Rangers results reveal £500,000 Newcastle clause

Rangers have released interim financial results that show reduced half-year losses of £2.6 million, plus a liability of £500,000 payable to Newcastle United on promotion.

The Scottish Championship club received financial backing from Newcastle owner Mike Ashley via his Sports Direct business earlier this year.

Ashley was later fined for his influence at Rangers, having sought to attempt to increase his stake past the permitted 10 per cent, while five Newcastle players were also loaned to the Ibrox club.

Gael Bigirimana, Haris Vuckic, Kevin Mbabu, Remie Streete and Shane Ferguson all moved north.

And results released on Tuesday showed a clause that means Newcastle will receive half a million pounds if Rangers are promoted from the second tier.

With Hearts having won the title, Rangers will need to negotiate the play-offs if they are to return to the Premiership.

The clause forms part of a downbeat set of results for the Ibrox club, who posted half-year losses before finance costs of £2.6m in the six months to the end of December.

That figure is down on £3.5m from a year ago, but will no doubt prove a cause for concern for a club that dropped to the fourth division following financial irregularities.

With revenue of £13.1m and operating expenses amounting to £16.1m, interim chairman Paul Murray acknowledged there remained a need to turn the club around financially.

“These results are historical and relate to a period before the new board took office,” Murray said in a statement.

“The new board’s focus is on the future. We are in the process of developing a business and funding plan which will help us rebuild the club and ensure it enjoys football and commercial success in the future.

“We will work closely with our shareholders, supporters and other stakeholders to achieve our vision of building a modern football club founded on our traditional values and standards.

“The recovery process will take time, but if we work closely together we are confident of success.”