3]	13 years, 33 days
John McClelland	5 July 2002 [3]	1 September 2004 [4]	2 years, 58 days
David Murray	1 September 2004 [4] [5]	24 August 2009 [6]	4 years, 357 days
Alastair Johnston	24 August 2009 [6]	24 May 2011 [7]	1 year, 273 days
Craig Whyte	24 May 2011 [8]	14 February 2012 [9]	266 days
c/o Duff & Phelps	14 February 2012 [9]	14 June 2012 [10]	121 days

t/a Rangers F.C. Ltd (2012)

Name	From	To	Tenure
Malcolm Murray	14 June 2012 [10]	18 December 2012	187 days
n/a	18 December 2012	13 December 2013	360 days
Sandy Easdale	13 December 2013 [11]	11 March 2015 [12]	1 year, 88 days

t/a Rangers International F.C. Plc (2012)

Name	From	To	Tenure
Malcolm Murray	7 December 2012	30 May 2013 [13]	174 days
Walter Smith	30 May 2013 [13]	5 August 2013 [14]	67 days
n/a	5 August 2013	7 November 2013	183 days
David Somers	7 November 2013 [15] [16]	2 March 2015 [17]	1 year, 88 days
Paul Murray	6 March 2015 [18]	22 May 2015 [19]	77 days
Dave King	22 May 2015 [19] [20]	27 March 2020 [21]	4 years, 310 days
Douglas Park	27 March 2020 [21]	4 April 2023 [22]	3 years, 8 days
John Bennett	4 April 2023 [22]	14 September 2024 [23]	1 year, 163 days
John Gilligan	14 September 2024 [23]	16 December 2024 [24]	93 days
Fraser Thornton	16 December 2024 [24]	30 May 2025	165 days
Andrew Cavenagh	30 May 2025		109 days

List of honorary positions

Name	Position	From	To	Tenure
John Ure Primrose	Honorary President	1888	1912	24 years
John Lawrence	Honorary President	19 June 1973	26 January 1977	3 years, 221 days
David Murray	Honorary Chairman	4 July 2002 [3]	1 September 2004 [4]	2 years, 59 days
John Greig	Honorary President	23 May 2015 [25]		10 years, 116 days

References

1. Bob Ferrier; Robert McElroy (2005). Rangers: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN   1-85983-481-7.
2. "The Rise and Fall of the Ibrox three". Allan Campbell. The Herald. 12 February 1986. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
3. "Rangers chairman Murray quits". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 July 2002. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
4. "Murray returns as chairman". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
5. "Rangers to raise £57m". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 September 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
6. "Murray relinquishes Rangers role". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 August 2009.
7. Lamont, Alasdair (24 May 2011). "Rangers remove chairman Alastair Johnston". BBC Sport. BBC.
8. Murray, Ewan (24 May 2011). "Rangers suspend directors Martin Bain and Donald McIntyre". The Guardian. London.
9. "Rangers Football Club enters administration". BBC News. BBC. 14 February 2012.
10. "Charles Green completes Rangers purchase despite Walter Smith bid". BBC News. BBC. 12 June 2012.
11. Lamont, Alasdair (13 December 2013). "Charles Green has no influence, says Sandy Easdale". BBC Sport. BBC.
12. "King group suspends trio from football board". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
13. McLaughlin, Chris (30 May 2013). "Club chairman Walter Smith urges board 'unity'". BBC Sport. BBC.
14. McLaughlin, Chris (5 August 2013). "Walter Smith quits as chairman at Ibrox". BBC Sport. BBC.
15. "David Somers appointed chairman as AGM date is set". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 November 2013.
16. "Rangers make David Somers' chairman post permanent". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 November 2013.
17. McLaughlin, Chris (2 March 2015). "Rangers chairman David Somers steps down before EGM". BBC Sport. BBC.
18. McLaughlin, Chris (6 March 2015). "Dave King's consortium wins control of Rangers board room". BBC Sport. BBC.
19. "King Appointed Chairman". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 22 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.
20. "Dave King: New chairman expects to invest "more than £20m"". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 May 2015.
21. "Rangers: Dave King steps down after five years as chairman". BBC Sport. BBC. 27 March 2020.
22. "Rangers: Douglas Park stands down as club chairman". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 April 2023.
23. "Bennett steps down as Rangers chairman". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 September 2024.
24. "Thornton to begin Rangers chairman role on Monday". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 December 2024.
25. "Greig Named Honorary President". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.