Rangers Appoint Former Manchester United Executive Patrick Stewart as CEO

Rangers Football Club has announced the appointment of Patrick Stewart as its new chief executive officer, with his tenure commencing on December 16. Stewart previously served as interim chief executive at Manchester United, part of an 18-year period during which he occupied various boardroom positions at Old Trafford. A native of Aberdeen, he has also held positions with the Football Association (FA), the Premier League, and the European Club Association, in addition to serving as an arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Rangers interim chairman John Gilligan stated, “Patrick comes with an excellent reputation and background, bringing extensive experience of operating at senior levels during his 20-plus years in football.” Gilligan added, “The board continues in discussions with several excellent candidates for the role of chairperson and expect to make an announcement of an appointment in the coming weeks.” Stewart succeeds James Bisgrove, who moved to Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia over the summer. Rangers recently reported a £17 million loss for the financial year ending in June. Regarding on-field performance, Philippe Clement’s Rangers, who are League Cup finalists, currently sit third in the Scottish Premiership, trailing Aberdeen by eight points and Celtic by eleven. In the Europa League, they have accumulated seven points out of a possible twelve. Jo Potter’s women’s team holds the second position in the SWPL, one point behind Glasgow City, and has advanced to the SWPL Cup semi-finals. According to BBC Sport’s Simon Stone, “I don’t think he’s the type of chief executive that’s going to be in the media every two seconds explaining club policy. He’s very much a kind of behind closed doors person.” Stone further commented on Stewart’s background, stating, “He has vast experience, he was Manchester United’s general counsel when he came to the club and David Gill in particular rated him very, very highly. Then in latter times he’s been United’s face on the European Clubs Association at Premier League meetings.” Stone speculated on Stewart’s departure from Manchester United, saying, “Clearly the club has changed. I suspect if he’d have wanted to stay in his job that that could have happened. I think like many other people at Manchester United, he felt that with the regime change, it was time for something new. I suspect the idea of joining a club like Rangers would appeal very much to him.” Describing Stewart’s anticipated role at Rangers, Stone added, “He is more of a person who is going to make sure Rangers are run properly, that is run well and will be the face of Rangers at the major events involving the European Clubs Association, I would imagine within the Scottish Premiership and that will be his role.” Stone concluded, “It will be fascinating to see how he adapts if he’s got to step up and speak more to the media, because that is not something that he’s been used to doing at Manchester United.”