Rangers chairman John Bennett honours his pledge, and a significant announcement is anticipated.
Jim Gillespie, the vice chairman of St. Mirren, will take over as CEO of Rangers. James Bisgrove departed the Gers early in the summer to go to Saudi Arabia, therefore the team has been searching for a replacement.
Before leaving Ibrox in chaos, former Rangers communications director Bisgrove had only been at the position for almost a year. There has been speculation that Bisgrove leaped before being pushed, as the former head of FIFA oversees the Copland Stand renovations at Ibrox, which are now behind schedule. Rangers now seem to have their man as they target St. Mirren, a competitor in the Scottish Premiership, in search of a lifelong bluenose with deep ties to the national team.
Jim Gillespie: who is he? Upon hearing Jim Gillespie’s name, every Rangers fan will immediately want to know who he is. The news that Rangers had their sights set on the vice-chairman of St Mirren was initially reported by The Scottish Sun.
The report claims that Gillespie is a “award winning” CEO of the Renfrewshire-based care charity, The Kibble, which offers young people specialised services and support, including residential care, to give them a second chance at life. The Kibble is also a shareholder in St Mirren, having invested approximately £400k for 27% of the Paisley club in 2020. During the annual Institute of Directors (IoD) Scotland Awards last summer, Jim Gillespie took home two awards from twelve national and six regi
Gillespie won the Institute of Directors (IoD) Awards’ Regional Director of the Year for Glasgow and the West back in 2021. In addition, Gillespie has been a director at St. Mirren since 2020. In 2021, he was named vice-chairman of the organisation. Bennett fulfils his commitment to the Rangers
The claims comes after Rangers chairman John Bennett had promised an update to supporters on the condition earlier in the summer. Rangers are currently in the midst of the delayed reconstruction of the Copland Stand, forcing the club to play their ‘home games’ at Hampden this summer.
Bennett responded as follows when asked about the Ibrox CEO situation during a broader update to fans: ‘I wouldn’t say that absolutely everything was parked when I got this call in June that we had this materials delay. It was kind of almost like that, the first priority was dealing with that’. Bennett was also asked if the search for an Ibrox CEO was ‘parked’ while the renovations were being completed.
“Therefore, everything else kind of slowed down, but delivering that has been my other goal, and I hope to have some news about our CEO pretty soon.” Jim Gillespie appears to be the front-runner to take over as the Rangers’ CEO, and the team is anticipated to make an official announcement in the next few days.