Inside Rangers owner Andrew Cavenagh's secret Ibrox mission as he bought ticket and sat with normal fans before takeover
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ANDREW CAVENAGH made up his mind to secure a controlling investment in Rangers as he brought a regular ticket and sat in the cheap seats in the Copland Stand.
Cavenagh, who made his money in the US health insurance sector, secured a 51% stake in tandem with 49ers Enterprises big hitter Paraag Marathe in June.
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Chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chair Paarag Marathe at Ibrox Stadium
Credit: Willie Vass
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Fans at Ibrox
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Andrew Cavenagh
Credit: Getty
And he was sold on the deal when making a secret mission to the Copland Stand on November 23 - buying a normal ticket to sit amongst the fans after battling through a snowstorm.
Former Rangers director Paul Murray, who had met Cavenagh weeks earlier, told the Daily Record: "I think the two things which really struck me about Andrew that day were, first of all he was really engaged and obviously really interested in what I was saying, but also we were playing a game against Hearts at Ibrox a couple of days later on the Sunday.
"He actually said to me, 'I think I'll just with all fly up to and he Ibrox and go to the 'I'm game.'
"I asked if he wanted me on his chat to try to speak to someone and he said, 'No, I'll just get a ticket and I'll just go.'
"As it turned out, for various reasons he wasn't able to go as he had some family stuff on, but he then contacted me about a week later and said he wanted to go to the Dundee United game, which was in the middle of November.
"Again, I asked if he wanted me to help and he said, 'No, I'll just go and get a ticket - a normal ticket for any area of the ground.' I think he actually went into the Copland (Road) Stand.
"But I thought that was quite interesting. A guy with that wealth and he just thought, 'I'm going to buy a ticket.'
"He flew up to Glasgow, bought a ticket on his own. He went with a couple of other guys and you might remember it was a really bizarre game because it was meant to be a three o'clock kick-off on the Saturday and it was really bad weather.
"It was the middle of November, but there were snow drifts and crazy weather to the point that Dundee United couldn't get down the A9.
Rangers fans unfurl giant tifo ahead of Russell Martin's first match
"He actually contacted me to say, 'When does the game start?'
"I said, 'I've just looked and apparently it's been delayed until four o'clock!' "So it was a really weird day and Andrew was basically walking about the stadium, looking at the stands and nobody knew who this guy was.
"The other thing that happened that day was there were quite a lot of fan protests as well as having the snow drifts to contend with. But it obviously didn't put him off."
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